Penn State Sandusky scandal: AD arrested, Paterno, Spanier fired; coverup charged #7

ThoughtFox said:

It's terrible, but while I was watching the news and saw this about Paterno, all I could think of was that it was sympathy spin to deflect whatever bad news is coming out next. And unfortunately, that seems true if his son is denying it.

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It sure must be a humdinger coming out to go to these lengths to get sympathy! They even have people gathering around the statue and his home on a watch.

Who was responsible for starting this rumor? Back on wfgodot's link, it says that the players were getting emails about his death...who sent them? Here is an update of that link:

Penn State student website Onward State has reported that Penn State players were notified of longtime head coach Joe Paterno's passing via email, and CBSSports.com went on this report. Paterno, 85, had been receiving chemotherapy as part of his treatment for lung cancer.

However, Paterno family spokesperson Dan McGinn told a New York Times reporter that the report of Paterno's demise is "absolutely not true," and Jay Paterno tweeted that his father "continues to fight." Onward State has since retracted their report.

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Devon Edwards, Student Managing Editor, of ONWARD STATE has resigned after the site's twitter account sent out the erroneous tweet regarding Paterno.

It was picked up by CBS sports and the Huffington Post.

To read the full article go to www.post-gazette.com to read the full AP story.

CNN is reporting that Joe Paterno's family has confirmed his death.

davehead21 said:

CNN is reporting that Joe Paterno's family has confirmed his death.

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Right...I'm getting the same from MSNBC:

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/22/joe-paterno-1926-2012/related/

“It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today,” a statement from the family read. ”His loss leaves a void in our lives that will never be filled. He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”

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I hardly know what is right to say here. He is out of the fray now, but this will be a footnote forever when his name comes up, as it should be.

This just hit the Comcast home page - article is by-lined by the AP so I would take it as fact.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20120122/FBC.Obit.Joe.Paterno/?cid=hero_media

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46042618/ns/sports-college_football/

PATERNO'S GREATNESS CAN'T ERASE A BAD ENDING
Michael Ventre

You could see Joe Paterno’s entire career in the sad eyes of Jay Paterno, his son and one of his assistant coaches at Penn State. When the Jerry Sandusky matter first blew up, Jay Paterno faced interviewers not with defiance, but rather melancholy resignation. He knew what had been, he saw what was coming and he seemed to experience the slow onset of grief in front of the public over his father’s fate and legacy.
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Those who might suggest in the most strident terms that it is unfair to put so much emphasis on Joe Paterno’s connection to the Sandusky abomination when that was actually a tiny speck in a long and storied career probably acknowledge that it has to be done. He happened to be at the wheel when the program ran into a ditch. Even he admitted later to the Washington Post that “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it” and “I backed away” and turned it all over to others.

But the problem was that nobody was more powerful in State College, Pa., than Joe Paterno, who passed away at the age of 85. So when it came time for the most powerful man on campus to exercise that influence, he inexplicably delegated. It was no time for a hand-off, and as a result a proud career ended in controversy and exile.

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More at link...

Joe Paterno has died (officially). CBC article link here.

My father was a High School Football Coach in the mid-60s, early 70s and at that time, everyone idolized Coach Paterno and Vince Lombardi. Every year, my father and other coaches would go to a high school football coaches convention in Atlantic City, NJ, and many times Paterno was the keynote speaker. Although my father died a number of years ago (1990), I still wonder what he would have said about Paterno and the Sandusky scandal.

Not to defend Paterno, but to give Websleuthers an idea about these old-school football coaches -- here are some related items re: my Dad's coaching days.

-- In his early years coaching, I remember my father and his assistant coaches being very careful about distributing water to the players during practice. When Gatorade first came on the market, my father did actually allow the players drink the Gatorade-- I think he began to understand the importance of hydration due to new studies and Gatorade's ad campaign.

-- At the time, athletes were encouraged to play with injuries -- unless they could no longer walk. My father was like that and considered you a coward if you could not play through the pain. In later years he learned it was not okay. He was like that with his kids. I dislocated my finger and he looked at it and said it was nothing. Two days later, through a haze of pain, I begged my mother to take me to the emergency room and she did. After that, she did not listen to my dad when one of us was injured.

-- My father had an assistant coach who was and alcoholic and essentially homeless-- he lived in his car with a pet dog. But her was a teacher and a good coach, so everyone just accepted it. They did what they could to help, but it was limited. Years later, students used to tell stories about this coach and his drinking. Thank God that was all he did.

-- We had a health teacher in our high school and it was known to faculty that he "fooled around" with the female students. It was kept quiet -- in those days once you had tenure no one could touch you. Eventually, he got a 16-year old student pregnant, married her, and was finally fired from the school.

I don't agree with what Paterno did -- turning a blind eye to what Sandusky did -- but I do understand the mindset of him and the people around him. Paterno was untouchable and like the Pope to Pen State fans, faculty, students and parents. I suspect he will have a lot of explaining to do when he arrives at the Gates of Heaven, expecting to be let in. My prayers go to his family -- I do have compassion for them.

My condolences to Mr. Paterno's wife, children and grandchildren during this difficult time. I am sure they loved him very much.

Sadly, in spite of the positive influence he had on many lives, the devastation his inaction caused for 10 young boys will be everlasting to their psyche.

This article pretty much sums up how I feel right now.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46042618/ns/sports-college_football/

wm

A "moment of silence" for Paterno would be ironic, ugly, and thus perfect.

I noticed his health went downhill after he was fired by the PSU trustees after Jerry Sandusky was arrested. It likely put a lot of stress on Joe Paterno.

I'd like to think that, if stress was involved, it was induced by guilt for not having called police after an assistant reported seeing a ten-year-old boy being raped in a Penn State shower.

January 22, 2012 at 12:42 pm

Text of family statement on Joe Paterno's death

By The Associated Press

Full text of statement by the Paterno family on the death of Joe Paterno:

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120122/SPORTS0203/201220324/1478/rss

joe paterno... a man who could have died a hero....but....well, he just didn't.

wfgodot said:

A "moment of silence" for Paterno would be ironic, ugly, and thus perfect.

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I understand everyone's feelings about the situation, but I was and always will be an admirer of Coach Paterno, and appreciate everyone being respectful during this time. It would be different if he were the molestor, but JoePa was only the man who reported to his supervisors what had been told to him.

As many on here have asked, couldn't he have done more? Of course, and I think even he regretted his lack of follow-up after the gravity of the situation hit him. But I read a quote somewhere else about him that helps keep things in perspective for me (paraphrased): "Joe Paterno apparently lived 99.99% of his life as a moral and decent man. Unfortunately, some will only remember the 0.01%."

One needs only to read the tributes by his former players to know how many lives he touched in the long term. I know that many of us here will never forgive him for not pursuing the matter beyond his legal requirements, but it is IMO unfair and unfortunate to judge his entire life on one situation that we wish he had handled differently.

I guess I can feel this way, because unlike the impression I get from many posts, I don't feel there was a desire on his part to sweep this all under the rug. If so, why would he have even taken the actions that he did? If it were his goal to make it all go away, he would have listened to McQueary, assured him that he would take care of it, and left it at that. I trust his assertion that he passed the matter on to those he trusted to handle it. To those who blame him principally for allowing Sandusky to continue his abuse, remember that there were at least two police agencies, at least one District Attorney, Children and Youth Services, and possibly several grand juries that had greater power than Joe Paterno to hold Sandusky accountable, and yet all failed to do so.

With all that said, I hope that Joe Paterno may rest in peace, and my condolences go out to his family, and all those who are grieving his loss today.

And now, news that Westboro Baptist Church, the organization that became notorious for its protests at military funerals, is planning to protest at Paterno's funeral:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/westboro_baptist_church_says_i.html

Rlaub44 said:

I understand everyone's feelings about the situation, but I was and always will be an admirer of Coach Paterno, and appreciate everyone being respectful during this time. It would be different if he were the molestor, but JoePa was only the man who reported to his supervisors what had been told to him.

As many on here have asked, couldn't he have done more? Of course, and I think even he regretted his lack of follow-up after the gravity of the situation hit him. But I read a quote somewhere else about him that helps keep things in perspective for me (paraphrased): "Joe Paterno apparently lived 99.99% of his life as a moral and decent man. Unfortunately, some will only remember the 0.01%."

One needs only to read the tributes by his former players to know how many lives he touched in the long term. I know that many of us here will never forgive him for not pursuing the matter beyond his legal requirements, but it is IMO unfair and unfortunate to judge his entire life on one situation that we wish he had handled differently.

I guess I can feel this way, because unlike the impression I get from many posts, I don't feel there was a desire on his part to sweep this all under the rug. If so, why would he have even taken the actions that he did? If it were his goal to make it all go away, he would have listened to McQueary, assured him that he would take care of it, and left it at that. I trust his assertion that he passed the matter on to those he trusted to handle it. To those who blame him principally for allowing Sandusky to continue his abuse, remember that there were at least two police agencies, at least one District Attorney, Children and Youth Services, and possibly several grand juries that had greater power than Joe Paterno to hold Sandusky accountable, and yet all failed to do so.

With all that said, I hope that Joe Paterno may rest in peace, and my condolences go out to his family, and all those who are grieving his loss today.

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If 99.99% of Paterno's life was moral and decent, then the other .01% was characterized by hubris. As Greek drama and the plays of Shakespeare consistently demonstrate, that's all it takes for a great man's life to end tragically.

I've followed sports for a very long time. Paterno was great, a hero, in the day. But he began to lose me long before his current woes. It wasn't easy - he was a literature major, as was I, and there's something quite appealing in that combination of culture and sports.

But toward the end, the only kudo I could give him was that Penn State graduated its football athletes - they were number one at that, I think, a very good thing, yet over-praise for doing what any program should - make sure its athletes get their degrees - began to seem like admiring someone for fulfilling exactly what he should be expected to do in the first place.

And then there was JoePa, exercising his power by staying on too long, way past his sell-date, as PSU head coach, thus hurting the program and the university as a whole; and the rumors of his covering up athetes's misdeeds, and pressuring academic advisors. I began to see him as somewhat of a hypocrite; and then, as a hypocrite, eye on only winning.

Penn State's football athletes not wearing their names on their uniform jerseys - as a way to emphasize the team nature of the sport, it was forever said - began to seem like just another marketing ploy.

I was not at all surprised at his eventual downfall. It might stretch the point to say one could see it coming, but, well, one could see it coming. Only the horrible circumstances and their nature in this instance were a surprise.

Rlaub44 said:

And now, news that Westboro Baptist Church, the organization that became notorious for its protests at military funerals, is planning to protest at Paterno's funeral:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/westboro_baptist_church_says_i.html

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It would suit me for Happy Valley to be that outfit's Waterloo.