Posted on 11/07/2011 10:38:08 PM PST by Razzz42
When a state university is embroiled in one of the most heinous scandals in the history of American higher education—and that’s the plane we’re on now; never mind where this stands among college sports scandals—here is what you do not want to hear about the principals involved, two days after felony indictments are handed down …
Athletic director requests and is granted an administrative leave. Former vice president is allowed to return to retirement.
Legendary football coach: Issues a statement pleading ignorance to the most serious accusation in which he’s directly involved.
School president: Issues a statement of his own promising “unconditional” support of the aforementioned and “complete confidence” in how they performed in their official roles.
No, you don’t see the word “fired” anywhere in that.
The grand jury report on the child molestation charges against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was released Saturday. By Monday afternoon, what’s listed above was all that had been said and done.
The athletic director, Tim Curley, and the former vice president, Gary Schultz, have now been indicted for perjuring themselves in front of that grand jury in testimony about what they knew and what they did not. They got the quiet, gentle send-off. Joe Paterno, who will be 85 in December, has a 409-136-3 record as head coach at Penn State. (AP Photo)
The coach, Joe Paterno, somehow escaped indictment on anything—yet his words, in that statement, are contradicted by what appears in that report, to an insulting degree. If he thinks he looked bad before he issued that statement, he comes off as toxic now.
Meanwhile, the president, Graham Spanier, is taking a stand—to wrap his prominent and powerful underlings in a cocoon of safety and putting his name and reputation, and that of the university he runs, behind it.
In the midst of all that, there’s not a hint of the leadership any of those positions require. There’s not a shred of accountability for what that lengthy statewide investigation uncovered. Not only are all of them avoiding the responsibility that comes with their jobs, they’re curled up in a ball in the corner, praying that it goes away and lands on somebody else.
They should be ashamed.
Somebody at Penn State needs to have the stones to fire somebody.
Even if he just fires himself.
No cushion landing, no golden parachute. If the grand jury report is completely true, then everybody from Sandusky (obviously) to the graduate assistant (since identified as current wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator Mike McQueary) who said he saw Sandusky molesting a child in the football building’s showers, to Paterno to Schultz to Curley to Spanier—they all need to be cut off, immediately, before another day of embarrassing spin-doctoring goes by. Recommended On The Web
In wake of Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State coach Joe Paterno must go Washington Post: Monday Nov 7 Jerry Sandusky scandal: Is Joe Paterno's reputation tarnished? Los Angeles Times: Monday Nov 7 Joe Paterno on Sandusky charges: "If this is true, we were all fooled." Washington Post: Sunday Nov 6 2 PSU Administrators Step Down, Face Arraignment KDKA: Monday Nov 7 Penn State AD takes leave, senior VP resigns in wake of Sandusky scandal philly.com: Monday Nov 7 The End For Joe Paterno? Courier-Journal: Monday Nov 7 Joe Paterno's legacy in jeopardy The Baltimore Sun: Sunday Nov 6
Yet that is all that has taken place since Saturday, spinning and rear-end-covering and scrambling for ways to tiptoe out rather than being shoved out full-force.
Who’s in charge up there, honestly? Who works for whom? Who defers to whom? Is this the classic old-boys network gone tragically off the rails? Is it just a matter of everybody sharing the spoils of success and ducking when trouble shows up?
Also, is football specifically and big-time sports overall, wagging the university dog … again? You’d like to think that if this same situation took place inside an engineering or administration building, decisive action would already have been taken.
But it might not have, either, seeing now how far up the chain of command this perversion of justice extends. Corruption and abuse express themselves neatly in college sports, but they’re not exactly limited there.
These men of power, influence and authority are proving how masterful they are at protecting themselves and each other.
None of them found it in themselves to protect those young boys from being sexually and psychologically terrorized, on their watches, no less, and seemingly with their knowledge.
It’s nothing more than a complete abandonment of the most fundamental responsibility of an institute of so-called higher education. It’s where Virginia failed with Yeardley Love and a fellow athlete and ex-boyfriend with a past record of alcohol and violence-related incidents. Where Notre Dame failed with Declan Sullivan on that windy day at football practice. Where Baylor failed with Patrick Dennehy, not only when a teammate killed him, but when his coach tried to taint his name to hide the coach’s own rules-breaking. Related on SN
Penn State community 'shocked' by Sandusky allegations Monday Nov 7 Penn State officials head to court on perjury charges Monday Nov 7 Joe Paterno: Shocked, saddened by sex abuse charges Sunday Nov 6 Curley, Schultz step down amid Penn State scandal Sunday Nov 6 Did Paterno do enough if Sandusky allegations true? Sadly, no Sunday Nov 6 Penn State bars ex-coach Sandusky from campus Sunday Nov 6 Penn State AD Curley, other administrator charged with perjury in Sandusky case Saturday Nov 5 Former Penn State assistant Sandusky faces felony sex abuse charges Friday Nov 4
It’s beyond youngsters in the care of careless adults. It’s adults that only care about themselves.
Being the athletic director or head coach or VP or president means more than grandstanding about integrity and principles. It’s lot more than being in the picture when the trophies are handed out and the confetti is flying, or when the ribbon is being cut on a new field house or library.
To paraphrase a very old saying, it’s what you do when nobody’s looking that determines what you’re really about.
And so far, Penn State has done absolutely nothing.
Nobody was looking when Sandusky allegedly forced himself on that boy nearly a decade ago. But somebody saw. Eventually, the biggest powers at the 44,000-student, billion-dollar-endowment flagship campus knew what had happened.
Now everybody is looking at how Paterno, Curley, Schultz and Spanier acted then, and how they’re reacting now.
Time keeps going by, yet none of them has the human decency, nor the responsibility of his position, to say, “You’re fired—and I’m going with you.”
Because that is what needs to happen.
I saw the headline and thought they were FINALLY going after Michael Mann for his research fraud.
Not even close...
Program for at risk youth run by the Perv who promised them football tickets and trips to see the locker room....
Great post.. Arrest them all. If you think Joe Paterno never heard of this ,,, I have a bridge to sell ya
JoePa won’t make it to Saturday. Who wants to see a game coached by a guy that knowingly allowed children to have contact with a predatory monster for 9 years? As sad as this is, many more sordid details will emerge along with more victims coming forward. This is a human tragedy and a disaster for athletics as well.
Well, I don’t know if Paterno will make it to Saturday, but I do know I would not want a PR job at Penn State right now.
Having read various articles and forums on this subject, I have to say that I now believe that everyone in a position of authority during this mess needs to be replaced and right now.
Will that happen? After having read so much about this I still don’t know. I don’t know how the football program can recover from this. Bad news, very bad news.
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