Incredible ugliness at Penn State

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by WMR

Do you think Paterno would have handled this any differently if it were one of his grandkids?

Bingo!

He would have torn his head off. There would have been no police report required.

As good a man as he seemed to be for all his years in the public, this is how he'll be remembered, and as sad as that is, he deserves it.

He's a teacher. He sat back and allowed the AD and his fellow weasels take care of it and still allowed this POS to be around the program.

He has nobody to blame but himself for his gutless lack of followup.

[KoryMac5]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

I'm sorry but think of the damage this has surely done to those boys. I don't know if you have kids but lets say this was your son. And someone very credible told me what this GA witnessed being done to your son and I didn't do anything and continued to work with the perpetrator. How do you feel about me now? That's more than a mistake, IMO.

Paterno did do something he reported it to his bosses like the statute states he should have. His failure is not following up with those two bosses to see what was happening with Sandusky. My wife and I are both mandated reporters and both of us would have followed up the next day. Believe me I am disappointed in Paterno's inaction but I am not ready to make Paterno into a monster. He is a sad old man who was paralyzed by inaction and that is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

I'm sorry but think of the damage this has surely done to those boys. I don't know if you have kids but lets say this was your son. And someone very credible told me what this GA witnessed being done to your son and I didn't do anything and continued to work with the perpetrator. How do you feel about me now? That's more than a mistake, IMO.

I totally agree with everything you said. I don't have kids, but I imagine if I did my thoughts would be pretty close to homicidal. JoePa is going to pay for the decisions he made and his legacy will forever be tarnished.

That being said I still do not agree with lumping him in with Sandusky. What that man did is unspeakable and far more outrage should be sent his way than at PSU and Joe Paterno.

[dougdirt]

Just getting worse:
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/sport...te-case-110811

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Fox 29 has learned the number of child-abuse in the Penn State sex-abuse scandal involving ex-coach Jerry Sandusky has more than doubled in the past day, and is closer to 20 victims.

[The Operator]

I'm not one for suing people over everything, but this is one case where I hope the victims and their families that were affected by all of this end up owning Happy Valley. For a supposed institution of higher education and learning to know about something like this and sit on their hands and let it happen - it's beyond comprehension. They are cowards, enablers, aiders and abettors in all of this. I hope everyone involved with this pays the utmost price.

[Stray]

This whole situation is crazy. There's also a rather large gathering outside of Paterno's house right now in a show of support from students.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Stray

This whole situation is crazy. There's also a rather large gathering outside of Paterno's house right now in a show of support from students.

Idiots. All of them. I simply can't get supporting him.

[Stray]

Yeah I don't get it either. I'm more curious to hear what he has to say, and why Penn State didn't want him to say it.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Stray

Yeah I don't get it either. I'm more curious to hear what he has to say, and why Penn State didn't want him to say it.

I am just trying to figure out why he lets Penn State dictate what he says, especially at this point in the game. For him to say that he wanted to answer questions, but couldn't, is horse crap. I saw him walk to his car. No one had a gun to his head. He could have answered some questions instead of saying "I can't answer questions at this time" over and over.

[Stray]

My initial reaction when I heard that Joe Paterno was prepared to answer questions on the issue but Penn State cancelled the press conference was that it was really JoePa who wasn't ready for the press conference. Who really knows though...which is why he needs to address this stuff soon. The longer it goes the more people will speculate.

Apparently he addressed the students tonight. He opened his window and in tears said

'No matter what happens to some people I'm proud of you'"
"We're always going to be Penn State, regardless of what happens to certain people. We're Penn State. I'm proud of you."
"I've always been proud of you. Cheer our football team on Saturday, alright? Beat Nebraska."

Those quotes are just weird.

[1990REDS]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Idiots. All of them. I simply can't get supporting him.

Eh, There 18-21 year old college kids. The most important things to them are beer, chasing skirt, and football Saturdays. Plus I would assume most of them dont have children either. Im sure in a couple years after they have done some "growing up" they will look back with a what was I thinking attitude. At least I hope so.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by WMR

Do you think Paterno would have handled this any differently if it were one of his grandkids?

Of course he would have handled it differently. But that's pretty much an impossible standard to set. Are you as outraged by a shooting downtown as you would be if it was your wife?

Like I said, Paterno certainly deserves his share of blame. But it's hard to not at least empathize with him for believing the "problem had been taken care of."

"It was a terrible misunderstanding, we won't let Jerry bring kids on campus any more, that will fix it."

Of course from 20,000 feet above this seems preposterous, but you'd be surprised how much denial you're capable of when someone you're close to continues to do wrong.

Again, imagine it was your best friend who was accused of this. Because you can't in any way rationalize what would drive a perv like Sandusky, you simply can't imagine this is true.

This of course doesn't excuse Paterno failing to do more than the absolute minimum. But let's not act like by not acting Paterno somehow wanted these terrible things to happen.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

Like I said, Paterno certainly deserves his share of blame. But it's hard to not at least empathize with him for believing the "problem had been taken care of."

Again though, I can't empathize with the situation given that no one in their right mind thinks the problem has been taken care of and continues to see that person around the facilities with children (he was banned from using the facilities three years after the reported incident). You can't simply convince me that someone of sound mind can put "I saw him raping a child" and then seeing that person around, even without children, much less with them, and thinking "the problem has been taken care of".

[Hoosier Red]

I don't think it's a "right mind" thing. In fact with someone who you're close to, right mind is out the window.

I think because the act is so disgusting, and so out of the bounds of "right mind" it's hard to know what I would think. I simply don't think I could believe that someone I knew, someone that I loved would be capable of such an awful act.

The fault with Paterno is to not see past his friendship, to not take it out of his own hands and make sure it was put in the hands of someone who was qualified to handle it.

[WMR]

I don't care what standard you use. Paterno failed that kid and many other children based on his inaction especially in light of his moral obligation and what I would hope any man would view as his moral obligation in such a situation.