Paterno could be out soon

Boys I thought he would die while coaching but this may be too much even for ole Joe Pa

http://espn.go.com/college-football/sto ... conference

 

Wow did yo see the Matt Millen video after that.

Can't see him surviving this. They will prolly scrap the whole coaching staff....start fresh.

 

There are reports that he is going to resign after Saturday's game - or announce his resignation and coach one more game in Happy Valley. What a shame. I honestly think that he felt he was doing the right thing, and he's being forced out because of it.

 

I am calling this a witch hunt. Joe was not involved in this and should suffer no consequenses due to others failings and the fact that this country wants to hang anyone they can remotely associate with the person actually criminally involved.

 

I've always respected JoePa and PSU Football. But here's the problem, regardless of whether you think Joe did enough in reporting the Sandusky thing to higher ups or not. (And I tend to think he didn't do enough). The fact reamins, Joe is the face of the program. He has to raise money, and donors may not be so willing to give now. He has to tell the parents of recruits that their sons will be well looked after at PSU, that just got a lot harder to do. The AD, and a VP are gone, and very likely the President of the University will be too. There is no way the HC can reamin standing, when a full house cleaning is coming.

 

The only way it can be done. This could set the program back 10 years or better.

 

I would tend to agree that at this point there is a lot of knee jerking going on. For sure, the PC crowd is after their pound of flesh, and some media are also after their pound of flesh waiting for PSU to fail. Much like the Tebow issue. To good to be true.

Now, this is a long way from being over. Right now, it is CYA. Although it is winter and spring is far off, the songbirds will start to sing shortly as implications of wrong doing will be passed around like a hot potato.

Joe is certainly part of it. I will not be surprised if this thing does not go way back into the 80's. The questions will remain, what did Joe know, and when did he know it. If it comes out that he was aware of Sandusky's problems before this 2002 incident, then he will have hell to pay. There is an incident that goes back to 1998 that was reported to the Campus police but they did nothing. So, there is a history here.

And, at this time, Joe is not a suspect, but if more stuff comes out, and it will, he could end up on an even hotter seat in the courtroom.

Either way, the damage is done. PSU's rep is now toast. Can you imagine the recruiting efforts? This is not going to go away anytime soon and it looks like PSU will carry this blackeye for at least 10 years or more.

I should also say, that I have a relative that was abused by a priest. He is still so distraught over the matter that he cannot get involved in a lawsuit. It has basically ruined his life and he is in his mid 40's. He has many emotional problems.

I also know a second person that was also abused by a priest at a summer camp. This guy was messed up too. He has not had an easy life, but he was part of a class action lawsuit against the Catholic Church.

So folks need to really remember, that these acts are felonies, not misdemeanors. Joe really should have done more seeing this was a criminal act, but I will wait further judgement until we hear the entire story.

Ohh, BTW, I had two cousins attend PSU. One actually played football for Joe and the other was a two time track All American. So, I love PSU, but if there was wrong doing, those folks need to face the music. If Joe is intimately involved in a coverup then he needs to be held accountable.

Finally, I do agree that he should just call it a day after Saturday. At this point, it would be the best thing to do.

rutan

 

Could set it back ...or it could be a good thing.

Its honorable how Paterno is an old school guy and the values he brings to the table, but high school kids looking to get paid mad cash in the NFL don't want to play for him anymore. You don't get a name on the back of the Jersey, you don't play as a freshman, and they don't throw for a lot of yards..so no huge "stats" for you.

He used to get all the best players from PA, Virginia, Jersey, and Ohio, now he is lucky if he gets the best players in PA. Paterno couldn't even recruit Chad Henne, among other top notch college QB's, who was in his own back yard.

Let's face it, the game has passed him by.

 

I am one that believes that Paterno absolutely DID NOT do all he could do when the incident was reported to him back in 2002. I realize we don't have all of the facts, but here is what we do know:
1) The graduate assistant and his father reported the incident to Paterno the day after it occurred.
2) Paterno reported it to the AD.
3) Paterno did absolutely nothing else when he realized that this was being swept under the rug when he had more power than either of the other two clowns combined.

Now, "the incident" we're talking about here is a grown man having sex with a 10 year old child in the showers of the PSU facility! If that didn't hit home with you, stop here and read the preceding sentence again. It sounds like Paterno is saying that McQuery, the GA, did not elaborate as to the extent of what was going on, but he did apparently say that Sandusky was engaging in inappropriate behavior with a child in the shower rooms. What did Paterno think was meant by "inappropriate behavior"?

The point is, Paterno should have gone to the authorities himself when it became clear that the AD and VP of Finance was going to sweep it under the rug to save the almighty university at the expense of a small child! Paterno is most certainly to blame here if he chose to do nothing else knowing that a small child had been harmed in some way by this perverted predator. In my opinion, he's complicit in this whole affair!

 

I've always respected JoePa and PSU Football. But here's the problem, regardless of whether you think Joe did enough in reporting the Sandusky thing to higher ups or not. (And I tend to think he didn't do enough). The fact reamins, Joe is the face of the program. He has to raise money, and donors may not be so willing to give now. He has to tell the parents of recruits that their sons will be well looked after at PSU, that just got a lot harder to do. The AD, and a VP are gone, and very likely the President of the University will be too. There is no way the HC can reamin standing, when a full house cleaning is coming.[/quote]

Its so sad that a legend like Joe Pa has to go out like this.After 61 years on campus.All he has done for PSU football not to mention ALL the students of PSU. He has given MILLIONS back to the University.

He knew about Sandusky. We all know that. Did he do enough? NO HE DID NOT!! Should he have followed up after the McQueary alligation? Of course he should have!....I really dont know how to deal with this.How responsable is JoPa. I really dont know how to respond to this.HELP

 

Now they released a statement saying they are going to form a committee to verify exactly what happened and make sure nothing like this happens again. Ummm... you need a committee to make sure child rape doesn't happen?

 

The way I see it is that Joe possessed 3rd hand knowledge of an incident and he reported it via his proper chain of command. He has a job to do and is an extremely busy person. I do not hold him responsible for not going forward with an agenda on 3rd hand knowledge. I, for one, feel that the actual witnesses should be the ones to take things further, not someone who heard from someone else. We also do not know exactly what Joe found out. Perhaps he had no real proof of anything other than hear-say. I am not ready to throw Joe under the bus because we are looking in a hindsight scenario -- it is real easy to say someone should have done something or that we 'would' have done differently when we are sitting on the outside looking in. You actually have no idea of what you or anyone 'should' have done until you actually live the situation in real time.

 

I think they're referring to issue of the cover up and/or lack of reporting the issue to the proper authorities.

 

He saw this guy accused of raping a child on the PSU campus for another 8 years after first reporting it to the AD.... I dont give a rip how busy he is. This is a CHILD's life we are talking about. The only innocent victim in this are the kids. They ALL should have done more.

 

I agree. Paterno needs to be done immediately. This way the game can be about the seniors for those 3 hours instead of who is on the sideline etc. It is going to be a huge distraction anyway but if you add in McQueary and Paterno on the sideline it becomes that much more of a circus.

I feel awful for the victims and to a lesser extent the PSU players.

 

Could set it back ...or it could be a good thing.

Its honorable how Paterno is an old school guy and the values he brings to the table, but high school kids looking to get paid mad cash in the NFL don't want to play for him anymore. You don't get a name on the back of the Jersey, you don't play as a freshman, and they don't throw for a lot of yards..so no huge "stats" for you.

He used to get all the best players from PA, Virginia, Jersey, and Ohio, now he is lucky if he gets the best players in PA. Paterno couldn't even recruit Chad Henne, among other top notch college QB's, who was in his own back yard.

Let's face it, the game has passed him by.[/quote:2ny7xc2m]

I agree that Joe should have retired gracefully long ago. I just think the black eye this gives the athletic program, not to mention the entire university, will last long after this is concluded. If it ever is concluded. How can something that harms a 10 yo child ever be concluded. What coach wants to come and rebuild the program and the trust and faith. Wow, what a monumental job that will be. I also think there is alot more to this yet to come out and no one will be without blame.

If you would have told me this was going to happen a week ago I would have thought you needed committed. We were just sitting around having a few libations a couple of weeks ago talking about JoPa and Sandusky and how he got the screws from Joe. I think we know why now.

 

I live in Erie and there have been several overnight camps taught by this monster at our PSU campus here.... :evil:

 

Put yourself in that ten year old shoes, tell me, " did Joe do enough" ?

 

Pete Fiutak on "College Football News" kind of nails it. Headline is a little off though. http://cfn.scout.com/2/1125957.html

 

Everyone needs to take a deep breath and step away from the urge to knee jerk the situation. Incredibly, the Press has become incredibly moralist over the last few days with everyone playing Monday morning QB.

Concerning the 2002 incident, Sandusky was not an employee at the time. It is certainly plausable since Joe adores the University and believes it will and does the right thing, that when he reported the incident, they were to investigate. What happened after that appears that the AD and VP did a lackluster investigation and did nothing. Nothing we have heard from Joe indicates that he did or did not ask any further questions with the AD and VP. It could very well be that both these guys told Joe the matter had been taken care of. At that point Joe probably took them at their word and went about his business believing the School had done what it should have. I'm just saying it is possible. It is also possible that Joe is full of it too and he knew something was amiss for quite some time and failed to act on it since Sandusky was a good friend.

We should all wait to see what becomes of this. Surely, the taxpayers of Pa will bear the burden of the schools actions as the lawsuits could potentially derail the entire University. We now have heard that the amount of victims has doubled. That means more than 18. How many more? Who knows, it could be many many more and given that these folks will surely sue, it will cost the University millions and millions. Maybe into the hundred millions.

The bigger problem is if Joe knew of incidents before 2002 and 1998. That is the big question since Sandusky WAS an employee of his at that time.

We've all seen stuff like this before and it is always best to wait and see what comes out of the trial and investigation including what Joe might have to add. As of this moment he is retiring, but will he be forced out before the end of the season.

And I am not minimizing the situation but the next time your friend or someone you see does cocaine in your site, will you report it to the police? How about pot? Both are felonies folks, just as this situation is a felony. Next time your buddy is cheating on his wife and you know it, will you go to her and tell her? Although adultery is not a felony, it is there to make a point. We ALL have seen illegal acts or acts that are highly immoral yet we did nothing. Ever let a buddy drive home drunk and then get in a wreck?

Again, hindsight is 20-20. It is easy for any one of us to sit here and say given the same situation I would have done this or that. Truth be told, we don't know how we would react in those situations. Hopefully we would do what is right and be damned if it hurt our friends feelings, right?

If there is wrongdoing, let the courts dish out the punishment. The court of public opinion is just that, opinion.

rutan

 

When it comes to witnessing a child being raped, I am 100% CERTAIN I would have done everything in my power to remove the child. Period. I dont have to "hope" that I would do the right thing.

 

It's incomprehensible to me that Joe Paterno is being forced into an 'early' (he's 84) retirement.

If there has been one face to serve as the model of ethics, integrity, and morality in college football for the past fifty-plus years, that face has a big nose, black glasses, and bryl-creamed hair. JoePa stands alone atop the mountain of all that is right with college football and there is a valley that separates himself from the rest of the nation's coaches. This is the guy who has never been the object of any sort of NCAA investigation for anything even remotely resembling a lack of insititutional control. And when MUCH less successful coaches were signing seven-figure deals to take the reins of other programs, JoePa remained idle and refused to answer questions about his own salary. After much digging by journalists (with pitchforks and lanterns in hand), it was learned that he was the lowest paid coach in the conference and one of the lowest in all of major college football. Apparently, he was satisfied with his salary and didn't feel that he needed more.

So for him to shoulder the burden of this tragic turn of events . . . well, it's an absolute travesty that he has become the 'fall guy.'

I've read the grand jury statements and the biggest piece of information that I'm missing that fails to compel me to condemn Joe is this: what, exactly, was it that his graduate assistant, Mike McQueary told him?

According to the grand jury testimony, the very first thing McQueary did after witnessing the horrific act that former coach Jerry Sandusky was involved in, was to call his father for advice. Nobody is comdemning McQueary for not calling the police. They're condemning Paterno. When I think about it, I speculate that he called his father because this was heavy stuff. This wasn't theft or cheating on an exam, this was the rape of a child! By a long-time coach of the university and a close friend and former colleague of the legendary Paterno. McQueary, for certain, needed to catch his breath, think this through, and consult with the best confidante any young man could seek out: his father. And his father's reaction: tell Paterno. And he did.

Now we need to understand that what McQueary told the grand jury and what he told Paterno are going to be vastly different in context and tone. He isn't going to kick Paterno's door in and spill graphic details to a well-respected, 72-year old coaching legend. This is his responsibility to bear, scratch that, to 'share', and he knows that this information needs to be revealed, but he also knows that he will be accusing a local coaching legend of a beyond-heinous crime by ratting him out to one of his close friends and colleague of decades. Don't you think that he is also feeling like this might greatly impact his coaching future as well? That he may be condemned by his peers for breaking some sort of unspoken 'code of silence?' Don't you think that his concerns about how him being the messenger of this news and its relationship towards his career were discussed on the phone with his father? Of course they were. I think we can all agree that that conversation between he and Paterno went something like, "Coach, I don't know how to tell you this but I felt I needed to tell you . . . I just saw Coach Sandusky in the showers with a young boy, they were both naked, showering, and I think he might have been acting inappropriately towards the boy." That was probably the extent of it. I doubt he went into graphic detail with the 72-year old coach. I'm pretty confident he shared the bare minimum information and exited stage left as quickly as he could.

And now I place myself in Paterno's black shoes. I learn that a graduate assistant of mine saw a FORMER assistant coach of mine showering with a young boy and maybe acting inappropriately and I've now taken this giant boulder from my graduate assistant and placed it on my own shoulders. Understanding though, that I don't know the full details of what I've just been told. This is a man that I've known for decades and the idea that he would do anything inappropriate with a child is beyond my realm of belief. Still, I have a responsibility. I am the head football coach of this university. There is a protocol in place. A structure. A hierarchy. It is my SOLE responsibility to report this information to my superiors. It is THEIR responsibility to further investigate this situation. And that's exactly what Paterno did.

What so many people are failing to recognize is that this 'alleged crime' occured at work. When a crime occurs at work, you tell your boss. If you're a high school teacher, you tell your principal. If you're the principal, you tell your superintendent. There exists a chain of command. If it happens at work, you tell your superior. If it happens outside of work, you call the police. Coach Paterno didn't witness anything. He learned second-hand information and passed it along to his superiors exactly as he should. He wasn't walking home at night and saw a child being raped in the park. THAT would justify this 'moral obligation' that everyone seems to be throwing at him at this time to contact the police. He was merely a third-party to second-hand information. That isn't a cause for vigilante justice or private eye investigation. It's merely a call to action that he report this information to his superiors. Again, that's exactly what he did.

The real criminals in this situation, other than Jerry Sandusky of course, are senior vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley. They have already been charged with perjury for lying to the grand jury. THEY were the ones who held the FULL responsibility for making sure that McQueary's claims were being properly investigated. It was THEIR burden to make sure that a man accused of raping a child had been reported to the police. They were the men who should have adopted Truman's belief that 'The Buck Stops Here.' They were the superiors. There was nobody left up the chain of command to report to at the university. It was their burden now. And it had now become a police matter. Instead of going to the police, however, they did nothing. They buried their heads in the sand and hoped it would all go away. And, when it didn't, they lied about it. After all, Penn State football is about all that matters in the geographical center of the state of Pennsylvania. Can you imagine the damage that would be done to the business, I mean, football program if this information were made public? It could be catastrophic. It WOULD be catastrophic! I can only imagine that Coach Paterno lofted a, "Did you find out anything about that Sandusky situation?" in their direction at some point in time and was informed that they, "Looked into it and found nothing" - or something to that effect. And that was probably enough for Joe. I'm sure he was confident they did their due dilligence and left it at that.

But now we find that the legendary football coach, who has done EVERYTHING right, for over five decades is taking the fall as the scapegoat, at the age of eighty-four, for the criminal acts of other men. Coach Paterno was merely a middle link in the childhood game of Telephone and bears all of the responsibility for the message not being communicated to its full extent and, in the process, his legacy, his reputation, and his character are not being merely assassinated, but blown to bits.

Unless I learn more, he deserves better.