Penn State, Paterno and Sandusky
November 7th 2011 17:22
Saturday afternoon I watched in stunned surprise as the announcement hit the wire that two high-ranking Penn State administrators, AD Tim Curley and VP of Finance Gary Schultz, were charged with one count each of perjury. That was bad enough, but when it was linked to a 40-charge indictment against long-time Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky alleging long-term and systematic sexual assaults against minor boys, I think I wanted to puke.
The first thought that I have is that no matter how bad it sounds - and when a very high-profile and highly esteemed man is accused of such a horrid action it's as bad as it gets - covering it up is always worse. I can imagine the ripples of fear, hatred and disgust that went through the stomachs of the men involved, from Mike McCreay to Joe Paterno to Tim Curley. "Him? You're saying he did *what?*" Easy to imagine, isn't it? Yet no one ever learns, and time and time again people fail to get it through their heads that accepting the huge fallout from the bad acts of one person is far easier to manage than that same fallout coupled with the disgrace and fury over the cover-up. And no matter how this turns out, you and me both know the same thing, that the *public perception* is that this was a cover-up. How can it not be? How could it have taken 15 days for Curley to interview McCreary after Paterno advised him to report it? How was the police action buried? How? Why? How? Why?
My second thought is that in one day the reputation of the school, it's long-time football coach, and every single alumni has been ruined by association. I never met Jerry Sandusky. Yet the fact that I went to Penn State is suddenly a black mark. "Oh you went there? Your coaches like to abuse little boys?" Nice, huh? The fact remains - alluding to my previous note about cover ups - that no matter what would have or could have happened if the proper steps were taken in 2002 - that the school would have been decimated by these accusations. There's no question in my mind that Penn State's reputation would be tarnished. And today it stands tarnished. Yet at the same time, I can imagine the response of every single major college coach of hearing those accusations: fury and disgust at the acts of a man, but concern for the coach of Penn State. No coach would or ever could condone such acts, yet every single major coach understands perfectly what Paterno is going through. Think that this isn't the topic of conversation among the staffs today?
My third thought is that Paterno is done. He cannot escape this mess, and it's a damned shame that he's being pulled down by someone he worked with and presumably trusted for 32 years. Sandusky and Paterno are linked as tightly as two men can be. No, it's not fair to Paterno but it's life. The general public will demand that someone pay - someone besides Sandusky. Paterno will have to be sacrificed for the good of the school's reputation, and to begin the healing process. It's a tragic end to the coach of our lifetime. "JoePa" will no longer have quite the same connotation. Paterno must play out this season. Stepping down now would only fuel the fire of the conspiracy theorists who are already actively wonder what Paterno really knew. It will strengthen the convictions of those who have already convicted Paterno of moral crimes - because he didn't immediately go to the police or follow up on his own suspicions. So Paterno has to ride out this season, and quietly retire at the end of it. The remaining years of his life will be spent asking bitter questions I think; I am so terribly sorry to write that and yet I think it is the truth. He will ask himself a million times over why he didn't do anything more. Yet this furor will probably have been the same if he had done the thing that the moralists wanted him to do. How sad.
Fourth, my own personal feelings are that primarily I understand that prosecutors don't bring charges unless they believe that they have a good chance of winning. Certainly bringing these charges besmirched Sandusky's name; presumably the prosecution has powerful evidence linking Sandusky to the acts and that means that he's probably going to be found guilty one day in a court of law. And that will mean that we Penn Staters can unleash all the invective we have at the son of a bitch. But I will go on to say this. Many people will be angry at Paterno and Sandusky for the damage done to the university. I am thinking now that people should be more worried about the damage Sandusky did to the alleged victims. In the cruelest way possible he ruined their childhoods. Speaking as a father, I would go far out of my way to seek retribution if some ...thing... did those things to my kids. I feel most for the parents of those children, who have had to pass time while hearing about what a great man Sandusky was when he was at Penn State, and about Paterno and the school in general. It was probably enough to infuriate them. I can imagine their pain, only I don't want to. I'm afraid to.
I wish that mere words could fix this. But they can't. They won't. It will take actions - painful actions that will do great harm. Yet the harm done to a university's football program should pale in comparison to the harm done to the alleged victims. They should get their victory and see a monster put away.
The first thought that I have is that no matter how bad it sounds - and when a very high-profile and highly esteemed man is accused of such a horrid action it's as bad as it gets - covering it up is always worse. I can imagine the ripples of fear, hatred and disgust that went through the stomachs of the men involved, from Mike McCreay to Joe Paterno to Tim Curley. "Him? You're saying he did *what?*" Easy to imagine, isn't it? Yet no one ever learns, and time and time again people fail to get it through their heads that accepting the huge fallout from the bad acts of one person is far easier to manage than that same fallout coupled with the disgrace and fury over the cover-up. And no matter how this turns out, you and me both know the same thing, that the *public perception* is that this was a cover-up. How can it not be? How could it have taken 15 days for Curley to interview McCreary after Paterno advised him to report it? How was the police action buried? How? Why? How? Why?
My second thought is that in one day the reputation of the school, it's long-time football coach, and every single alumni has been ruined by association. I never met Jerry Sandusky. Yet the fact that I went to Penn State is suddenly a black mark. "Oh you went there? Your coaches like to abuse little boys?" Nice, huh? The fact remains - alluding to my previous note about cover ups - that no matter what would have or could have happened if the proper steps were taken in 2002 - that the school would have been decimated by these accusations. There's no question in my mind that Penn State's reputation would be tarnished. And today it stands tarnished. Yet at the same time, I can imagine the response of every single major college coach of hearing those accusations: fury and disgust at the acts of a man, but concern for the coach of Penn State. No coach would or ever could condone such acts, yet every single major coach understands perfectly what Paterno is going through. Think that this isn't the topic of conversation among the staffs today?
My third thought is that Paterno is done. He cannot escape this mess, and it's a damned shame that he's being pulled down by someone he worked with and presumably trusted for 32 years. Sandusky and Paterno are linked as tightly as two men can be. No, it's not fair to Paterno but it's life. The general public will demand that someone pay - someone besides Sandusky. Paterno will have to be sacrificed for the good of the school's reputation, and to begin the healing process. It's a tragic end to the coach of our lifetime. "JoePa" will no longer have quite the same connotation. Paterno must play out this season. Stepping down now would only fuel the fire of the conspiracy theorists who are already actively wonder what Paterno really knew. It will strengthen the convictions of those who have already convicted Paterno of moral crimes - because he didn't immediately go to the police or follow up on his own suspicions. So Paterno has to ride out this season, and quietly retire at the end of it. The remaining years of his life will be spent asking bitter questions I think; I am so terribly sorry to write that and yet I think it is the truth. He will ask himself a million times over why he didn't do anything more. Yet this furor will probably have been the same if he had done the thing that the moralists wanted him to do. How sad.
Fourth, my own personal feelings are that primarily I understand that prosecutors don't bring charges unless they believe that they have a good chance of winning. Certainly bringing these charges besmirched Sandusky's name; presumably the prosecution has powerful evidence linking Sandusky to the acts and that means that he's probably going to be found guilty one day in a court of law. And that will mean that we Penn Staters can unleash all the invective we have at the son of a bitch. But I will go on to say this. Many people will be angry at Paterno and Sandusky for the damage done to the university. I am thinking now that people should be more worried about the damage Sandusky did to the alleged victims. In the cruelest way possible he ruined their childhoods. Speaking as a father, I would go far out of my way to seek retribution if some ...thing... did those things to my kids. I feel most for the parents of those children, who have had to pass time while hearing about what a great man Sandusky was when he was at Penn State, and about Paterno and the school in general. It was probably enough to infuriate them. I can imagine their pain, only I don't want to. I'm afraid to.
I wish that mere words could fix this. But they can't. They won't. It will take actions - painful actions that will do great harm. Yet the harm done to a university's football program should pale in comparison to the harm done to the alleged victims. They should get their victory and see a monster put away.
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