“I’m not defending Paterno here. Whatever he did, or failed to do, will come out. But looking back at his life, it appears that by most counts, its been a pretty decent one, filled with a great many good acts of generosity and kindness, most of which have been done quietly, anonymously.”
You never saw “The Godfather”?
When I waa in college, it used to get on my nerves that everyone acted as though paterno was a god. There was always something that just wouldn’t allow me to like him. It took this long to find out why.
When I get those gut feelings about people, sometimes I find out right away and sometimes it takes years, but it works.
Coming from Central NY,I remember where Syracuse University and Penn State had a huge rivalry,especially since they are just up or down Route 81 from each other. Paterno had a reputation for being a mean,nasty,creep with a dictator's personality. It was his way or the highway.
I believe that winning is everything to these people, and fans will over look almost anything as long as the team is winning. This is not just College,mostly Professional football, for Example former UM player now Baltimore Ravens player,who committed Murder and is lauded and celebrated, and is still on the Ravens payroll.
It is very disheartening when you realize that these Guy start College at about 18 years old.
“When I waa in college, it used to get on my nerves that everyone acted as though paterno was a god. There was always something that just wouldn’t allow me to like him. It took this long to find out why.
When I get those gut feelings about people, sometimes I find out right away and sometimes it takes years, but it works.”
I’m with you. I’ve had a negative feeling about Paterno for decades, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Now we know it was all self promotion disguised as school pride.
JC