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Solid post. As a Florida State fan, I always respected Penn State and Paterno. The problem I have with the situation is that when a state school is paying you millions, it's your job to know what is going on. Like Bowden, Paterno coached past his prime. These guys were senior citizens almost 20 years before they left. Lots of people were hurt by Sandusky...
I agree with this. There was a time about 10 years ago when I wondered if it was even worth it for Penn State to give Joe Paterno carte blanche because he struck me as somebody who was slowly losing his senses. It's been well-known that most of the actual coaching in his final years with the team was taken care of by his subordinates, and that basically made him little more than a figurehead. His post-game press conferences also seemed to get more awkward with each passing year, and they really made me wonder if he was going senile. My opinion is that Joe Paterno was gradually zoning out in old age and losing his grip on reality, which set the table for the scandal in the first place.
As for James Franklin, the new hire, I'm opposed. Regardless of his name being cleared by the DA in Tennessee, it makes no sense at all from a public relations standpoint to hire somebody who's even indirectly exposed to a criminal sex scandal. It's another headache that we just don't need. There are plenty of other good coaches out there who don't have exposure to anything like this, so Penn State should have just hired one of them instead.
Solid post. As a Florida State fan, I always respected Penn State and Paterno. The problem I have with the situation is that when a state school is paying you millions, it's your job to know what is going on. Like Bowden, Paterno coached past his prime. These guys were senior citizens almost 20 years before they left. Lots of people were hurt by Sandusky...
Sorry I just don't buy it. Even if you believe Paterno may have been slipping in the final years he knew exactly what he was doing in 2002 and most certainly "knew what was going on".
Thrown under the bus? I just don't buy it. Everyone knows his power in Happy Valley. If a player spit on a sidewalk he knew about it before morning. He was told of the shower incident again in 2002 and they immediately huddled to see how they could protect the Penn State brand. If Coach really did turn it over to his superiors, as the JoeBots claim, then how can you justify this "great man" doing nothing, even witnessing Sandusky bringing children to his practices, as his supposed superiors did nothing.
His failure to act in the name of protecting the school's image is why the statue was taken down and this is what he will be remember for. To dismiss his failure to act because he was old and senile in 2002 is yet another excuse.
Last edited by DaveinMtAiry; 01-14-2014 at 06:38 AM..
Can we be done with this? Jesus.... Sandusky's likely going to rot in jail for the rest of his life, Paterno is dead, and the others will be handled accordingly in the court of law. How much more must this be discussed and argued over?
In actual FOOTBALL news... Coach Larry Johnson decided to NOT accept Franklin's offer to remain on staff which means the last remaining coach from the Paterno era is officially on his way out.
"Getting promoted isn't the issue to me," Johnson told ESPN.com on Monday night. "At the end of the day, it's giving Coach Franklin the chance to move forward. It's his program, his coaching staff and, yes, he offered me the opportunity to stay.
"But at the end of the day, I thought what would be best for me -- and be unselfish -- is the fact that let's move forward. That's my decision. It had nothing do with a job, or not giving me a promotion."
It truly stinks to see him go as he was a major positive influence in so many ways but as he states above.... it was best to move forward... like the rest of us should.
Can we be done with this? Jesus.... Sandusky's likely going to rot in jail for the rest of his life, Paterno is dead, and the others will be handled accordingly in the court of law. How much more must this be discussed and argued over?.
I understand your frustration, if I were you I'd want to stop hearing about it too. But as long as PSU fans make claims such as Paterno was thrown under the bus or that the scandal was orchestrated by those with an agenda, rather than understanding that it was simply an effort to hold those accountable for allowing child rape to continue, the discussion will go on.
I understand your frustration, if I were you I'd want to stop hearing about it too. But as long as PSU fans make claims such as Paterno was thrown under the bus or that the scandal was orchestrated by those with an agenda, rather than understanding that it was simply an effort to hold those accountable for allowing child rape to continue, the discussion will go on.
And I am as firm in my conviction that the principal culprit in this sordid mess was not Paterno, as you are in seeing a well-organized cover-up.
Allow me to elaborate that I don't hold Paterno blameless; somewhere along the line he acquiesced, possibly even participated in the formation of what was a terribly wrong decision. But those of us old enough to recall the final years in the careers of people like Bear Bryant and Booby Bowden didn't find it hard to recognize that somebody else was taking greater control of the levers of power with each season. Integrity was being replaced with over-commercialized hype, and while that is always a formula for disaster, those with the ability to prevent the wreck had the weakest incentive to stop it.
Jerry Sandusky's phony "Second Mile" charity had an office in downtown State College, so it had to have a staff. And I find it very hard to believe that in an overwhelmingly young and presumably sexually-active population, somebody within that office didn't have a few suspicions of what might have been going on.
That disparity remains the biggest unanswered question in this tragedy. What disturbs me the most is not the resistance of Curley, Schultz et al, but the apparent reluctance of Paterno's immediate family to "lay all the cards on the table". And watching people of tested integrity, like former assistant coach Dick Anderson (who would have been a far better succesor to Paterno than Sandusky) and alumnus-athlete-physician Jim Martin struggling with their own consciences during Sandusky's weak defense was a bitter pill to swallow.
As I've said in several other posts, there are many of us who have an enduring and personal bond with the Pennsylvania State University; that relationship revolves around a lot more than football weekends, but the belief that the University ran a highly successful program without all the NCAA oversight that cast a dim light on many other programs was a part of it.
That pride was ruthlessly savaged during those terrible days in the fall of 2011; those of us who don't have the probability of too many years to unravel the mystery, but recall the vindictiveness and pettiness of the attacks in the first few hours and days (conducted in the "drive-by" manner that passes for investigative reporting) deserve to know the whole story, wherever it may lead.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 01-15-2014 at 12:11 AM..
And I am as firm in my conviction that the principal culprit in this sordid mess was not Paterno, as you are in seeing a well-organized cover-up.
Allow me to elaborate that I don't hold Paterno blameless; somewhere along the line he acquiesced, possibly even participated in the formation of what was a terribly wrong decision. But those of us old enough to recall the final years in the careers of people like Bear Bryant and Booby Bowden didn't find it hard to recognize that somebody else was taking greater control of the levers of power with each season. Integrity was being replaced with over-commercialized hype, and while that is always a formula for disaster, those with the ability to prevent the wreck had the weakest incentive to stop it.
Jerry Sandusky's phony "Second Mile" charity had an office in downtown State College, so it had to have a staff. And I find it very hard to believe that in an overwhelmingly young and presumably sexually-active population, somebody within that office didn't have a few suspicions of what might have been going on.
That disparity remains the biggest unanswered question in this tragedy. What disturbs me the most is not the resistance of Curley, Schultz et al, but the apparent reluctance of Paterno's immediate family to "lay all the cards on the table". And watching people of tested integrity, like former assistant coach Dick Anderson (who would have been a far better succesor to Paterno than Sandusky) and alumnus-athlete-physician Jim Martin struggling with their own consciences during Sandusky's weak defense was a bitter pill to swallow.
As I've said in several other posts, there are many of us who have an enduring and personal bond with the Pennsylvania State University; that relationship revolves around a lot more than football weekends, but the belief that the University ran a highly successful program without all the NCAA oversight that cast a dim light on many other programs was a part of it.
That pride was ruthlessly savaged during those terrible days in the fall of 2011; those of us who don't have the probability of too many years to unravel the mystery, but recall the vindictiveness and pettiness of the attacks in the first few hours and days (conducted in the "drive-by" manner that passes for investigative reporting) deserve to know the whole story, wherever it may lead.
There is no question that this was a group coverup. But to claim that Paterno was not a central figure is simply denial IMO. JoePa was large and in charge there for decades, agreed? If this was not the case then how can you explain the situation in 2004 when it was suggested by his "superiors" that he may want to consider stepping down? His response was "no I'm staying, thanks for stopping by". In fact here is Paterno's direct quote about the incident from an interview that took place in December 2005:
"If there was one good thing I was able to do, I was able to say [to the administrators], 'Stay over there.'" Paterno pushed his hands away from his body -- an illustrative shooing motion.
Do those sound like the words of someone who is losing power? And again this was 2 full years after the shower incident. No there should be no question who held the power and made the big decisions at Penn State right up until the end, this is not news. So how can you claim that something as big as this coverup was orchestrated by others and he played a small, passive role when he was clearly calling all the shots? No he was the central figure and to claim that he was too old and incapable of understanding the difference between right and wrong in 2002 is also another excuse.
Regarding Sandusky and Second Mile it is my understanding that it was kind of a running joke around Happy Valley, the rumors had been there for years. No doubt Paterno heard them too which makes his inaction once he learned of the shower incident even more damning. He had a duty to protect all the future victims. Instead he allowed this pig to bring other children to his practices. There is simply no way to excuse this away.
The public "attacks" was a natural reaction to what took place as the public wondered just how many other children were raped needlessly due to the lack of action. Who knows how may lives were permanently altered as the Penn State brand was put ahead of the children. I'm thinking if your son had been raped in 2006 you would have shared in the outrage and not be so quick to dismiss Paterno's role.
Last edited by DaveinMtAiry; 01-15-2014 at 06:03 AM..
Paterno is dead. Sandusky is in jail. Penn State is now on it's 2nd coach since then. The NCAA is easing it's restrictions on the school. In a few years, things will be back to normal. Let this sordid mess die.
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