Posted on 11/07/2011 9:23:41 PM PST by Colofornian
For every moment Joe Paterno keeps his job as Penn State's head coach, the institution as a whole and the athletic department in particular loses a significant amount of credibility.
Paterno must be fired immediately for not appropriately reporting his knowledge of the despicable, horrific, mortifying, inhumane sexual crimes Jerry Sandusky is accused of committing against young boys -- some of which happened at Penn State's athletic facilities, according to a Pennsylvania attorney general report. The problem, though, is some of the people in charge of making such a decision to fire Paterno have been equally culpable of failing to properly investigate and report Sandusky's alleged actions.
For that, the parties who turned away from the allegations are just as deplorable of human beings. Their ability to hold positions of power at an educational institution is disgustingly pathetic and disturbing. Everyone involved with Penn State has to feel ashamed that the school's greatest icon can hear claims of rape on campus and fail to notify the police.
Part of the irony is Paterno almost certainly swept it under the rug in 2002 to preserve his reputation as one of the greatest coaches in sports history. He protected Sandusky -- Paterno's assistant for more than three decades and a heralded defensive coordinator who was considered to be Paterno's successor before retiring in 1999 -- to keep his program's sterling record intact.
Now, with the truth laid out in court records, Paterno's abhorrent irresponsibility should be his undoing. It shouldn't just be a stain on his Hall of Fame résumé. It should be the single most dominant aspect of a shattered reputation.
Whether Sandusky is found guilty is not the issue here. Paterno was told of at least one alleged incident when Sandusky was raping a boy in the showers of a Penn State football locker room, the report states. Paterno passed the information along to athletic director Tim Curley a day later, according to the report, attended a meeting about the incident and then never let it publicly surface.
This should never have been about football or a chain of command at a university. From the moment Paterno knew of these allegations, he should have made sure they were handled appropriately. He is responsible for that much -- if not for being the figurehead of the university, then for acting like an actual human being.
Sandusky may have destroyed countless lives with sick, twisted selfishness. (If you've got the stomach for it, you can read the grand jury testimony here or the attorney general's press release here.) The mental anguish of the victims will haunt them for an eternity, and the helpless feeling of their families will extend to no end.
And this is what Penn State stands for? Is that worth the sanctity of two national championships or the race to boast the winningest coach in college football history?
If so, Sandusky's alleged path of destruction deterred the judgment of everyone around him at Penn State. By not acting, Paterno, Curley and the university's senior vice president, Gary Schultz, used their moral compass to deem appalling behavior of which Sandusky is accused as actually acceptable enough to protect some victories on the football field.
The totality of this merits one of the most disgusting scandals in sports history.
For this, Paterno's legacy as a brilliant football mind means nothing -- absolutely nothing. His lack of judgment, as a human being in charge of representing so much for Penn State and the college football world, is pathetic.
Paterno no longer deserves to go out on his own accord. He lost that freedom nearly a decade ago, even if it's only being brought to light now.
Sandusky has been painted as a dirtbag whose revolting actions were concealed by Paterno. Penn State must fire the legendary coach immediately if it wants to save the smallest iota of decency.
See my last part of post #20...insurance will likely cover most if not all.
Check this out, appropriate title, written in 2000.
Should call them the Nittany Lyin's
Penn State is a BASTION of Liberalism...
The only shocking thing in this article is how long it stayed under cover, even though Administration officials KNEW it was going on.
They've earned it...
Any sponsors that renew their Penn State athletic event sponsorship should have their marketing head examined and be properly boycotted.
Yup. Penn STATE -- with the "state" (citizens) footing the bill.
Isn't it 'bout time that the government -- the STATE -- get out of the pedophile & cover-up biz?
1) Oh okay so you think the media does not have a left wing bias???? Please don’t tell me you REALLY believe that!
2) Joe reported what he found out as he should. However, you wanted him to go some quest without all the facts and with what authority? There are procedures when you find an employee doing something wrong. Joe did the proper response. To say he some how knew all the facts and participated in some sort of cover up is B.S.
It’s obvious you have some sort of beef agains Joe Paterno. Your judgement of him at best is pure assinime.
I'm a Penn State fan and I would give JoePa the benefit of the doubt if this was about bling or recruitment and I know Paterno doesn't approve of this perverted behavior but he was protecting the "Old Boy Network" for absolutely the wrong thing. For that lack of judgment he needs to go.
Actually, he is alleged to have known the details but somehow when he passed information up the chain anal rape magically turned into fondling.
If that is detirmined to be true as alledged as this plays out then Joe needs to spend his last years in a cell, which won’t be near the hell those kids lives are but its the best we can do.
As long as Joe Paterno follow State College procedures, then you have nothing.
Yes. There was an allegation. He reported the allegation. He apparently thought he knew Sandusky, and figured there was no way he’d be doing what he was alleged to have done, and since the investigation went nowhere, that could well have convinced him that he was right. People who are invested in other people have a very hard time believing those other people could really do bad things, and even if you have multiple accusers, Paterno was likely to still believe the denials, because that’s what he wanted to believe.
Shoule he be fired for trusting his friend? I mean, if any evidence shows that he was aware of more than he spoke about, that’s a totally different situation.
Frankly, and I’m a fan of Penn State and Paterno, I think he should resign. Maybe that would be unfair, but the story is going to suck the life out of Penn state, and even unsubstantiated allegations that Paterno knew something are going to make it impossible for Penn State to come through this, so long as Paterno is still there.
Sometimes, even being technically innocent isn’t enough.
And he could actually be guilty — I’m not trying to try the case for him. I’m just saying that “even if” he is innocent, he should resign for the good of the program.
This was in the WSJ:
“He (Sandusky) married the former Dorothy Gross of Chattanooga, Tenn. With no natural children of their own, they eventually adopted six children.”
POS Leftist Head Hunters, looking for next trophy
where is ANY of this outrage of cover up directed at the higher up command of the muslime that killed all those troppers at Ft Hood, or ALL THE COVER for obama in his deceptions?
this whole thing is pathetic
why hasn’t any of these head hunters gone after obamas line of lies and indepth invetigations at who the hell he is???
However, one thing that i do think needs to be at least considered is whether the grad asst McQueary actually did go into full detail about the incident with Paterno (and later the other higher ups) as he claims, or whether he had downplayed it, merely saying he saw Sandusky and the boy horsing around together in the shower. The grand jury believed McQueary and not the others, especially Curley and the other official, but i'm not as convinced.
After all, McQueary stumbled upon a horrific crime taking place and yet didn't stop it, didn't call 911. So he may have been reluctant to describe what he saw in more than a vague way, for then everyone would wonder why he didn't immediately intervene and rescue the boy. Therefore he may have watered it down in order that he wouldn't come off looking weak, especially in front of his former head coach and current boss. And Paterno definitely is not the type of man you want to look weak in front of.
So then years later it comes to trial and this time he, for whatever reason, is ready to finally give a full account to what he witnessed. But this suddenly puts him in another predicament. For he would surely realize that it would be in his best interest to say that this was the version he had told all along, since if he admits that he had initially only portrayed it as horsing around and such, then the blame falls on him for not reporting the incident accurately.
This is just something that occurs to me as a possible alternate scenario, one that would put things in a slightly better light for Paterno and the other PSU higher ups. For i am not at all convinced that McQueary is of a particularly strong character and someone that can be totally relied upon.
Paterno’s gotta go. Now. Like it or not, this is the legacy he will leave behind.
As for who had what obligation to report what to whom, I can’t think of ANY scenario where I’m not telling the story to a police officer or detective FIRST, and my boss second.
Telling his boss, which he helped select, is not an adequate explanation. Paterno should have gone to the police.
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