Thoughts on the Joe Paterno Situation?

[thelakelander]

I'm totally fine with Paterno being fired.  Several more need to go, imo.

[tufsu1]

I grew up in a house with two PITT alums...and then I went to Temple....needless to say, I am far from being a Penn State fan (or as we like to call it, the State Penn).

Furthermore, I have never been a big JoePa guy either....like Bobby Bowden, many fans of the school put him on too high a pedestal and turned a blind eye....and believe me, State College is so far away from anything that it is real easy to keep stuff quiet....plus, ins omething that affected me personally, JoePa doesn't let the bands play on "his" field if its wet (band shoes might ruin the field, football cleats won't).

All that said, I think his immediate removal wasn't necessary...the Trustees could have been a bit more decent and let him coach this Saturday against Nebraska....it is Penn State's final home game of the season.

[Bridges]

My thought is he's a scapegoat for this..JoePa didn't committed the crimes..

Of course not.  But his failure to follow up with his report and/or report it to the proper authorities certainly enabled this man to continue his abuse.

I keep seeing people saying Paterno is a scapegoat, why?  Cause he gets the most media attention?  He is the name, so of course he is getting attention.  I never heard of the AD or President before this.

The school needs to clean house with anyone and everyone who let this happen.  The other coaches will be gone soon enough.  If you're a Penn State player, how in the world do you use that shower again?

[Bridges]

All that said, I think his immediate removal wasn't necessary...the Trustees could have been a bit more decent and let him coach this Saturday against Nebraska....it is Penn State's final home game of the season.

Do you have any idea of what kind of circus that would have created?  Students took to the streets after learning he was leaving at the end of the year. 

I can't even imagine it.  It would have been an absolute nut house.  The school failed to deal with this properly back when it should have.  Now it has no choice but to immediately clean house, no ifs ands or buts.

[BridgeTroll]

I'm totally fine with Paterno being fired.  Several more need to go, imo.

Agreed.  IMHO... at the end of the season the entire coaching staff needs to go.  First... McQueary... who actually witnessed the rape is still coaching.  He should be gone yesterday.  It is beyond believability that the rest of the staff does not know various parts of this entire mess.  The board of trustees needs to go also.

[Bridges]

First... McQueary... who actually witnessed the rape is still coaching.  He should be gone yesterday. 

Absolutely.  The school is treading very lightly here though.  They're concerned about a lawsuit, and I bet they're trying to figure out if McQueary is protected under whistleblower status.

[tufsu1]

All that said, I think his immediate removal wasn't necessary...the Trustees could have been a bit more decent and let him coach this Saturday against Nebraska....it is Penn State's final home game of the season.

Do you have any idea of what kind of circus that would have created?  Students took to the streets after learning he was leaving at the end of the year. 

yes...the school didn't want the image of Paterno being carried off the field by his players with 100,000 people giving him a standing ovation.

[Bridges]

Certainly that is how it would go down.  Just look at the calm and reasonable manner with which everyone handled the past 2 nights.

Let it be known.  The small price to pay for indifference to the rape of a 10 year old is your job, effective immediately. 

[CityLife]

All that said, I think his immediate removal wasn't necessary...the Trustees could have been a bit more decent and let him coach this Saturday against Nebraska....it is Penn State's final home game of the season.

Do you have any idea of what kind of circus that would have created?  Students took to the streets after learning he was leaving at the end of the year. 

yes...the school didn't want the image of Paterno being carried off the field by his players with 100,000 people giving him a standing ovation.

The victims lawyers sure probably do....That scene would be salt in the wounds of all victims that JoePa and his cronies could have saved.

I've got to give up to the CEO of US Steel and the rest of the Board of Trustees at Penn State for letting Paterno know he isn't invincible and that everyone has to deal with the consequences of their actions. JoePa made his bed when he said that the Board Of Trustees have better things to worry about and that they shouldn't waste a minute of their time worrying about him.

[Kay]

How about the grad assistant stepping in and pulling that pedophile off the kid and stopping the rape?  How can you just walk away from that and do nothing?  I think he should be fired too--and anyone else who knew about this stuff and said nothing. 

It is so disappointing and heartbreaking that no one stood up to stop it and report it. 

[CityLife]

How about the grad assistant stepping in and pulling that pedophile off the kid and stopping the rape?  How can you just walk away from that and do nothing?  I think he should be fired too--and anyone else who knew about this stuff and said nothing. 

It is so disappointing and heartbreaking that no one stood up to stop it and report it.

I think most of this whole episode is black and white, but I am pretty conflicted and actually slightly sympathetic to McQueary the GA. In the Grand Jury Report there is a story of a janitor witnessing Sandusky raping a boy in the shower also. The janitor was mortified. He is now dead , but according to coworkers, he told them what he saw was worse than anything he had seen in the Korean War (which included guys getting limbs blown off). He also didn't report the incident to the police for fear of losing his job.

McQueary was a former Penn State QB. Sandusky was a former coach of his and an authority figure to him. Getting a Graduate Assistant position at a major college is very, very competitive. It is usually parlayed into a full time coaching job. This is likely what McQueary wanted to do the rest of his life and was a dream situation.

With that in mind and with what we know about the janitor's reaction, I think it is somewhat understandable why McQueary didn't immediately physically go after Sandusky. He was likely in complete shock. Also Sandusky saw him. Who is to say Sandusky didn't flee? Who is to say McQueary didn't stop him? We don't yet know. What we do know is that after talking to his dad, he thought it was best to run it up the chain of command to JoePa, a father figure and a man he thought he could trust. Going directly to the authorities about an in house matter that would reflect very poorly on PSU, would have likely blackballed him from coaching and ruined his career.

I think on paper it is very easy to question McQueary's decision making, but I think he was put in a very difficult position. Heck, who is to say that the AD and President didn't threaten the crap out of him if he went to the police about it? He didn't know about the 1998 incident (like the other guys did).

I know some will disagree with my take on that, but I think his role in this is yet to be fully determined.

[KenFSU]

For most crimes -- extortion, prostitution, embezzlement -- I think a reasonable argument could be made that McQueary and Paterno made a decent effort to do the right thing, and then moved on with their lives. I can sympathize with the fact that JoePa had an organization to run, and that McQueary was protecting his future. With that in mind, all of those things go out the window when you are talking about a child getting brutally raped by a colleague in your shower. Once you throw that into th equation, nothing short of stopping your life and making sure the behavior stops and isn't repeated can pass as "doing enough." Neither one gets an ounce of sympathy from me. Not an ounce. Who knows how many of these kids have had their lives destroyed and their souls ripped from bodies because these two men were too concerned with "the big ball game!" to bother with putting a stop to child rape. I'm not buying a single excuse. JoePa's career may be tarnished, but at least he's not swinging by the neck from the end of a rope like so many childhood victims of violent sexual abuse end up doing.

[NotNow]

^^^
What he said!

[JeffreyS]

Well said Ken. 

[CityLife]

Ken, I agree with a lot of what you said. However, when it comes to McQueary there simply isn't enough evidence yet to say that he is absolutely complicit in the coverup. Keep in mind that JoePa, The AD, The VP, and President were all aware of the 1998 incident. McQueary was not aware of the incident.

He went to JoePa and then reported it to the Athletic Director and the man who oversaw University Police. How do we know that they didn't tell him that they were going to investigate it? How do we know that they didn't tell them that they talked to Sandusky and that he was getting treatment? We don't know how deep the coverup runs. How do we know that those 3 didn't tell McQueary that he would never get a job ever again if he reported it?

Another factor to consider. The Grand Jury found out about the 2002 incident. You know how? McQueary told them. So why would he all the sudden come out and tell them about that incident when he could have kept his mouth shut and saved face? The answer could very well be that he was misled by the AD/Paterno and wanted to finally get the truth out. The Grand Jury investigation is very possibly the only time he was made aware that Sandusky had been involved in other incidents (unlike JoePa and the AD). After finding this out, he then blew the whistle on JoePa (a legend to him) and the others.

He could very well come out looking terrible, but I am going to wait and hear his side before I lump him in with the others.