Joe Paterno, who won more games than any other major-college football coach, and who became the face of Penn State University and a symbol of integrity in collegiate athletics only to be fired during the 2011 season amid a child sexual-abuse scandal that reverberated throughout the nation, died Sunday. He was 85.
Good morning, Enty!
ReplyDeleteHe lived a long, full, sucessful life in so many ways and failed so many children in the end.
Wish it could have ended on a high note for him and his family.
It's a shame he had to leave under such a cloud, but, well, that's what happens when you don't report your #2 man ass-raping little boys in the showers, eh? At least people outside Happy Valley seem to have their priorities in better order, although apparently inside they Still Just Don't Get It. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThroughout all the drama I had forgotten he was 85. I was never a fan of the man, but at the end of the day he was a human being with a family who, at his old age and what was the end of his long career, dealt with a very public predicament beyond anything any of us could have imagined. I hope he rests in peace.
ReplyDeleteEnty-- just saw your comment on facebook regarding Paterno's death. It is not unexpected, and I feel as though it was hastened by all the press regarding his role in the Sandusky Child Sexual Abuse Crimes. I feel sadness and compassion for him as, IMO, he was one of those old-breed coaches and just did not understand what all the fuss was. Now, I imagine he will have to stand at the Pearly Gates and try to defend his behavior to Saint Pete. I hope he's given a 150-yard penalty and told to stand on the sidelines for an eternity or until he truly understands why his behavior was "sinful" and despicable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else, when everyone understands that in our society it is wrong to hurt or take advantage of anyone - especially children or animals - we will all be much better off.
ReplyDeleteThinking he's in hell watching The View.
ReplyDeleteHopefully now the spotlight will shift to Sandusky, where it belongs!
ReplyDeleteIt's all just beyond sad. Joe was what, 75 when this happened? I'm not sure he truly understood what had happened at the time.
ReplyDeleteIt was also his business to know and to protect his boys.
This shows what one sick perverted asshole can destroy by their actions.
Sandusky is the true evil here. A blind eye turned to evil is a close second.
He was the most powerful man in that community and could have done the right thing but, instead, passed the buck.
ReplyDeleteThe amount of respectful posts (not here) I am reading about this man makes me want to vomit. I don't care how great of a coach he was, he turned a blind eye to boys being raped. That is all that matters to me.
ReplyDeleteSorry, not going to shed a tear for a man that sat idly by and allowed a predator to ruin the lives of innocent children just for the sake of college football. I feel for his family but any remaining sympathy that I have is exclusively for those poor abused children.
ReplyDeletecancer doesn't wipe out systematic rape of children. see ya!
ReplyDeleteGood Riddance, you pedo scumbag.
ReplyDelete@Paris...THANK you!
ReplyDeleteHe had a great run, but he had to know. And that is unforgivable .
ReplyDeleteThank you Del Riser. Paterno put this college on the map and he did a lot of good things. He did report it too two men above him in the chain of command. One was in charge of the Penn State Police. Those men did not report it to the police. They lied to the Grand Jury and have been charged with perjury. These men were in charge. No one finds fault with them. Paterno himself said he should have done more, but he did reported it to his superiors and they buried the information. I wish people would stop acting like Paterno was the pervert. Sandusky is the one anger should be directed toward. Town Hall meetings have been held in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and NYC, by the new President and Trustees. The majority opinion was they had an agenda for firing Paterno that had little to do with the scandal and that the Trusees should step down. Many alumni and supporters are angry with mill stone they hung around his neck. Here in State College it is a sad day. Now TMZ says Westboro Baptist Church is planning to picket the funeral.
ReplyDeleteOh, please. Paterno was complicit. Period. He knew about Sandusky's crimes and turned a blind eye. Just because he's not the one who raped those boys firsthand doesn't make him the innocent one in this scenario.
ReplyDeleteIf Paterno had been, say, the head of Penn State's med school and Sandusky had been a professor in his department and this same thing had happened, there wouldn't be as much sympathy tossed towards Paterno. But Paterno brought glory to the school via a football team, and so he'll always be lionized.
It truly is revolting what people get away with in the name of athletics.
I don't care if the man cured cancer. All his sports related accolades were wiped clean in my eyes when I found out he helped cover Sandusky's ass.
ReplyDeleteSorry, cosina, everyone knows that Joe Paterno ran that town, hell, if not the entire state. He had more power than any of the people you mentioned. The "majority opinion" you refer to is that of your fellow Lions, I assure you the rest of America feels differently. Your university needs to clean house, top to bottom, for any semblance of your former reputation to be restored. Frankly, I think the Big Ten should dump PSU and the NCAA should strip your school of its football program for a minimum of ten years. It's amazing that the an entire community is so busy passing the blame around that it is forgetting just how many people were involved in the cover-up. Your precious Paterno is no innocent. That title goes ONLY to Sandusky's victims.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm pretty sure that Sandusky's victims are not crying over Paterno's death.
ReplyDeleteBravo Little Miss Smoke! Well said and I must say I agree 100%
ReplyDeleteI agree, LMS&M! @cosina: If Joe Paterno was really a great man, he would have picked up that little thing called a telephone and called the police! In truth, he was a common coward who passed the buck, then turned a blind eye to the abuse of children. You and all the other people defending this pathetic jerk need a dose of hard reality; would you really be ignoring Paterno's complicity had one of Sandusky's victims been you or your child? I truly doubt it.
ReplyDeleteI hope Paterno rots, wherever he's going.
Cosina - you have got to be kidding me. Bottom line - if you KNOW something that heinous has happened, and all you can do it "pass it on", then you are just as guilty as the perpetrator. This wasn't stealing, or any kind of questionable conduct. THIS WAS CHILD MOLESTATION AND RAPE.
ReplyDeleteAnd there is a serious imbalance when you hold a human being up with the reverence the people at Penn State showed Joe Paterno.
And for the record, football is a SPORT. A fucking SPORT. Nothing more.
Two months ago I had never heard of Joe Paterno. I wish that was still the case (meaning I wish Sandusky had never ever touched a single child).
ReplyDeleteGod bless the victims of these men.
Two months ago I had never heard of Joe Paterno. I wish that was still the case (meaning I wish Sandusky had never ever touched a single child).
ReplyDeleteGod bless the victims of these men.
I'm sorry, my grandfather is 72 and he knows that rape is wrong. I don't understand the people who say he didn't understand or he didn't get it. Rape is rape is rape. It's not a new modern thing. It's been going on since the beginning of time and it's been wrong since then, too.
ReplyDeleteI will give credit where credit is due. In all honesty, Paterno did do some great good. Specifically, he petitioned the NCAA to hold student athletes to higher educational standards realizing there was "life after football."
ReplyDeleteHowever, if anyone says he did NOT know about Sandusky, present me with a reasonable explanation as to why Sandusky was never offered another football coaching job after he left Penn State. That to me speaks volumes about what the Penn State athletic department knew at the time. -- Don't say Sandusky said he "retired." Almost every good coach can be coaxed out of retirement for the right price...
Paterno had to have known, I just think in his mind, coming from the generation he came from, he thought a slap on the wrist, kicking Sandusky out of his program and making sure he never got another coaching job again was enough.
It wasnt.
@Cosina, you are seeing it thru the view of the rose colored glasses of a very small world from Happy Valley. Yes , Paterno did great things but it is a shame that he managed to negate them with his actions in this matter. And now he dies w/that legacy.
ReplyDeleteTo illustarte, I have a niece who is 21 who I love dearly but she is not the sharpest pencil in the box. She is not a PSU student but was born and raised in PA so has some allegiance to PSU because she feels she is supposed to. Your comments sound like her ignorance when this came out when she posted on Facebook "well he did what he was supposed to do, he told his boss". Yeah right... "his boss".As someone said, he ran PSU , he ran that town, He had more power than any other yet he chose not to use it to defend the innocent victims. Now maybe you too are 21 and like my niece just dont get a lot of things. Or maybe you are just fooling yourself.... I can't really say for sure. Let's hope you are just a bit ignorant like my niece because otherwise you really aren't seeing things for how they are.
This kind of cover up happens all the time at Colleges and Universities around the country. The only difference is that the victims are young women instead of small boys. We are such a hypocritical country - all anyone cares about is the big, flashy news story. Very few people care enough to do anything about the day-to-day atrocities that are committed right under all of our noses.
ReplyDeleteNo sadness, no compassion for him or his family. F them all! He knew what was happening and chose to do nothing. He was a part of it. It was all OK with him and hundreds of lives were damaged because of him. He belongs in hell watching the View every single day into eternity. I am thankful for this blog here so I could get that out of my head. Thanks Enty!
ReplyDeleteWell said Ida! I'm sick to death of people defending this man. Apparently if you have something to do with college or professional sports, you're excused from every terrible act that you commit in life. Ignoring the acts of a child rapist/molester is as terrible as it gets.
ReplyDeleteAs a Philadelphian I am ASHAMED at these PSU students treating this man like some sort of God. Any decent human being would notify the authorities if he knew of children being abused and he wouldn't stop until something was done. I guess it's foolish of me to think that rape of children trumps college football.
*disgusted*
Wow...this is horrible. I hope he didn't die of a broken heart.
ReplyDeletePaterno did report that man who was raping the young boys. He did exactly what protocal told him to do, from what I understand. I personally would have done more and gone straight to the police, but then again, I wasn't in the situation, I don't know exactly what Paterno witnessed or knew as facts.
Just think of how many awful, despicable things have been done by sports administrators and players for YEARS that has all been swept under the rug.
ReplyDeleteGood God, it gives me the chills.
@Crila16: Give me a break! Paterno did the bare minimum, likely to keep him and Sandusky out of trouble. Clearly the man had no sense of morality and was utterly lacking both courage and balls. I DO hope he died of a broken heart, and that the Pope and all others who protect pedophiles quickly follow suit.
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