[WPaCon]

Of all weeks to be up at Penn State...

Here are some thoughts on the situation and the general feeling around town:

1) Everyone is disgusted with what happened. Sandusky is obviously public enemy number 1. Spanier was never extremely popular, and student and public opinion is strongly against him. People are also against Curley and Shultz. Finally the board is unpopular for firing JoePa.

2) This is one of the most unbelievable weeks of my 31 year-old life. Just unfathomable. I’m in disbelief, but I actually am able to comprehend what is happening at the same time. Indescribable.

3) The students are protesting in support of Paterno. They feel that he is innocent and is the victim of a media lynch mob. Hence chants of “f*** the media” and the flipped tv van.

4) The main activity of the mob was to chant things in support of Joe and just act like idiotic college kids. The violence was mainly focused on tipping light poles, and then of course the widely reported tipped tv van.

5) There were a lot of riot police there. I wonder whether it was a good idea for them to pace back and forth the way they did. That seemed to create the most dangerous situations with people running away creating stampedes. At one point, with the police lined up at the top of a gradually sloping alley, it looked just like what I have seen of the Kent State riots. Freaky. Of course, these riots are nowhere near as out of control as the Kent State riots were.

6) The average student seemed to be there for the sake of acting idiotic and witnessing history. Most people I talked to there felt bad about possible damages. However, I assume that’s what happens in many riots. The few act like idiots while the others stand back and watch.

7) I wonder how the rest of the week will play out? Will things escalate or was this a one-time riot. I have to think something will happen Saturday and probably also Friday. Honestly, things will probably escalate all week, since tomorrow is already Thursday. The board will have to keep in mind the possibility of canceling this game if things escalate too far. I still can’t believe how big of a deal this has become.

So there’s my unedited and tired rant after being at the riot.

[JennysCool]

Wow! Thanks for the report!

[Nextrush]

Cancellation of Saturday’s game is on my mind tonight....

Penn State football is a religion and Joe Paterno is its god.

The fans of Joe perceive this as an attack on “their religion.”

And that adds up to great potential for violence.

[freedomfiter2]

Hence chants of “f*** the media” and the flipped tv van.

Wow. If that’s the most intelligent response Penn State students could come up with, maybe the whole university should be closed. There’s no education going on.

[Biggirl]

Frankly, I am not surprised what happened. From someone who watches college football, and not just the University of Connecticut football, I am still very, very stunned what happened at Penn State.

[bvw]

Thanks for the eyewitness reports.

[bvw]

Here's what I predicted on FR back on the 7th (seems so long ago now):

I mean a line change in the AD offices isn’t going to be enough, jmho.

This is part bigger and longer problem at Penn State in particular, big state U’s in general and all big upper education establishments.

Penn State is being hit by a “perfect storm” wave. The state legislature and governor are still in a aggressive cost-cutting mode, the other Pennsylvanian educational establishments are going to have to fiercely compete with big dog Penn State, just to survive, and Penn State’s institutional arrogance has breed a LOT of deep animus that about to be “fracked”. In the more general picture public opinion as to the value higher education is changing rapidly, and rapidly anti-establishment.

The crimes at Penn State are just now coming out, the severity, duration and people caught up in them, seems to be increasing with every report.

I do not think Joe Pat’s reputation will survive. I wonder in Penn State Athletics will survive in any form close to current. I wonder what will happen to Hershey Medical Center. I suspect Penn State will deconstruct, implode.

In a post a day later I noted the moral temper of the times, the Sex Faires, Rep. John A. Lawless's comments about the open moral depravity of PSU. The Paterno-Sandusky program was how we see now, in its own way, part and parcel of that cultural and elite depravity. "Elite" because the professionals at modern colleges PUSH it on the immature adults.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Thanks for the report. Keep ‘em coming (when you get the chance).