Joe Paterno Resigns

[TetRefine]

When will people ever learn that the more you cover something big up, the more explosive it will be when it gets revealed. And history has always proven, it always does come to light sooner or later.

 

Christ Penn State, take a lesson from the Catholic Church.

[rustle]

When will people ever learn that the more you cover something big up, the more explosive it will be when it gets revealed. And history has always proven, it always does come to light sooner or later.

 

Christ Penn State, take a lesson from the Catholic Church.

 

"There is nothing done in the darkness which will not be brought into the light."

 

The more I read of this, the more sense it all makes. I suspect Paterno did as much as he could without getting fired or killed.

 

As sick as the pedophilia makes me, the riots bother me more, that they would support anyone implicated in this.

[methodwriter85]

That's the thing, though. The kids rioting honestly believe that "JoePa" did what he could, and that he did what he was legally obligated to do, and that JoePa should be allowed to finish out his season in dignity.

 

Alot of the anger seems to be directed at Mike McQueary because he didn't intervene during the alleged 2002 incident, and yet he's still on coaching staff. Although he will not attend the game, as he's been recieving multiple threats.

 

http://www.freep.com/article/20111111/SPORTS08/111111008/Penn-State-s-Mike-McQueary-might-protected-whistle-blower-scandal-fallout-continues

 

I seriously would get the hell out of dodge if I were Mike McQueary, die my hair black, and start all over in Canada or something.

Edited November 11, 2011 by methodwriter85

[MikeL]

Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary, a key witness in the child sex abuse scandal that has engulfed the school, has been placed on administrative leave.

See article.

 

McQueary, who reported the alleged abuse to Paterno but not the police, was going to coach in Saturday's game until officials changed their minds because they were worried about his safety.

 

The university issued a statement Thursday that said "due to multiple threats" made against McQueary it would be "in the best interest of all" for him not to attend the game.

[PrivateTim]

I wonder if Sandusky will take his own life at some point. Surely he must realize if he goes to prison he has zero chance of surviving.

 

The disappearance of Ray Gricar complicates things even further. He had plenty in 1998 to convict Sandusky. Why didn't he? Was he paid off? Was he a client of Sandusky's? Lots of people call his disappearance a murder or suicide. What if he is hiding out in Venezuela? Gricar is twice divorced and no natural children, just an adopted one...

 

This looks to be the monster of all conspiracy cases that will keep the Internet busy for generations. This gets too weird even for conspiracy buffs. A girl named Betsy Aardsma was murdered in the PSU library in 1969, the year Jerry Sandusky started his coaching career at PSU. One of the possible suspects was a graduate student named (Dr.) Richard Charles Haefner who was accused of pedophilia several times with boys the same age range as Sandusky's (alleged) victims and all in the State College area. Two pedophiles in the same university at the same time? Coincidence?

Edited November 12, 2011 by PrivateTim

[methodwriter85]

I wonder if Sandusky will take his own life at some point. Surely he must realize if he goes to prison he has zero chance of surviving.

 

The disappearance of Ray Gricar complicates things even further. He had plenty in 1998 to convict Sandusky. Why didn't he? Was he paid off? Was he a client of Sandusky's? Lots of people call his disappearance a murder or suicide. What if he is hiding out in Venezuela? Gricar is twice divorced and no natural children, just an adopted one...

 

This looks to be the monster of all conspiracy cases that will keep the Internet busy for generations. This gets too weird even for conspiracy buffs. A girl named Betsy Aardsma was murdered in the PSU library in 1969, the year Jerry Sandusky started his coaching career at PSU. One of the possible suspects was a graduate student named (Dr.) Richard Charles Haefner who was accused of pedophilia several times with boys the same age range as Sandusky's (alleged) victims and all in the State College area. Two pedophiles in the same university at the same time? Coincidence?

 

This really makes the USC scandal look like a picnic. Geez.

[scotchirish87]

I haven't really followed this story but I have to wonder how culpable Paterno really is. From what I understand, the only knowledge he had was what the grad-student reported seeing. Therefore anything that he followed up on would be based on hearsay and he wouldn't be able to provide any more information than what he gave. He reported it to the school authorities, as per procedure, and at that point he should be alleviated of any further responsibility. My understanding is he had no first-hand knowledge. The whole situation is atrocious of course, but does Paterno really deserve to be a scapegoat?

[JamesSavik]

The more I read of this, the more sense it all makes. I suspect Paterno did as much as he could without getting fired or killed.

 

 

Bingo. This is smelling more and more like organized crime. Blackmail, extortion and coercion are their standard operating procedure.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it was Russian Mafia. They have no problem with using child prostitutes to make money and then shaking down their customers.

 

You are probably right. This is going to make all the other sports scandals put together look like a square dance before its over.

[methodwriter85]

Here's a movie trailer, done in the style of the J. Edgar trailer, about the Penn State scandal.

 

 

Really well done. I'm thinking Al Pacino as Joe Paterno and Patrick Wilson as Jerry Sandusky.

[littlebuddy]

I haven't really followed this story but I have to wonder how culpable Paterno really is. From what I understand, the only knowledge he had was what the grad-student reported seeing. Therefore anything that he followed up on would be based on hearsay and he wouldn't be able to provide any more information than what he gave. He reported it to the school authorities, as per procedure, and at that point he should be alleviated of any further responsibility. My understanding is he had no first-hand knowledge. The whole situation is atrocious of course, but does Paterno really deserve to be a scapegoat?

 

I've thought a lot about this and have decided that if someone came to me and told me he saw someone sodomizing a child, I would probably freak out and call the cops. Such an accusation cannot in good conscious be taken lightly. Paterno isn't a forgetful person; he's sharp as a tack and merely going to his supervisors and seeing them do nothing is pretty damning. That said, he's probably the least guilty of a group of extremely guilty human beings. Just my opinion.

 

lb.

[MikeL]

It now appears that Paterno and other university officials actively sought to hide Sandusky's activities.

 

See New York Times article about the Louis Freeh investigation.

 

In 1998, officials at Penn State, including its president and its legendary football coach, were aware Jerry Sandusky was being investigated by the university’s police department for possibly molesting two young boys in the football building’s showers. They followed the investigation closely, updating one another along the way.

 

The officials did nothing. No one so much as spoke to Mr. Sandusky.

 

The most senior officials at Penn State had shown a “total and consistent disregard” for the welfare of children, had worked together to actively conceal Mr. Sandusky’s assaults, and had done so for one central reason: fear of bad publicity.

 

Indeed, Mr. Freeh’s investigation makes clear it was Mr. Paterno, long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university, who persuaded the university president and others not to report Mr. Sandusky to the authorities in 2001 after he had violently assaulted another boy in the football showers.

 

The Freeh investigation suggests that the university’s senior administrators...were prepared to formally report Mr. Sandusky to state authorities, but that Mr. Paterno persuaded them to do otherwise.

 

 

It appears that Mr. Paterno's widely-acclaimed integrity failed him when it was most needed.

[TetRefine]

Its pathetic when not only the athletic staff but the President of the university and other high ranking officials actively covered it up. Penn State deserves to burn now that everyone's cover-up suspicions have been confirmed.

[methodwriter85]

I cannot imagine what the school will look like after all of the lawsuits run their course. Penn State is a high-tuition school already. I can't imagine how high the tuition is going to get after the school has to dip into their endowment.

 

"Joe Pa" indeed. What a freaking joke. You know that when Joe Paterno passed away, people in Western PA were treating it like a saint had died.

[PrivateTim]

It appears that Mr. Paterno's widely-acclaimed integrity failed him when it was most needed.

 

Well forgive me for being a cynic, but did Mr. Freeh speak with Mr. Paterno before he passed away? It seems to me it would be rather easy to blame the dead guy who can't explain what here did and did not do.

[MikeL]

Well forgive me for being a cynic, but did Mr. Freeh speak with Mr. Paterno before he passed away? It seems to me it would be rather easy to blame the dead guy who can't explain what here did and did not do.

 

Being dead does not excuse him for what he did not do while he was alive. His son has been all over TV saying that his father did nothing wrong. That will have to suffice as Joe Pa's rebuttal to what numerous others did tell the Freeh investigators. If you read Freeh's findings as reported by the New York Times, you will see that there is written evidence (e-mails and written notes) generated at the time by the very university officials who were covering up the scandal.

 

 

It was then decided the “humane” thing to do would be to speak to Mr. Sandusky, offer him professional help and warn him not to bring children on campus any longer. An e-mail from Mr. Spanier at the time hinted at the potential implications of their actions in 2001.

 

“This approach is acceptable to me,” Mr. Spanier wrote to his colleagues. “The only downside for us is if the message isn’t ‘heard’ and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it.”

 

Edited July 13, 2012 by MikeL

[JamesSavik]

One thing I haven't heard anyone say is that Paterno, as a man of his generation, was ill equipped to handle such a scandal.

 

Men of his generation didn't talk about such things. To them, child abuse and molestation occurred but it was always some drunken bum or some pervert. NOT people that they knew and trusted.

 

For people that they knew and worked with for years, they simply would not believe it unless they had seen it with their own eyes.

 

This is a common trait of men of the "Warrior generation". They trusted their friends to a fault and would only abandon them in the face of overwhelming evidence.

 

His integrity did not fail him. His personal loyalty did.

[methodwriter85]

The End of Joe Paterno University

 

I really do feel for the alumni of the school. "I went to Penn State" is going to be a cringe-worthy line for a long time. But this is what happens when you base what the school is about on its football program and the gnarly parties the students throw. Those riot videos showed the deep roots of what's wrong with that school, and it's going to take a good two-three years to change that culture.

 

Honestly, if Penn State football isn't banned for a year, USC really should just be given their championship season back.

[Y_B]

For ever 1 scandal uncovered, there's probably 10 not.

 

Old man joe, Sandusky, Penn State just got unlucky.

 

If every bit of dirt in the world got dished...then 2012 might as well be the end of man kind.

[Gene Splicer PHD]

One thing I haven't heard anyone say is that Paterno, as a man of his generation, was ill equipped to handle such a scandal.

 

Men of his generation didn't talk about such things. To them, child abuse and molestation occurred but it was always some drunken bum or some pervert. NOT people that they knew and trusted.

 

For people that they knew and worked with for years, they simply would not believe it unless they had seen it with their own eyes.

 

This is a common trait of men of the "Warrior generation". They trusted their friends to a fault and would only abandon them in the face of overwhelming evidence.

 

His integrity did not fail him. His personal loyalty did.

 

His integrity failed him when his loyalty trumped it, I agree with you there. But a grown man who knows that kids are being abused and does nothing about it except find a way to protect the friend - what about protecting kids from that dirtball in the future? What about helping the abused kids - even if that means exposing the friend (and it probably would)?

 

There was no integrity in protecting Sandusky at any level here.

[methodwriter85]

Penn State Students Keep Vigil Over Paterno's Statue

 

Two Penn State students have decided to set up a tent to protect the Paterno Statue from vandals, after a plane flew over the campus saying "Take the Statue down or We Wil." I don't think the statue should be taken down, but maybe Penn State should put up a memorial garden or something for victims of sexual abuse?

[MikeL]

The statue is gone: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8188530/joe-paterno-statue-removed-penn-state-university-beaver-stadium

 

The NCAA uses its heavy hand: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/story/2012-07-23/ncaa-penn-state-punishment-sanctions/56427630/1?csp=breakingnews

[Gene Splicer PHD]

It's a good punishment, I hope there are stronger ones coming for the school administration. I was actually expecting and hoping for the death penalty but this actually sends a better message, I think.

 

Paterno loses his wins back to the time when they started hiding the scandal, there's a clear message there for other schools that this was what could happen. The fine being paid to help victims - and not touchable by the school - is also a good thing. The scholarships - that's gonna hurt, so does the postseason ban. I think its a fair punishment. There are more coming, we'll see what happens when the criminal cases are done.

[PrivateTim]

The punishment is outrageous. I am not a Penn State fan, the furthest thing from it, but this seems like political correctness run amuck. Yes we are all against child molestations and the covering up of them, but those are criminal and civil matters, they are not under the purview of the NCAA. The Penn State football program didn't violate any NCAA regulations as to recruiting or player or coach conduct. To remove wins from players who never knew a thing about what was happening is absurd.

 

And it isn't just the football program that suffers now, I am sure at PSU that football paid for all the other programs too so now all the women's sports and all the men's minor sports will suffer and some may be dropped because they can not afford them any more.

 

I've never liked the NCAA, I think......, no I KNOW, they are completely clueless about collegiate athletics and this just further proves the point. I hope an PSU alum group or the Paterno family sues the NCAA.

[MikeL]

My compliments to both Gene and Tim for very well expressed reactions to the NCAA sanctions against Penn State. There are two sides to any issue, of course, and I expect there will be strong feelings on both sides. I don't care for Penn State or the NCAA. The latter may be overreacting to the former's lack of action.

 

Gene is right about the nature of the $60 million "fine". Child abuse victims will be helped without all the significant dollars going to attorneys. That may be the most appropriate action taken by the NCAA.

[MJ85]

I'm inclined to think that at some point, one of the punishment bodies involved here will just flat out try to have Penn State shut down completely.

 

Call me crazy, but frankly I think the punishment-seekers have been purely out for blood for quite a while in this case, to the point that it's reached shear irrationality. I mean, it's gotten to the point where it's all about dirtying bad names as much as possible, that it's just like, who cares about any of the victims or anyone else who didn't even have anything to do with what happened?? But oh, they just happen to be involved with Penn State at some point in the timeline (speaking mostly of the latter). And that's, what bothers me.