Posted on 07/13/2012 12:55:16 PM PDT by PA BOOKENDS
I have to say, I’m disappointed and a little concerned by the reaction of some of my freeper friends to the Sandusky / Penn State scandal. Full disclosure: I graduated from PSU in 1970. Am not a member of the Alumni Association, have been back for, maybe, 5 games since 1970. Very much on the periphery of all things Penn State.
For the class of ‘70, the JoPa phenomenon (“JoPa” hadn’t even been coined, yet.) hadn’t materialized. Nevertheless, living in Pennsylvania, one could hardly be oblivious to the success of the football team or Paterno’s philosophy. We were happy to see someone who was not only successful, but successful with honor and class.
And this is what brings me to this vanity. So many of you seem to resent that very notion. You apparently held so much animus toward Paterno BEFORE ANY OF THIS EVER CAME OUT, that the very second it hit the fan you couldn’t wait to jump on the down-with-Joe bandwagon. Some of you exhibit so much glee at Joe’s downfall that you come very close to behaving as you accuse him – a willingness to throw a few boys under the bus if it can bring down JoPa & Penn State. Why do you take such joy in seeing a man’s lifework – GOOD work - destroyed?
That Joe couldn’t, perhaps, live up to the ideals he espoused doesn’t make the message any less worthwhile nor does it repudiate the good that he did do. In every sense, his life is the classic story of a Greek tragedy – something the Brown English major would understand!
And to those of you who are so cock-sure of how you would react in any given situation, it is with trepidation that I say: I hope you get the chance to find out.
The problem is that what JoePa allowed to happen in the end kind of retroactively destroys everything he did before. Any “honor and class” he had in the 70s must be looked at with eyes that say “but then he knowingly allowed a child molester free access to his facilities and helped cover it up”. How do we know there was any honor and class in the 70s? Given what we know he allowed and even assisted in the 00s who knows what was going on behind the scenes in the 70s. Once you find out what was behind the veneer you can’t unlearn it, you have to assume that corruption was always there.
I haven’t knocked Joe Paterno for this obvious “cover-up”. I have been knocking him for years but it has nothing to do with the Sandusky issue.
I remember Joe Paterno crying real crocodile tears...bawling like a baby...real tears flowing down his face...in the late 70s...on national TV, saying, “Ah wanna be numba one.”
My unpublished response to that was, “Hey, Joe! You have to play football games against real football teams! Having the local children’s orphanage and the nun’s convent on your schedule won’t EVER get you to numba one”!
THAT’s why I don’t and have never liked him. :-)
I suspect now former Penn State players are going to start coming out of the woodwork and telling us that JoePa wasn’t the man everybody thought he was....I suspect there was a “code of silence” among former players, that is now lifted.
I've developed thread hijacking to a very high level.
I was in a composite Towed Vulcan/Chaparral battalion in Germany. Our mission was air base defense. During my 4 year tour, I was a platoon leader for both systems, followed by maintenance officer, Assistant S-3, and finished up as the S-4.
I loved almost every minute, save for my 6 months as maintenance officer.
The advantage Chaparral had over the Vulcans was the location of Annual Service Practice: Crete vs. Todendorf. Northern Germany is unbelievably frigid during February, although summer ASP was ok.
There were a whole series of loathsome acts at Penn State.
The university deserves the coming suspension and lawsuits...
The NCAA needs to come out immediately and offer any current Penn State players to transfer to other Division I schools without having to sit out a year.
Joe Pa’s character was revealed to all because of his orchestration of the Sandusky cover-up. Don’t say he didn’t make the decision; everyone knew that Paterno ran Penn State and that crossing him would end anyone’s job at the school.
I never cared for him, especially when Alabama was screwed over twice in three years in football games by refs beholden to Paterno.
He cared more about his public image than a bunch of boys being sexually brutalized. NOTHING can offset that even in the slightest degree.
Jim Boeheim, of Syracuse, is no better than Paterno because he had to know Bernie Fine was molesting boys, too. Even worse is that people at ESPN knew what was going on in the Syracuse basketball program and did nothing because so many of them are graduates from the ‘Cuse and wanted to protect their school.
they seem to be pooh-poohing the report so far, supporting their cult of personality, joe tse tung
This whole affair is an affirmation of the whole concept of “original sin”. Man is inherently evil - all of us - and except for the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, none can be saved.
But God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, forgives us of our sins.
And if God can forgive Joe Paterno, and Jerry Sandusky as well, if they choose (or chose) to accept His grace, it is not my place to offer any further judgement.
What they did was sinful, God will either forgive or demand payment, it is not for me to decide.
The justice system will mete out justice for those involved while they are here on earth. Again, unless I am asked to be a party to the trials, it is not for me to decide.
I believe that God will extend his arms to all involved in this sordid affair. He can, in fact, make all things whole and right, and bring healing where required as well as forgiveness. I pray that all those involved can find the help and healing that they need.
the janitors knew but feared for their jobs, thus keeping silent
Obviously the Paterno kool-aid spin machine is in hyperdrive. I suppose you also support former Pedo State President Spanier who may have been fired but is still a tenured professor. Did you realize that he was run out of town on a rail by the University of Nebraska and that his dissertation was on wife-swapping? Did you also know that he vowed to make Pedo State the most “gay-friendly” university in the country? Pedo State needs to be bulldozed to the ground and then nuked from orbit just to be sure. OK, maybe that’s a little overkill, but Pedo State should receive the death penalty and not be allowed to field a football team for ten years. And erase all mention of Paterno from Pedo State, especially that horrendous statue.
I also find it curious that when Sandusky left Penn State in 1999, few schools reached out to him, I remember at the time that Sandusky was a defensive coaching legend, who certainly would have been at the top of many schools’ wish lists. Yet few offers came his way. I find that very odd, and as Aldo Rayne said in Inglorious Basterds, “We gotta word for that kinda odd in English, it’s called ‘Suspicious’”
Joe Pa did not make it happen. He let it continue.
Reminds me of the last Seinfeld episode where they all went to prison for goofing on the criminal instead of stopping the criminal. Only the consequences of Pa’s inaction was much more damaging. Children’s lives were destroyed
Yup! After Dad passed I spent a couple of years at Duquesne. (And AF ROTC) But the money started to run out and AF basically told me they wouldn’t put me in a flight crew.
I rebelled again and transfered to Pitt. Big mistake. They wouldn’t let UG’s near “the machine” under Pitt stadium.
Plus there were many conflicts with most of the profs...except the one hippy, dirty, unkempt, assistant prof I had for logic, math or something.
She and I got along VERY well but in the end, one night at Gustine’s, she told me to escape, run...trying to figure things out would make a sane person nuts. She was losing grip on reality trying to resolve things.
She did go nuts. In a rantfest she offed herself.
Officially it was supposed to be drugs but I knew she wasn’t into that...like me she only did beer...Iron City and very little.
I never graduated. Had to go to work to support my mom. A few years later I married my childhood sweety.
That’s when I REALLY started to drink.
;-)
Evacuate the place.
Burn it to the ground.
Salt the earth so nothing grows back.
Happy Valley is like a Hermit Kingdom, nestled in the middle of nowhere, accessible only by plane, especially in the wintertime......they had complete control over the media, they would pull credentials in a heartbeat if anyone dare say anything bad about the program. That’s why Sandusky/Paterno got away with things there they could not have gotten away with at other schools.
For the class of ‘84, the JoPa phenomenon was going full force and many of us enjoyed college football and had fun with the cheers and chants including”JoPa” at these games. Nevertheless, living in Pennsylvania, one could hardly be oblivious to the idol worship of Paterno and the football team. We were happy to see a successful “hometown college team” but actually discussed our reservations about the power Joe Paterno wielded at the school even outside of football program.
And this is what brings me to this response. Some of you seem to be blinded to the very real evidence that Joe Paterno held his “legacy” and power as more important than the destruction of young lives. You apparently have a serious problem with the truth and you hold so much animus toward anyone who would dare question your perception and idolization of Paterno BEFORE ANY OF THIS EVER CAME OUT, that the very second it hit the fan you couldn't’t wait to jump on the UP-with-Joe bandwagon, Joe did so much good, Joe had honor and class.....
Some of you exhibit so much obtuseness at Joe’s real character that you come very close to demonstrating a sickening willingness to write off the tragic destruction of young lives in defense of JoPa and Penn State and declaring your complete lack of understanding of the true meaning of honor and class. Why do you continue to believe that evil should be ignored so that you can pretend that his PR is more real than his lack of morals, character and integrity as demonstrated by his close association with and support of evil for decades?
Here PA Bookends I fixed the first half of you ridiculous post with my perspective. I couldn't stomach the rest.
For the class of ‘84, the JoPa phenomenon was going full force and many of us enjoyed college football and had fun with the cheers and chants including”JoPa” at these games. Nevertheless, living in Pennsylvania, one could hardly be oblivious to the idol worship of Paterno and the football team. We were happy to see a successful “hometown college team” but actually discussed our reservations about the power Joe Paterno wielded at the school even outside of football program.
And this is what brings me to this response. Some of you seem to be blinded to the very real evidence that Joe Paterno held his “legacy” and power as more important than the destruction of young lives. You apparently have a serious problem with the truth and you hold so much animus toward anyone who would dare question your perception and idolization of Paterno BEFORE ANY OF THIS EVER CAME OUT, that the very second it hit the fan you couldn't’t wait to jump on the UP-with-Joe bandwagon, Joe did so much good, Joe had honor and class.....
Some of you exhibit so much obtuseness at Joe’s real character that you come very close to demonstrating a sickening willingness to write off the tragic destruction of young lives in defense of JoPa and Penn State and declaring your complete lack of understanding of the true meaning of honor and class. Why do you continue to believe that evil should be ignored so that you can pretend that his PR is more real than his lack of morals, character and integrity as demonstrated by his close association with and support of evil for decades?
Here PA Bookends I fixed the first half of you ridiculous post with my perspective. I couldn't stomach the rest.
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