Posted on 08/25/2012 3:54:09 PM PDT by FlJoePa
I just finished the book, “Paterno” by Joe Posnanski. I was fortunate enough to have the back cover photograph. My Friend Joe Hermitt had the front. Between the two of us we probably photographed JoePa more than anyone.
I read over half the book on a bench in Sunset Park, not more than 100 yards from the Paterno home. Why? I am not sure why. I wanted a quiet place to read and reflect on this man that I knew all these years. This seemed like the right place. I spent many cold hours in front of his house in November. I always wondered what I wasn’t seeing. What was going on in that house and how was Joe handling all of this? Now, this book has given me insight into those unanswered questions.
No matter which camp you reside in, this book will not change your mind or sway you in any direction. I am a photographer and this is the only Paterno book I have ever read. I am not a writer or a book reviewer. I am a man that spent 25 seasons (somewhere north of 200+ games) covering Penn State football from as close as you could get. I also saw Joe at many functions away from the field. My job is to show the viewer what I see. Basically, I am a paid observer. I never had much to say from this front row of history. However, as I get older I have discovered the guy behind the camera has a lot on his mind.
If you are looking for the Holy Grail answer as to why Joe did what he did or didn’t do, you will not find it here. The Book did one thing for me, and that was all I was looking for. It filled in some of the blanks. We all know the core story: Brooklyn, Brown, Engle, George, Sue, Coach, Bear, champions, players, education, age. This was the hit music we heard over and over and it became lore. The book feels like the Album to those greatest hits. The songs you didn’t hear when you were only listening to the hits. Now, we want to hear the album and see what the rest of the story is. I liked the album. Details I didn’t know, insight into the last days of Joe’s life, stories I never knew. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry.
Everyone will tell you Joe was a complex man. He was, no doubt. He had faults and they don’t sugar coat it in the book. I saw some of these first hand. The book does not draw conclusions, it allows you to think for yourself. Make up your own mind and hopefully find peace with what you find. I did.
I have told my close friends what I am telling you now. In all the years I covered Penn State football with all the people I knew, players, coaches, reporters, photographers, workers, fans, students, and everyone else you can think of after doing this for 25 years, I was as stunned as anyone when the Sandusky story broke. I didn’t hear a rumor, a whisper, a sentence, or a single word about Jerry Sandusky. Nothing. I was very close to the program and gained the trust that you only get from being there that long. I heard nothing.
The following is MY opinion on Joe Paterno’s role in this whole mess. The book reveals a lot of what I thought was going on. I honestly don’t believe he understood or comprehended what he was told. His generation could not comprehend these horrific acts. The generation gap is too big for us to understand what he thought. His kids made him read the newspapers so he would understand what was happening. They insisted he know what was being said about him. He did with great reluctance. He had to ask his kids embarrassing questions about some of the sexual descriptions. Things you never want your kids to ask you.
After reading the Sandusky report and asking his kids about public opinion of him, and they were totally honest, he said: “How could they think that? They really think that if I knew someone was hurting kids, I wouldn’t stop it? Do they know me? Do they know know what my life was about?” Exactly. That is exactly how I feel. He never liked Sandusky, that was known, for a very long time, by people anywhere near the program. He would never protect anyone who did that to kids. He would walk to the police station and report it, in person, if he had any idea what was going on. That’s what I think. Read what you want, believe what you want. Many times, in this book, Joe speaks to you about this. If this man was acting all his life doing everything he could the right way, turning boys into great men, and working to improve everything around him. Why would he protect someone hurting children? He wouldn’t. It’s that simple. To protect the program, his image? Nope, if you believe that then everything you knew about Joe Paterno was an act. If that was an act we witnessed one hell of a performance. Nope, we saw the real deal and people were so quick to sell him short. I won’t.
Joe said, let the truth speak for itself. He is the only person to say he wished he had done more. How selfless is that? He passed on everything he knew, because he knew it was out of his realm of knowledge. He thought he did the right thing. He thought he took care of it. In hindsight, he wished he had done more. Yes, we all wish that now. I don’t believe he had any clue to the depth of this horrific man. Sandusky fooled EVERYBODY.
The family says Joe died with peace in his heart. I believe he knew the truth will come out in time. Time the haters didn’t give him. Time the Board didn’t give him. Now, all we have is time. I think we owe it to him to give this time to play out. Time will tell us what we need to know, then we can decide for ourselves what makes sense. I know Joe rests in peace on that quiet hillside in Lemont. He lived a great life and we were lucky to have him for so long.
So, how do I feel about Joe Paterno? That’s easy. I miss him.
... who had WAY more interaction with js than Joe Paterno did.
How can you say that with a straight face? Sandusky was his ASSISTANT COACH.
You’re blinded by your partisan position.
Paterno was scum. He had first hand knowledge that little boys were being sodomized in his locker room — not once but repeatedly — and he covered it up for the sake of FOOTBALL. By rights, he should have spent the last several painful years of his life in jail. At least he died with his precious football legacy utterly destroyed. As it should be.
Here’s a clue, son: football does NOT trump righteousness.
All I did was make a general statement that I still stand by. And it is not necessarily directed toward JP only.
You called Joe Paterno - a man who lived an exemplary life “scum”.
That gets you “asshat” in return. I guess I’ll apologize, as I am getting a little too wound up about this. But I wish people would just THINK.
Joe Paterno is “scum?” So he put on some act for 61 years of his life at Penn State? No one said he wasn’t without faults, but to think he would KNOWINGLY COVER UP FOR A PEDOPHILE - is patently absurd.
What effin’ sense does that make? Especially when he told everyone he could above him what he knew. He was praised by the otherwise over-aggressive PA AG for his testimony.
And yet people like you call him scum. He isn’t scum. In fact, he’s the furthest thing from it.
You make pedophile jokes. How sad.
>> He isn’t scum. In fact, he’s the furthest thing from it.
You’re blind.
One of the reasons I am so disgusted with that son of a bitch is precisely because I used to look up to him.
What he did was utterly horrible, utterly reprehensible, and — perhaps, worse — utterly CYNICAL.
Multiple young men’s lives scarred permanently, perhaps beyond repair, with his full knowledge.
For WHAT PURPOSE?
A f_____g game. That’s what purpose.
He’s puke in a bucket. Never fully apologized, never came completely clean, never attempted in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER to make amends.
Yeah, he was all teary eyed and sorry for a minute. Sorry he got caught! Sorry his damned LEGACY was tarnished. Those kids Sandusky victimized? CHOPPED LIVER to Saint Joe.
God will judge him for all eternity but I’ll judge him here on earth and I don’t give a damn what you Penn State partisan suck-ups think. He’s crap.
Here’s another news flash, sport. Men of good character don’t slip up like that once. Wonder what else we DON’T know about your hero. Wonder what OTHER principles he sacrificed on the alter of Winning At Football.
>> You make pedophile jokes. How sad.
Damned straight! JoePa’s pedophile enabling WAS sad. BEYOND sad.
Seek help
>> Seek help
You’re the one who needs help, pedophile apologist.
Looking at your posting record, you’re All Ped State, All The Time... no other real interests.
That’s just weird.
With all the publicity about the scandals in the Catholic Church and Joe being Catholic this was more than a lapse in judgement. It is hard to deal with something like this, especially if he an Sandusky were long time friends. But, life isn't fair and morality isn't something you set aside when it hits close to home. That's just my take. I could be misinformed and I don't mean to offend anyone by calling it as I see and feel it. Unless they agree with the idea of just letting it go.
For the record: I live in Washington State where the statute of limitations on child rape would have let Sandusky off the hook without even and indictment. So had he coached at UW there would be no scandal and no publicity.
What really bugged me about all this with Penn State...was that the same media castigating JoePa for his inaction...were the same ones covering up the pedophilia going on at Syracuse University for many years
There was never a push to remove Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, even though his long-time assitant Bernie Fine had been molesting boys for years, even bringing them with him on road trips...and Boeheim saw the boys in the hotel rooms with Fine
The reason the media gave Syracuse a pass was that many in the media went to school at Syracuse (it is a big broadcast-media school) .....not only they covered up for their alma-mater....but the older SU alums in the media hated Penn State because of their superiority over SU in athletics
From the article - posted right above (from someone who was around the program for 25 years):
"He never liked Sandusky, that was known, for a very long time, by people anywhere near the program."
I hope you can understand my frustration when you repeat media distortions like this, and also use them to form your opinion. Who told you Joe and js were friends? The media? Any PSU fan/alum/etc. knows this was never the case. Ever. Don't listen to the media. Please.
Oh...and about the Paterno family lawsuit against the NCAA...
The Paterno family (Paterno estate) will win...and win quite easily...contrary to the talking-heads in the media
In the 1990’s case of Tarkanian v NCAA....the US Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA must give “due process” when dealing with individuals (coaches)
There was no “due process” given to Paterno when they stripped his wins from him. Also, he never signed the “consent” with the NCAA to accept any punishment (obvious reasons)
Paterno’s family is probably already quite aware of this...and it would behoove the NCAA to re-instate the wins....or face their findings be overturned by a court. I do not think the NCAA or Louis Freeh want that Freeh Report to be scrutinized in a court of law....it could result in all the punishment against the school be nullified.
OK - they weren’t friends. That makes it even harder to understand why he let it go. Its even harder to comprehend now.
I appreciate your knowledge of the case Nole, and your compassion for the spot we’re in.
This is insane. That people think some of the things they do of Joe Paterno boggles my mind and makes me wonder if I’m in some sort of bizarro world.
As for the ncaa, what we need is for a judge to take one of the cases (partial b.o.t., Paterno family, Letterman, Faculty). That would bring the freeh report into a court of law - and that would be embarrassing for mr. freeh because his report (in a court of law) amounts to nothing.
Here’s the Freeh Report. Go to pages 66-79 and you will find out what Paterno and the administration did after the report of the Sandusky shower incident.
http://www.thefreehreportonpsu.com/REPORT_FINAL_071212.pdf
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
