Paterno Fired

[tadman95]

Penn States creamery even had a Ice cream named after Sandusky. Ironically it was banana flavored.

Man that's just gross........

 

[palinurus]

The question was how you would react if you were in JoePa's shoes. JoePa didn't witness anything.

You're right, he's saying we wouldn't have acted differently than Paterno did. But I still think most of us would have -- at least wondered why the guy was still hanging around, after he'd reported, and said "Either you go to the cops or I do." Sounds like Paterno himself thinks so now.

 

[Kak7304]

I have a son. I would have called the cops and broke Sandusky's mandible while they were on the way.

This ^. Who cares about his legacy? He had the chance to stop this monster 9 years ago and his (and all of the others involved) inaction allowed Sandusky to ruin the lives of several more children. The Board of Trustees is doing the right thing by removing everyone who failed these kids.

 

[Pachuco]

Whoa, Bob Davie went in:

"I think it'll be like a pep rally on Saturday. The atmosphere in that stadium will be RIDICULOUS. It turns into a pep rally Saturday for Joe Paterno in support, and I think alot of people may look back on it and be embarrassed by their actions."

 

[Irishcop]

Penn States creamery even had a Ice cream named after Sandusky. Ironically it was banana flavored.

Hahahaha!

 

[NDPhilly]

Man that's just gross........

Here you go. This was taken off the shelves 2 days ago I believe.

 

[Kak7304]

Here is a quote from the movie "The Boondock Saints" which I feel is very appropriate for this situation.

And I am reminded, on this holy day, of the sad story of Kitty Genovese. As you all may remember, a long time ago, almost thirty years ago, this poor soul cried out for help time and time again, but no person answered her calls. Though many saw, no one so much as called the police. They all just watched as Kitty was being stabbed to death in broad daylight. They watched as her assailant walked away. Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.

 

[DillonHall]

I don't think Paterno's situation was as easy as we're all making it out to be. Sandusky PLAYED for Paterno (and coached for him as an assistant for 30 years!). How often do you hear that a coach (in this case, Paterno) is a father-figure for his player (in this case, Sandusky). It works the other way as well. Paterno was acting (by doing nothing) to protect Sandusky. So to all the fathers, I want to ask what you would do if you found out that your son was accused of such a crime. Would you turn him into authorities or try to protect him? It's obvious what you would do if you were on the victim's side (as some of you have stated, you'd react angrily). That's not the point, however, because that's not the situation that Paterno was in (he's a father figure for the accused, not the victim).

 

[ND_HAS_RISEN]

He'll be on suicide watch soon.

Sadly, this is completely true, and not just with Sandusky, but with everyone involved!!

As sad as it is for the legacy that was JoPa to go down like this, there was NO OTHER CHOICE!!

***And to second everyone else... There isn't a sliver of doubt in my mind that if I would have seen ANYBODY (Dad, brother, best friend, etc..) engaged in these acts with a child, I would of beat the living hell out that person, and wouldn't hesitate for a second to call the cops.

I can sympathize for the situation that JoPa was in and agonizing over reporting the alleged crimes to authorities, but that sympathy is minimal considering the amount of time that has passed. There is not a chance in hell that he didn't eventually come to the conclusion that Sandusky was more than likely guilty given the evidence over the course of the past 13-14 years. When that conclusion was made, there is no way that JoPa could have been worried about potentially ruining a man/friends life by making false accusations. Early on I could certainly see how he could be worried about making any allegation of this magnitude and it turning out to be false, and it ruining Sandusky's life, but given the evidence and time that has passed there is just no possible way that he can use that as an excuse.

Devastating doesn't even describe the magnitude of this...

 

[MacIrish75]

I don't think Paterno's situation was as easy as we're all making it out to be. Sandusky PLAYED for Paterno (and coached for him as an assistant for 30 years!). How often do you hear that a coach (in this case, Paterno) is a father-figure for his player (in this case, Sandusky). It works the other way as well. Paterno was acting (by doing nothing) to protect Sandusky. So to all the fathers, I want to ask what you would do if you found out that your son was accused of such a crime. Would you turn him into authorities or try to protect him? It's obvious what you would do if you were on the victim's side (as some of you have stated, you'd react angrily). That's not the point, however, because that's not the situation that Paterno was in (he's a father figure for the accused, not the victim).

This. This x1000

There are so many positions to take on this matter. None of them are really wrong. But (and I agree it's incredibly hard to do) you've got to make an attempt to empathize with the other points of view.

 

[palinurus]

This. This x1000

There are so many positions to take on this matter. None of them are really wrong. But (and I agree it's incredibly hard to do) you've got to make an attempt to empathize with the other points of view.

Well, supposing Paterno saw Sandusky as his son, that is something to consider. And it's true, when my son does wrong, I don't turn on him. I counsel him, and correct him, and discipline him. I haven't heard that Paterno did any of that here, just that he reported it and let it go at that. But I'm sure more will come out. In the end, he wasn't doing his "son" any favors letting him off the hook.

 

[Zwidmanio]

This. This x1000

There are so many positions to take on this matter. None of them are really wrong. But (and I agree it's incredibly hard to do) you've got to make an attempt to empathize with the other points of view.

Absolutely you should empathize with other views and I absolutely understand the desire to protect those that are close to you. With that being said, there's a huge chasm of difference between protecting those close to you and enabling them to continue victimizing young boys on your watch.

 

[DillonHall]

Well, supposing Paterno saw Sandusky as his son, that is something to consider. And it's true, when my son does wrong, I don't turn on him. I counsel him, and correct him, and discipline him. I haven't heard that Paterno did any of that here, just that he reported it and let it go at that. But I'm sure more will come out. In the end, he wasn't doing his "son" any favors letting him off the hook.

Like you said, there's so much of this story that we don't know and probably will never know. That's part of what makes some of these reactions inappropriate.

 

[t3hjc]

 

[ND_HAS_RISEN]

This. This x1000

There are so many positions to take on this matter. None of them are really wrong. But (and I agree it's incredibly hard to do) you've got to make an attempt to empathize with the other points of view.

I can completely understand this POV, but with the amount of time that has passed, it almost becomes irrelevent.

There is no way that he couldn't of known beyond a reasonable doubt that Sandusky was more than likely guilty. As painful as it would have been if it was my own son, I could not of sat by for 10+ years and not say something. Its no different than giving a suicidal patient a loaded gun.

 

[MacIrish75]

Thanks to my friends for this:

"We must all fear evil men, but there is another kind of evil which we must fear most. That is the indifference of good men."
-Boondock Saints

 

[MacIrish75]

Joe just came outside and made a "statement." He looks so old and tired.

 

[Kak7304]

Thanks to my friends for this:

"We must all fear evil men, but there is another kind of evil which we must fear most. That is the indifference of good men."
-Boondock Saints

I just posted the full quote in this thread about 20 min ago lol

 

[BobD]

Father, Son, Brother, Best Friend or 8th Cousin 16 times removed, there is absolutely ZERO explaination or excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to stop someone who is raping children.

 

[MacIrish75]

I just posted the full quote in this thread about 20 min ago lol

Lol crap. Being too lazy to read every page in the thread gets me every time.

 

[Kak7304]

Father, Son, Brother, Best Friend or 8th Cousin 16 times removed, there is absolutely ZERO explaination or excuse or for not doing everything humanly possible to stop someone who is raping children.

EXACTLY. If Sandusky had stolen some money or committed some crime of that degree, helping a family member/close friend would be understandable. In this case, however, the welfare of children was directly put into jeopardy.

 

[Kak7304]

Lol crap. Being too lazy to read every page in the thread gets me every time.

It's very appropriate for this situation though.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Father, Son, Brother, Best Friend or 8th Cousin 16 times removed, there is absolutely ZERO explaination or excuse for not doing everything humanly possible to stop someone who is raping children.

This is all that needs to be said on this. There is no retort for it, and I honestly don't get how anyone could possibly not get it.

 

[palinurus]

So there really ARE riots in State College tonight.....Amazing.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Sandusky, Paterno, the president, anyone with power at Penn State, and all of the students rioting are all terrible people.

 

[phgreek]

I by NO MEANS would ever condone this but if someone came to me and told me a friend and colleague did something this heinous. I would take it to a superior and have them investigate first. If he ran to the police and all this got out and Penn St. and Sandusky got this horrible name. Then the truth comes out and nothing really happened. There is no turning back, the name is already drug into the dirt. I.e the Duke lacrosse team.

It was the higher up that seemed to cover it up, from what I have read.

I will say Paterno could have done something further later on but right off the bat, he should not have ran to the police without actually knowing the story and investigating first. In my opinion.

As has been stated also, the full story has not come out. When it comes to how much Paterno actually knew.

The key for me is..."Could have done something further later". As Joepa you need to be satisfied it either didn't happen, or steps were being taken to get the authorities in there. If it didn't happen WTF are you doing employing the nut job that reported it? If you weren't sure...confront Sandusky with Mcqueery in the room. I mean hell, the accounts I've read had Sandusky all but confessing to one of the vicitm's mothers...So being confronted by Paterno and a guy who says he saw Sandusky...you gotta think it was at least possible he would have sang like a canary.

See thats the part I haven't seen yet...and the part that I will be most angry about if it comes out...if Joe didn't corner Sandusky and ask him some damned tough questions...

Sure, some have made the point here that a guy you know for 30+ years, you move in a way that doesn't condemn him before you get a chance to look into it...but hell guys, you gotta want to KNOW...and thats the disease here...nobody wanted to know the truth...at BEST everyone did the minimum...and hoped it wasn't so...and based on what I read so far...that includes JoePa.

I expected more...sounds like the board of trustees did too

 

[Old Man Mike]

This late in the game this probably adds little to anyone's understanding of this thing. But having spent my working life in a university I have a perspective on this maybe a little different.

Universities like to run their operations with as much closed door secrecy as possible. This of course leads them to making massive mistakes. There are well understood chains of command rifled all through the place, and unless one has a lot of courage one goes through them and keeps ones head down. This also leads to massive errors of judgement.

Incidents of immorality have a particularly large stigma which attaches itself to the University, and one gets the [again unwritten] message that one should quietly pass such matters up the chain of command. Profs sexually harassing coeds or worse are situations where the Dean of Students is supposed to take over. In some cases the offending professor is given a "leave-of-absence" or some such BS rather than firing him outright and causing a public stink.

Avoiding the public stink is the great goal of every Administration. Court cases are headed off with payoffs if necessary and "noise" is forcefully restrained if at all possible. This of course results in massive mistakes.

Football teams are like the university in miniature and even more tightly wound. Assistant coaches even will not make executive-like decisions on anything without approval of the head coach --- they coach at his pleasure and they know it. Hierarchy is strongly pyramidical and Grad assists are very intimidated. This of course leads to massive errors. [There once was an O-Line coach who was widely but secretly known within the profession for having run an athlete to death after practice and this was quietly ignored forever; he was always employed].

None of this is written to exonerate anyone obviously. It is written to add to an understanding as to how it could be possible for a person of less than admirable strength of character to make very poor decisions and continue to look the other way. I very much disliked at WMU that we could not summarily fire a certain psych prof who was predating on coeds --- even wrote a policy for making it easier to do without the university getting sued, but cowardice in the administration prevailed. It usually does in the real world, you know.


P.S. one of my brothers was recruited by Sandusky. He sat in our home several times, being the perfect gentleman and schmoozing it up with Mom. Ate at our table. My brother is absolutely stunned that this same man was a sexual addict and predator.

 

[MacIrish75]

Something they mentioned on ESPN earlier was how McQueary may have stated what he saw in the locker room to Paterno and how Paterno could have interpreted what he was told. What they quoted was that McQueary conveyed there was "horseplay" and "inappropriate touching" between Sandusky and a minor.

Now, if that is in fact true, and if that is verbatim (more or less) how Mike McQueary told Paterno about the situation, does that change things? I know if I hear "inappropriate touch" that raises 80000 red flags. But, if you were 80 years old, would that trigger the same alarms?

 

[NYIrish14]

Some kids are incredibly naive...unbelievable kids are rioting over this. Guarantee alot of these kids are looking for reasons to just go out and raise heck on a wednesday night though.

 

[ndyeater]

What an embarrasing night for Penn State University