Penn State Gets it Wrong
Head coach for 46 years, Penn State's Joe Paterno yesterday issued a moving statement, announcing that he would retire at the end of this year.
At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can. This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.
The Penn State board of trustees--who, let us remember, owe much of the rise of their institution to national prominence to the 84-year old coach--refused to accept Paterno's retirement, firing him instead. From a statement by John Surma, Jr., the vice chairman of the board:
We thought that because of the difficulties that engulfed our university, and they are grave, that it is necessary to make a change in the leadership to set a course for a new direction.
Nonsense. Setting a new direction would have involved graciously accepting Paterno's retirement. Firing him instead represented a punitive action--and informing the coach by telephone instead of extending the simple courtesy of telling him in person proved high-handed and crass. This is, again, a punitive action--and for what? Did the board even attempt to make a case that Paterno had done wrong? When an accusation of Sandusky's disgusting activities reached him, Paterno immediately referred them to Penn State authorities. The coach himself now wishes he had done more, yet the responsibility for investigating the matter very clearly lay with the institution, not with him.
This Saturday, Penn State will play Nebraska. It would have been the last home game in the long career of a good man, a coach who has won more games than any other in the history of college football, and a figure who has done more--far, far more--for Penn State than any member of the board of trustees.
I'm not saying the Penn State kids who protested last night were justified in letting their anger get the best of them, destroying property. Pace Mollie, who in a post below offers kudos to the trustees, it looks to me as though the trustees got so caught up in a display of their own moral rectitude that they committed an injustice of their own.
Addendum, placed here 30 minutes after the original post: Ricochet members have convinced me, pretty briskly, that it was not Penn State but yours truly who got this one wrong. I hereby--and in italics!--reverse myself. Thanks for setting me straight.
- Comment (76)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Although it may have been handled poorly, Penn St needed to clean house pronto. No way JoPa should've been allowed to finish the season - they made the right call there.
Now - I won't hold my breath - the NCAA should slap a Penn St with some very, very heavy sanctions. Death penalty for their football program? Maybe.
May '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Oh, Paterno was more than a "damn fool" for ignoring his wicked assistant. As etoiledunord quoted, I see him as an accomplice. He had the power to shut that monster down, but he chose not to go to bat or show any "loyalty" to the child, a victim. Plus, with pedophiles, if there's one incident that comes to light, there's invariably many such offenses.
As to the Board of Trustees needing to explain to Paterno why he was being canned, why aren't we asking Paterno to explain to the victims of his assistant why he didn't bother to stick up for them and get that guy put away for life? Paterno doesn't need an explanation as to why he's being canned. I'm over here in California, don't follow football, and I can tell you why they fired him. Paterno is dirty by association and failure to act. Good riddance, I say.
Jul '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
I will not pile on by commenting that I think Paterno's knowledge of the offenses and his actions, or non-actions, makes him an accessory to the crimes.
May '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Peter Robinson
But my basic point is this: As matters now stand, the trustees chose to punish Joe Paterno--but have failed to say why. A fresh start, a change in leadership--that could have been accomplished simply by letting the man retire. Kicking him that very day--denying him his last home game--and informing him by telephone? That is, as I say, punitive. The trustees have no right to punish Paterno without saying, quite precisely, why. · Nov 10 at 9:28am
Edited on Nov 10 at 09:29 am
The trustees must explain why? As if there is somehow doubt on the matter? I thought it was obvious.
Of course the firing was punitive. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. The firing of Paternal was probably a light punishment considering the very grave nature of Paternal's sin of omission, a sin that resulted in the sexual exploitation of more boys.
Arguing that Paternal violated no law is too legalistic a point; it sounds indifferent and cold. Paternal had the moral authority to prevent the abuse of children, but he instead opted to do nothing.
Mar '11
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gets it right. This is the way to read Paterno's statement:
Not a moving statement but a bold, stubborn statement cloaked in a moving statement.
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Peter Robinson
My morning with Ricochet: I went from fury with the trustees while on the elliptical machine at the gym to conceding, about 15 minutes after putting up my post, that they did, more or less, the right thing.
· Nov 10 at 9:35am
Glad to know I'm not the only one who gets furious while watching news at the gym. I always feel a little sorry for the guy on the elliptical next to me.
May '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Why is Mike McQueary coaching Penn State this weekend? We all agree Joe Paterno should have done more, but we don't know exactly what he knew. Mike McQueary, on the other hand, is the previously unnamed grad student/former QB, who witnessed Jerry Sandusky in the shower with a boy, and told Paterno about it. He did not call the police and he was the witness! Yet he will coach this weekend? Makes me think Joe Paterno is taking the fall because of his name. Does he deserve to go? I think so. But it didn't have to be this way, especially if the board of trustees is willing to let someone obviously more involved (McQueary) coach. The saddest thing is that this story is all about Joe Paterno. What about the rapist? JERRY SANDUSKY needs to be the focus of public outrage!
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
I agree with those who say that Paterno should have done more to escalate very serious accusations of abuse. But I disagree with those who already accusing Paterno of being complicit in crimes. Yes, the indictment is horrific, but it is only an indictment: which is a document drawn up by a grand jury after hearing only the prosecution's side -- and the prosecution is under no obligation to present exculpatory evidence. No matter how damning the indictment, I wouldn't rush to judgment. After all, few of us are willing to declare Herman Cain guilty of sexual harrasment based on only one side of the story.
Jul '11
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
OK, after defending Paterno I hit the net and determined he knew Sandusky was a child predator.
I was wrong. Stupid of me.
I still maintain that if it were my boy there would be no way Sandusky, currently free on bail would be alive. While the average person would think this bluster or stupidity, one needs to understand the fairly easy life this monster will have behind bars unless he gets let out in to the general prison population where a Dahlmeresque fate would await him. Why take the chance he would have a cushy prison existence when he needs to die?
There is a giant problem of how our country deals with serial molesters. Brief jail time and counseling are a joke. This condition that can only be cured with lead therapy.
May '11
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Peter, thank you for changing your mind. I think this is such a stinking mess that the entire football program should be immediately shut down and remaining games forfeit. I can only imagine one reason Paterno protected his coach: he was likely doing the same thing. I admired him before. Now he disgusts me.
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Peter Robinson
katievs: Peter, I wonder: were you satisfied when Cardinal Law was allowed to retire and given the chaplaincy of one of the great churches in Rome?
I wasn't. I am still appalled that bishops have not been held accountable for their role in covering up crimes against children in the name of protecting the reputation of the Church. · Nov 10 at 9:32am
Edited on Nov 10 at 09:33 am
You're right, you're right, you're right. (And I was wrong, wrong, wrong.) The Cardinal Law matter still infuriates me, and the parallel with Joe Paterno is, as you suggest, only too stark. · Nov 10 at 9:42am
This was my thought as well. In fact, I was truly down in the dumps & demoralized about this story out of Boston about Law's lavish 80th birthday when the Penn State stuff happened. So many people need so many prayers, it's overwhelming.
Aug '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
You can read what Sports Illustrated wrote about Sandusky's retirement in 1999 here.
The tragic/ironic quote looking backward? "Here's the best thing you can say about Jerry Sandusky: He's the main reason that Penn State is Linebacker U...and linebackers aren't even his enduring legacy."
Jan '11
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
That article is chilling to read knowing what e know now, Nathaniel.
May '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
I don't think there's any evidence of Paterno of doing the same thing, and that's a pretty awful charge to level on someone. More likely, he didn't want to create a ruckus -- very typical of corporate behavior, if you ask me, in its risk aversion -- and his warped set of priorities caused him to make a very, very bad decision.
Jul '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Complicit is a big word, but if Paterno knew of the accusation and failed to notify the police in order to protect his program and his school at the expense of innocent children, he is a monster to be quarantined from the business of shaping of young minds. The people who fired him are in a position to have the facts and act on them. This is a million times worse than the case against Lefty Dreisell when he was fired from the Maryland University basketball program over Len Bias' drug overdose death on draft day.
If Paterno has been treated unfairly, he has legal recourse and the means to exercise it. He has a press corp standing by to take and publish any statement he cares to make.
My view of Joe Paterno before this story broke was one of the highest respect and esteem.
Any comparison with the Cain situation, where a rabidly partisan POLITICO tried to get traction with anonymous allegations in order to create a story is tenuous at best. We are the equivalent of Penn State trustees, and the smoking gun in the Herman Cain affair has yet to surface.
Dec '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Whoa there, pardner. I'm pretty sure that's a step too far. It's all too human to ignore, mentally bury, or disbelieve ugly things about people we know and may even consider friends; or even hold out hope the person will reform. Child molesters rely on such human frailty. And I'm pretty sure Paterno wouldn't have had such an esteemed and lengthy career if he was a perpetrator. It's possible you're right, I just think it more likely Paterno suffered from flawed judgment.
Jul '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
DocJay: OK, after defending Paterno I hit the net and determined he knew Sandusky was a child predator.
I was wrong. Stupid of me.
I still maintain that if it were my boy there would be no way Sandusky, currently free on bail would be alive. While the average person would think this bluster or stupidity, one needs to understand the fairly easy life this monster will have behind bars unless he gets let out in to the general prison population where a Dahlmeresque fate would await him. Why take the chance he would have a cushy prison existence when he needs to die?
There is a giant problem of how our country deals with serial molesters. Brief jail time and counseling are a joke. This condition that can only be cured with lead therapy. · Nov 10 at 10:34am
Just one quibble with an otherwise fine sentiment, child molesters do not get off easy in prison. They are targeted by the other prisoners for very special attention.
May '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
The firings were the right thing to do, but they in no way address anything. Children were raped and what can be worse than that? What's worse is that people enabled the serial rapist to continue, and they didn't do it because they were pedophiles, oh no, they did it out of greed and they did it as a group.
This entire situation needs to be examined, reexamined, and then again and again. How could it be that anyone with direct knowledge of this, and it is clear that there were several, have allowed Sandusky to continue on?
Above, someone mentioned Paterno must have been doing the same thing. I think that is an absurd allegation with no merit. But he enabled it to happen, as all involved did, so they are guilty of raping children. There is no question in my mind about that.
Jul '11
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
Sisyphus, my best friend is a prison cop. If in the general population the molesters are brutalized. I would hope this happens to him when he gets there.
Jul '10
Re: Penn State Gets it Wrong
This whole ordeal is horrifying. I'm not sure there are even words to encompass the disgust, outrage, and anger with those who turned a blind eye or to convey sadness for the children who were abused by this monster. There is a spiritual sickness in our culture that seems to have been rampant at Penn State. Evil will always persist in this world, but what is sickening is that there are those who choose to ignore it to protect their own comfort. I don't know how their consciences let them sleep at night.