Posted on 01/14/2012 3:09:53 PM PST by Zakeet
Joe Paterno sat in a wheelchair at the family kitchen table where he has eaten, prayed and argued for more than a half-century. All around him family members were shouting at each other, yet he was whispering. His voice sounded like wind blowing across a field of winter stalks, rattling the husks. Lung cancer has robbed him of the breath to say all that he wants to about the scandal he still struggles to comprehend, and which ended his career as head football coach at Penn State University. The words come like gusts. "I wanted to build up, not break down," he said.
[Snip]
Paterno's hope is that time will be his ally when it comes to judging what he built, versus what broke down. "I'm not 31 years old trying to prove something to anybody," he said. "I know where I am." This is where he is: wracked by radiation and chemotherapy, in a wheelchair with a broken pelvis, and "shocked and saddened" as he struggles to explain a breakdown of devastating proportions. Jerry Sandusky, his former assistant coach at Penn State from 1969 to 1999, is charged with more than 50 counts of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period. If Sandusky is guilty, "I'm sick about it," Paterno said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
“... Am I suppose to believe that a 70 year old man didn’t know about child predators?”
I know many gentlemen in their 70’s and 80’s. All of them know that a man can rape a male child. This act is not new to “our” generation. I don’t agree one bit with the “I didn’t know that type of abuse could happen” defense.
“the only thing I would add is that the reaction of the Penn State community...alumni, current students, and especially, the people now in charge has been incredible. Too little, too quiet and too late. This brand is dead. “
not so.
Alumni are sickened, but are rallying around the school.
He’s disgusting.
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It’s not only rape, it’s torture, when a large man like Sandusky is anally raping 8 and 9 year-olds.
Apparently the PSU Berkey Creamery ice cream named after Sandusky was a flavor, not a sundae construction, so the picture you saw must have been created by a "humorist".
Not true. The photo of the sexually explicit ice cream treat was a joke. Did Rush Limbaugh really fall for that?
Disgusting...the adults have yet to be heard from in central Pennsylvania.
If you want to lash out at the "conservatives" that are judging Joe badly, you go right ahead and support the enabler. Paterno might as well have raped those little boys himself. Paterno was a King on campus and had he wanted to keep Sandusky away from the sports program, he could have.
If we have no business judging Paterno from afar, what business do you have judging us from afar? Everybody is entitled to their opinion and you can go wag your righteous finger somewhere else, AFAIC.
Joe Pa shouldn’t be blamed for this garbage. Its not like he didn’t report it to the Penn State Administrators. They didn’t do their duty in reporting it to the police. Could Joe Pa been more aggressive in the matter? Sure but if you report a crime and nothing gets done who’s fault is that? Your comment about hurrying Joe Pa to hell is disgusting. Make sure you don’t go there instead.
Excellent post, JDB. Thank you.
Who is this guy kidding?
“the scandal he still struggles to comprehend”
he cannot be this stupid, what didnt he understand
Thank you.
“Maybe some. But recent articles about the alumni meetings with the PSU president says alums are still complaining that Joepa was fired”
I don’t mean to speak for all.
Joe was respected - not for his football performance, many thought he should retired 10 years ago - but for his insistence that athletes perform scholastically. It was about having a program that was good that played by the rules. In that sense, Joe was respected... and many feel he should have played out the season and left with some respect. Others feel his ignoring the situation furthered it. Some feel both ways. I don’t know anyone in my family of many PSU alums who wants anything but to clean house ruthlessly and make things the way they should be.
It was similar in a way to Waco. The trustees, who should all be fired, burned the place down to save face. Alumni who respected Joe for other reasons want to know more to balance out the scale.
From outside, it is easy to generalize. Inside, it is heart wrenching to watch. The alumni are pissed off about the cover up and what it meant in the live of the kids who were abused - and also the damage it does to a reputation they liked. It isn’t as simple as most here are making it out to be. I understand they are getting info filtered selectively through the press. I hope some day the entire truth - good bad and ugly is made known.
None of that explanation means I support any of what happened, any abuse of children, or a desire for a pure reputation via coverup. I am broken-hearted about it all. I will generalize and say most adult alums have all those feelings too.
>> If Sandusky is guilty, “I’m sick about it,” Paterno said.
IF!!?!
Spare me, Paterno, you self centered sack of crap.
There was a time to DO something about it, not be “sick” about it — and you FAILED. Because your damned empire was more important than what is decent and what is right.
Die a slow painful death and rot in hell, Paterno, you son of a bitch.
“They should have come out IMMEDIATELY and said this is absolutely unforgivable and we will get to the bottom of this right now. “
agree 100% - and I want all the trustees to be fired too.
The Big 10 commissioner judged Paterno at a little closer range. He removed his name from the Big 10 football trophy.
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