BINGO! The school went knee jerk without thinking this out. Penn State will lose so much from this mess. Of course the school and football will survive but it will cost them so much more than just paying the 9 victims which by the way, If I was Penn State, I would ONLY pay the victims that were abused at the school. Why pay for a victim that was at the perps home or at the camp site that the school had nothing to do with it.
I don't agree. PSU would keep itself open to even more potential liability if they let Paterno stay. Although Paterno met the minimum legal requirement - he failed to live up to the implied moral obligation he had as a leading member of the university staff.
Additionally, the Board of Trustees had to consider the wider implications to the university as a whole. PSU is NOT just sports. Because of this incident, enrollment applications, booster funding, alumni funding, corporate funding, government grants, etc. are all affected. Not to mention the impact on recruiting in ALL sports - not just football.
As far as consulting the families - I would not say that it was necessary. The families have NO say in what PSU does vis-a-vis personnel matters. But, it would have been decent of the Board of Trustees to give the families a prior "heads-up" as to their decision BEFORE announcing it at a press conference.
I went to PSU and lived right across from the football practice facilities in the "Nittany Dorms". I saw Paterno quite frequently in the parking lot. Even got to speak to him from time to time, so I was more than a passing acquaintance. We rarely talked football.
At the time, my impresssion was that he was a decent, honorable man. He had scruples - such as when he benched players for getting drunk at the bars, or when he dismissed Paul Lankford from the team for being involved in a robbery.
He was forgiving, though. If drunk players went to counseling and kept their noses clean, they were allowed to play again. He told Lankford to man-up and admit his guilt, accept the court's punishment, serve a one-year dismissal [BUT remain in school at his own expense], and keep his nose clean. After the year was up [and Lankford met all of the requirements], he was re-instated onto the team.
This is why I am puzzled - the circumstances of this incident is NOT the Paterno I knew ...
I don’t know why the coverup should be so surprising to anyone. College towns have a long history of protecting their local stars.
Years ago an MSU basketball star and now former NBA star (I’d have to ask her which one) trashed my sister’s car with a baseball bat and kicked in the door of her off campus apartment. He was found not guilty despite the whole thing being caught on security cameras. MSU paid for the damage and that was the end of it.
I was there too ... Atherton Hall ... I had friends over in "the barracks" ... and I had the same experience with Paterno a few times on campus.
I will hold my judgment until this maniacal media frenzy is over. The frothing at the mouth on FR is more than I can stand. Sandusky should be strung up. Announce to the inmate population that he raped little boys ... he will get whats coming to him.
But if Paterno is found to have knowingly covered up for the guilty ... he should get the neighboring cell ... and that is a hard thing for this PSU alumn to wish upon JoePa.