Tried, convicted, and executed by the press. Congratulation to the board of trustees bowing to public pressure, which seems to be de rigor these days, instead of showing any semblance of leadership or loyalty. They should have placed him on administrative leave instead. This would have allowed this to get resolved in court, then, if he had been proven to be involved in covering this up in any way, then they could have taken action. In my opinion this is premature and reactionary.
I think they did it, out of concern that the games both at Penn State and on the road, were going to devolve into circuses if Paterno was still on the sidelines...frankly I don’t see how he could coach under those circumstances, it’s almost as if they did it for his own good. Let him focus fulltime on restoring his reputation, without having to be distracted by coaching.
All those on FR who defend this serial homosexual child-rapist enabler (Joe Paterno) have not read the Grand Jury report.
Now thank the Lord your grandson wasn't brought into the Penn State shower room by Sandusky when Joe Paterno was in charge...!
#1 - They already had his legal testimony -- given before the Grand Jury. (There was enough there to fire him -- even if not enough to convict him of anything)
#2 Silence IS a cover-up. You don't have to "prove" the negative (the silence). The silence itself is the cover of darkness. You can see the light through the darkness -- and there was no light within the Penn State staff who knew what went on.
#3 While the Board may have considered legal guilt re: the President (Spanier), the Board didn't need to base the Paterno decision on that. Rather it had enough -- common sense ethics and moral decision-making -- to render a decision. And both of these failed horrifically within the Penn State system -- horifically and systematically.
From the viewpoint of a trustee, you first fire the persons in the cross hairs to limit liability and culpability back to yourself.
By firing Paterno, they limit an investigative path to themselves.
It was overdue! Both men, if they had any self-respect would have resigned on their own.