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It was a grad assistant who was probably 22 or 23 years old. He saw one of the most "powerful" men at Penn St doing something unimaginable. I'm sure he was scared, shocked, and stunned.
Its easy for someone who wasn't there to say "I would have gone after that POS like a mad dog on steroids".
Penn St football and all associated with it are treated like royalty and this person knew it. I think the kid was just scared sh*itless and didn't know what to do which is why he called his Dad, who told him to "flee the building", which he did.
The next day he went to Paterno's house and told him what he'd witnessed.
Fine, I'll say it's easy because I've been in a similar situation. No, it didn't have all of the same implications of bringing down a storied college football program -- but if you're a human being worth a damn, the only thought you're capable of is stopping this incident from happening at whatever cost you'll have to pay. When I was in college I witnessed a woman being dragged into the bathroom in the basement of my dorm room. There was no mental calculation, no weighing the consequences, no cost-benefit analysis -- just action. If you see something like that, you just act.
I got the ever-loving sh*t beat out of me for my trouble -- there is a scar and nerve damage on my face to this day, two decades later, from that incident. But you know what? That girl got out of the bathroom. I carry that scar on my face as a badge to remind me that, if I accomplish nothing else noteworthy in my life, I stopped whatever was about to happen from happening that night. That's what a human being is supposed to for another human being who is being or is about to be life-alteringly violated by some animal in human form. I can only hope the scars this coward will have to carry for the rest of his life cut a lot deeper than the one on my face.
Just heard that some big donors to Penn State aren't happy with the Paterno firing and are threatening to withhold further contributions to the school. Not sure if it's true but I wouldn't doubt it.
Paterno had a legacy and it shouldn't be destroyed amid the wrongdoings of another individual.
Just heard that some big donors to Penn State aren't happy with the Paterno firing and are threatening to withhold further contributions to the school. Not sure if it's true but I wouldn't doubt it.
Paterno had a legacy and it shouldn't be destroyed amid the wrongdoings of another individual.
His legacy has been undone by his own (in)action. He gets paid big to make big decisions, he made the wrong one and got fired. Happens all of the time.
Just heard that some big donors to Penn State aren't happy with the Paterno firing and are threatening to withhold further contributions to the school. Not sure if it's true but I wouldn't doubt it.
Paterno had a legacy and it shouldn't be destroyed amid the wrongdoings of another individual.
I should hope that alumni donations would fall off even more if they'd let the power structure that allowed this cover-up to happen to stay in place for one more day. And Paterno isn't being fired for someone else's wrongdowing; he's being fired for his own. Let's face it -- Paterno wasn't just a cog in the wheel of that power structure, he was at the center of it. If he had said "we need to go to the police with this right away," everyone else around him would have said, "you are most wise, Jedi Paterno" and gone along with it.
This whole incident is exposing just how rotten and corrupt the system is at Penn State -- and not just the athletic program, but the alumni threatening retaliation and the students rioting on behalf of a man who turned the other way while rape occurred on their campus. This is what happens when you let a football coach become a personality cult. Hopefully this will prompt other schools with major sports programs to review their priorities and make sure these programs are kept in proper perspective.
Just heard that some big donors to Penn State aren't happy with the Paterno firing and are threatening to withhold further contributions to the school. Not sure if it's true but I wouldn't doubt it.
Paterno had a legacy and it shouldn't be destroyed amid the wrongdoings of another individual.
Joe Paterno destroyed himself. You think it matters to his legacy if he got fired yesterday or quit in three weeks?
From this point forward the first sentence of any biography of Joe Paterno is going to be a reference to the sex abuse scandal he could have helped prevent.
I should hope that alumni donations would fall off even more if they'd let the power structure that allowed this cover-up to happen to stay in place for one more day. And Paterno isn't being fired for someone else's wrongdowing; he's being fired for his own. Let's face it -- Paterno wasn't just a cog in the wheel of that power structure, he was at the center of it. If he had said "we need to go to the police with this right away," everyone else around him would have said, "you are most wise, Jedi Paterno" and gone along with it.
This whole incident is exposing just how rotten and corrupt the system is at Penn State -- and not just the athletic program, but the alumni threatening retaliation and the students rioting on behalf of a man who turned the other way while rape occurred on their campus. This is what happens when you let a football coach become a personality cult. Hopefully this will prompt other schools with major sports programs to review their priorities and make sure these programs are kept in proper perspective.
JoePa was in the wrong for not going to authorities, YES.
BUT, he's done more for Penn State than any single individual ever has. He turned a mediocre football team into a powerhouse in college football. He's donated millions of his own salary BACK to Penn State for different projects. He's encouraged students to excel in both sports AND academics, being a proponent of getting good grades.
I'm not for vilifying someone because of a single mistake in life, God knows we've all made them. I would never damn an individual who has done SO MUCH for having an error in judgement.
Time will only tell what happens but Penn State might come under some serious financial hurt if the big alumni donors stop future donations to the school. I'm thinking the board might've shot themselves in the foot by firing someone who pledge to quietly resign after this season. If they would've let JoePa finish out the season, they would've avoided a lot of this chaos.
JoePa was in the wrong for not going to authorities, YES.
BUT, he's done more for Penn State than any single individual ever has. He turned a mediocre football team into a powerhouse in college football. He's donated millions of his own salary BACK to Penn State for different projects. He's encouraged students to excel in both sports AND academics, being a proponent of getting good grades.
I'm not for vilifying someone because of a single mistake in life, God knows we've all made them. I would never damn an individual who has done SO MUCH for having an error in judgement.
Time will only tell what happens but Penn State might come under some serious financial hurt if the big alumni donors stop future donations to the school. I'm thinking the board might've shot themselves in the foot by firing someone who pledge to quietly resign after this season. If they would've let JoePa finish out the season, they would've avoided a lot of this chaos.
He made multiple errors in judgement on multiple occasions. When you do that, and you're a person of his stature, it's no longer "an error", it's a case of trying to cover up a disgusting story to protect your reputation.
It's obvious he forced Sandusky to retire in 98 when the allegations came to him. The slug was still allowed on the campus even after this..still had an office there, still was allowed to hold football camps on school property. No way any of that continues with Paterno allowing it.
JoePa was in the wrong for not going to authorities, YES.
BUT, he's done more for Penn State than any single individual ever has. He turned a mediocre football team into a powerhouse in college football. He's donated millions of his own salary BACK to Penn State for different projects. He's encouraged students to excel in both sports AND academics, being a proponent of getting good grades.
I'm not for vilifying someone because of a single mistake in life, God knows we've all made them. I would never damn an individual who has done SO MUCH for having an error in judgement.
Time will only tell what happens but Penn State might come under some serious financial hurt if the big alumni donors stop future donations to the school. I'm thinking the board might've shot themselves in the foot by firing someone who pledge to quietly resign after this season. If they would've let JoePa finish out the season, they would've avoided a lot of this chaos.
He looked the other way while children got raped in his locker room. If that's not unambiguous grounds for getting your ass thrown off the university payroll without further delay, then nothing is and we might as well do away with standards of conduct. And you're here defending the very "money matters first" mentality that caused this entire scandal to blow up in the first place. "Shot themselves in the foot" my ass. No, instead we finally found someone, anyone, in this whole fetid institution that understands that money is subordinate to human decency and not the other way around.
Go tell the parents of those children, "well at least Joe gave money back to the school and encouraged his athletes to excel academically!" I'm sure they'd be really impressed with your moral balancing act. All of the things you're praising Joe for? He could have done all of those and put an end to the serial molesting of children. That's what a real man deserving of a real legacy would have done. Instead his legacy will always have this scandal attached to it, and that's exactly the way it should be.
Joe Paterno should have had the guts to stand up and say, "I'm Joe Paterno, this is my school, and that crap doesn't happen on my watch."
He should have called the cops, the D.A. and the dog catcher to clean that scum out of his locker room. Legacy? He could have had a legacy as the man who did the right thing.
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