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Post by Not Me on Nov 7, 2011 8:00:55 GMT -5
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Post by tomclen on Nov 7, 2011 8:11:37 GMT -5
Hey, never mind. I need to apologize.
I see that yesterday, PSU announced that they are now formally banning Jerry Sandusky from campus.
So Paterno and crew are on top of things after all.
Someone at Penn State needs to take control of this scandal.
Paterno hasn't. When he was initially told of the incident, he waited until the next day to even tell his AD. And never called the police.
The athletic director hasn't. He tried to mislead the grand jury, apparently.
The college president hasn't fired anyone over this.
And now the board of regents is allowing two top officials to retire or take a leave of absence.
Maybe the governor will do the right thing and politically force a total house-cleaning.
If someone wants to protect the reputation of Penn State, if you want the football program to get beyond this, the answer is not to continue using technicalities and college rules to defend the total lack of adult reaction and responsibility in this scandal.
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Post by Phaedrus on Nov 7, 2011 9:28:47 GMT -5
Joe paterno set a pretty high bar for himself. In all matters relating to the operations of the football program he has been above reproach in how he dealt with anything that may color his program. You don't get the sense that the man is hiding anything and he has been pretty vocal about doing things right and not cutting corners.
Which is why his response is so disappointing. truffleshuffle is right, he met his responsibility to the letter of the law. He did what the legal limit is for his job description, but he has never just stepped up to the legal limit and stopped when it comes to anything else. He has had to go to the limits in order to keep the football program devoid of suspicions and distractions. But as a role model and a man who has exuded integrity and honesty in all aspects of how he conducted his life, this "I did my duty" response falls far short of what the sports world has come to expect from the man.
Some will argue that we are holding him up to a higher standard than what we would expect of others, but then again, he was the one who set the bar that high so it shouldn't be a surprise that the public expect better from him.
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Post by future on Nov 7, 2011 10:51:12 GMT -5
What you do in the dark will always come to light.......read Joe Pasnanski's in SI.com "Darkness"
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Post by volleylearner on Nov 7, 2011 10:51:34 GMT -5
The NCAA ordered a ban on the SMU football program because $60,000 was paid to 21 players in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA ordered a ban on soccer at Morehouse College because the school's PART-TIME soccer coach signed two players who had limited professional playing time. Those violations are pretty tame in my book compared to a long-time assistant coach, said to be Paterno's right-hand-man, having sex with young boys while using PSU football facillities. Yes, the crimes in this case are far worse in a human sense. However, the NCAA is responsible for its rules relating to competition, not criminal laws. Paying a player or a recruit's parents is not a violation of a state or federal statute but it does give that team an unfair advantage. Child abuse is a crime but does note give one team an advantage. It is better if the NCAA polices its own rules and lets law enforcement take care of criminal behavior. Of course the NCAA also has an image to maintain, so if Curley were convicted but allowed to stay as AD at Penn State then perhaps some form of sanctions would make sense. Hard to image that happening. I hope for Penn State's sake that they do a major housecleaning, starting with Spanier and including an entire new football staff for 2012. That would probably be adequate for the NCAA. |
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Post by digit on Nov 7, 2011 10:58:58 GMT -5
Phaedrus, Volleylearner and Tomclen: +10,000
You all have it right. Paterno knew about something disgusting, evil and so very wrong. And really did zip to help a ten year old boy who was brutally RAPED after being personally notified about it. When a crime such as this is committed, and a witness to the crime has reported it directly to you, you do more than what is legally required. You do what is morally required even if it will be embarrassing to your football program.
Anyone who defends him is part of the problem.
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Post by volleylearner on Nov 7, 2011 11:09:54 GMT -5
Some will argue that we are holding him up to a higher standard than what we would expect of others, but then again, he was the one who set the bar that high so it shouldn't be a surprise that the public expect better from him. Any leader has a significant impact on the culture of an organization, whether intentional or not. It is therefore more important for a leader to do the right thing in this kind of situation--and make sure the right result happens--then for someone not in a leadership role. I don't think it is a question of higher standard and frankly I don't think if it were a different head coach in a different sport that I would feel differently. If a leader makes a poor choice regarding behavior and there is no accountability then the organization's overall behavior is likely to decline. |
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Post by NebraskaVBfan93 on Nov 7, 2011 11:26:08 GMT -5
Phaedrus, Volleylearner and Tomclen: +10,000 You all have it right. Paterno knew about something disgusting, evil and so very wrong. And really did zip to help a ten year old boy who was brutally RAPED after being personally notified about it. When a crime such as this is committed, and a witness to the crime has reported it directly to you, you do more than what is legally required. You do what is morally required even if it will be embarrassing to your football program.
Anyone who defends him is part of the problem. Yes. Yes. Yes. |
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Post by OptimusPrime on Nov 7, 2011 13:46:36 GMT -5
Just throwing in my 2 cents... DISGUSTING  |
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Post by azvb on Nov 7, 2011 14:50:43 GMT -5
I hereby promise that if I personally witness a child being sexually assaulted I will scream at the top of my lungs "STOP". I will then call 911. I will not first call my boss, my father, my Bishop or Priest. I will call the police.
Should be many heads rolling in this case. IMO, Joe is one of them. When it comes to sexual abuse of kids, you throw protocol out the window and protect the kids.
Had a friend who turned in her own son for abusing kids she babysat in her home. She left him in charge while she ran to the store, but came back early because she forgot her wallet. Talk about guts. He is still in prison.
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Post by Mocha on Nov 7, 2011 15:52:35 GMT -5
What was he doing coaching at Penn State?! He should've been a Catholic priest.
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Post by future on Nov 7, 2011 16:13:36 GMT -5
The Joepa era will end within the next 2 weeks....its over.
Such a sad .....but preventable situation.
Hopefully the young men/boys affected will get the needed help they deserve.
The University will heal.
For those "in the know" good riddance" .....burn
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Post by truffleshuffle on Nov 7, 2011 17:35:17 GMT -5
The college president hasn't fired anyone over this. And now the board of regents is allowing two top officials to retire or take a leave of absence. what would you prefer, putting the entire football program, plus curley and schultz, in front of the firing squad? there's something called due process. at a public university you can't just fire everyone who's accused of wrongdoing; that's how you get sued. |
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Post by volleylearner on Nov 7, 2011 18:24:57 GMT -5
[...] you can't just fire everyone who's accused of wrongdoing; that's how you get sued. The time-honored technique for avoiding a lawsuit is to convince the employee to resign. I doubt that would be appropriate for those charged (though Schultz resigned already), but I think it would work for Spanier if the Board (especially the Govenor) sat him down and told him it was time to leave. It would probably be expensive, but if Spanier were smart he would take a buyout rather than stick around with a Board that wants him gone. Paterno wouldn't resign, I assume, but his contract is up soon anyway. The Spanier response has been perfunctory at best--let Curley go on administrative leave and pledge full support to both Curley and Schultz. Spanier does not seem to recognize they should have done better than simply asking Sandusky not to bring children to the athletic facilities. Seems to me the Board can easily justify getting rid of Spanier because of the damage to the school's image caused by his (at best) incompetence. They probably would have to pay him to leave but it would be worth it to the university. |
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Post by truffleshuffle on Nov 7, 2011 18:31:33 GMT -5
spanier's initial response was a joke - expressing unconditional support for curley and schultz. well, what if they actually did perjure themselves and their failure to report something they were legally obligated to commit allowed another child (or children) to be sexually assaulted? doesn't exactly sound like people who deserve unconditional support.
the more recent action (taken by the trustees) was more appropriate, forcing curley and schultz out of their current positions. frankly if curley were given an expensive buyout package people would just be more angry, since he'd be given a big bag of money for basically shirking his responsibilities. i'm fine with the current course of action - he's on leave until the trial. if he's found guilty and it turns out that he did know about serious sexual abuse and did not pass on the information to police, obviously his career is over and he's committed a fireable offense.
if it turns out that spanier knew of the sandusky allegations and sat on it, he too should be suspended, although it's harder to suspend a university president. but he should not continue as university president, because he too was obligated to report the allegations and did not do so.
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