Posted on 08/06/2014 7:34:38 AM PDT by FlJoePa
IN HINDSIGHT, Joe Paterno wrote, the day after he got fired with a phone call, he wished he had done more. He had not committed a crime, he had not witnessed a crime, he had reported what sounded like a crime to his superiors.
The haters jumped all over that sentence, like it was some kind of a confession that the legendary Penn State football coach had somehow enabled Jerry Sandusky to sexually abuse those kids, while he looked the other way.
The haters spent a lot less time debating the note he scribbled on a pad before going to the hospital, where he died, the note that said, "Maybe the silver lining in this is that some good can come of this."
Jay Paterno says those are the words people should focus on. Says it in his new book, "Paterno Legacy."
It is an honor-thy-father book, describing JoePa's values, his work ethic, his philosophy that you could have big-time football success with honor. It's got some inside-football in it, some humor in it, some hard truths.
The publisher would set deadlines for certain chapters and Jay turned them in ahead of schedule. The publisher blinked in disbelief because writers who turn in manuscripts ahead of schedule are unicorn-rare.
"I told them," Jay said yesterday, "that that is the way I was raised. As a son, as a player, as a coach. Get to a meeting 10 minutes early."
JoePa would have been proud of that. And happy that the portrait Jay paints includes some warts. You could fill two shelves with articles and books about JoePa, that read like nominations for sainthood.
"He would say all the time," Jay recalled, "I wish I was half as good as they make me out to be."
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
“Correct - and that is on the b.o.t. and the administration, not Joe or the football program. As I posted (and the hand written note is actually in the freeh report), Joe protested JS’s access due to liability concerns.”
So he was concerned about liability! Liability for what? Seems JP knew and cared not about what JS did, only that PSU might be liable for JS actions. Thank you for destroying your case that JP knew nothing.
“Like I said, someone has a case of the ass against Paterno........ “
From the accounts of the players in your previous reference, even the players wanted JP gone.
“Bacon is a good, honest writer, as is Posnanski. They both know the truth. You apparently wouldn’t accept it if they told it to your face.”
Huh? I used two examples from his book to support my case.
Bacon said that Joe enabled a child molester?
I must have missed that chapter.
Bacon knows that the ncaa is currently sanctioning one of the only programs that does things right. In fact, the ONLY program to never even have been accused of a major violation in their history. Ever.
You - on the other hand, apparently can’t grasp that.
And you obviously ignored the other posts from prior players who admonished Surma for his unsubstantiated accusations.......
Joe was a smart man. He knew the type of families the second mile kids came from.
He was concerned about an injury lawsuit.
The thing that has always bothered me about 1998 is that Joe Pa changed his schedule right around the time of the incident. To me, that indicates that he knew something. It is so out of character for him. Even though we’ll never really know all the details, this is something I can’t shake. I thought the world of JoePa for the longest time. My father-in-law grew up with him in Brooklyn and played street ball with him. So changing my mind about him is something I didn’t go into lightly, but I did.
http://www.esquire.com/features/joe-paterno-0612-4
“Bacon said that Joe enabled a child molester?”
I never said that. Don’t imply I said things I didn’t.
“Joe was a smart man. He knew the type of families the second mile kids came from.”
Joe was a smart man. He had reports in at least two cases that JS was a pedophile.
Not true at all. Again - just editorializing on your part.
But carry on. Whatever makes you happy.
“Joe was a smart man. He knew the type of families the second mile kids came from.”
Hmmm. They weren’t worried about liability BEFORE they eased JS into retirement after the 1998 incident ....
“The thing that has always bothered me about 1998 is that Joe Pa changed his schedule right around the time of the incident”
I hadn’t seen that before. It just confirms the obvious.
ANY ACTIONS by players and coaches that becomes the knowledge of officials is IMMEDIATELY sent to the head coach.
“Not true at all. Again - just editorializing on your part.”
JS admitted molesting a kid in 1998. JP cancelled his appointments to deal with the situation.
JS had an eyewitness come to him in 2001.
“And you obviously ignored the other posts from prior players who admonished Surma for his unsubstantiated accusations....... “
And you obviously ignored the quotes from the players about how JP’s last years as a coach were a disaster.
If JS had admitted to molesting a kid in 1998, he would have been charged. You know this.
Initially, I was thankful that you were at least following some of the bread crumbs of truth I was laying out, but if this is any indication of the seriousness with which you approach this case, then I guess we’ll have to just agree to disagree.
Your innuendos and your headline reading induced imagination don’t equal facts.
Paterno vs. the NCAA will have the last say in this. Sue actually holds their balls in a vice right now and is probably deciding what to do with them.
I say that Paterno vs. the NCAA will be the last say because there will never be any trials for Graham Spanier, Gary Schultz, or Tim Curley. This is as obvious as the stain on your shirt.
If the OAG had the goods, these guys would be in jail. As it is, they were wrongly charged and the state is just looking for a way out in an election year.
Wow. Just wow. I had not seen this before either. And amazingly people still attempt to defend Paterno’s inaction.
“If JS had admitted to molesting a kid in 1998, he would have been charged. You know this.”
I don’t know this. Lots of stuff, even shootings and rape are covered up in college athletic programs
-——————————————Wikipedia Sandusky
The Freeh Report states that although the “avoidance of the consequences of bad publicity” was the main driver in failing to protect child abuse victims and report to authorities, the report outlines other causes as well, among which were: “A striking lack of empathy for child abuse victims by the most senior leaders of the University”; a failure of oversight by the Board of Trustees; a University President “who discouraged discussion and dissent”; “a lack of awareness of child abuse issues”; and “a culture of reverence for the football program that is ingrained at all levels of the campus community”.[96]
The report outlines how all four men were aware of the 1998 abuse incident in the locker-room shower, and had followed its investigation at the time.[97] Freeh’s investigation uncovered a file kept by Schultz in which he wrote notes about Sandusky’s 1998 incident. For instance, Schultz wrote: “Is this opening of Pandora’s box?” He also wondered, “other children?”[98] Freeh stated that Schultz had “actively sought to conceal those records”.[99][100]
The evidentiary weight of Freeh’s report draws heavily upon retrieved emails from 1998 and 2001, which Freeh referred to as “the most important evidence” in the report.[100] The report asserts that these emails demonstrate that in 1998 Paterno knew of the investigation of Sandusky, and followed it closely;[101] and suggest that it was Paterno, “long regarded as the single most powerful official at the university,” who persuaded Spanier, Curley, and Schultz not to formally report Sandusky to law enforcement or child welfare authorities.
If you're refering to the "SURMA VENDETTA" link I posted, I never saw any such thing.
But to humor you, what exactly did they say and how did their comments vary from any comments some pissed off ex-player of any coach would say?
And what were their connections with Sandusky after he left the PS program?
I was referring to the Bacon book you referenced.
I know nothing about Penn State, nothing much about the people involved other than the news reports, and precious little about college football (though I have some experience with NCAA sports).
My overall take of the situation is that this is where the crack of generational ethics opened into a cavern, and Joe Pa fell into the hole.
In the distant past, crimes against children were considered unspeakable, literally. It would soil you or shame you if you did it, if you received it, and even if you spoke about it. People like JoePa probably were of the sort where it was too vile to think or say such things and he didn’t want to think about it or know about it. Thus he did the bare minimum as required.
I’m sure JoePa tried to be a Good Person and a great coach and didn’t expect or believe that turning his head somewhat regarding this pedophile could touch or affect his stature.
That is the problem. Today, it does. In fact, to many, it annihilates his status as a coach and a good human being. This is a very good topical moral question. Can you still be a great anything if you don’t stick your neck out to protect innocent victims?
My personal belief is, no. Was he a great coach? In some ways. Was he a great person? In some ways. But it’s like a wonderful German man, a scholar, studying in his little cottage around the corner from a concentration camp filled with starving dying Jews.
At some point Gd will call on us all to do the ultimate right thing, and he will be looking to see if we have the true right priorities.
JoePa chose the sanctity of the team and college football and Penn State over the protection of tortured children.
He can never whitewash that out. I feel terrible for him.
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.