The Rest of College Football

[hack]

You're kidding! HFS...

[Dr. Strangelove]

You're kidding! HFS...

Not violent yet, they're chanting anti-board and Sandusky slogans, but there's got to be a couple thousand there by now

[Dr. Strangelove]

Oops, they just broke up and are heading towards downtown State College. Cops are probably going to have their hands full tonight

[lineygoblue]

Joe deserved to go out with a big bowl win, on the shoulders of his players. But, due to a horrible lack of good judgement, he leaves in shame.

[hack]

Oops, they just broke up and are heading towards downtown State College. Cops are probably going to have their hands full tonight

[paul daugherity]

All of those students should be required to read the grand jury testimony and report. That might give them a little more perspective about what happened and why JoePa had to go.

[JRB]

I never thought I would see the day that Penn State fired Joe Paterno. The only thing in college football I might have expected less than that would have been for Joe Paterno to do something off the field that warranted immediate dismissal.

In the thirty years I've been a devoted fan of college football, I've never felt so sad and bewildered about anything related to the sport as I do about this. The crimes allegedly committed at Penn State are abominable acts, and I want to understand how someone with such a history of doing things the right way as Joe Paterno could possibly have failed to do his part to stop them. I want to think McQueary didn't inform him fully of what he saw, or that at age 75, Paterno didn't, or couldn't, understand what McQueary was telling him. If that's not the way it happened, then I want to believe that Joe Paterno's mistake here was in relying on the wrong people-- grievously misreading Sandusky, and then trusting his superiors to do something he couldn't bring himself to do. But I can't tell you that any of those circumstances apply here. This may simply be what it looks like on the surface-- a brazen attempt by all concerned to cover up appalling crimes for the good of a football program. If that's what this was, no one involved in this ought to be allowed to set foot on a campus anywhere ever again.

Somehow, many of us grow both more stubborn and more indulgent as we grow older. Maybe Joe Paterno simply thought there was no way someone he'd known since 1963-- someone he'd hired as a graduate assistant on his first staff in 1966-- could possibly have committed the crimes Sandusky is accused of. Maybe he thought of all the good things Sandusky had done for his football program, and did less than he should have because he didn't want to know he'd been wrong. But when he made the decision not to inform police of what he knew, his motives and considerations became immaterial.

I want to take some solace from the Board of Trustee's unanimous decision to oust Joe Paterno. I want to see it as an important affirmation of the principle that you cannot make decisions that endanger children and continue to work as an educator, and as a rebuke to coaches everywhere that might think their programs are more important than the people those programs represent. But if it takes a horror of this magnitude to remind those in college athletics of these lessons, then we need to re-evaluate the entire enterprise of collegiate sports, because something has gone terribly wrong.

[whodean]

Looks like a mob.

[hack]

Somehow, many of us grow both more stubborn and more indulgent as we grow older. Maybe Joe Paterno simply thought there was no way someone he'd known since 1963-- someone he'd hired as a graduate assistant on his first staff in 1966-- could possibly have committed the crimes Sandusky is accused of. Maybe he thought of all the good things Sandusky had done for his football program, and did less than he should have because he didn't want to know he'd been wrong. But when he made the decision not to inform police of what he knew, his motives and considerations became immaterial.


That's a very thoughtful defense. Certainly one could imagine Paterno having to work through some complex feelings of betrayal, disappointment, anger, etc. That said, in the end, and as much as it's incongruous and hard to process, it is what it is.

[DennisT]

Sad sad sad story in so many ways.

Glad to hear Paterno is done. Staying on to finish up the year while the president was axed today was gonna send a bad message. The sooner and more thoroughly they clean house, the better off they'll be. Glad they're doing it.

[Niffla]

I have never seen anything of this magnitude in the sports world. Not even close. From the disgusting Sandusky timeline ( http://www.freep.com/article/2011110...TS08/111107069 ) to the University President, VP, Athletic Director, and Paterno ALL out within the past 48 hours.

This is on an enormous scale.

[Rob F]

The firing of JoePa----and the firings of every single one of the major figures in this disgusting mess---there was no choice, their own actions over the last decade and a half dictated that this had to be the end result.

Next to go, though, has to be the Board of Trustees themselves. The shit MUST continue to flow uphill in this case, as it took way too long for this disgusting story to get to the final chapter that is being written even as I type this post. All the stuff involving Sanduskey having access to ANYTHING on ANY PSU campus/satellite campus in the past few weeks/months/years indicates that the Board of Trustees did NOT take this mess seriously enough, did NOT make the safety and well-being of the innocent victims and potential victims seriously...

As for JoePa himself, what a sad but (unfortunately) necessary end to an otherwise great career. While on one hand I feel sorry for him, it is nothing close to the sorrow I feel for the victims (and their families) of that monster Sanduskey.

[UMStan White]

"I am heartbroken to think that any child may have been hurt and have deep convictions about the need to protect children and youth. My heartfelt sympathies go out to all those who may have been victimized. I would never hesitate to report a crime if I had any suspicion that one had been committed."

Spanier's statement upon being fired. He left out the part where those who failed to report the crime have his "unconditional support". The hypocrisy of those in power is beyond belief.

[Tony G]

For the folks who pass Paterno's reaction off as bewilderment here's a bit from a Michael Rosenberg story from SI.com

Paterno has done far more good than harm in his career. But if you have been paying attention, you know that he has a bad habit of minimizing serious allegations.

When Penn State receiver Tony Johnson was arrested for driving under the influence a few years ago, Paterno said he would discipline him "just because I have to send a message to the squad that it is inappropriate to be out in the middle of the week having a couple of drinks."

Police said Johnson had a blood-alcohol level of .136, well above the legal limit.

Before a bowl game against Penn State in 2006, Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson was accused of sexual assault. Remember: This was not Paterno's player. He didn't have to say anything.

But he said this: "There are so many people gravitating to these kids. Maybe he didn't know what he was getting into, Nicholson. Somebody will knock on the door. A cute girl knocks on the door. What do you do?

"Thank God, they don't knock on my door. I'd refer them to a couple of other rooms.

"But that's too bad. You hate to see that, you really do. You'd like to see a kid end up his career. And he's a heck of a football player, he really is. It's just too bad. That's all I can say. It's just too bad."

[Optimus Prime]

Happy Valley no more! Wouldn't surprise if this spills over at the football game. Perhaps they may cancel ?