Posted on 11/13/2011 3:56:12 PM PST by cmwy
How we can be so open minded on so many topics yet the Penn State story turns many into closed minds with pitchforks. Perhaps they turn out right but none have any facts.http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/11/10/the-end-of-paterno/?sct=hp_wr_a5&eref=sihp
(Excerpt) Read more at joeposnanski.si.com ...
Refreshing and honest...and a lot more balanced and decent than the majority of what I’ve read/heard.
A very well written take on this subject...and a very honest perspective.
I guess this guy has his hands full...wow, isn’t life strange.
bfl
Maybe this guy can find out exactly why “Busy” Arnold paid for Paterno’s College Education.
A very good point, regardless of your position on this it's hard to disagree.
“Busy” Arnold, the comic book millionaire?
Funny thing about those comic books. Young boys sure do like them.
A comic book millionaire was probably quite a boy magnet back in the day.
Inquiring minds just like to check possible motivations and inclinations, especially as documented by history, or better yet, interviews with the subject.
An interesting take on this situation.
But don’t you think it would have been an absolute circus with Paterno on the sideline?
In a way, the firing was for Joe’s own good. The crowds in Columbus and Madison would have been absolutely vicious towards him, had he been there.
Plus, with everything going on, how could he possibly prepare for a game.
He needs to prepare his defense, and explain his side of story as soon as possible, difficult to do when you’ve got a team to coach.
I’ve seen this a while ago, actually.
I’d suggest that anyone who really wants to know about the situation go to Penn State sites and forums.
Pennlive, blue white illustrated, fight on state, and black shoes diaries are some of the sites I’ve been visiting lately.
He could have coached from the booth, which is what he has been doing for much of the season.
1. He tried to preempt the board's authority by stating that he would coach the remainder of the year, and that can't be tolerated. (In his defense, the BoT hung him out to dry until he was finally forced to make a statement under intense media pressure.)
2. He's an 84 year old man who isn't entirely "with it" anymore, and there's no telling what he might have said under media questioning. The Board couldn't accept the risk that he might say something inflammatory or inadvertantly downplay the situation.
3. They had to appear to do something in order to stop the bleeding.
The cynic in me also suspects they fired him in order to divert attention from their own misdeeds, but that remains to be seen...
Not sure if that would have made that much difference.
Oh I agree the Board of Trustees Day of Reckoning is coming as well......there are no good guys in all of this.
But I should add that, the BoT made a major error in crisis mgmt that resulted in a media frenzy. Had they managed the situation properly, I don’t think this week would have had the level of media scrutiny and thus they could have taken the time to align with Paterno instead of firing him via a phone call.
Probably not a ton, but you can’t throw stuff at a guy in a booth or do other things to him that you could do to a coach in close proximity to the stands.
Coincidentally, Edsall’s is one of the names that have been thrown around to replace Paterno before the scandal came to light.
Paterno is told that they saw a boy in the shower with Sandusky and he does what, the bare mininum!
A moral crime perhaps. But he met the legal requirements per the PA Attorney General.
Sucks to be him. His book just took a shot
I taught at Penn State for many years. Although I never liked Joe Paterno as a football coach(he was never a good strategist), I place him on a pedestal as having the highest moral character of any person I know. He often made decisions to bench starter players to do what was right, rather than cover things up. He gave several million dollars of his own money to Penn State to build a library. I never heard that mentioned in any of the news articles. Hope he changes his will quickly!
Today on Fox News I learned that PA Gov. Corbett is on the board of Trustees and voted to fire Paterno. Much of this was based upon investigations by the Attorney Generals Office, which was Corbett. This is like having the prosecutor being Judge and Jury too.
I was going to contact the AG’s office on a legal matter a few years ago. Always desiring to know the background of the person I am dealing with, I pulled up Corbitt’s resume to learn about him. One thing said it all... Previous employment prior to AG. “In-House Legal Counsel for Waste Management Inc. !!!!!!!
Hate to say it, but the garbage is beginning to stink!
I am sorry, but that doesn’t cut it for a man of Paterno’s influence.
I’m not suggesting that it does. I was merely responding to your comment that he committed a crime, because in point of fact he did not.
Pretty much says exactly what I think
Thanks for the ping. No sale on what the author’s selling.
“But I think the way Joe Paterno has lived his life has earned him something more than instant fury, more than immediate assumptions of the worst”
Bzzt. Wrong. The whole point is that by covering for a child molester no one can say with certainty HOW he lived his life. Sure outwardly things were all fine and dandy. But so was the picture Sandusky painted. Bottom line - I’m waiting for the child rapist and the other initial folks who have been indited to start copping pleas and begin talking. Let’s see how squeaky clean Paterno is then. My bet, as mentioned on the prior thread, obstruction of justice and/or conspiracy.
Yeah. That'll cut in the eyes of God when JoePa is judged there.
"But, God," JoePa might say. "Dey nevah charged me wid any crime. And, dose eventual NCAA bylaw-based sanctions against Penn State named only Penn State and the coaching staff quite generically. I'm 'off the hook'...except...except...ya know...Dose moral crimes I committed...everyday since March 2, 2002...well, every day up until that Grand Jury testimony. Den I was off the hook dare, too."
*shrug* Not sure if that’s directed at me or not, but as you may notice I’m not defending or excusing him. I was simply replying to a very specific comment regarding whether or not Paterno committed a crime.
I think Joe shot himself in the foot when he made that preemptive strike about “retiring at the end of the season”. I suspect members of the Board were not too happy about that and had additional incentive to exert their authority by firing him.
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been mirroring a lot of the sentiment described by the author - nearly verbatim, since this began to unfold.
I’ve told myself I was not going to post anything about this subject any longer or reply to threads: let those with the pitchforks carry out their self determined execution of Paterno prior to gaining insight beyond assumptions and inuendo. I find it troubling in itself to act as judge, jury and executioner with only media reports, and assumptions to go on. So be it. I’ll sleep well knowing I waited to find the truth before pulling the lever on the gallows.
Yes, I should have said ‘in my opinion’ it was a crime.
“I’ve told myself I was not going to post anything about this subject any longer or reply to threads: let those with the pitchforks carry out their self determined execution of Paterno prior to gaining insight beyond assumptions and inuendo. I find it troubling in itself to act as judge, jury and executioner with only media reports, and assumptions to go on. So be it. I’ll sleep well knowing I waited to find the truth before pulling the lever on the gallows.”
Ditto here. Especially since I am in Durham NC where the Duke players received an unfair lynching and then were proven innocent. The same emotional uproar occurred then. A lot of the faculty signed a letter judging the Duke lacrosse team. I have a hard time believing that people are acting so irrationally without the facts. It simply amazes me.
“It simply amazes me.” !!!! But then again, O’Bummer was elected president in the same way. All emotion, no supporting facts. And they believed him hook, line and sinker.
Voices of reason that deserve to be repeated:
““I’ve told myself I was not going to post anything about this subject any longer or reply to threads: let those with the pitchforks carry out their self determined execution of Paterno prior to gaining insight beyond assumptions and inuendo. I find it troubling in itself to act as judge, jury and executioner with only media reports, and assumptions to go on. So be it. I’ll sleep well knowing I waited to find the truth before pulling the lever on the gallows.”
Ditto here. Especially since I am in Durham NC where the Duke players received an unfair lynching and then were proven innocent. The same emotional uproar occurred then. A lot of the faculty signed a letter judging the Duke lacrosse team. I have a hard time believing that people are acting so irrationally without the facts. It simply amazes me.”
OTOH, that same rationale has been used to justify inaction on Sandusky for over a decade and countless other victims.
I agree we all seek a just solution, but inaction amongst the corrupt allows for continuing criminal behavior.
Our freedoms are not premised upon allowing the unrighteous to continue in criminality, but to allow righteous men the opportunity for continuous sanctification from corruption.
I don’t think I mentioned anything about “inaction.”
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