Joe Paterno

[Derwood]

I think you're going to see public sentiment (especially in PA) turn against Paterno as the days go by. I saw it here in Columbus with the Pryor/Tressell stuff. At first, it was pointing fingers away from the university and disbelief (including blind support for OSU), but as the facts came out and time wore on, the sentiment here turned from denial to anger to acceptance, and now most people are glad Pryor and sweater vest are gone

 

There not evenly remotely close situations.

 

no [expletive], really?

 

I wasn't comparing the crimes, brainiac, I was comparing the fan reaction.

[TruffleShuffle]

it's funny to read people talking about how he's seen in State College when they've never lived in State College.

 

by most accounts, the folks in SC are outraged at all of this

 

The part that I find most odd is where people are acting like he's the judge, jury and executioner in state college, knows everything that happens in the town, calls all the shots. Look he's enormously popular there, but he's always been a football coach. He never got involved in local politics, generally stayed out of administrative matters and let them handle it when players got in trouble. The idea that he would have known everything about the Sandusky investigations/cover-ups is probably not accurate.

 

If it turns out that he knew about the 1998 investigation, did the bare minimum in 2002 and knew that the whole thing was being swept under the rug, I'll be quite disappointed, but I'm not willing to make all those assumptions.

[Theo]

He Joe, me and the AD are going to cover up this kiddie rape thing, so if you could just stay out of it, don't ask questions and go about your daily business, this should blow over.

 

Joe: "OK" (shits pants)

[jersey cubs fan]

it's funny to read people talking about how he's seen in State College when they've never lived in State College.

 

by most accounts, the folks in SC are outraged at all of this

 

The part that I find most odd is where people are acting like he's the judge, jury and executioner in state college, knows everything that happens in the town, calls all the shots. Look he's enormously popular there, but he's always been a football coach. He never got involved in local politics, generally stayed out of administrative matters and let them handle it when players got in trouble. The idea that he would have known everything about the Sandusky investigations/cover-ups is probably not accurate.

 

If it turns out that he knew about the 1998 investigation, did the bare minimum in 2002 and knew that the whole thing was being swept under the rug, I'll be quite disappointed, but I'm not willing to make all those assumptions.

 

So if it turns out all that very likely stuff is true, you'll be disappointed?

[Sammy Sofa]

it's funny to read people talking about how he's seen in State College when they've never lived in State College.

 

by most accounts, the folks in SC are outraged at all of this

 

The part that I find most odd is where people are acting like he's the judge, jury and executioner in state college, knows everything that happens in the town, calls all the shots. Look he's enormously popular there, but he's always been a football coach. He never got involved in local politics, generally stayed out of administrative matters and let them handle it when players got in trouble. The idea that he would have known everything about the Sandusky investigations/cover-ups is probably not accurate.

 

If it turns out that he knew about the 1998 investigation, did the bare minimum in 2002 and knew that the whole thing was being swept under the rug, I'll be quite disappointed, but I'm not willing to make all those assumptions.

 

This is obviously not some kind of isolated set of occurrences. This was something going on for a long time and involving a significant number of people. If you're going to pretend like he didn't know about it beyond "something inappropriate happened once or twice" for FIFTEEN YEARS then you're in some serious denial.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

His own testimony to the grand jury says that he knew about the 2002 incident and did the bare minimum.

 

He knew that Sandusky had been asked not to bring his victims onto campus but still allowed to maintain an office on campus and have access to the football facilities.

 

So the only thing on Truffle's list has even the slightest bit of wiggle-room is whether or not Paterno knew about the 1998 incident.

[Theo]

And you have to give him a pass on the 1998 incident, because again, he's old and confused.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-adams-expresses-shock-gould-supports-paterno-20111109,0,534025.story

 

Obviously Robbie Gould spent too much time around Jim Hendry:

“At some point and time Joe was going to retire. Obviously, he is going to do it on his time and he thinks now is the time and he’ll do that,” Gould said.

 

“He’s got 409 career wins. Obviously, there is a situation that I know nothing about and it doesn’t involve me. So obviously I am not going to answer any questions involving the situation. But Joe was a great coach when I was there and he has always been a great coach. And he will continue to be a great coach throughout the rest of this year.”

 

“Obviously, being on time for things, making sure you are responsible for doing whatever- homework or assignments or projects, helping your teammates out, being held accountable for things that you do. It is something we all learned from him,” Gould said. “Obviously we became better people and better athletes by attending Penn State. That’s why you go there. So I don’t think that will change.”

[Theo]

What about covering up child rape Robbie? Did he teach you that?

[Theo]

From an article in April of this year

 

http://www.timesonline.com/columnists/sports/mark_madden/madden-sandusky-a-state-secret/article_863d3c82-5e6f-11e0-9ae5-001a4bcf6878.html#user-comment-area

 

A readers comment

 

This has got to be the worst piece of journalism I have ever seen. What knowledge do you have of this? I am unsubscribing from this newspaper solely because of this rag of an article.

[SABR Gamer]

I want the offseason to get exciting. I hate looking at active topics and the stupid Penn State controversy if always at the top. Not that it isn't a big deal, I just wish there was more to talk about. I am jonesing for some signings, trades, ANYTHING!

 

/endofcrazytalk

[Derwood]

He Joe, me and the AD are going to cover up this kiddie rape thing, so if you could just stay out of it, don't ask questions and go about your daily business, this should blow over.

 

Joe: "OK" ([expletive] pants)

 

You're really bad at this

[Prizefight]

The rally on Paterno's lawn with idiots cheering makes me want to vomit. Paterno still arrogant to the end even getting a Beat Nebraska in.

 

Bernstein has been killing it all week with this

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/11/09/bernstein-you-must-read-the-grand-jury-report/

[TruffleShuffle]

The rally on Paterno's lawn with idiots cheering makes me want to vomit. Paterno still arrogant to the end even getting a Beat Nebraska in.

 

Bernstein has been killing it all week with this

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/11/09/bernstein-you-must-read-the-grand-jury-report/

 

here's something he says that i don't really agree with:

 

Familiarize yourself with the unimaginable cowardice of Mike McQueary.

 

everyone keeps saying that if they were in that position they'd call the cops immediately, or run in and beat the [expletive] out of sandusky. but mcqueary's reaction is really common. so is the one within the psu administration (basically ignoring or rationalizing the problem - NOTE this is not a defense of what they did in any way). because this isn't just a penn state problem, this is something that happens all over the world - a "pillar of the community," "close friend," "family member" is seen doing something that completely conflicts with the upstanding, good-hearted person that those around them came to know. so people push it off, don't report it, assume it was just innocent horseplay, because such-and-such would never do something like this.

 

i just think that it would be more useful if people tried to understand why people react the way they do, and (using this terrible example) train people to react differently, rather than just the usual "i'd never let that happen" from people totally detached from the situation.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Villfying terrible behavior is how we, as a society, change it.

[jersey cubs fan]

everyone keeps saying that if they were in that position they'd call the cops immediately, or run in and beat the [expletive] out of sandusky. but mcqueary's reaction is really common. so is the one within the psu administration (basically ignoring or rationalizing the problem - NOTE this is not a defense of what they did in any way). because this isn't just a penn state problem, this is something that happens all over the world - a "pillar of the community," "close friend," "family member" is seen doing something that completely conflicts with the upstanding, good-hearted person that those around them came to know. so people push it off, don't report it, assume it was just innocent horseplay, because such-and-such would never do something like this.

 

i just think that it would be more useful if people tried to understand why people react the way they do, and (using this terrible example) train people to react differently, rather than just the usual "i'd never let that happen" from people totally detached from the situation.

 

I agree that it isn't all that fair to talk about what McQuerry didn't immediately do. Who knows how anybody would handle that initially. But the fact is people did report this, it wasn't a matter of deflecting and refusing to believe. People knew what was going on and they willfully attempted to hide it to protect the brand of Penn State. They knew what happened here.

[Tracer Bullet]

The GA talked to the head coach the next day. Perfect response? Maybe not. Better than average? Probably.

 

That the admin took another 10 days to talk to him is on the school. That he didn't make sure this was reported when no police officers ever questioned him about what he saw is on him.

[Theo]

I believe he was 28 years old when that happened. Not a 22 or 23 year old GA. It was a pretty sad response.

[wade]

Yesterday, when I first read about McQueary, I couldn't help but imagine the scene. And, yes, I could envision a scenario in which if I were him I'd be in shock, unable to move, scream, anything at all if I saw a man doing that to a grade schooler.

 

But I keep coming back to the belief that eventually, after however long it would take to process the information- (5 seconds? a full minute? almost immediately?)- I would be able to yell, curse, scream for the man to stop. That I would at least be able to call the cops. That I would try to get the kid away from him.

 

The bar doesn't have to be set at expecting McQueary to go in and disable Sandusky.

 

But I have to agree with those who believe they would have done at least more than make eye contact with both parties in the shower and then leave to ask their father what they should do about seeing their former coach doing that, while leaving the kid there.

 

Today, I believe McQueary did what he did because he wanted to protect his job, his football team, and his mentors.

[TruffleShuffle]

The GA talked to the head coach the next day. Perfect response? Maybe not. Better than average? Probably.

 

That the admin took another 10 days to talk to him is on the school. That he didn't make sure this was reported when no police officers ever questioned him about what he saw is on him.

 

like i said, plenty of mistakes were made. even psu "fanboys" seem to be in agreement that (besides sandusky obviously), curley is most culpable in this matter - first for taking 10 days to schedule the meeting, then sweeping it under the rug and then (allegedly) repeatedly lying to the grand jury. then there are the other players who messed up.

 

i just don't find the "i'd beat his ass with a crowbar" reaction to be very helpful, nor do i think that it's solely a matter of "protecting the program" because this kind of thing happens in organizations, schools and athletic programs across america.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Even if you give McQueary a pass for what he did that day, he spent the next 9 years knowing what Sandusky was and that he was still surrounding himself with children, and McQueary decided that it wasn't his problem to do anything more about it.

[jersey cubs fan]

Today, I believe McQueary did what he did because he wanted to protect his job, his football team, and his mentors.

 

Yes, a young person at the bottom rung of an organization is going to be under pressure to protect his chances for further employment. It's not a ringing endorsement of his actions or anything. But it's more understandable than the men in charge conspiring to ignore the problem.

[Guest]

Yesterday, when I first read about McQueary, I couldn't help but imagine the scene. And, yes, I could envision a scenario in which if I were him I'd be in shock, unable to move, scream, anything at all if I saw a man doing that to a grade schooler.

 

But I keep coming back to the belief that eventually, after however long it would take to process the information- (5 seconds? a full minute? almost immediately?)- I would be able to yell, curse, scream for the man to stop. That I would at least be able to call the cops. That I would try to get the kid away from him.

 

The bar doesn't have to be set at expecting McQueary to go in and disable Sandusky.

 

But I have to agree with those who believe they would have done at least more than make eye contact with both parties in the shower and then leave to ask their father what they should do about seeing their former coach doing that, while leaving the kid there.

 

Today, I believe McQueary did what he did because he wanted to protect his job, his football team, and his mentors.

 

Exactly. I can't say with absolute certainty that a situation like that wouldn't shock me to the point where I didn't take IMMEDIATE action. But if I were at all confident that's what I saw, there's no way you can go a decade at the university with Sandusky being around in some capacity or another without contacting the authorities. McQueary not rushing in to stop things or even waiting a day in shock to report things is not some despicable reaction. Failing to ensure it was properly reported in the aftermath definitely is.

[glavine93]

everyone keeps saying that if they were in that position they'd call the cops immediately, or run in and beat the [expletive] out of sandusky. but mcqueary's reaction is really common. so is the one within the psu administration (basically ignoring or rationalizing the problem - NOTE this is not a defense of what they did in any way). because this isn't just a penn state problem, this is something that happens all over the world - a "pillar of the community," "close friend," "family member" is seen doing something that completely conflicts with the upstanding, good-hearted person that those around them came to know. so people push it off, don't report it, assume it was just innocent horseplay, because such-and-such would never do something like this.

 

i don’t think it’s only the lack of immediate reaction. he actually saw a rape happen and was understandably “distraught” about it. it’s clear that he understood what had gone on pretty clearly. after reporting it to his boss, he had to know that it went nowhere because the cops never came around and sandusky remained on campus. yet he dropped it and continued to work there. i think the confusion is how he could “rationalize” what happened when he actually saw it with his own eyes, and, to this day, is able to give specific details about it.

 

i’m sure a lot of child molesters are smart enough to never get caught by a credible witness like that. what a waste.

[jersey cubs fan]

nor do i think that it's solely a matter of "protecting the program" because this kind of thing happens in organizations, schools and athletic programs across america.

 

And it happens in organizations because they are trying to protect the brand.