Joe Paterno passed away at age 85 today. He coached football at Penn State for nearly 5 decades, longer than I have been alive. You know the stats (409 wins, most of all coaches in Division 1 or FBS or whatever its called today ever, 2 national titles, 5 undefeated seasons). He is one of the best coaches of all time, any sport, any era, period. This scandal with his former assistant coach is really bad. But I believe Paterno did what he had to do based on what he was told. The former assistant who witnessed the alleged sexual assault did Paterno a disservice by not telling him exactly what happened. Respect for Paterno and Paterno's age (over 70) at the time notwithstanding, that guy needed to tell Paterno everything, then the Penn State administrators, then the police, back then! Paterno did report what he was told to his bosses. His only error was that he didn't follow up with them about it or call the police himself. Call it loyalty to a trusted former assistant or whatever. Paterno did NOT just sit on it, like some people think or like the former athletic director and others did. They deserve to go to hell.
This Sandusky guy is a real dirtbag and deserves to go to hell for abusing these kids. Penn State did Paterno wrong by firing him at that time. He should have been allowed to finish the season, if he was physically able (and perhaps, as we now know, he would not have been). If it had been Paterno himself doing these horrible things, fine, what Penn State did this past fall would have been fine. But Paterno did not know. Those who did know did things all wrong in handling it, trying to protect themselves and the school. Instead they screwed the school, Paterno, the current team that had to bear this mess in the media, and most importantly, the victims of these alleged assaults. They also all but trashed Paterno's legacy, and the school's reputation, especially in the football (and all sports) programs for years to come. The haters need to STFU and show some respect for the dead. Joe Paterno was always classy, even when classy was not cool.
Paterno was brave in the face of all this, and put the school and its students and the football team before himself. Especially when he was fighting cancer of all things (which is double hell at his age) and may well have known that he had little time left. He still took the high road, asked students not to riot or rage against the school on his behalf and was strong despite all of the stones thrown at him and his family. That is a real man. We should all strive to be as close to a good person as Paterno was. We should all learn from his example. Here is a coach's coach. He leaves us as a great coach, and a even better person. Goodbye, Coach. Thank you for all you did for Penn State, college football and sports as a whole. You have had a wonderful life. Now enjoy the rest that you so greatly deserve. You will be missed.
This Sandusky guy is a real dirtbag and deserves to go to hell for abusing these kids. Penn State did Paterno wrong by firing him at that time. He should have been allowed to finish the season, if he was physically able (and perhaps, as we now know, he would not have been). If it had been Paterno himself doing these horrible things, fine, what Penn State did this past fall would have been fine. But Paterno did not know. Those who did know did things all wrong in handling it, trying to protect themselves and the school. Instead they screwed the school, Paterno, the current team that had to bear this mess in the media, and most importantly, the victims of these alleged assaults. They also all but trashed Paterno's legacy, and the school's reputation, especially in the football (and all sports) programs for years to come. The haters need to STFU and show some respect for the dead. Joe Paterno was always classy, even when classy was not cool.
Paterno was brave in the face of all this, and put the school and its students and the football team before himself. Especially when he was fighting cancer of all things (which is double hell at his age) and may well have known that he had little time left. He still took the high road, asked students not to riot or rage against the school on his behalf and was strong despite all of the stones thrown at him and his family. That is a real man. We should all strive to be as close to a good person as Paterno was. We should all learn from his example. Here is a coach's coach. He leaves us as a great coach, and a even better person. Goodbye, Coach. Thank you for all you did for Penn State, college football and sports as a whole. You have had a wonderful life. Now enjoy the rest that you so greatly deserve. You will be missed.
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