Joe Paterno

[Hollandsworths mug]

Just wait until they start calling the Lavar Arringtons of world to testify on Sandusky's behalf. Seriously, this is just the start of this snowball. Little did Lavar know that Sandusky was most likely using the stars of the program to gain favor with the kids. And let it be known that these are allegations only at this point. However, I think we all have our own opinions.

 

He was always very active in trying to help troubled youths and often asked me to take time out of my schedule to spend time with the kids that he would bring around the facility.

 

I remember distinctly playing soccer games in the locker room with a taped-up towel. It meant a lot to me to help brighten the day of a child who had issues at home. I never saw or felt anything that would’ve made me uncomfortable or even felt that inappropriate things were taking place. For what it’s worth, I too was just a kid back then, why would I think that Jerry of all people could possibly be capable of doing such things?

 

Edited November 11, 2011 by Hollandsworth's mug

[Derwood]

The part I just can't resolve is how Sandusky and McQueary have been just walking around campus for nearly a decade like nothing happened.

 

Sandusky is obvious. McQueary is the more interesting question. Was it denial? Was he instructed to keep quiet? Was he threatened? Did he think he was protecting the program?

[Hollandsworths mug]

Was he instructed to keep quiet? Was he threatened? Did he think he was protecting the program?

 

Penn State mafia?

[Warpticon]

The part I just can't resolve is how Sandusky and McQueary have been just walking around campus for nearly a decade like nothing happened.

 

Sandusky is obvious. McQueary is the more interesting question. Was it denial? Was he instructed to keep quiet? Was he threatened? Did he think he was protecting the program?

 

Is it obvious? I don't know how much he knew, about the process, but you have to assume he knew something if they told him not to bring kids on campus anymore. If, as the testimony suggests, he did know McQueary saw him, then he has to know McQueary turned him in. I guess he has to act like nothing happened, but that's still...I don't even know what to think about that dynamic.

 

For McQueary's part, I just don't understand how anybody who witnessed a man raping a child could go to work, for that long, even, at the place where he witnessed it knowing the offender was walking around scott-free, often accompanied by children. Far more than his reaction in the spur of the moment, which could be influenced by fear, shock and disbelief, this is what I can't justify.

[Guest]

If Pos knows something that would vindicate Paterno, why wouldn't he say it? He's not even alluding to it. Him and the other "JoePa deserved better" crowd keep giving out platitudes about how he is Penn State and HOW DARE YOU FIRE HIM OVER THE PHONE, and all that he's done for the school, and the community etc.

 

If there's more to the story, then say it, if there's not, then they're just bowing at the feet of god-king Paterno, and crossing your fingers that some deus ex machina will come along leaving him pure and innocent in the end.

 

And besides, people aren't vilifying Paterno because of some potentially specious rumor. It's grand jury testimony from the eyewitness and Paterno himself that have implicated him. If there were information that would improve the perception of how he handled the situation, why wouldn't it have come out then?

[wade]

I'm not sure there's any use trying to get in Sandusky's head to figure him out.

 

But yeah, McQueary- I want him fired because short of something like finding out he discovered a horse's severed head under his sheets means he must have chose to look away for the sake of his job and /or the program.

[TruffleShuffle]

I don't think Paterno does not deserve a proper investigation. He may have already had one and that's why he wasn't charged. But he sure needed to be fired in my opinion. And so does McQueary.

 

I fully admit I may be wrong, but that would take an unbelievable series of revelations proving that Paterno and McQueary did all they could have / should have. As of now the only revelations appear to continually be those that further demonstrate that the coaching staff and administration covered for their friend and their program.

 

i didn't mean an investigation in a legal sense, but the one that the trustees promised on tuesday. an internal investigation to determine who knew what and who expected what when they made certain actions (i.e., what did paterno believe happened after he turned over the info to curley and schultz? same question for mcqueary)

 

i disagree with posnanski's assertion that paterno needed to go immediately, but a lot of people i respect agree with me on that, so maybe i'm wrong. though it's nice to read the pennsylvania attorney general questioning why a cooperating prosecutor's witness has been fired while a guy who's been indicted for perjury is still employed by the school. i still feel that there is a lot of 20/20 hindsight going on, and that the rule about reporting incidents to your superiors in the chain of command is there for a reason - to protect the witness, the accused, and the accuser.

 

anyway, i think what it might come down to is that i'm possibly a bigger fan of paterno and what he represented than i am of psu football, so i didn't like to see him become the focus of a firestorm where he was only one of many players. and i feel the same way that posnanski feels, that paterno was a good person who has done many good things, and that's how i hope he'll be remembered. i hope that the evidence which comes out was that he was foolish in not following up, but not that he was willfully or maliciously ignorant in an attempt to protect himself, psu football and a former co-worker/friend. and i hope people wise up and understand that defending a person i/we perceive as honorable and decent is not the same as supporting sexual abuse of children and those who enable it.

[Hollandsworths mug]

http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/report-federal-investigation-targets-penn-state-929117/

[Tracer Bullet]

What many might be struggling with, Truffle, is how you perceive him as honorable when he allowed this to continue. I'm all for an investigation too. But it's difficult to look past the fact that he was told some detail about the assault and did not do absolutely everything in his power to stop it. That's troubling and, for many, would suggest he's less honorable than once thought.

[wade]

http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/report-federal-investigation-targets-penn-state-929117/

 

We may find out many more in administration, not the just the athletic department, messed up.

[TruffleShuffle]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/joe-paternos-firing-penn-state-attorney-general-concern/story?id=14925158#.TrxP1XL6NnB

[TruffleShuffle]

What many might be struggling with, Truffle, is how you perceive him as honorable when he allowed this to continue. I'm all for an investigation too. But it's difficult to look past the fact that he was told some detail about the assault and did not do absolutely everything in his power to stop it. That's troubling and, for many, would suggest he's less honorable than once thought.

 

i understand that, but i'm waiting to find out what he thought was happening. maybe he thought the whole thing was being handled appropriately by the administration. maybe he was hoping it would be covered up. maybe he was instructed by the AD or a lawyer not to follow up. maybe he closed his eyes and put his fingers in his ears because he didn't want to believe it was happening. there are a lot of "maybes" and until there are some answers, i'm going with the guy's 60 year body of work at the university.

[imb]

Literally every "maybe" shines an incredibly negative light on Paterno. There's no point in waiting to form an opinion. He messed up. Bad.

[Tracer Bullet]

What many might be struggling with, Truffle, is how you perceive him as honorable when he allowed this to continue. I'm all for an investigation too. But it's difficult to look past the fact that he was told some detail about the assault and did not do absolutely everything in his power to stop it. That's troubling and, for many, would suggest he's less honorable than once thought.

 

i understand that, but i'm waiting to find out what he thought was happening. maybe he thought the whole thing was being handled appropriately by the administration. maybe he was hoping it would be covered up. maybe he was instructed by the AD or a lawyer not to follow up. maybe he closed his eyes and put his fingers in his ears because he didn't want to believe it was happening. there are a lot of "maybes" and until there are some answers, i'm going with the guy's 60 year body of work at the university.

 

How are you going to know, conclusively, what he thought 10 years ago? What we know is he didn't do everything in his power to stop this. Do you at least agree with that?

[TruffleShuffle]

Literally every "maybe" shines an incredibly negative light on Paterno. There's no point in waiting to form an opinion. He messed up. Bad.

 

and here i complimented you yesterday :(

[Hollandsworths mug]

And Paterno lawyers up.

 

Facing investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the likelihood of civil lawsuits by the alleged sexual abuse victims of his former defensive coordinator, Joe Paterno has hired a high-powered Washington criminal defense lawyer to represent him, according to an NBC News report, citing a source close to Paterno.

 

J. Sedgwick Sollers, who once represented President George H.W. Bush in the Iran-Contra affair, was hired by Paterno on Thursday to represent the embattled coaching legend in the case against Jerry Sandusky, who faces 40 counts of sexual abuse of at least eight boys.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/fired-joe-paterno-hires-high-powered-washington-defense-lawyer-sedgwick-sollers-article-1.975973?localLinksEnabled=false

[TruffleShuffle]

What we know is he didn't do everything in his power to stop this. Do you at least agree with that?

 

yes, nobody will disagree with that.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Dan Connor was suspended back in 2005 for prank calling a "retired member of the Penn State family."

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05232/557150.stm

Dan Connor denied that he was pranking Sandusky. He said it was "another retired coach".

[Andy]

Paterno should be gone, but it's befuddling to me that McQueary isn't if Paterno is.

[Warpticon]

Paterno should be gone, but it's befuddling to me that McQueary isn't if Paterno is.

 

Yeah, I can't make any sense of it. It can't be because of his cooperation because Paterno was cooperative. What reason could it be?

[erik316wttn]

Paterno should be gone, but it's befuddling to me that McQueary isn't if Paterno is.

 

The Board of Trustees is asking that he not be on the field for Saturday's game out of safety concerns.

 

Also, sponsors are starting to pull out of Penn State football games. Cars.com pulled their ads for the next 2 weeks on ESPN during Penn State games.

[Flames24Rulz]

So McQueary won't be at the game on Saturday, but do they really think he can attend the next two games, which are on the road? Why the hell don't they just fire him?

 

I'm nearly convinced that they're keeping him because of the fact that they don't want him to open up about the incident in 2002 if he's fired.

[erik316wttn]

So McQueary won't be at the game on Saturday, but do they really think he can attend the next two games, which are on the road? Why the hell don't they just fire him?

 

I'm nearly convinced that they're keeping him because of the fact that they don't want him to open up about the incident in 2002 if he's fired.

 

That has to be it. I'm sure the [expletive] will really hit the fan if he's let go. The fact that they got rid of the University president and legendary head football coach and spared a lowly wide recievers coach is very telling.

[TruffleShuffle]

So McQueary won't be at the game on Saturday, but do they really think he can attend the next two games, which are on the road? Why the hell don't they just fire him?

 

I'm nearly convinced that they're keeping him because of the fact that they don't want him to open up about the incident in 2002 if he's fired.

 

i still think it's more that paterno's status HAD to be addressed within a reasonable amount of time before the game - like they couldn't do this on friday afternoon with a noon saturday game - and just punted the mcqueary and curley decisions for a later meeting. i can't imagine that they'll keep him on, even if he knows a lot and they want to shut him up. he'll be getting grilled by reporters and the trustees will have absolutely no explanation for why they fired paterno but kept the firsthand witness.

[radarluv1]

I'm only on pg 9 of the thread, but have a question. Has anyone heard what Sandusky's presence on campus the last few years was? Its a bit different if he is having lunch and watching film with the coaching staff every week, vs letting himself in to walk on the indoor track or something once in a while. Maybe this is a minor point to some but if JoePa or the administration was seeing Sandusky on campus routinely or not seems significant to me.