Sometimes life comes down to a few key moments. A path taken--or not taken. Sadly for Joe Paterno, a life richly filled with good choices will forever be stained with one, inconceivable decision. For the Trustees of Penn State University, the decision to fire Paterno and school president Graham Spanier was the first step in making the right decision for the school and the victims of this tragedy.
As the wife of a Notre Dame alum and huge football fan, I've always been in awe of school athletic programs like Notre Dame and Penn State that manage to focus on not just athletics, but academics and character development. It's a select group of admirable universities. In the case of Penn State and Joe Paterno, that storied history must sadly be rewritten. Reading the coverage of all that's happened in the child molestation scandal that is unfolding, it is impossible not to be furious and demand, "How could this happen?" These men have an obligation -- a duty -- to protect their students and all children. Where was the one voice of reason to say, "Whatever it costs us on the field, we must take drastic action?" Where was a single man or woman in authority (incidentally, there's been scant mention of women in the school's chain of command) who was willing to put the safety of children ahead of the false gridiron piety and morality for the TV audience watching on Saturdays.
Sadly, Joe Paterno is right -- he should have done more. He most certainly did not do enough. I'm a believer that you must always try and make things right, accept responsibility, and change. Last night, the University Trustees recognized what Paterno and his supporters could not: his actions and those of others around him meant his career had to end immediately. Allowing him to step on the field for one more Saturday would have been a further outrage to the families of the victims who will be dealing with the ramifications of the case long after Penn State's football team has moved on.
As we find ourselves surrounded by the photos of Jerry Sandusky in hand cuffs, JoePa with microphones in his face, and stunned townies and students gathering outside Coach Paterno's home - all we can do now is pray that this ugly storm will hasten the time when no one will ever again remain silent from a horror observed. This story, like so many others, reminds us all we have a responsibility to check our moral compass daily in big and small ways. In the end, no win, trophy or touchdown can possibly replace the loss of what's most fundamental about our own time on life's playing field.
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Danny Groner: The Fall of False God Joe Paterno at Penn State
I'm sorry, but if I had a coworker who I knew was raping children, there is no way I could just go about business with him like nothing happened, my regular pal, it's all good, and etc. That whole gang of them must be a seriously sick bunch.
My guess is that the staggering amounts of money drove the coverup and status quo.
Time for a grand jury with a team of accountants to find out what has really been going down.
Go after Sandusky.
This entire scandal just proves these features are just brands for these programs. The people involved are just selling us this garbage so they can make money and boatloads of it.
I have seen countless references to how great a man Paterno was because he gave the university $4 million over a 68 year career. The last 20 or so where he was likely getting paid by Penn State that much in a season or two. Again, it turns out that was just the cost of doing business for Paterno. More legend building than sincere.
His lack of concern for Sandusky's victims is apparent through his actions. paterno is not, nor has not been a good man, he just played one on TV. I am not sad about, I am angry.
Our society today is riddled with this attitude. Heck I work at a non-profit that is riddled with power games and politics where the truth is something to be feared and manipulated carefully. It is endemic in our society today. This is just the most most grotesque mirror on the larger issues we face as a nation.
Send Ohio State President Gordon Gee an email and ask him to cancel the Penn State game at gordon.gee@osu.edu
Each day, Paterno got up and decided, once again, to not report his boy buggering buddy.
That's nine years of daily decisions.
Thousands of decisions to protect the PSU football program over protecting innocent boys.
That Catholics, Notre Dame graduates, choose to minimize this depicable behavior is not at all surprising.
But, the reality is that Paterno decided, thousands of times, that protecting his institution and his boy buggering buddy was more important the the legal and correct moral choice.
Not only that, but the power culture of his organization probably intimidated McQweary into silence. A culture carefully cultivated by Paterno over 68 years.
I still think the police gave Paterno and the university one more pass. October 29, was the Saturday that Paterno set a record for the most wins. If they had arrested Sandusky one week earl.ier, he wouldn't have been that record. I wonder if they waited until he got that record and then arrested Sandusky so that Paterno could have one last day of glory before all hell broke loose.
Second, would McQuery gotten a job on the Penn State coaching staff with his experience if he HADN'T seen Sandusky in the shower with that boy? He was a quarterback, but did he have any coaching experience before he joined the Penn State crew - and would that have been normal? I don't know what his background is - it could have been legit, but I can't help but wonder if that was part of a thank-you for his silence.
I would probably go further and say the man should be removed from any record book of the NCAA at all. I am not saying this incident should be forgotten, but any of Paternos "accomplishments" should be obliterated from memory.
First of all, Sandusky retired from Penn State's football program in 1999, yet media accounts imply that Sandusky was working under Paterno. Sandusky was given free-rein on campus because the Penn State administration decided to give him an honorary office after the DA declined to press charges after the 1998 incident.
When Paterno heard about the incident with victim #2 in the shower with Sandusky, he notified his immediate superior, the school's athletic director and the campus police who had jurisdiction. What more was Paterno expected to do - deputize himself and arrest Sandusky? Run for DA so that he could do what should have been done after the 1998 episode of abuse came to light?
Paterno didn't do anything to shield Sandusky and, tellingly, Paterno has not been charged with any 'failure to notify' statute. This was a failure of law enforcement but our society loves to idolize people at the top - and slice them to pieces when given half a chance.
There was a criminal conspiracy to cover up Sandusky's crimes and Paterno will probably be charged, too.
When a child is RAPED you don't "notify your supervisor". You dial 911.
What specifically do you think Paterno did to 'cover up' Sandusky's actions?
As for shielding, Sandusky was still operating his charity and openly having these kids with him at Bowl games -- Paterno knew that -- it wasn't like he went underground with his behavior. Twelve years -- and he didn't say anything to Second Mile - and he didn't do a thing to see if Sandusky would seek professional counseling.
This man helped shape hundreds of young men for what 40 years as a head coach. This man provided an identity to a community that had none.
While Joe had a lapse of judgement here, it should not define him. Its a shame. I hope as this passes he will be honored as the man he was and not the single poor decision he made.
The administration could easily have 'done more'. Everyone's saying that Paterno should have 'done more', but notice that none of the arm-chair editorialists are saying exactly what he should have done. The only options open to Paterno were have himself deputized, ran for DA, turn vigilante or start a public campaign against Sandusky, thereby opening himself up to legal recourse by Sandusky.
This was a failure of law enforcement and the Penn State administration set against the backdrop of a country that can't even discuss consensual sex between adults openly. Paterno, as the public face of Penn State, took the fall.