Joe Paterno Exit

[Lighthouse 84]

Great editorial from a former Nitany Lion, Roxanne Jones,  a founding editor of ESPN The Magazine and a former VP at ESPN.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/08/opinion/jones-penn-state/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Another from Andy Staples at SI.com.  Both good reads about the trash known as JoPa.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/11/08/penn-state-joe-paterno-scandal/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_sports

[chapman]

Just curious, if you were a Penn St alum/fan/season ticket holder, would you go to Saturday's game?

I know the easy answer is "no", but let's say you replaced "Penn State" with "Marquette" in this scenario.

Thought about it, and the answer is probably yes.  Would just want the players to know I'm behind them - they could definitely use the support after being placed in a situation like this.  Just means more to me to send a message to the players that you're there for them even if it makes a senile old man want to believe you're there for him.  

[DegenerateDish]

I don't think I could do it and go. I understand the argument of go to support the players, but in right mind I don't see how I could go and support the coach and administration who turned a blind eye to all this. I also don't know how I could sit there and enjoy the game. Sports is supposed to be a release and entertainment, and I think I would feel hypocritical if I went and supported Paterno, who is the king/dictator/emperor of State College, PA.

[GGGG]

Fixed. I needed to google that one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dennehy
Brian Dennehy  is an actor.

Oh my...thank you.

[muhs03]

What's with all the Joe Pa hate? I will admit that I havent read everything that he apparently turned his back on....but:

1) No person/institution has been found guilty of sexual abuse more than cathlic priests.
2) There seems to be a lot of similarities between Joe Pa and Bob Wild. Both just simply ignored warning signs and said 'aww shucks' years later when they got nailed. F*ck both of them....moreso Bob Wild because he at least fooled people into making them believe he was a priest. I'd love to stick my fists through his teeth....moreso than Joe Pa....but he is right behind him. Bob is not a priest....hasnt been for a long time. But hey, I hope some of you still cherish his bobble head. I mean....imagine this....imagine Penn State handing out bobble head dolls of Joe Pa AFTER all of this happened???!!! Well, the MU athletic department did it with Bob Wild. I threw mine in the garbage right in front of an MU rep that greeted us as we walked through the check-in counter at the suite level. The 11 people I was with all did the same....right in front of her. Felt bad for her. I wish I could have thrown the bobble head and Bob's head instead.

[tower912]

And here, in a nutshell, is why I have been reluctant to cast stones.    I can't ignore the plank in the Catholic Church's and MU's eye.   

[martyconlonontherun]

What's with all the Joe Pa hate? I will admit that I havent read everything that he apparently turned his back on....but:

1) No person/institution has been found guilty of sexual abuse more than cathlic priests.
2) There seems to be a lot of similarities between Joe Pa and Bob Wild. Both just simply ignored warning signs and said 'aww shucks' years later when they got nailed. F*ck both of them....moreso Bob Wild because he at least fooled people into making them believe he was a priest. I'd love to stick my fists through his teeth....moreso than Joe Pa....but he is right behind him. Bob is not a priest....hasnt been for a long time. But hey, I hope some of you still cherish his bobble head. I mean....imagine this....imagine Penn State handing out bobble head dolls of Joe Pa AFTER all of this happened???!!! Well, the MU athletic department did it with Bob Wild. I threw mine in the garbage right in front of an MU rep that greeted us as we walked through the check-in counter at the suite level. The 11 people I was with all did the same....right in front of her. Felt bad for her. I wish I could have thrown the bobble head and Bob's head instead.

Prob not the right place to discuss this, but why don't you consider him a priest? Also, I have no idea what position he held in the church when that stuff happened or his role in it.


I feel sorry for JoePa in that this should've never been on his lap. Great career ruined by someone else. He is a football coach, not a university administrator nor law enforcement official. He made the wrong decisions but he was a 75 yo man given a crap hand. Instead of folding and going to police while bringing shame to his school, he tried bluffing and ended up losing everything he built.

[Henry Sugar]

Fixed. I needed to google that one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dennehy
Brian Dennehy  is an actor.

Agree with you Sultan. from what is known so far PSU broke no NCAA laws. whatever PSU's punishment is, it'll be internal

It remains true that the Baylor lack of institutional control had nothing to do with the murder of Brian Dennehy.

[Blue Horseshoe]

1) No person/institution has been found guilty of sexual abuse more than cathlic priests.
2) There seems to be a lot of similarities between Joe Pa and Bob Wild. Both just simply ignored warning signs and said 'aww shucks' years later when they got nailed. F*ck both of them....moreso Bob Wild because he at least fooled people into making them believe he was a priest. I'd love to stick my fists through his teeth....moreso than Joe Pa....but he is right behind him. Bob is not a priest....hasnt been for a long time. But hey, I hope some of you still cherish his bobble head. I mean....imagine this....imagine Penn State handing out bobble head dolls of Joe Pa AFTER all of this happened???!!! Well, the MU athletic department did it with Bob Wild. I threw mine in the garbage right in front of an MU rep that greeted us as we walked through the check-in counter at the suite level. The 11 people I was with all did the same....right in front of her. Felt bad for her. I wish I could have thrown the bobble head and Bob's head instead.

1. Supply sources (other than your own calculation) to back up your claim. Although not overly prevalent in our society, in most cases of child sexual abuse the predator is a family member or a "friend" of the family.

2. Fr. Wild has nothing to do with Jerry Sandusky.

[Lighthouse 84]

What's with all the Joe Pa hate? I will admit that I havent read everything that he apparently turned his back on....but:

1) No person/institution has been found guilty of sexual abuse more than cathlic priests.
2) There seems to be a lot of similarities between Joe Pa and Bob Wild. Both just simply ignored warning signs and said 'aww shucks' years later when they got nailed. F*ck both of them....moreso Bob Wild because he at least fooled people into making them believe he was a priest. I'd love to stick my fists through his teeth....moreso than Joe Pa....but he is right behind him. Bob is not a priest....hasnt been for a long time. But hey, I hope some of you still cherish his bobble head. I mean....imagine this....imagine Penn State handing out bobble head dolls of Joe Pa AFTER all of this happened???!!! Well, the MU athletic department did it with Bob Wild. I threw mine in the garbage right in front of an MU rep that greeted us as we walked through the check-in counter at the suite level. The 11 people I was with all did the same....right in front of her. Felt bad for her. I wish I could have thrown the bobble head and Bob's head instead.

So to you, that makes what Sandusky did and JoePa covered up acceptable then.

[LON]

No outrage for the 28 year old man that witnessed something terrible, then called daddy?

[APieperFan3]

And here, in a nutshell, is why I have been reluctant to cast stones.    I can't ignore the plank in the Catholic Church's and MU's eye.   

Did i miss something...?

[NavinRJohnson]

I feel sorry for JoePa in that this should've never been on his lap. Great career ruined by someone else. He is a football coach, not a university administrator nor law enforcement official. He made the wrong decisions but he was a 75 yo man given a crap hand. Instead of folding and going to police while bringing shame to his school, he tried bluffing and ended up losing everything he built.

No, no, no, and no...Clearly he and plenty of others around the program knew damn well this was going on. What did JoePa do about it? Nothing. Not one damn thing, but allow it to happen. As you correctly point out, he was looking out for number one. That's it. Does he share equal blame? No. There is a special place in hell for guys like Sandusky, but by allowing it to happen when he had full knowledge (Beyond the atual incidents that were brought forward, anyone here knows how strong the rumor mill and grapevines are among college programs...anyone who had been around Sandusky/that program for any substantial amount of time knew damn well that he had a little boy problem) makes his hands extremely dirty. For anyone to say they feel sorry for JoePa boggles the mind. The guys is a self absorbed coward, plain and simple.

[APieperFan3]

No outrage for the 28 year old man that witnessed something terrible, then called daddy?

I thought Mike Golic was going to LOSE IT this morning...on that same topic.

[🏀]

No outrage for the 28 year old man that witnessed something terrible, then called daddy?

I agreed with you at first, but people handle situations differently. I can only imagine what went through the guys head.

Either way, he needs to get back from the 'recruiting trip' he is on and start talking.

[🏀]

I thought Mike Golic was going to LOSE IT this morning...on that same topic.

Golic, like always, was a little much.

[NavinRJohnson]

No outrage for the 28 year old man that witnessed something terrible, then called daddy?

Who happens to be the WR coach on this very day. However, at least he reported it, and connecting the dots was likely intimidated into keeping his mouthy shut after that. Again, not clean by any means, but he is pretty far down the list of guys that deserve outage.

The fact that Paterno/PSU did nothing when it was reported, makes it very clear to me that he/they were already well aware that Sandusky was doing this crap well before it was reported. It is just so sick.

[Golden Avalanche]

Who happens to be the WR coach on this very day. However, at least he reported it, and connecting the dots was likely intimidated into keeping his mouthy shut after that. Again, not clean by any means, but he is pretty far down the list of guys that deserve outage.

Not really that far down for me.

Regardless of who the person was, I don't think I could witness a 10 year-old in a shower not with their parent and walk away. I would stop it at that moment and take the child away. This coming from a person who likely will never have children and isn't always that fond of them yet I'd feel strong enough to step in.

Besides, the guy wasn't all that intimidated as he went to Paterno after he called his father. Scared but yet he goes to the head of the program to complain about that guy's longest serving assistant? Doesn't add up.

[NavinRJohnson]

Not really that far down for me.

Regardless of who the person was, I don't think I could witness a 10 year-old in a shower not with their parent and walk away. I would stop it at that moment and take the child away. This coming from a person who likely will never have children and isn't always that fond of them yet I'd feel strong enough to step in.

Besides, the guy wasn't all that intimidated as he went to Paterno after he called his father. Scared but yet he goes to the head of the program to complain about that guy's longest serving assistant? Doesn't add up.

You're right. I guess I give him somewhat of a pass for the initial interaction, because I can't really imagine what went through his mind, at least he tried to do something, but the fact that he never called the cops or did anything after that certainly does amount to a tacit endorsement.

[NavinRJohnson]

BTW, these idiot students who went to show their support outside Paterno's house? Good grief. I understand that students in general are typically unequivocal idiots who don't quite think things through, but like I said yesterday, its just a small taste of what will be on display at the game on Saturday with the majority of the 107,000 there showing their support for a cretin.

[Boone]

I don't get how someone can live with themselves after hearing -- let alone witnessing -- that incident and then doing the bare minimum. Obviously, Paterno still doesn't get it. If he did, he'd have resigned by now. Shameful.

[MerrittsMustache]

The fact that Paterno/PSU did nothing when it was reported, makes it very clear to me that he/they were already well aware that Sandusky was doing this crap well before it was reported. It is just so sick.

Sandusky was no longer coaching at PSU at the time when McQueary witnessed the act. Paterno reported that incident to the AD, head of campus police and other administrators. JoePa could have been told that it is being handled and will be investigated further. I'm not giving him a pass at all, but it would be understandable if at that point, to the best of his knowledge, the university and campus police were dealing with the situation, and presumably getting the police involved. (Although, I do wonder if JoePa placed a WTF call to Sandusky at some point. He had to, right?)

The part that is absolutely inexcusable is that after the incident in the shower was reported, Sandusky was still allowed on campus, including visits where he had young boys with him. How could everyone standby and let that happen?!? Where was just ONE person with a conscience to say "this isn't OK" and report it? Go to JoePa, go to the AD, go to the school president, the police, a professor, a dean, someone! I believe it was Howard Bryant who said that the school didn't need a hero in this situation, it just needed an adult. I'd agree with that 100%.

[NavinRJohnson]

This does a nice job of pointing out those who have to go away and never come back.

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/09/jerry-sandusky-scandal-seven-key-players-in-the-penn-state-abuse-case/#the-second-mile

With Spanier the current BCS President, I would suggest they need to make an immediate change as well, even if PSU somehow chooses not to act on him.

[NavinRJohnson]

Sandusky was no longer coaching at PSU at the time when McQueary witnessed the act. Paterno reported that incident to the AD, head of campus police and other administrators. JoePa could have been told that it is being handled and will be investigated further. I'm not giving him a pass at all, but it would be understandable if at that point, to the best of his knowledge, the university and campus police were dealing with the situation, and presumably getting the police involved. (Although, I do wonder if JoePa placed a WTF call to Sandusky at some point. He had to, right?)

I think you're missing my point...It is crystal clear to me that Paterno (and probably plenty of others) had complete knowledge of Sandusky's problem well before that shower incident even took place, and they let it go on. Just as he let it go on after.

For the record, he reported that incident to the AD. That's it.

[MUMac]

Which makes me wonder what if anything the pathetic organization known as the NCAA will do about this. SMU, Miami, USC get the book thrown at them for cash and hot tubs, but if there is any program out there that deserves severe punishment, it is the one led by BCS President Grant Spanier. I won't hold my breath. They haven't seemed to care about the athletes being taken advantage of all these years, so why would they care about these other kids being taken advantage of while PSU officials looked the other way.

Unless there is a morals clause with the NCAA, what can they do?  This is better left up to the University, community and league, IMHO.

The story gets more sickening with each follow up.