Jack Ham

I have been watching this Penn St. stuff all day and it is depressing. A friend of mine called me and ask what i thought of Jack Ham's comments in support of Paterno. i did not know what he was talking about and ask him about it. He said he read on yahoo where Ham said he thought no different of paterno and he was a great man. I cant find it anywhere and was wondering if any one else had heard this. I hope its not true especially from a former player I admire so much.

 

I've heard about the Freeh Report and read only a little bit of it as it's 246 pages long. It is a truly sad situation. It is unfortunate that one mistake will forever overshadow all the good that Joe Pa has ever done. As much as the media portrays it to be, that report is not the end all be all and Joe Pa was not acting alone. You will find that some of the "facts" are based on witness statements and what was not found. i.e. They did not fill out enough/any reports/paperwork. I am by no means defending Penn State's actions.

As for Ham do not lose any respect for him. He is simply standing up for a friend much like, hopefully, you or I would do.

 

I agree with some of what you are saying. I know the media can spin it any way they want to, but if paterno knew of some kinda wrong doing by sandusky he had a responsibily to report it and did not. judging from what the crimes were, there is no way of defending him or any of the people in charge.

 

Why even ask if you've already made your opinion of it?

The fact is that the report is out now after interviewing people with the ability to hindsight everything they thought they heard or saw.

 

When this story initially broke Franco was really supportive of Joe Pa. It's hard to believe Franco really could've known what was going on but it still kinda irked me that he was so willing to defend the guy. I always kinda liked Penn St. and ESPECIALLY Paterno but I have no sympathy for that place and I would'nt care if they canned EVERYONE that has EVER been in that Athletic Dept. If they want to send a message that they find this whole thing evil they should just clean house. I know that sounds bad but man the public perception of that school will FOREVER be tarnished if they don't do something drastic.

 

it was his duty as a human, father, and his stature at the university to blow the whistle on this scumbag. if it's true, i will be highly disapointed in him. if he was part of it his legacy should be ruined. his name should be smeared and his name taken off anything that it's on at the school. there is absolutely no excuse for it, but the all mighty buck over many childrens well being. joepa i hope it's not true, but it doesn't look good.

 

I didn't ask anyone's opinion. I ask if anyone seen jack hams comment. Hindsight has nothing to do with it. They knew at the time

 

Well as far as have I heard that about Jack Ham I have not. But IF he still views Joe Pa the same as he did before he knew about this then yeah I have lost MUCH respect for Ham.

 

I couldn't care less about college athletics in general and Penn state in particular but I find it very convenient that everything's getting dumped on Paterno. He's dead and can't tell his side of things. From what I'm hearing here on the west coast, it sounds like all parties involved did only the bare minimum required of them. Someone most definitely SHOULD have done more. That being said, it just sounds like Paterno is the perfect scapegoat because he's dead. How about the athletic directors? Other coaches? The Dean/president of the university?

 

they have been indicted as far as i know. it's not just joe but he's a part of it.

 

I think it's being put on Joe because when you think of Penn State you think of him. Sandusky was his hire and his friend. He let him continue to be part of the program after 98 when it was first mentioned. Paterno was the most powerful man on that campus. Even if he hadn't passed he can't defend this. He had yearsand even months after it came out

 

You know what? This is outrageous! There were "several" janitors that witnessed oral sex and rapings and did nothing because they thought they would lose their jobs? Screw that **** the first thing I'm doing is beating the guys ass if I walked in and saw that.

 

That's what I'm wondering. Since '98 there has to have been more people who saw/knew about what was happening than Paterno. Lots of blame to go around but I'm glad the jury convicted the "tickle monster".

 

I said this before when the story first broke about Joe Pa. People need to keep perspective about the whole situation. You have people spouting off about what should have been done but until you are faced with that situation you really can't say what you would do. Now you can sit behind the anonymity of the internet and say how there were children that were endangered and how that has to be foremost in everyone mind and how you would put a stop to it which is great it is something we all should aspire to do, an ideal that we should all strive for but lets be real here. There are thousands of violent crimes against women in this country everyday, hundreds of children go to bed hungry and with out a place to sleep, there are shooting, murders, and abhorrent crimes happening every second of every day and yes there are people who stand up and say "No I am not going to let this happen!" but the greater majority turn a blind-eye simply because they just don't want to get involved. It is a sad statement but very true. So I won't judge anyone in this case because it is not my place to judge them. Nor will a statement by a former player in support of a his college coach change my opinion of them or the coach. I don't know what I would do in that situation beyond what Joe did, I would love to say "This ends here and now and you sir are going to jail." however I don't know for sure what I would do in that situation. I do know I don't nearly enough for those less fortunate than myself and can tell you the amount of time I spend worrying about them is less than the amount of time I spend brushing my teeth each day so I don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to what is morally right for others. Man this sounds preachy and I didn't intend for it to.

 

That's why most of the comments on this issue really irritate me. Everyone has a degree of where the line is before they stand up. Not many have been pushed to that line. Now, what if you saw something like that and you go to the police? At that point you think, great I did something, but you still see this guy rolling through with these kids. What do you do now?

 

I don't care who you are, if you see a child in a shower being raped you tell someone. If you are told about it and you are in charge of the man accused, you look into it. I understand you may not get facts the first time. When it happens again, you remove the person from the program. I am a believer in where there's smoke there's fire. Paterno had the power to remove sandusky and didn't. That's the bottom line

 

Yes, Joe Pa made a mistake, granted it was a huge mistake, but it can't erase all the good he has done. I can't put him on a pedestal anymore, but I sure as heck am not going to lump Joe Pa in with a category of vile people....the world is not Black and White like that. He is human and made a mistake.

National ESPN radio people while driving home said Penn State should either suspend football the entire year or be given the death pill. To me that is total F'n BS. I was so pissed when I heard these people talking... The judicial process has taken its course, people who were in seats of power are no longer there at PSU. And who would get punished? Young football player who have absolutely NOTHING to do with. Yes, something awful happened, but to give PSU the death pill is utter nonsense.

 

Some thoughts:

1. Putting the victims and their families aside for a moment, the people I feel bad for are past and present Penn State football players, athletes, students, and faculty, all of whom had nothing to do with this, yet have seen their school's reputation sullied.

2. I am not one to defend Paterno, but I do believe the media has its fangs out, sharpened, ready to pounce. It's been this way since the story first broke last fall.

3. I have read most of the report. It does not put Paterno in a good light. But it puts Spanier in an even worse one. Paterno was NOT the ring leader in all of this, but he sure is the "face" of the scandal, and this isn't fair.

4. Again: why is Mike McQueary getting a free pass????????

5. In discussing Paterno's role, I often hear people say, "What if it were one of your kids being molested." I really hate that logic, but I'll fight fire with fire: "What if Paterno were your father or grandfather?" My own father is about Paterno's age back in 2001. I can tell you that his generation is just different. Had someone come to him, saying a co-worker was "horsing around" in the shower with a boy, IT WOULD NOT COMPUTE. This doesn't make my father a bad man; it means he doesn't see what younger people see. Add to it that football was Paterno's life and that he lived the vast majority of his life in a small community and VOILA! you have inaction.

 

I agree. But what's lost on me is how the coach who WITNESSED an assault neglected to call the POLICE and has been largely ignored.

 

I'm not judging Joe Paterno based on what I would do. I am judging him based on what he DIDN'T do. How many times could he have simply just not brought that pervert back after his current contract was up? He could've at LEAST got rid of the guy that way and he didn't. I would love to see a piece of legislation that would make it a crime to NOT report child molestation. Doctors and counselors are under obligation to do it so why can't EVERYONE be? I know that would be almost impossible to enforce but if you could just get even the possibility in to people's minds that there could be consequenses for doing nothing maybe that would go a long way toward keeping this from happening again.

 

I have heard several former PSU players say that their opinion of Paterno has not changed since this all came out....I dont get that personally but I have never played for the man so I dont have that to fall back on. They are entitled to their opinions. My opinion is that there is no excuse for what took place on that campus and everyone from the PSU President through Paterno all the way down to the janitors are accountable for what happened to those kids. The reason everyone thinks that this is all falling on Paterno is because that is all you hear from the media - however, he was PSU so he gets all the glory when things are great and he gets the ass kicking when things are REALLY REALLY bad - like now.

 

This is what I found...

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/20 ... dusky.aspx

And I agree.Joe did ALOT for PSU.... ALOT!!!!!....BUT he did make a huge mistake!! One he never righted. He did have the opportunities. JoPa knew in 98 and did nothing for 14 years.

I will never view Coach as I once did!!

HE SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE!!

I myself do believe he was part of the cover up!! .. He knew in 98!!!......Thats part of his total legacy!!! He put the football program ahead of those kids. And that is ashame!!!

 

I understand where you are trying to go with this, however, what Joe Pa did can't be considered a mistake. A mistake is walking to your car and forgetting your keys. Knowing or having a suspicion of a crime and doing little to nothing is on purpose. He didn't get word of this problem and then go 15 or 20 years and say to himself, "Damn, I should have reported that but forgot all about it!" On your second point, I agree! Why punish the entire university of the actions of a few. Did the student body that loves football do something wrong in this case?..no. Did the athletes that are there now or will be there in the future do something wrong?..No. The entire school doesn't deserve to be punished for the actions of a few.