The accusations now swirling above Happy Valley in State College, Pa. are perhaps the most troubling I can remember in a long time for a college athletics program. The allegations that a former and highly respected assistant coach at previously squeaky clean Penn State possibly sexually abused young boys is sickening. The further accusation that university officials failed to alert authorities to the problem and lied under oath about the matter is dizzying on top of that.
Ever since the story broke over the weekend, sports pundits — and there is no shortage of those — have speculated about what 85-year-old coach Joe Paterno knew and when he knew it regarding Jerry Sandusky, the Nittany Lions former defensive coordinator and Paterno’s one time heir-apparent. The now widely reported shower incident involving a young boy in the football lockerroom was reported to the man known as JoePa in 2002, he alerted his superiors at the university, then apparently did nothing but continue to roll toward the title he now holds as “college football’s winningest all-time coach.”
Paterno apparently met the minimum obligation in this case but could have and should have done more. I’ll note that even in 2002 the media drumbeat that Paterno was too old to coach football at a major university was already pretty loud. Today, it’s louder than ever.
Paterno is among the most respected figures in the history of the game. He wanted to go out on his own terms, which is why he stubbornly refused to retire even when the football program began to slip over the past decade.
Now he may go out with this mess hanging over his head.
There’s a lesson here somewhere.
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madison, there is a lesson but school is in recess for the a.d. and the adminastrator. joepa did what he was supposed to do. his assitant had retired so he could not fire him and because he didnt work for him what investigation could he have done. the act alledgedly was committed on university property therefore it was the duty of the university to do something and we now know they did not so their leaving their post is understandable and required.
i hate to go watergate but should joepa have reported this incident to the police, well WHAT DID HE KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT, seems to me is the question.
it is sad that a man that has had a squeaky clean program since he has been there is leaving not on his terms and it is ironic that when he was losing he could stay on his terms but now he is winning(undeafeted in conference play) he must leave on anothers.
but the saddest part of this whole scenario is once again a person in authority with a deceptive mask of helping at risk, poor and more than likely mostly minority kids, was just that…deceptive.
makes collegiate sports seems kinda irrelevant…
just saw the news flash that joe paterno fired….why????
why does the grad assitant that witnessed the assault still have a job and joe paterno who didnt witness it doesnt. he contacte dhis superiors and campus police…what else was he suppose to do???
@Madison, what exactly do you think Paterno could have and should have done?
I would think that a report that a child being raped in the lockerroom shower of your football team would be more than enough to warrant not only telling his superiors but following up to see what the status is of the investigation and to at least ask if the authorities were contacted and follow up. That’s at the very least. An argument could be made that Paterno should have contacted the police himself. I’m smart enough to realize, however, that he works for a powerful institution more interested in self-preservation than the general welfare of someone else and that he followed the minimum rules. But Paterno, who I think was addled by this time, chose to not only ignore it, but completely forget about it. He continued to be a friend of Sandusky’s, which is barf-making. He also continued to send his players to Sandusky to work for his charitable program as if he had never ever heard of this particular incident. Someone who knows children are in danger and isn’t repulsed by it to the point of some kind of censure or action is either hopelessly lost or not of sound mind. The indictment in this case is chilling to read.
Read what I just posted Michael. I do think Paterno met the minimum requirement, but when a child is being raped — and thatt’s what we’re talking about if you read the indictment, then following up and asking questions is required. Not continuing to be a friend of the abuser and enabling the continued abuse of children.
madison,
i understand the seriousness of the allegations and it is repulsive to think about what these kids went through with this evil man if it isTRUE, but there in is the problem that i have.
dont we still live in a republic that says a person is innocent until proven guilty. is herman cain guilty, didnt michael jackson get his day in court and how about conrad murray and charlie manson. if one of your friends, whom you knew very well for a very long time, was accused of this would you not think that it is impossible for him/her to do something like this. if he is presumed innocent until proven guilty then jo pa had every right to stand by his friend especially since he did not witness the incident. (and i cant say this enough the coach that did is still employed at penn state)
i have always said that my friends are my firends no matter what they do, i will stand behind them but not the action and until the action is proven then i would be less than a friend not to do so, i know i am in the minority but i beleive in loyalty for all seasons not just a good season.
i think there are 2 situations, 1. did jo pa do what was correct…..yes he turned the information on his friend over to adminastration. 2. should he still have been a friend to this man…that is a matter of personal opinion…my answer would be yes if he is my friend i will stick by him and pray for him and condemn his actions to him and the public but most importantly pray for his victims…michael jackson friends left him in his time of need, wheter innocent or not, a true friend doesnt do that.
it is obvious to me what happened here, jopa was the sacrifical lamb. the school had to offer up its burnt offering to the dept. of ed. and the school president name was not big enough to save title IV funding.
to show they are truly remorseful and responsible and to try and lessen the financial blow that will come and multiple forms of letigation, they offered the biggest name ever connected to penn state, joe paterno. only dean smith at unc, bear bryant at alabama and win one for the gipper at notre dame is a name of the individual larger then the university itself that he represents.
you said it right madison this billion dollar operation went in protection mood when it first heard of the allegations and 2002 and then went in the same mood last night and both thimes the unthinkable happend. 1. in 2002 a vile sick ritual was alledgely allowed to play out in the halls of 1 of our best institutions for the sake of money, 2. and a legend was treated like, as ebenezer scrooge lamented, an undigested piece of meat, and that too was just for money…and not for the victims…
btw…i read the indictment and yes it was chilling but we already knew that when a child is abused it would not be mother goose reading.
its not chilling to me anymore what these sick people do what is chilling to me is what these so called tie wearing, white collar, pillar of their communites allowed to continue to happen for the sake of image and the dollar. these poor kids meant nothing to these affluent members of society who looks down on the drug dealers and other petty criminals who society is told to be scared of…maybe the boogie man is not who we was always told it was…just maybe