Posted on 11/12/2011 8:13:38 AM PST by Kaslin
Back in 1999, I was driving into State College for a Penn State football game, listening to the pregame show on the radio.
They were interviewing Jerry Sandusky about his impending retirement. The play-by-play man asked him how much he had enjoyed working with Joe Paterno.
“Nobody enjoys working for Joe,” Sandusky said. “He’s hard on everyone. He demands perfection, and perfection is hard to achieve. And he lets you know about it when you fall short.”
The host sort of recoiled from the answer, but the color man cackled and said, “Yeah, Joe and Jerry don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
The color man was George Paterno, brother of the coach.
That’s what makes the defense of Joe Paterno offered by Sally Jenkins of The Washington Post and others so absolutely misguided. Jenkins’ idea was to call a shrink and ask him about the psychology of reporting one’s friends for the acts of which Sandusky has been accused.
But Sandusky wasn’t a friend. He was a co-worker, an underling – and one, by then, whom Paterno knew to be capable of some ghastly things. So what if we rethink this and view Paterno not as a man of honor who protected his friend out of misguided loyalty but as CEO of a corporation – which, essentially, is what a major college football coach is – who has discovered misdeeds by a top executive?
And make no mistake, whether he liked him or not, Paterno did protect Sandusky. He knew about the 1999 incident. He knew about the 2002 incident. He probably knew much more. Yet, he allowed this alleged predator to go on for another decade, even though he knew Sandusky was a foster parent and head of a charity that brought vulnerable children into his orbit.
And remember, Sandusky would be on the loose today if it were up to Joe Paterno. The coach can say what he wants about hindsight. But for hindsight to be meaningful, it has to come before the frog march. Ask Jack Abramoff.
The I-told-my-boss defense also does not fly for Joe. It’s fine if you start out that way. You tell your boss. You get the paper for a week. If you don’t see a story in the paper about what you told your boss, you take other action. Particularly if you’re Joe Paterno.
Because if you’re Joe Paterno, your boss – the athletic director – is not actually your boss. He can’t fire you – the AD tried once, with the help of the president of the university, and Joe rebuffed it. He can’t discipline you – Paterno’s version of right and wrong is infinitely more credible than the ADs to the people who care about Penn State football. And the performance review is done by the TV-watching, ticket-buying, suite-reserving, game-attending public, which cares all about Ws and Ls and nothing about your opinion.
It’s a little more complicated if you’re Mike McQueary. To him, Joe is much more than a friend. He is a mentor, a boss, an example of what manhood and leadership are supposed to be. If he thinks the Sandusky secret should stay in-house, it is not as easy to go against this. But go against this you must.
But back to the original question: If Paterno didn’t protect Sandusky out of friendship and loyalty, then why? And why did those whose ties are not as strong – the president of the school, the VP of finance, the athletic director – not only not come forward but affirmatively lie on Sandusky’s behalf?
There is a good chance the AD and vice president could go to prison for awhile … and perhaps longer if more details emerge.
And how big is this cone of silence? Does it include the university police? The local police? Other state officials and/or office-holders? And, again, why? What are these victims to make of the community they live in and the men who run it? Did nobody care about them enough to stand up and stop this?
This time last week, we all assumed these were decent men. The rioters in State College obviously still think Paterno is.
Why then? Why was this hidden? A lot of people think the secret inside the secret has been revealed – what on earth could be worse than a 40-count indictment for child molestation? But some other secret was bigger. That secret is worth keeping even if it means prison for some of the top officials at Penn State and, for Paterno, the loss of the job that seemed to be his for life and a reputation envied by all in his profession.
That must be one hell of a secret.
I agree. Shut down the football. Maybe the entire school
He was a top notch coach who should have been in line for his own major football program.
But apparently other programs knew enough to not offer. They knew that something was wrong with this man.
Sandusky said. “He’s hard on everyone.”
Poor choice of words, there.
Considering how the football programs at state universities are perceived, I will wager that this incident is the tip of an iceberg that extends throughout all 57 states. I know. I live in Alabama where football is a religion and and the coach and his staff are the gods on Mt. Olympus.
One of my co-workers is a retired college coach who is acquainted with some of the top coaches and teams in the country. He hasn’t coached in 20 years, but he still expects awe from everyone. And he gets it. He also expects everything to be given to him: free food, vehicle, and even some groping of female associates, too. All the while he is able to set his own work hours and rate of pay. He gets it, because, you see, he was once a COACH of some stature.
I’m not surprised at any of this despicable mess.
Sandusky was an evil man. IMHO, he either had something on everyone or at the least had something big on someone very big. He could have told Paterno if you out me I will tell why you ran up the score in some games and sat on leads in others. Whether it was true or not. He could have pics of Spanier in compromising positions. The AD and VP could be cheating on their wife’s with students and he knew it. The list could go on and on. I agree that the secret has to be huge for so many to protect this POS. Will it ever become public remains to be seen.
Here is another article surmising this story must be bigger even that what’s come out. Thinking about it a little more it does seem strange that they would hide this man’s actions. ESPECIALLY since they all knew he was running that “charity”. I mean, they let him go spend ALL his time with children. That really is very creepy.
As for football being the motivation, well he was off the staff after the first incident, so it’s not like he was still going to help them win games.
Oy.
Me thinks cops were involved in hush money & bribes...word leaked to the DA....he ‘s gone....this is hugh, people!!!!
Something I have never understood about the 'Bible Belt'...G-d is pretty clear on the subject of 'idolatry'...
[I mean, they let him go spend ALL his time with children. That really is very creepy.]
They knew he stayed in hotels with the children in his room ALL THE TIME. Everytime he went out of town, he took a young boy with him. It really is sick. They all just gave him a wink and a nod.
No one should have ANY doubt what motivated Paterno, Spanier, and all the rest of this sad lot - MONEY.
College football represents a multi-million dollar revenue stream that these universities could never replace. It is the most sacred of cows, how else can they tap huge alumni donors for world-class training facilities, luxury jock dorms, and NFL-caliber million-dollar coach salaries?
Here’s some data to prove it:
Rank School Total Revenue Conference
1st Texas $120,288,370 Big 12
2nd Ohio State $117,953,712 Big Ten
3rd Florida $106,030,895 Southeastern Conference
4th Michigan $99,027,105 Big Ten
5th Wisconsin $93,452,334 Big Ten
6th Penn State $91,570,233 Big Ten
As always...follow the money.
Now that I know Sandusky openly resented Paterno, it adds up that he kept returning to the school for his sexual crimes. Completely primitive goon. An animal, really.
A former co-irker on a mass system deployment job did very little, late normally, screwed up a lot but got a pass as a rule since he played football in some small college.
“The NCAA needs to shut down the football
program at Pederast University.”
Double-Dog Dittos to that and AMEN!! Where are they???? Absolutely SILENT!! The NCAA should have shut it down THIS weekend.
I suspect we will have a sudden suicide and the person will leave an explanation of how far reaching the demonic exploitation of children goes. There may be alums and wealthy donors who took advantage of what Sandusky could ‘procure’ for them. If that is written ina suicide notice, will the controlling devils in sludgesylvania ever allow it to be exposed? I doubt it, so the suicide notice needs to be placed where the batards cannot squelch it!
The Joe Paterno situation reminds me of another corrupt man who became a “Godfather” to a small part of Pennsylvania - John Murtha. He was the power in and around Johnstown, PA who also used his position and longevity to be the man responsible for the money, only in his case it was pork barrel spending.
Curley was Paterno's "superior" in the same way a newly minted Second Lieutenant is "superior" to a Command Sergeant Major with 27 years under his belt.
I’ve said it more than once here, Paterno was the CEO of Penn State Football, Inc.
Does anyone think that if the Mark Madden rumor is true, that there will be the mother of all cover-ups?
I am expecting exactly that.
I have lost faith in the “system”, completely and totally.
I think this is going to go much further than the college as it plays out.
We sort of have one. It’s called ‘bttt’ or bump to the top.
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