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Joe Paterno to be fired by Penn State
Topic Started: Nov 9 2011, 03:28 AM (1,444 Views)
Pat
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Good riddance.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/penn-state-planning-joe-paterno-exit-report_n_1082066.html

According to The New York Times, Penn State is preparing for the exit of longtime football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The Times' report came less than an hour after Paterno's weekly press conference was cancelled early Tuesday afternoon. Scott Paterno, the coach's son, informed the Associated Press that the press conference had been cancelled at the insistence of University President Graham Spanier's office.
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colo_crawdad
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Jim,

What do you hear from friends living in Pennsylvania?
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Pat
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I don't have any friends living there Colo, but a few forum friends do. Ban yesterday weighed in and I believe he lives there. Jim hasn't uttered a peep. Maybe he is in shock over the situation his Alma Mater finds itself in.He lives in Happy Valley so you can imagine how he and others there feel about this mess.
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Jim Miller
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I am waiting for all the facts come out. Some here, who aren't half the man Joe Paterno is, are already blaming him. Sandusky wasn't even working as a coach when all this went down. Yet all the reports are Penn State this and Penn State that. I have a hunch there will be more come out about all this. If Joe is guilty of anything he should be fired. But right now he isn't implicated in any manner yet he will be sacrificed. Knowing Joe, that will be ok if it in any manner it restores dignity to Penn State. I am still not sure why Penn State is mentioned more than Jerry Sandusky. On edit, since Joe broke the record for winningest coach in Division 1 schools and had no more records to chase, I looked for him to step down next year anyway.
Edited by Jim Miller, Nov 9 2011, 04:58 AM.
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campingken
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If bascially ignoring the major sexual assualt of a 10 year old boy by a former co-worker (friend) is what defines "a man" then Jim is wrong because I am not 1/100th of the man that Joe Paterno is.

Old Joe may have followed the letter of the law but he missed the spirit of the law by a thousand miles.

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Pat
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Yep, that's the point I've been trying to make Ken.
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colo_crawdad
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Jim,

I fully understand your wanting to wait until investigations are concluded. There are absoluteely no facts yet that would indicate that Paterno did anything other than follow the law. On a radio talk show there was speculation by one of the hosts that this is being used somewhat unethically to remove Paterno by some folks who have had theta agenda for some time.
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Pat
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From Sports Illustrated.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/11/08/penn-state-joe-paterno-scandal/index.html

With no explanation for inaction, Joe Paterno must go now


A guide:

Words in standard type are the thoughts of a person attempting to evaluate every side of the story involving Penn State coach Joe Paterno's role in the case involving former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Words in italics are the thoughts of a father of two young children, who, like most parents, read the news of what allegedly took place at Penn State and wondered "What if this had happened to one of my kids?"

Paterno didn't break any law. Officially speaking, he did exactly what was required when a graduate assistant told him in 2002 that he had witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a boy (estimated age: 10) in a shower at the Penn State football complex. Paterno told his boss, athletic director Tim Curley. Paterno followed proper procedure. And doesn't he deserve the benefit of the doubt? For years, Paterno has been a paragon of athletic virtue. He has won a Division I-record 409 games, yet his program has never been cited for a major NCAA violation. Sandusky maintains his innocence. As does Curley, who has been charged with perjury. They'll get their day in court.

Pure B.S. Paterno claims to be a teacher. He always talks about his kids when referring to his players. Someone who truly cared about kids would have done more. He would have pestered Curley for an answer about what happened to the accusation. He would have called the police. He would have confronted Sandusky. Instead of that, Paterno let Sandusky keep coming back. On Monday, Yahoo! reported that Sandusky was spotted in the Penn State football complex as recently as last week. Even if the accusation was false, Paterno had a responsibility to make sure it was thoroughly investigated. He didn't. He stuck by Sandusky instead of worrying about the child.

I waited several days to write this because my first thought was what I would do if someone did something like this to my child. My initial reaction -- and I'm fairly certain most parents would feel this way -- was homicidal. If someone molested my child, he would need the police to protect him from me. If I found him first, his death would be neither quick nor clean. I might spend the rest of my life in prison, though I'm not sure a right-thinking jury would convict me. Those were the first thoughts that popped into my head, and I'm not ashamed to say that. So why didn't Paterno, a parent and grandparent who claims to have dedicated his life to the kids, feel the same way? Why didn't he do everything in his power to ensure he helped protect a kid who couldn't protect himself? I thought if I waited a few days I could look at the situation through a more rational lens. I can't. Every time I think about it, I get more angry. And I pray that I can protect my kids from the monsters, because apparently not everyone feels the same responsibility. If Paterno would sit silently for years about this, he has no business representing a proud university. Fire him now, not in days or weeks as The New York Times is reporting. I don't give a damn how many games he's won.

Paterno released a statement Sunday night saying the graduate assistant was distraught and did not describe the specific act mentioned in the grand jury presentment. Maybe Paterno didn't grasp the seriousness of the allegation. Maybe he didn't understand.

Or maybe Paterno has hidden behind a wall of lawyer-speak because he knows he failed in his duty as a human being. Maybe that's why Penn State President Graham Spanier -- who also needs to be fired for the same reason as Paterno -- canceled Paterno's regularly scheduled press conference Tuesday. Paterno can't stand up to tough questions, because he has no moral leg on which to stand. If no one had made an accusation, it would be completely believable that Paterno didn't know. His inaction would make sense.

But someone did tell Paterno, and Paterno has admitted to that. According to the grand jury, Paterno testified that the graduate assistant reported seeing Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy." Those are the exact words from the presentment, but they are not an exact quote from Paterno. Grand jurors clearly came away thinking Paterno -- a man not known for mincing words -- had heard a report of sexual activity between a grown man and a young boy. Setting aside what the graduate assistant actually reported to the grand jury -- an act so heinous that the mere mention of it should cause any normal person to wretch -- exactly how extensive a report of sexual activity does Paterno need to do the right thing and make sure the report gets investigated thoroughly? No one gets a little bit fondled. Beyond that, a grown man and a young boy were naked together in a shower. That isn't normal. That requires an inquiry. Yet Paterno did nothing except kick the accusation upstairs. In this case, "upstairs" is a relative term. Curley was nominally Paterno's boss, but Paterno has long been the most powerful man on Penn State's campus. If Paterno wanted the claim investigated, he could have made an investigation happen. He didn't.

Still, we need to wait until the facts come out before judging Paterno. Maybe there is some reasonable, rational explanation for his silence. Can I honestly say that I would go to the police if a subordinate reported something like that to me about a longtime friend? Which person would I believe?

Remember that we're talking about a 10-year-old. Someone's son who stands no chance to live a normal life. And let's not forget anyone else who might have been harmed in the years between the graduate assistant's report and Sandusky's arrest. If the charges against Sandusky are true, any molestation that took place between the graduate assistant's report and Sandusky's arrest is on the hands of everyone who knew. That includes Paterno.

Forget it. There is no defense. There is no rational explanation. I hope, if placed in the same situation, I would protect the child. If I didn't, may God have mercy on my soul.

The Penn State alma mater includes this line: "May no act of ours bring shame." Someone wrote those words on a poster Monday and hung them from a statue of Paterno on Penn State's campus. If Sandusky pleads guilty or is convicted of these accusations, that statue of Paterno should be torn down.

Paterno has won 409 games. He has helped usher thousands of young men into adulthood. But if Paterno's inaction allowed a monster to continue preying on children, those victories don't mean a thing.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/11/08/penn-state-joe-paterno-scandal/index.html#ixzz1d9Uwp9nC
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Banandangees
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Former Centre County DA Ray Gricar's reasons for not pursuing case against Jerry Sandusky (in 1998) are unknown

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"The state attorney general's office says Gricar is the one who made the decision not to prosecute Jerry Sandusky in 1998, when two kids reported that Sandusky washed them during a shower.

Gricar was also the county's top prosecutor when many of the other inappropriate acts were alleged to have happened. But before the allegations brought by a boy in Clinton County in 2009, the 23-page grand jury presentment says police were only ever notified once: in 1998.
"



Did "law enforcement" drop the ball in 1998? Why was Jerry Sandusky's behavior kept so quiet over the years that it became such a tremendous shock to the people of PA in just the past week? Why the mystery over the disappearance of that former DA Gricar? Maybe this investigation should go beyond the University to law enforcement itself?
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Thumper
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What happens in Happy Valley (almost) always stays in Happy Valley. I have mixed emotions about this whole episode, being from SW Penna. PSU has a hell of a fan base, "some" arrogant as all get out, but most are good loyal fans. They will get thru it.
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