Penn State doesn't get to choose Paterno's Legacy: Excellent article

Pol Pot didn't take infants and repeatedly slam them against trees, but I blame him for exterminating 1/4 of the Cambodian people.

Fuck that guy - I hope he's burning in hell.

Paterno is an accomplice, at a minimum. He knew, did nothing about it and if I remember correctly, said something along the lines that he was busy coaching and didn't have time for listening to or dealing with that stuff.

Not sure what you don't get, but he had a chance to do the right thing and chose not to.

Fuck him, his goddamn surname and the penn state "family".

He knew, he was in position to stop it repeatedly, he ignored it because he didnt want the fallout or trauma (or perhaps his old-old-old school brain couldnt process or fathom the offense), and thus he is the opposite of a grrat leader of men. He failed the greatest challenge he was presented.

Being a Catholic myself, I look at JoPa's failure as identical to the Church when dealing with exactly the same issue. I think it got ignored because it could get ignored, and it was so personally repugnant to leaders like JoPa that they didnt have the moral courage to step up and deal with it--such as even admitting it was happening.

People in that town said for years, "Keep your boys away from Sandusky." This was an open, local secret. It was all part of the "unspeakable crimes" culture that is so old-world and so prevalent in that part of the country.

JoPa, as the supposed example of a glorious leader, was a failure at this. He deserves ever bit of blame that is possible.

Hope we are still going for 2 when we are up 80 in the 3d quarter.

comes into your life.

1. Joe Paterno was the authority of the program for 46 years. Paterno WAS Penn State football. In fact, few people alive today even know or remember the name of his predecessor. A walking legend, and revered and worshipped by Penn State as such.

2. Joe Paterno's family, especially his wife and son, did more damage to Joe Paterno's legacy by trying to invent a narrative about what happened related to the child rapes and his obstruction of justice, minimizing Joe Paterno's poor judgements and enablement of criminal acts (child rape, sexual assault, etc.), and maximizing his gridiron achievements. To continue to do this in the wake of the trial results and the legal outcome, and in the faces of rape survivors is just too obscene for words.

3. Even when the shit went down to the wire, and the facts of the case had been released to the media, and Sandusky on trial, Joe Paterno himself refused to admit to any wrong-doing or apologize to the victims for this sexual violence.  He did not acknowledge that it even happened.

4. Joe Paterno and his family wanted to preserve the status quo and his prior legacy, even when that was not longer possible.

Paterno didn't molest anyone, but he knew  child rape and sexual assault was taking place under his watch and by whom, and he did nothing to report it.  In fact, he and at least three of his assistant coaches knew about it dating back to 1976, and again did nothing.

Paterno hired all of these men, including Sandusky, Bradley and Schiano. They were under his charge.  He was directly responsible and accountable for their performance. One could argue Paterno was NOT responsible for their conduct (Sandusky's).  Normally, I would agree, if Paterno did not know Sandusky was a secret pedophile. But Paterno did know. And he still did nothing. In fact, the university officials knew as well. And they did nothing. Assistant coaches knew, and they did nothing.

That current players, students and fans must suffer and serve as an example for the world of how not respond to sexual predators (I can't believe this needs to be explained) might be unfair, but life is not fair. And neither is getting introduced to Penn State university employee-sodomites in positions of power while you are a vulnerable, fatherless, helpless and innocent child seeking approval and guidance.

(in response to Fieldy's Nuts)

 

I have a hard time taking your post seriously. To exonerate Paterno because he "would have been happy if his assistant coach hadn't turned out to be a pedo" is to create a land of denial and fantasy that is beyond even that of a Penn State apologist. Paterno's legacy is supposedly as a man who influenced characteer, not merely as a winner of football games (as much as that drives some of the respect that his minions show him). Thus, to not hold him accountable simply because "all he wanted to do is coach football" entirely misses the mark of why his malfeasance is so heinous.

As to why the NCAA should punish the entire program, and harshly, at that, it is well-known that Paterno established a self-policing culture of hero worship - a closed system where the Head Coach wielded total power in every respect.

In the end, almost everything that Paterno supposedly stood for is exposed as a lie; even his supposed modesty is belied by his ownership of  a multi-million dollar home and his narcissistic self aggrandizement.

Sandusky deserves what he receives, and more; Paterno, who could have intervened to severely limit the damage, deserves still worse, which he may yet experience.

and you do nothing about it you are as guilty as the person doing it and when it comes to something as horrific as child molesting........ Wow.... Nothing more needs to be said. Turn the guy in immediately and clear your program of it the second you find out. Instead how many more kids were hurt because he turned his back...... There is no excuse for what he did, he is just as sick as Sundusky....