Just reported on ESPN, Joe Paterno is near death

Discussion in 'Other Sports' started by Shanvhere, Jan 21, 2012.

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  1. CheeseheadTitan

    CheeseheadTitan Pro Bowler Tip Jar Donor

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    Yes, the Board of Trustees you mention should also be culpable, BUT, as I said, Joe Pa owned the campus, and could easily have gone outside of the chain of command here (my gut is that he probably had free reign to do this).

    However, being from a different generation, and probably not used to hearing about charges such as this, he probably froze and chose to not excercise this free reign in this case. That is on him IMO, and, as I said before, he even acknowledged this in an interview (which I believe was his last interview, where he said that he wished that he had done more). I agree with him, I wish he had done more as well.

    While he is not solely to blame for the coverup (nowhere near that), he is not blameless either IMO.
     
  2. Scarecrow

    Scarecrow All-Pro

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    We need to take a step back as football fans and understand his legacy should not be mentioned in this. In the grand scheme of things the Penn State football program is not that important.

    JoePa and everyone involved should have resigned after what went on. Just because you do the legal minimum should not put you into a category that allows you to continue on like all that happened was littering. This had gone on for decades and not once did anyone say anything until the past few months. Somebody knew, and somebody kept their mouths shut.

    Yes the media like to pin some blame on JoePa but everyone know Sandusky is the rapist along with Penn State being a corrupt organization. Penn St. will feel this for a long time.

    Just because someone else could have reported what went down, does not mean JoePa is clean. If this had gone down in a high school, the media would have still responded the same way (although a much smaller scale). That was JoePa's team and he is accounted for his staffs actions. Much less even allowing Sandusky and his questionable behavior at his facilities.

    I hate when his age gets brought into this. So what the man is old and may not know about certain things that happen in this world. Last I checked, ignorance does not give you immunity.
     
  3. CheeseheadTitan

    CheeseheadTitan Pro Bowler Tip Jar Donor

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    I was not referring to his age to excuse him, but to try to come up for an explanation (or theory) on why someone so otherwise a "straight arrow" for his career would freeze in this case. It was a mistake for him IMO, and even he says this in what I think was his final interview.
     
  4. Scarecrow

    Scarecrow All-Pro

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    I honestly did not even see your post when I posted mine. I understand why people say this, because it does make sense and I did read that interview, when he said he didn't even know men could be raped.

    But in todays day and age, even if you are that old, you should know about this kind of stuff by now. Especially the kind of atmosphere he was around, it was not like he worked out on a farm somewhere with no way to access the outside world.

    I honestly could not tell you why he did not take it further, unless he believed he did enough.
     
  5. Riverman

    Riverman That may be.... Tip Jar Donor

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    Does anybody know exactly what he knew? If somebody brings allegations against a co-worker you are only responsible for informing the appropriate corporate authority or superiors. Whoever told JoePa is just as guilty of not doing more. JoePa passed the information he received in its entirety to his superiors.

    If your boss says we've investigated this and we found no evidence of wrong-doing are you really going to blow the whistle? Maybe if you had DEFINITE proof and had NO doubt the information was accurate or saw things yourself but that wasn't the case here.

    JoePa's mistake was believing the board and administration had conducted a thorough investigation. It's EASY to say "I'd have gone straight to the police" in retrospect but don't forget that JoePa wasn't privileged to hear all the testimony and detailed allegations that we're hearing now.

    Add to that THIS board recognized they could easily sacrifice JoePa to the media to redirect attention away from the institution and it leaves me really having very little respect for Penn State.

    But hey- JoePa is dead now so the country's "conscience" got their pound of flesh. I hope that many of you that are so quick to condemn his "failure to do more" don't find yourself in a similar predicament. I doubt you'd do anything significantly different than JoePa did.
     
  6. CheeseheadTitan

    CheeseheadTitan Pro Bowler Tip Jar Donor

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    Listen, saying that JoePa is not blameless here is a long way from condemning him, so please do not put words in my mouth. I am not condemning him, and I am not saying that I would do anything different in that situation (nobody is perfect, and I have never been in a situation where I was worshipped on campus, even by my superiors....).

    I am saying that his failure to do more was a mistake, and as such, he should not be absolved of all blame because of this. AGAIN, Joe Pa himself admitted that he should have done more, and I agree with him.
     
  7. Scarecrow

    Scarecrow All-Pro

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    This ruins your whole argument.

    I don't know who you associate yourself with, but I along with the people I am around would have done much more than that.

    Seriously? Sandusky did this for decades, and had multiple witnesses throughout this whole ordeal. To think JoePa did not have any idea this was going on is foolish and naive. He had the ability to tell Sadusky to stay out of his facilites but still allowed his awkward "wrestling" matches and showers to continue.

    JoePa was not the only person to blame, but he got his fair share of it.
     
  8. Riverman

    Riverman That may be.... Tip Jar Donor

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    I'm not addressing you specifically I'm just trying to get many to better understand why a seemingly honorable and old school stand up guy like Paterno could get caught up in a situation like this. I see many people unfairly judging him. I see an institution using him as a pariah, the media facilitating and benefitting, and a large portion of the country consuming it. Joe Paterno deserves better than that.
     
  9. Riverman

    Riverman That may be.... Tip Jar Donor

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    :rolleyes: you come off as a self righteous prig

    Relax- he is dead now so he REALLY can't do more now. But I'm sure you and your associates will all die with a clean conscience and no regrets or doubts.
     
  10. Scarecrow

    Scarecrow All-Pro

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    I will go so far to agree with you that, people are blaming him and not really knowing why. I will still say he deserved to be let go and his reputation will be tarnished because of it. If this had gone on for a year or two, I could see JoePa as an innocent, but like I said, this had gone on for decades and JoePa, and others were well aware of some suspicious activities that were going on.

    I just can't picture this went down for so long, and no one new anything about it. I mean, McQueary saw this back in 2002, not to mention the other incidents before this.
     
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