In defense of the "Paterno people"

onwardstate.com ^ | 1-3-14 | Kevin Horne

[FlJoePa]

By now, you’ve probably read Patriot News columnist David Jones’ rabble-rousing piece outlining some of the reasons behind Bill O’Brien’s departure — specifically quoting O’Brien during profanity laced tirade against so-called “Paterno people” that supposedly drove him right out of Happy Valley. If you haven’t, you should.

I couldn’t help but feel compelled the first time I read the story Tuesday night. On the surface, it has significant shock value and information you won’t find anywhere else. But then I read it again. And again. And now, three days later, I find myself reading it for the dozenth time and growing angrier and angrier at an ill-conceived quote that went viral and once again damaged our collective identity for no good reason.

Before I explain, let me make two things clear:

1. Joe Paterno’s legacy has no bearing on the ridiculousness of this story and O’Brien’s comments. It’s a complete non sequitur to the negative impact of this story as far as I’m concerned. Let’s not distract the point with those arguments.

2. I’m actually a big fan of David Jones. I don’t always agree with his opinion, but he’s one of the most eloquent and well-connected writers on the beat and I have immense respect for his work. No matter how angry you might be at Jones for this one, don’t let this incident devolve into ad hominem.

Now, to the story. Here’s an excerpt of a conversation Jones had with O’Brien in early December, which he left unpublished until Tuesday:

O’Brien’s ire also was raised that day by my suggestion that a faction of Joe Paterno-era loyalists seemed to me to be miffed by Vanderlinden’s departure or dismissal, depending upon their view, and that they might want some sort of explanation. The former linebackers coach had been the second-longest-tenured member of the staff, dating to 2000, one of only two remaining staff members hired by the legendary coach. This really got O’Brien going:

“You can print this: You can print that I don’t really give a —- what the ‘Paterno people’ think about what I do with this program. I’ve done everything I can to show respect to Coach Paterno. Everything in my power. So I could really care less about what the Paterno faction of people, or whatever you call them, think about what I do with the program. I’m tired of it.

“For any ‘Paterno person’ to have any objection to what I’m doing, it makes me wanna put my fist through this windshield right now.”

This entire exchange is just a head scratcher. It was doomed from the beginning, starting from when Jones made the false assertion that “Paterno loyalists” specifically were miffed about the Vanderlinden dismissal. I’ve heard very few people mention the Paterno connection as a reason to be upset about Vanderlinden’s departure. No, people are confused about the Vanderlinden dismissal because he was a great coach, independent of his Paterno affiliation.

Is O’Brien really so thin skinned that he can’t understand why fans would want answers about why one of the best position coaches in the country was fired? I don’t know why Vanderlinden was dismissed, and I trust that O’Brien had a good reason for his dismissal. But to fault fans for questioning a decision to let a coach go, with no explanation, who seemingly developed Pro Bowl-caliber linebackers year in and year out? That has nothing to do with Joe Paterno, and they’re fair questions to ask.

The second part of the exchange is just as absurd: “So I could really care less about what the Paterno faction of people, or whatever you call them, think about what I do with the program. I’m tired of it.”

This is coming from a man who was one of the most ubiquitously loved college football coaches in the entire country. In two years, I can count the number of Penn State fans on one hand — Paterno loyalist or otherwise — who did not support Bill O’Brien. To claim that Paterno loyalists were in any large number against O’Brien or what he did with the program is a lie. O’Brien was adored at Penn State by essentially everyone in the community — I suspect only a handful of coaches would have a higher approval rating at any level of football.

Sure, some of the more traditional fans were upset about O’Brien’s decision to put names on the jerseys and a few other small decisions. They have a right to be, because for many people, tradition is important and change is hard. But even the fans upset about those relatively inconsequential changes almost always supported and loved O’Brien.

Obviously, O’Brien had plenty of valid reasons to leave. Coaching in the NFL is the top of the profession, and he made no secret that it was a dream of his. He’ll undoubtedly be making more money. Now he can just coach football instead of being forced to act as an ambassador for he university, something he never really embraced. But, to tell David Jones that the reasons for leaving Penn State are fans questioning a high-profile coaching change and fans being unhappy with the direction of the program? The former is reasonable; the latter is simply untrue.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an instance of confirmation bias — David Jones, after all, coined the term “JoeBots” to describe the folks that are still fighting to restore Paterno’s legacy. Jones asserts “Some of his frustrations revolved around what he saw as the lack of leadership at Penn State” but offers no flippant quotes or insults about that nugget. And then again, maybe O’Brien does actually harbor some deep-seated hatred for any fan who dare question the departure of the best linebackers coach in the country. I don’t understand it, but it could be true.

So why do I care? If this was just a typical Jones column that gets passed around for a day or two and then falls into the abyss, as most things tend to do on the Internet, it wouldn’t really matter. But telling Joe Paterno loyalists to fuck off was, of course, too much for the national media to pass up.

More than 41,000 articles now show up on Google that include the terms “O’Brien” and “Paterno people”. Almost every national outlet picked up the story — ESPN, USA Today, Yahoo, Fox, Daily News, Washington Post, Sporting News, Philadelphia Magazine, and Chicago Tribune just to name ten. Of course, the articles didn’t mention the fact that almost every Penn Stater loved and embraced O’Brien — that we believed in him almost unequivocally and that, ultimately, he had honest NFL aspirations all along. No, that quote and those articles paint a picture of a crazy Penn State cult that ran O’Brien out of town like a bunch of lunatics, a situation that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s an incredibly damaging narrative, and there’s no going back at this point.

Steve Jones had similar things to say on his radio show yesterday. Jones dedicated the first 15 minutes to discussing the article, saying “I don’t think (Dave Jones) had it quite right.”

“I think more context was needed beyond everyone just picking up this story,” Jones said. “You can’t paint with a broad brush unless you come to the table with a full palette. Dave needs a fuller palette to give perspective on what this actually means.”

Just another day at Penn State, where one off-the-record, fallacious quote paints the entire community as an insufferable cult. Here’s to a new coach and a new era.

[Thumper1960]

Please. “Scoutmaster” conjures up the suspicious possibility that transference is in effect here.
I mean, what better way to get close to little boys than that? And to cast aspersions on others while being stridently ramrod straight edge is classic subterfuge.

You see, making outlandish claims without facts is easy to do and is the hallmark of an Alinskyist mentality.

The enemy is among us.

[CatherineofAragon]

"For all we know, you have turned a blind eye while dozens of children have been raped, sodomized, assaulted, filmed and photographed.

At least Paterno was in the glare of competent investigators who made the determination he had no culpability.

He has exonerating investigations on his side. You don’t."

Thumper, I understand that you can't bear to hear denouncement of the object of your cult of personality. I see that you respond with hysteria and irrationality.

I would advise you to take some kind of calming medication and lie down.

You have a good night, now.

[FlJoePa]

We keep fighting. Even on the west coast:

Upon Further Review, San Diego, CA, Sat. 1/11/14 1000AM Hilton-Bayfront

Franco Harris will host UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Hilton San Diego Bayfront 1 Park Boulevard San Diego, California Featured Speakers:

John U. Bacon, author, Fourth and Long, the Fight for the Soul of College Football

Steven Fink, CEO, Lexicon Corporation, Crisis Management and Communications

Ryan Bagwell, Penn State Sunshine Fund

Ray Blehar. Analyst/Investigator notpsu.blogspot.com)

Anthony Lubrano, PSU Trustee

John Zieger, FramingPaterno.com

[Thumper1960]

On the contrary. You make the charges, now back them up with evidence.
If you can’t, well......what does that say about your ability to think rationally and with clarity?
You are as the baying hound, joining in with the other baying hounds. Calling to the Moon, an object you cannot grasp the reality of, yet wish to make known your presence to.
So, prove you are NOT an aider and abettor to child abuse and be found innocent of such....as was Paterno.

[Lurker]

Bite me. Penn State should be burned to the ground and land sown with salt.

[Thumper1960]

I do believe that a large number of “FReepers” are Liberal moles, either knowingly or unwittingly. Their ignorance and vacuous posts belie their presence.

Witness the absurdity of the “insults”. If you do not follow their lead, you are pro-pedophilia, a cultist, an apologist for child abuse, etc.

I deal in facts. Not in emotionalism or the the flavor of the day parade.

[Thumper1960]

Feeling a bit guilty about your own perversions, eh?

Better you deal with your own demons and latent feelings of guilt than wish that others be erased from existence.

I do hope you seek some sort of therapy for that irrational hate you harbor for an innocent man. Try to accomplish something with your life, as he and his family have. It certainly will make you a better human being.

[gusty]

Hear, Hear. Spare me from the weirdo, jock sniffing, pedophile ignoring supporters of the old senile selfish egomaniac strange little man Joe Paterno.

[FlJoePa]

This is where they always stop commenting on these threads because they realize they’ve been confronted with irrefutable FACTS, and they just move on to something else.

[Thumper1960]

The gusty fart blew in too late to have much effect.

Multitudes have and always will respect Paterno the man.

Sticks in your craw, don’t it?

As they say, deal with your disappointments. It will make you stronger.

[Lurker]

The fact is that Paterno allowed a pedophile to remain in his employ. Whether or not that made his black soul legally culpable is entirely irrelevant.

He knew children were being raped by one of his people. And he kept that person on his payroll.

Everything else is a distraction. Everything.

Paterno is being buggered by Satan. I hope it continues for 10,000 years.

Now piss off.

[Thumper1960]

A new car to chase down the street. When you can’t catch the Corvette you’ve been pursuing, you gallop after the beatdown Yugo putting along.

I am confident in knowing the facts as they have come out, and I accept them. Had it turned out differently, I would have still accepted the facts. Reality is reality. You either grow from the starkness of it all or you become a stunted, useless, pitiful tool that will be manipulated by stronger forces than yourself.

[Thumper1960]

Too bad for you that your fantasy is diametrically opposed to reality.

You have no proof, only your damaged internal compass that forces you to hate.

Maybe your abuser never met with justice, but that doesn’t mean that the innocent must pay for your being cheated out of that justice.

Get help, grow up, be a man.

[FlJoePa]

Your twisted mind is so devoid of facts with regard to this case, that I don’t know where to begin. You do know that js was a retired coach in 2001 (MM shower, victim #2), correct? Let’s start there.

[FlJoePa]

A PSU Linebacker responds to onward state:

The following was submitted by Penn State linebacker and Uplifting Athletes President Ben Kline as an open letter to Nittany Nation.

The organic love of a group of student athletes for both sport and school is an underestimated power. It is this that propelled our athletic program to the upper echelon of collegiate athletics, and this that brought our school out of some of the darkest times that a university has ever known.

The purity of collegiate athletes is what separates college athletics from all others and makes it beautiful. As student athletes, we make our impact on a university before the corrupting influences of wealth and power take over our ambitions. It is the athlete, therefore, that is the steward of a university’s athletic department. It is the athlete who is the purist manifestation of the ideal of collegiate athletics — an ideal that states that the honor of representing one’s university on the field of play is more than enough compensation for the sacrifices necessary to fulfill that role. We don’t have salaries, bonuses, contract negotiations, and buyout clauses. There are no endorsements to be made, no checks to collect. There is simply the opportunity to positively represent our university on the field of competition, and to simultaneously chase our personal dreams. For us, this is enough. This is what matters.

Football is a game that is built on the backs of players. It is built on the backs of the men who battle between the lines on game day, not the men who roam the sideline or sit in the press box. No matter how influential, legendary, or brilliant a coach may be, without the performance and production of the players on the field, none of a coach’s achievements are possible, nor is the potential of the team fulfilled. Penn State Football has been fortunate enough to be led by great coaches in the past. I myself was fortunate enough to play for two of them, one an unquestioned legend and the other a brilliant leader. Their contributions to our football program cannot be overstated. However, both of the aforementioned coaches could not have achieved any of their accomplishments without the players whom they oversaw.

The standard among Penn State Football Players will never change. Toughness, Resiliency, Competitiveness — these are the traits that Penn State Football is known for. This is not by accident. This is the standard that has been created by the players of the past, and passed down to the current players. This is the standard that will be passed on to future players. This standard is what motivates me, and I know it is what motivates many of my teammates. At the end of the day, this is what makes Penn State Football great, because this is the lifeblood of our football program. Coaches will come and go. Fear not. The roots of Penn State Football are far too deep to allow the whirlwinds of staff changes to shake us. This program is built and maintained by the players. Our great lettermen have established the standard. We will continue to try to live up to it, and see that it is passed on.

We will not let this program falter. I know my teammates, and I know the resiliency and competitive spirit that burns inside each and every one of us. I know the pride that we feel towards this University, and the love that we feel towards this fan base. We will not let this generation of players be known as the group that let Penn State Football fade into the shadows of inadequacy. We will not allow the tradition to dwindle, or the standard to fall.

When we made our commitment two years ago, it was not to a coach. It was to a University. It was to a football program. It was to every letterman who came before us, and to every fan who has ever cheered for the Blue and White. It was to our teammates, to the fraternity of the locker room. This is where our commitment lies, and this will not change. Penn State Football is far bigger than one person, one team, one generation. Our commitment is to Penn State Football.

Rest easy, Nittany Nation. I know the men who constitute our locker room, the men who go to war on Saturdays in the fall, the men who sweat and bleed for this program year round. Our football program is in good hands, no matter who the coach is. It always has been. It always will be.

We Are!

–Ben Kline

[03A3]

McQueary reported to Paterno that he witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the shower. I believe some university officials were charged with perjury for saying McQueary said it was only horseplay.

Bottom line is Paterno knew and did nothing so as to protect his bogus image. May he rot in hell.

[FlJoePa]

Where did you get that information from? That would be ground breaking! Please contact the PA OAG immediately, as they could use your help in trying desperately (after 3 years) to prosecute GS/GS/TC.

This is really a revelation, if true.

See...MM’s testimony said nothing of the sort. In fact he said that he never witnessed any sort of rape or sexual abuse. In fact, he didn’t see anything. He just heard some sounds and slammed a locker.

Keep getting your “facts” from the MSM. You are their target audience and they depend on you. Nice to see you don’t disappoint them.

You might want to look at, and actually read post #20.

[03A3]

McQueary testified that Sandusky was “engaged in a molestation act with a minor”. But dont let those facts get in the way of your agenda. As a matter of fact you’re absolutely right. Jerry Sandusky was only concerned with the boy’s hygiene and was ensuring that he bathe properly washing every nook and cranny. As a matter of fact Jerry was such a caring and conscientious guy he should be canonized immediately.

This is why people outside of Penn State think that Penn State is such a sick culture. Unfortunately this would probably play out the same at numerous other schools as well.

I’m just pissed off that I have to work with Penn State grads in the oil patch. Sick Phucks.

[alarm rider]

Somehow, when I saw the headline, I figured it would be from you. By the way, did you ever answer the question of who you are and why you are such a Paterno suck-up?

[IrishBrigade]

Only a fool, a pedophile, or a member of the Ped State Football Uber Alles cult could suspend enough disbelief to say with a straight face that Paterno was not aware of the crimes committed against innocent boys on his watch.

...question is, at what point of time are you talking...we all know he was informed of the behavior in 2001, and reacted as we know by running it up the PSU chain of command, where, to no one’s great surprise, it died...the larger and more important question is his knowledge, or lack of, in 1999, when Sandusky, still Paterno’s employee, was being investigated...if he knew the nature of the investigation, that then renders his action in 2001 minimalist and actually risible, given his stature there...but if he didn’t know the specifics, that changes the equation...

...btw, in a prior ‘conversation’ had with the original poster,(who actually has no interest in conversing, as it detracts from his harangue), I was huffily informed that it was ‘illegal’ for Joe to know anything about the 1999 investigation...just a little aside to show the unlimited journies into the netherworld some are determined to take this topic...

...we’ll probably never know what Joe knew in 1999, so we must give him the benefit of that doubt, and accept his 2001 actions for what they are...more saddening than anything, however, in all of this is that Joe, even into his final days, maintained he had little reponsibility in this matter simply because Sandusky no longer reported to him...quite a lame response, when one considers that it was Joe himself who brought Sandusky into the program as a full time member...