Joe Paterno.
I have mixed feelings on this. Yes, he should have gone to the police. I guess what is difficult to comprehend is that 46 years as head coach of Penn State and being held as a deity at Penn State and much of Pennsylvania, Paterno leaves not with dignity, but with being fired. I have to believe there are so many more facts to this case that we don't know to warrant this decision.
Some will say that Paterno could have stepped down and avoided this, but he forced the hand of the Board of Trustees. Regardless, this is disastrous for Penn State, Paterno, and college sports in general.
But it's really the victims that it's all about, let's not forget that.
Paterno out effective immediately. Right decision, or wrong?
Wrong oh so wrong.
ReplyDeleteThe victims in this case are obviously the kids, but why is Penn State focused on punishing everyone with a slight contact to Sandusky. If he did it (which hasn't been proven in a court of law), then by all means throw the book at him and quite honestly he will get what is coming to him in prison. But this seems like a case of jumping the gun, especially since Paterno had already announced he was stepping down at the end of the season.
This reminds me of Woody Hayes' exit from Ohio State, but the main difference is Hayes actually punched an opposing player and Paterno hired an alleged pedophile.
If you were an employer would you want to be held responsible for an employee's faults?
I've been thinking about this a lot today and I woke up to find out they had fired Paterno and the university president. I think they need to go through the legal process and everyone, and I mean everyone, who had knowledge of Sandusky's actions (alleged, I guess at this point) needs to be penalized to the full extent of the law. You don't get immunity for being a legend, if you had knowledge of what happened and I wonder how could he NOT know. That said, I can see the University's side too because they have to look at how it's going to appear when Paterno is carried off the field by the senior's at the last home game. They (the board) were in a tough spot, but as you say, the victims should be the primary concern in all this and I think that's what the board had in mind when they fired Paterno.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hiflew's question at the end of his comment, I think the allegations go way beyond an employee's faults. This isn't a case of a linebacker taking drugs or a quarterback getting a free car. This is rape of a child and on multiple occasions. If all the allegations are proven true, then I say they should throw all of the people who covered it up in the same cell with Sandusky.
Correct decision, without a doubt. Tells his boss about an alleged rape of a child and carries on like nothing when nothing comes of it? Football to coach, and all.
ReplyDeleteSick.
Right but not fair.
ReplyDeleteI think they had to fire him, whether it's fair to him or not - there's no way he could have been on the sideline Saturday without exposing the university to ridicule. The sad thing is that he's become a lightning rod for this issue, which isn't fair because the real monster, Sandusky, is hardly being talked about at all.
I don't disagree with the decision, I just think that it is tough believe that after such a storied career, this is how it ends. One interesting perspective I heard on talk radio this morning is this: the Pope is still in power, and certain bishops and priests are still in place after having been part of a child abuse coverup.
ReplyDeleteI am not in any way comparing Paterno to the Pope, but I can see parallels. The other thing I was thinking is that maybe it is best for Paterno's safety that he doesn't coach Saturday. You have to believe there are going to be protesters and the like at the game. No place for a frail 84 year old man under scrutiny.
It's a horrible decision, especially since he said he'd step down at the end of the season. He has been put on a pedestal after doing the right thing. He could have done more, but that is not the point. One of the people he told was in charge of campus police, so he probably had very good confidence that autorities had been informed. When your supervisors actively cover up a situation, you essentially have little choice but to live blind. It's extremely sad that Paterno has been burned at the stake by the public when McQueary is skirting by out of the news. Sandusky is the monster, followed directly by McQueary, and then Schultz, Curley, and Spanier. Paterno was fired because of who he is, not because of anything he has done. He was put in an impossible situation by McQueary in which there was no fair outcome for him.
ReplyDeleteguess i'll pick up on the last comment. thanks, julie,for kicking off our little debate.
ReplyDeleteof course they needed to remove the guy. i might have accepted them suspending him without pay, but he needed to go. the gall of that guy to say "i'll retire at the end of the season, after my parade and i smoke a ceegar." F that arrogant ass.
there was no fair outcome for him? please. he always had a choice. he does not get a free ride on this one.
Paterno absolutely had to go, and so does all the staff. It has to be a clean sweep. The fact that these allegations were know about for years and kept quiet was absolutely disgusting. Had Joe and Co. done the right thing this would have been investigated by the police years ago, fewer kids would have been harmed, and Penn State would have it's reputation intact. As it is the program has irrepairably harmed the University. Paterno the man failed on a fundamental level in an area far greater than football.
ReplyDelete