What are your opinions on the scandal? Should they fire Joe Paterno, let him resign at the end of the year.?
I think the President Graham Spanier needs to go ASAP, and although I am big Penn State fan, Joe needs to go. He should resign tomorrow.
Jerry Sandusky should have been exposed years ago, there was no accountability here,
And they allowed this scumbag to work out in the weight room as late as last week.
Bring back Al Golden from Miami to restore the program.
I am from western PA and currently live there and can tell you one thing.....Paterno will never, ever be fired, especially not over this. That just isn't going to happen. Paterno is treated like a God in these parts.....and if the new AD were ever to have the balls to fire Paterno (who is probably the greatest college football coach ever), it would be the end of Penn State football, which would ultimately cost the university an insane amount of money... and I know you shouldn't be worried about money in a situation like this, but its the world we live in today...so him being fired isn't going to happen...
As for the case against Paterno itself...I just read the indictment and can't find anything that indicates that Paterno improperly reported the abuse. In fact, it seems that the law prescribes a course of action, instructing subordinates to report directly to institutional administrators as he did.The incidents were first reported in 2002, which was 2-3 years after Sandusky had retired. So at the time he had no connection to the football program what-so-ever. And from my understanding of the incident, it wasn't another 7 years(2009) until the victims reported anything. So at the time, Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to do. Had he gone straight to the police, people would be saying that it is not his responsibility to go to the police, and he should have told the AD and let them take it from there. He reported the incident, which was the correct decision to do. After that, it is out of his hands.....
Also, you said "Jerry Sandusky should have been exposed years ago, there was no accountability here"........who's responsibility was it to 'expose' him??
And for the statement about whether Paterno should be fired or resign at the end of the year, I said NEITHER.....sorry but Paterno did absolutely nothing wrong here....
Like you, I live in Harrisburg and grew up here. As you know its pretty much the center of Penn State activity outside of State College.
As for the not going to the police aspect...Schultz was VP and head of campus police. They're a real police force...not just some St Johns campus security!
http://www.police.psu.edu/aboutus/ They have more armed officers then most cities that are 50k! The issue here is that when Schultz was brought in, him and Curley decided to cover it up. What do you do when the director of the police covers something up? And I know teachers in PA can't just go to the police if they see some sort of sexual abuse. They're required to go to their superiors and aren't allowed to follow up. Since JoePa is en employee of te Commonwealth I'm sure theres some sort of similar policies.
When Joe said "I could have done more" it was more in remorse then anything else. The sad thing is...Joe is about the only one who did the right thing in all of this! You could point your finger at dozens of other people well before you point it at Joe. Outside of the obvious you can start witht he parents and the DA of the 98 case who never pursued it. You can blame the governor Tom Corbett who was the Attorney General (and member of the board of trustees) for not pursuing it further. Mind you McQueary testified 3 YEARS AGO. Then again, Corbett was just elected in 2010 :dry:
And for those who assume that Paterno "must have known". Well look who's coaching Penn State this weekend...Tom Bradley who's been on the staff for 35 years. Coached under Jerry Sandusky. He must have known too right? Which is why he's coaching???? Bradley was just as close to Sandusky as Paterno. I've also heard "Sandusky and Paterno were friends, why didn't Paterno help a friend with his problem?" Thats actually assuing 2 things, Paterno knew and Sandusky and him were actually friends! I don't know the ins and outs but when Paterno sat Sandusky down in 99 and told him he wouldn't be the next head coach at Penn State Sandusky retired. Would you send a man who ripped your heart out a Christmas card?
One thing most people don't know and most Penn State locals and fans will attest to, the board and Spanier have been trying to rid themselves of Paterno for years. Its kind of like Donovan McNabb with the eagles. He would suck for weeks and as soon as a benching came he had an MVP performance and would escape it. Every few years Joe has a fantastic team and it shuts everyone up. That and the cashflow from donors! This years team isn't supposed to be one of them. Don't think for one second the board wouldn't jump at the opportunity to get rid of Paterno...which they did.
As the facts stand right now, do I think Joe got a raw deal? Yes. Was it necessary he went? From a PR standpoint yes but from a "morality" standpoint or any other standpoint no. Its pathetic that it went this way but whats even more pathetic is when I watch TV and read stories from national news outlets and they frame it to be all about Paterno or that he abused the children or that he knew. Like, they're sure that he knew. Despite a grand jury testimony that he didn't. Good job ignoring the facts! People need to go after those who actually committed the crimes and not just those who are in the public eye! Rant over.
