Jerry Sandusky accused of child molestation (1 Viewer)

[Todd Andrews]

The more you say it, Todd, the more it becomes true.

The more you defend child rapist enablers, the more they are less of a child rapist enabler. Nice work.

 

[Sea Bass]

I am a Penn State alumnus. I live in State College, PA and am employed by the university. In fact, my office window looks down on Old Main, the campus administration building. I am also a season ticket holder.With that out of the way, I wanted to share the following. I'm not familiar with the author's work prior to this, but I think this article speaks to many of the sentiments that I've been hearing from people I know and interact with in this community all week. For better or worse (as the FFA will surely determine it), it echos my feelings as well.***The End of Paternoby Joe PosnanskiLet me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.So, two points to get out of the way:1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.Shame on them.And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.I will wait, though. I will have to wait.But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/11/10/the-end-of-paterno/

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

 

[moderated]

. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

I accept your apology. See ya.

 

[Mario Kart]

The more you say it, Todd, the more it becomes true.

The more you defend child rapist enablers, the more they are less of a child rapist enabler. Nice work.

that is sig worthy.

 

[Wadsworth]

-In 1998(if not sooner) Paterno and Penn State admins knew Sandusky was a pedophile.

-They chose to let him retire with dignity, he kept his emeritus status and office on campus, they allowed him(by inaction) to continue his Second Mile program working with troubled young boys, they did nothing to protect children from this monster and helped keep his dirty little secret.

-So in 2002 when McQueary sees Sandusky in the shower and goes to Paterno, what is Paterno suppose to do? If he calls the police then Sandusky is arrested for having sex with a child in Penn State football team showers(a big scandal by itself). Then soon after it would come to light that this has happened before and not only did Paterno and Penn State admins know about it, but they allowed it to happen again.

So please don't tell me Paterno did what he was suppose to do in 2002. In 2002 Joe Paterno and the Penn State admins did nothing because it was in their own self interest to do nothing. If they did what any moral human being would have done they would have been exposed for allowing it to happen in the first place(and second place, and third place, etc).

And yet still, after the 2002 rape they STILL did nothing to stop Sandusky. They knew full well Sandusky was running the Second Mile and even bringing small boys to Penn State bowl games with him. There is no defense for their actions or lack of action. Joe Paterno is a fraud, if you are still hanging onto the old image of JoePa the great you need to go read the Grand Jury report because it is more than clear the he is not the man we thought he was. He was clearly more concerned with his own self interest and the image of Penn State than he was concerned about an old buddy of his raping children.

I was going to type a new reply for the late comers but really did not have anything to add to my previous post.

 

[The Future Champs]

The more you say it, Todd, the more it becomes true.

The more you defend child rapist enablers, the more they are less of a child rapist enabler. Nice work.

I thought we agreed you were going to use C.R.E.TM to simplify things.

 

[The Future Champs]

-In 1998(if not sooner) Paterno and Penn State admins knew Sandusky was a pedophile.

-They chose to let him retire with dignity, he kept his emeritus status and office on campus, they allowed him(by inaction) to continue his Second Mile program working with troubled young boys, they did nothing to protect children from this monster and helped keep his dirty little secret.

-So in 2002 when McQueary sees Sandusky in the shower and goes to Paterno, what is Paterno suppose to do? If he calls the police then Sandusky is arrested for having sex with a child in Penn State football team showers(a big scandal by itself). Then soon after it would come to light that this has happened before and not only did Paterno and Penn State admins know about it, but they allowed it to happen again.

So please don't tell me Paterno did what he was suppose to do in 2002. In 2002 Joe Paterno and the Penn State admins did nothing because it was in their own self interest to do nothing. If they did what any moral human being would have done they would have been exposed for allowing it to happen in the first place(and second place, and third place, etc).

And yet still, after the 2002 rape they STILL did nothing to stop Sandusky. They knew full well Sandusky was running the Second Mile and even bringing small boys to Penn State bowl games with him. There is no defense for their actions or lack of action. Joe Paterno is a fraud, if you are still hanging onto the old image of JoePa the great you need to go read the Grand Jury report because it is more than clear the he is not the man we thought he was. He was clearly more concerned with his own self interest and the image of Penn State than he was concerned about an old buddy of his raping children.

I was going to type a new reply for the late comers but really did not have anything to add to my previous post.

Well, it was sweet of you to bump your post for them. Otherwise they would have had to search for days to find it.

 

[The Future Champs]

The more you say it, Todd, the more it becomes true.

The more you defend child rapist enablers, the more they are less of a child rapist enabler. Nice work.

that is sig worthy.

It's even been edited.

 

[Short Corner]

When you say "was outside PAterno's direct area of responsibility" you narrow his responsibility down to what he's legally obligated to do. That's fine. If that's how you feel ok.Don't tell us what a great leader he is then. Great leaders dont shirk their responsibilities beyond what the penal code demands of them.

I agree! But I'd rather be pissed at the guy who witnessed this horror first hand and didnt try to stop it. Paterno is getting 90% of the anger right now, and he shouldn't be even in the top 5.

By your own argument, McQueary did what he was legally obligated to do. How do you hold him to a higher standard than Paterno?

 

[Short Corner]

The thing I'm most upset about is these ####### have completely ruined the phrase "rhythmic slapping sound" for me.



I hope they all burn in hell.

I have grown up with a couple of kids that were in this type of situation and that sums it up perfectly. I hope they burn in hell. To take advantage of a confused kid should be punishable by death.

Life with no parole is better imo

 

[Short Corner]

Hate to be late and repeat anything already said but I haven't seen much discussion of this yet...

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

If I told you Pennsylvania authorities released Sandusky w/ out asking him to put up one thin dime in bail, would you believe me?

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

Sandusky's bail for 40 counts of child rape was already a laughably low $100,000. Of which he paid authorities in State College exactly zero

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

Understandable though, it's not like Sandusky's house is literally 1,000 feet from an elementary school .

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

State College, PA: Where your good standing at Penn State earns you absolutely free release from 40 criminal counts of child rape.

How did he get out?

He probably put up the deed to his house.

That's not "exactly zero."

It's also not "paid".

Since when? If what you say is true, he paid his bail by transferring his deed.

Do you know how bail works?

 

[apalmer]

Hate to be late and repeat anything already said but I haven't seen much discussion of this yet...

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

If I told you Pennsylvania authorities released Sandusky w/ out asking him to put up one thin dime in bail, would you believe me?

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

Sandusky's bail for 40 counts of child rape was already a laughably low $100,000. Of which he paid authorities in State College exactly zero

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

Understandable though, it's not like Sandusky's house is literally 1,000 feet from an elementary school .

SPORTSbyBROOKS SPORTSbyBROOKS

State College, PA: Where your good standing at Penn State earns you absolutely free release from 40 criminal counts of child rape.

How did he get out?

He probably put up the deed to his house.

That's not "exactly zero."

It's also not "paid".

Since when? If what you say is true, he paid his bail by transferring his deed.

Do you know how bail works?

Since when is knowing what you're talking about relevant?

 

[Christo]

Do you know how bail works?

If you're going to pledge property you give either the clerk of the court (if they can or will accept it) or the bail bondsmen a deed of trust.

 

[E-Z Glider]

3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.

This pretty much sums it up. Thanks for the post, Todd.

 

[patrickmcgroin]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

 

[Parrothead]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_state_board_of_trustees_g.html'>Victim's lawyers say PSU got it wrong by firing JoePA

Saw this on TV too- apparently the lawyer for Sandusky's victims said that Penn State should not have fired Joe- but should have accepted his retirement. his reasoning is the victims will now feel the additional guilt of being associated with the demise of Joe Paterno...

Wait a minute here - Joe was fired, and rightfully so. Had he been allowed to coach tomorrow, this same lawyer could say "look how they spit in the face of the victims by letting him coach"

can't have it both ways..

 

[Idiot Boxer]

Victim's lawyers say PSU got it wrong by firing JoePASaw this on TV too- apparently the lawyer for Sandusky's victims said that Penn State should not have fired Joe- but should have accepted his retirement. his reasoning is the victims will now feel the additional guilt of being associated with the demise of Joe Paterno... Wait a minute here - Joe was fired, and rightfully so. Had he been allowed to coach tomorrow, this same lawyer could say "look how they spit in the face of the victims by letting him coach"can't have it both ways..

He seems to be saying they want it one way...consult with the victims before taking rash action. Had they done that, either retaining him or firing him, they would have had a say in the matter.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Todd, I agree with your general points on Paterno but please give it a rest. We all know how you feel. Please don't ruin this thread any further.

 

[comfortably numb]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/11/penn_state_board_of_trustees_g.html'>Victim's lawyers say PSU got it wrong by firing JoePA

Saw this on TV too- apparently the lawyer for Sandusky's victims said that Penn State should not have fired Joe- but should have accepted his retirement. his reasoning is the victims will now feel the additional guilt of being associated with the demise of Joe Paterno...

Wait a minute here - Joe was fired, and rightfully so. Had he been allowed to coach tomorrow, this same lawyer could say "look how they spit in the face of the victims by letting him coach"

can't have it both ways..

He could have resigned at any moment he wanted to.He wanted to still go on coaching and be carried on the shoulder of his players as he chased another Bowl victory.

NO NO NO!

His decision was to coach, cause all he cares about is himself.

Thankfully the correct decision was made.

A decision that actually considered the safety of the players/students and staff that would be travelling to Ohio St and Wisconsin in the next few weeks.

The same reason my McQ will not be allowed to be at the game on Saturday.

Just because Joe never cared much about the safety of the children being raped, doesn't mean more responsible people should not take action to consider the safety of the players/staff as they travel to complete their season.

 

[ClownCausedChaos]

Joe Paterno is a C.R.E.®

Its quite apparent that you've run out of things to say.

 

[simey]

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

SB, I don't know if you will be coming back in this thread to read this, but who will be the voice of the UVA crowd in the ACC threads if you go? You stop with that annoying nonsense. I enjoy you and your wisdom. Whenever you post, I always wonder how you are doing, and I think of you and your late wife's long and beautiful love story. I've seen people talk trash to you on this site when you have just given your opinion, and I wonder if they would speak that way to you if they knew you were an older man in his 80s, and you know what, I believe they would. Some people just have zero respect for others. I understand where you are coming from in regard to Paterno, and I agree that you can love someone and condemn their actions. I also agree there is a lot of ignorance on display by many. Anyway, I wish you better health, and I hope you will stay around as a poster (but I'd avoid the PSU threads if I were you). Take Care, SB.

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

I am a Penn State alumnus. I live in State College, PA and am employed by the university. In fact, my office window looks down on Old Main, the campus administration building. I am also a season ticket holder.With that out of the way, I wanted to share the following. I'm not familiar with the author's work prior to this, but I think this article speaks to many of the sentiments that I've been hearing from people I know and interact with in this community all week. For better or worse (as the FFA will surely determine it), it echos my feelings as well.***The End of Paternoby Joe PosnanskiLet me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.So, two points to get out of the way:1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.Shame on them.And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.I will wait, though. I will have to wait.But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/11/10/the-end-of-paterno/

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

You expect honest calm conversation in the aftermath of what we have witnessed? With the depth of how emotionally horrifying and scarring these allegations are? With a situation so volatile that they justified have a guy who was one of the most popular and respected sports figures in the nation for the past four decades to be fired via a cold-blooded phone call, you expect rationality?

 

[Todd Andrews]

This guy loves the kids!

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Has the NCAA ever disciplined a program for transgressions that didn't enhance its competitiveness?

Driving Rudy Archer to his junior college classes after he flunked out of Maryland gave them a competitive advantage? I think that is roughly analogous to what is happening here. The NCAA could not punish Maryland for the atmosphere that existed that helped allow the Len Bias overdose, so it waited until it could drop the hammer and that was the recruiting violation that the over his head Bob Wade allowed to happen.

 

[AmosMoses]

I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

See you tomorrow?

 

[drfeelgood]

You expect honest calm conversation in the aftermath of what we have witnessed? With the depth of how emotionally horrifying and scarring these allegations are? With a situation so volatile that they justified have a guy who was one of the most popular and respected sports figures in the nation for the past four decades to be fired via a cold-blooded phone call, you expect rationality?

He is from an era where people can have honest calm conversations on controversial subjects, and people can have varying opinions without being complete tools.

 

[NCCommish]

You expect honest calm conversation in the aftermath of what we have witnessed? With the depth of how emotionally horrifying and scarring these allegations are? With a situation so volatile that they justified have a guy who was one of the most popular and respected sports figures in the nation for the past four decades to be fired via a cold-blooded phone call, you expect rationality?

He is from an era where people can have honest calm conversations on controversial subjects, and people can have varying opinions without being complete tools.

Actually I think the FFA has done fairly well in that regard. There are always a couple of folks who won't play nice but by and large, considering the magnitude of the issue, I think it's been OK. Beyond that it seems the people who like the discussion the least are also the people that like Paterno the most.

 

[roadkill1292]

Has the NCAA ever disciplined a program for transgressions that didn't enhance its competitiveness?

Driving Rudy Archer to his junior college classes after he flunked out of Maryland gave them a competitive advantage? I think that is roughly analogous to what is happening here. The NCAA could not punish Maryland for the atmosphere that existed that helped allow the Len Bias overdose, so it waited until it could drop the hammer and that was the recruiting violation that the over his head Bob Wade allowed to happen.

So you think the NCAA will drop the hammer for a future trumped up violation that ostensibly gives PSU a competitive advantage? While the real reason is punishment for the current conduct? What was the NCAA's motivation and purpose for doing it to Maryland back when and to Penn State now?I don't think that's the NCAA's Prime Directive but, admittedly, I don't follow these things as closely as others. Maybe I'm trying to fill in for fatguy, who always raised interesting and disturbing questions that made you think deeper about things.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

 

[culdeus]

I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

See you tomorrow?

It does have that Larry Craig/Bueno element to it. Bueno stayed away for about 7 months after his treatise on how horrible the FFA was in that scandal.

 

[mr roboto]

Why is Sea Bass so upset?

 

[culdeus]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

 

[Short Corner]

Do you know how bail works?

If you're going to pledge property you give either the clerk of the court (if they can or will accept it) or the bail bondsmen a deed of trust.

I meant that response for another post....obviously you know how bail works

 

[Tremendous Upside]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

 

[NCCommish]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

SOP. Big names get out of jail easier than normal folks. If it were some nobody there would be no way they'd get out on their signature.

 

[culdeus]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

fine, whatever. this bail thing seems like a red herring in this whole mess.

 

[Idiot Boxer]

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

SB, I don't know if you will be coming back in this thread to read this, but who will be the voice of the UVA crowd in the ACC threads if you go? You stop with that annoying nonsense. I enjoy you and your wisdom. Whenever you post, I always wonder how you are doing, and I think of you and your late wife's long and beautiful love story. I've seen people talk trash to you on this site when you have just given your opinion, and I wonder if they would speak that way to you if they knew you were an older man in his 80s, and you know what, I believe they would. Some people just have zero respect for others. I understand where you are coming from in regard to Paterno, and I agree that you can love someone and condemn their actions. I also agree there is a lot of ignorance on display by many. Anyway, I wish you better health, and I hope you will stay around as a poster (but I'd avoid the PSU threads if I were you). Take Care, SB.

 

[Todd Andrews]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

fine, whatever. this bail thing seems like a red herring in this whole mess.

True, but $100K unsecured is pretty preposterous for 40 felony counts that involve serious sexual assaults on children.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

fine, whatever. this bail thing seems like a red herring in this whole mess.

It's not a red herring, it's just another example of cronyism and the protective web of State College...In fact, I think it is a wonderful symbol of so much of what went wrong here...

 

[Short Corner]

I am a Penn State alumnus. I live in State College, PA and am employed by the university. In fact, my office window looks down on Old Main, the campus administration building. I am also a season ticket holder.

With that out of the way, I wanted to share the following. I'm not familiar with the author's work prior to this, but I think this article speaks to many of the sentiments that I've been hearing from people I know and interact with in this community all week. For better or worse (as the FFA will surely determine it), it echos my feelings as well.

***

The End of Paterno

by Joe Posnanski

Let me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.

The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.

So, two points to get out of the way:

1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.

2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.

Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.

It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.

But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.

And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.

Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.

But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.

But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.

Shame on them.

And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.

And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.

I will wait, though. I will have to wait.

But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.

And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:

1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.

2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.

3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.

4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.

5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.

You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.

But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.

But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.

I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.

And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/11/10/the-end-of-paterno/

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

You expect honest calm conversation in the aftermath of what we have witnessed? With the depth of how emotionally horrifying and scarring these allegations are? With a situation so volatile that they justified have a guy who was one of the most popular and respected sports figures in the nation for the past four decades to be fired via a cold-blooded phone call, you expect rationality?

As someone else stated earlier ITT

I think it's fitting that Paterno got fired via a single half assed phone call, because all he did was make a single half assed phone call.

 

[johnnycakes]

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

SB, I don't know if you will be coming back in this thread to read this, but who will be the voice of the UVA crowd in the ACC threads if you go? You stop with that annoying nonsense. I enjoy you and your wisdom. Whenever you post, I always wonder how you are doing, and I think of you and your late wife's long and beautiful love story. I've seen people talk trash to you on this site when you have just given your opinion, and I wonder if they would speak that way to you if they knew you were an older man in his 80s, and you know what, I believe they would. Some people just have zero respect for others. I understand where you are coming from in regard to Paterno, and I agree that you can love someone and condemn their actions. I also agree there is a lot of ignorance on display by many. Anyway, I wish you better health, and I hope you will stay around as a poster (but I'd avoid the PSU threads if I were you). Take Care, SB.

Hell, displaying ignorance is part of what the FFA is for. If one can't be an ignoramus here, where can one? The trick is to try not to take things too personally.

 

[Chase Stuart]

JoePa deserves better than he's gotten to this point.

You make me sick.

WHy? Because I'm more pissed at McQueary, Sandusky, and the AD than at Paterno? REALLY? Did you read the other link, the ONE link given in here that's not written by someone advocating butchering Paterno, but still says he should have been fired?I agree Paterno had to be fired, but think the bulk of the anger directed at him is misplaced.ETA: If it comes out that Paterno ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED in a cover up...then he should be charged as an accomplice...but there's not one shread of evidance supporting that assumption that I've seen. PAterno has done so much good for so long that real evidance is rquired, not suppositions and assumptions.

If you don't think Paterno actively participated in a cover up, then you must think he simply decided to do nothing in the face of a child rapist. If you think that makes him look better, so be it.

 

[Parrothead]

If the bond was "unsecured" , all he would have to do is sign a paper that more or less states "yes I will pay this amount if I don't go to court". No money, no property, no bail bondsman.

This is what happened100K unsecured bailRidiculous in this case IMO

I don't think the bail is that bad. He'd been under a grand jury for 3 years. If he wanted to split he could have done so at any time.

I'm more critical of the unsecured part than the 100K part, although I do think that's low, especially when the others involved got 75K bail for perjury (not sure if theirs was secured or not)

fine, whatever. this bail thing seems like a red herring in this whole mess.

It's not a red herring, it's just another example of cronyism and the protective web of State College...In fact, I think it is a wonderful symbol of so much of what went wrong here...

I personally think it is low, however Sundusky is maintaining his innocence , so why would he run away? If he wanted to, he could have left during the GJ proceedings.. beside that, where would (could) he go?

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Isn't all participation in a cover up active participation in a cover up?

 

[Parrothead]

Isn't all participation in a cover up active participation in a cover up?

unless someone tries to cover up the fact that they participated in a cover up

 

[Chase Stuart]

Yes but no. I mean, yes he has testified he was told it was of a sexual nature. But that doesn't mean Curley didn't come to him later and say that Mike was confused. Again, we don't have the court transcripts. It wasn't a trial yet in which any decent lawyer would follow up on those questions. I don't think the grand jury was that concerned with whether there was a conspiracy, just that there was enough evidence to go forward (and that they think Curley and Schultz lied on the stand). Anyway, should be a nerve wracking time as PSU fans wait for the whole truth to come out.

Can we take a step back for a second and not pretend this was JoePa? I know we both went to school there and loved him and everything he represented. But pretend it wasn't him.Do you really think "Mike was confused" is a likely scenario? If Paterno honestly didn't know about the prison raping, the only reason is because he didn't want to know. We're *never* going to know what McQueary told JoePa or what JoePa told Curley or what McQueary told Curley/Schultz. There aren't wiretaps to be released soon. We only have our intuition to go on.It is absurd in the extreme to assume JoePa didn't know what happened. Obviously he's going to try to minimize it whenever he tells his side of the story, by saying stuff like "I heard something of a sexual nature."If you hear something of a sexual nature with kids, don't you think that conversation probably drags on for longer than a sentence?

 

[Ignoratio Elenchi]

Why is Sea Bass so upset?

Denial is a powerful mechanism.

 

[Wadsworth]

Isn't all participation in a cover up active participation in a cover up?

In 1998 Paterno certainly actively participated in a cover up. I suppose you could argue that in 2002 his participation was not active, but that is a very slim distinction, if there is in fact any difference in active and inactive participation in a cover up as you say.

 

[Joseph]

I am a Penn State alumnus. I live in State College, PA and am employed by the university. In fact, my office window looks down on Old Main, the campus administration building. I am also a season ticket holder.

With that out of the way, I wanted to share the following. I'm not familiar with the author's work prior to this, but I think this article speaks to many of the sentiments that I've been hearing from people I know and interact with in this community all week. For better or worse (as the FFA will surely determine it), it echos my feelings as well.

***

The End of Paterno

by Joe Posnanski

Let me start with this: I am writing a book about Joe Paterno. I am getting paid a sizable amount of money to do so, some of which I plan to donate to the charity of Joe’s choice, some of which I plan to keep. I have been working on this book, on and off, speed bumps and traffic jams, for a couple of years now. I moved away from my family, to State College, for the football season. I had many hard feelings about that. But I believed — as my wife believed — that it was the right thing to do. I came here to write about one of the giants of sports. And my wife and I both felt that the only way to tell the story, for better and worse, was to be around it every day.

The last week has torn me up emotionally. This doesn’t matter, of course. All that matters are the victims of the horrible crimes allegedly committed by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. I cannot say that enough times. Sometimes, I feel like the last week or so there has been a desperate race among commentators and others to prove that they are MORE against child molesting than anyone else. That makes me sick. We’re all sickened. We’re all heartbroken. We’re all beyond angry, in a place of rage where nothing seems real. The other day, I called it “howling.” I meant that in the purest sense of the word — crying in pain.

So, two points to get out of the way:

1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.

2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.

Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.

It hasn’t been easy to stay silent — nor is it my personality. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I will write 5,000 words about an infomercial I don’t like. But I thought it was important that I stay out of the middle of this, observe the scene, and I still think that’s important.

But — well, I’ve already said that my emotions don’t matter here, that they are nothing like what the victims went through, but for the purposes of this essay I’ll tell you them anyway: I’ve been wrecked the last week. Writing a book comes from the soul. It consumes you — mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. I have thought about Joe Paterno, his strengths, his flaws, his triumphs, his failures, his core, pretty much nonstop for months now. I have talked to hundreds of people about him in all walks of life. I have read 25 or 30 books about him, countless articles. I’m not saying I know Joe Paterno. I’m saying I know a whole lot about him.

And what I know is complicated. But, beyond complications — and I really believe this with all my heart — there’s this, and this is exclusively my opinion: Joe Paterno has lived a profoundly decent life.

Nobody has really wanted to say this lately, and I grasp that. The last week has obviously shed a new light on him and his program — a horrible new light — and if you have any questions about how I feel about all that, please scroll back up to my two points at the top.

But I have seen some things in the last few days that have felt rotten, utterly wrong — a piling on that goes even beyond excessive, a dancing on the grave that makes me ill. Joe Paterno has lived a whole life. He has improved the lives of countless people. I know — I’ve talked to hundreds of them. Almost every day I walk by the library that he and his wife, Sue, built. I walk by the religious center that tries to bring people together, and his name is on the list of major donors. I hear the stories, the countless stories, of the kindnesses that came naturally to him, of the way he stuck with people in their worst moments, of the belief he had that everybody could do a little bit better — as a football player, as a student, as a human being. I’m not going to tell you these stories now, because you can’t hear them. Nobody can hear them in the howling.

But I will say that I am sickened, absolutely sickened, that some of those people whose lives were fundamentally inspired and galvanized by Joe Paterno have not stepped forward to stand up for him this week, have stood back and allowed him to be painted as an inhuman monster who was only interested in his legacy, even at the cost of the most heinous crimes against children imaginable.

Shame on them.

And why? I’ll tell you my opinion: Because they were afraid. And I understand that. A kind word for Joe Paterno in this storm is taken by many as a pro vote for a child molester. A quick, “Wait a minute, Joe Paterno is a good man. Let’s see what happened here” is translated as an attempt to minimize the horror of what Jerry Sandusky is charged with doing. It takes courage to stand behind someone you believe in when it’s this bad outside. It takes courage to stand up for a man in peril, even if he stood up for you.

And that’s shameful. I have not wanted to speak because it’s not my place to speak. I’m Joe Paterno’s biographer. I’m here to write about the man. I’m not here to write a fairy tale, and I’m not here to write a hit job, and I hope to be nowhere near either extreme. I’m here to write a whole story. I’ve had people ask me: “Will you include all this in the book?” Well, OF COURSE I will — this is the tragic ending of a legendary career. I’m going to wait for evidence, and if it turns out that Joe Paterno knowingly covered this up, then I will write that with all the power and fury I have in me.

I will wait, though. I will have to wait.

But then, yeah, I opened my big mouth. On Thursday morning, I went to speak at the “Paterno and the Media” class on the Penn State campus — I have spoken at the class the last two or three years. This was obviously one day after Paterno had been fired, and the campus had been turned inside out. I woke up wondering if I really should go. But I decided I had to go.

And when I was asked questions, I had to say how I felt. It spilled out of me. I suppose it caused a bit of a Twitter uproar — I say “I suppose,” because for the first time in memory I am not checking Twitter, and I think I’ll stay away for a while — but what I remember saying is:

1. Joe Paterno is responsible for what happens on his watch. Period.

2. People are making assumptions about what Joe did or didn’t know, what Joe did or didn’t do, and I can’t tell you that those assumptions are wrong. But I can tell you that they are assumptions based on one side of the story.

3. We are in a top-you world where everyone is not only trying to report something faster but is also trying to report something ANGRIER. One guy wants Joe Paterno to resign, the next wants him to be fired, the next wants him to be fired this minute, the next wants him to be fired and arrested, the next wants him to be fired, arrested and jailed, on and on, until we’ve lost sight of who actually committed the crimes here.

4. I think the University could not possibly have handled this worse. It was disgusting and disgraceful, the method in which they fired Joe Paterno after 60 years of service, and yes, I do think Paterno was a scapegoat. Of course he was. I’ve already said that he had to be let go. But to let him dangle out there, take up all the headlines, face the bulk of the media pressure, absolutely, that’s the very definition of scapegoat. Three people were indicted and arrested. A fourth, I hear, will be indicted soon. Joe Paterno is not one of the four.

5. It is still unclear what Paterno did in this case. It will remain unclear for a while. You might be one of the hundreds and hundreds of people I’ve heard from who know EXACTLY what Paterno did. He HAD to know this. He DEFINITELY knew that. He COULD have done something. I respect that. Joe Paterno’s a public figure. You have every right to believe what you want to believe and be absolutely certain about it. But since we have not heard from Joe, not heard from former athletic director Tim Curley, not heard from GA/assistant coach Mike McQueary, not heard from anyone who was in the room, I’ll repeat: It’s unclear. A determined grand jury did not charge Joe Paterno with any crime. A motivated reporting barrage, so far, anyway, has not uncovered a single thing that can tell us definitively what Joe Paterno knew.

You can say that he knew enough to stop this, and I’d say you were right. I have tried so hard to make it clear that I am not defending Joe Paterno’s actions or inactions, but I know that won’t be enough. You may be writing an email right now telling me how terrible child molestation is, how awful a person Joe Paterno is, how awful a person I am for wanting to wait and see. I understand. This case hits emotions that are unstoppable.

But I will say this: Paterno has paid a price here. His job is gone. His life’s work has been soiled. His reputation is in tatters. Maybe that should be the price. Maybe there should be more of a price. You don’t have to type: “Well, his price is nothing like the price of those victims…” I already know that.

But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst, more than the happy cheers of critics who have always believed that there was something phony about the man and his ideals. He deserves what I would hope we all deserve — for the truth to come out, or, anyway, the closest thing to truth we can find.

I don’t think Joe Paterno has gotten that. And I think that’s sad.

And with that, I’m going back underground to wrestle with my book and doubts and emotions and everything that goes with that.

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/11/10/the-end-of-paterno/

Thank you Honus. To be honest, our family and Joe's has been close for more years than I can remember. I haven't been able to organize my thoughts as well as this article seems to do. I know that he acted poorly and that his inaction certainly caused pain to others. I really get it, and I am sure that he does to, but I believe that you can have love for a person and also condemn that person's actions. Some of the loud and constant piling on by some posters in this thread is nothing more than ignorance. Rumors, estimates of numbers, and sentencing of individuals without the patience to allow justice to run its course is a low point in the FFA. Not as low as Sandusky's actions or those who remained silent in this case. I have lost faith in an honest discussion ever taking place around here. With that thought and worsening health conditions I believe that it is time for me to part ways with this place. I am truely sorry to anyone that I have annoyed over the years.

You expect honest calm conversation in the aftermath of what we have witnessed? With the depth of how emotionally horrifying and scarring these allegations are? With a situation so volatile that they justified have a guy who was one of the most popular and respected sports figures in the nation for the past four decades to be fired via a cold-blooded phone call, you expect rationality?

As someone else stated earlier ITT

I think it's fitting that Paterno got fired via a single half assed phone call, because all he did was make a single half assed phone call.

If they fired him in person it would have been even more of a circus. The students supporting Paterno outside his house could easily have turned into a lynch mob if all of a sudden a bunch of guys in suits march up to the door to fire the guy.

 

[johnnycakes]

JoePa is what, 84 years old? Not charged with any crime... why wouldn't he write a deathbed autobiography that told his side of all this? I have to think he won't go to the grave keeping all the details to which he was privy, a secret. Well, unless the autobiography would paint him in a really poor light, I suppose. Just a thought.

And if JoePa were to write a book, I would be most interested to see where the proceeds go... to his family, or back to PSU or to some victims' fund.