Paterno deserves no pity
The scandal at Penn State is unfolding at the speed of sound, not just as the worst sports scandal in modern history but also as one of the worst scandals in modern history.
A former Penn State assistant coach for 29 years and alleged sexual predator, Jerry Sandusky, apparently continued unchecked because of the failure of university officials and head football coach deity Joe Paterno to do anything that might have made a difference.
The horror of it all, both in terms of what Sandusky allegedly did and what Penn State officials did not, can be summed up by a single scene.
According to page six of the Grand Jury report, a 28-year-old football graduate assistant named Mike McQueary was in the locker room of the Lasch Football Building on the Penn State Campus at 9:30 on the Friday night of March 1, 2002. McQueary was putting some newly purchased sneakers into his locker, and getting some recruiting tapes to watch. As he entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on. McQueary then heard rhythmic, slapping sounds which he believed to be of sexual activity. He looked inside and according to his grand-jury testimony, saw the cause of the sound: a naked child of roughly 10 years old with his hands up against the wall with a naked Sandusky butt-f–king him from behind.
Sick? Yes. Beyond disturbing? Absolutely. Immediate grounds for calling the police? Of course. What was actually done?
Nothing except the passing of the buck up the food chain where too many people know that something awful has happened and try to bury it.
McQueary, who witnessed the incident, witnessed it, doesn’t call the police, although he is 28. Instead, he tells his father. His father advises him to tell Paterno. He tells Paterno.
Unless fondling of young boys by assistant football coaches at Penn State is commonplace and encouraged, Paterno should have gone to the police. Or being the father figure he supposedly is, he should have told McQueary that he has to go to the police and will accompany him, given that he is the most powerful and popular man in the state of Pennsylvania.
Instead, Paterno did nothing but fulfill his minimal obligation. He passed along the information to Athletic Director Tim Curley. The obviousness that Sandusky was doing something monstrous was apparently far less important than such crucial pursuits as watching game films of the last Michigan game.
Curley then notified senior vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz, who told University President Graham Spanier. The only action they took consisted of taking away Sandusky’s keys to the locker room.
Because of this, Sandusky subsequently partook in oral and anal sex with a male, roughly 13 years old, more than 20 times in 2007 and 2008 according to the grand-jury findings of fact.
So when Paterno announced on Nov. 8, that he would retire at the end of the football season, the Penn State Board of Trustees made the right decision and fired him later in the day. Spanier was also fired from his position as president.
The firing of the man affectionately known as “JoePa” brought an end to one of the most storied coaching careers—not just in college football but in all of sports. Paterno has 409 victories — a record for major college football — won two national titles and guided five teams to unbeaten, untied seasons. He reached 300 wins faster than any other coach. Paterno also raised millions of dollars for Penn State in his career and improved a countless number of lives. He was PennState.
Because of this, the firing sparked riots that night on the campus of PennState, with thousands of students marching in unison throughout the campus and the downtown area. CNN and ESPN had live footage, and HappyValley all of a sudden turned into CreepyValley.
Chicago Tribune columnist David Haugh said it best that night when he tweeted, “After the buzz wears off and sobering reality sinks in, they will realize that they were defending the right to cover up pedophilia. As much as they love JoePa, that’s the harsh reality.”
Paterno did a lot of good throughout his career, and was always viewed as an honorable man. Now, that’s all in question. His career may be remembered how it ended, with this scandal.
The Penn State ootball program and school in general will obviously suffer, and may never be the same. No recruit in their right mind or big-name coach will want to clean up this mess. Many regular, prospective students and their parents will be turned off by the fact that the school granted emeritus status to Sandusky.
Don’t feel bad for Paterno or PennState football though. Feel bad for the victims of Sandusky.
