Off Topic - Paterno

[DenverSooner]

I appologize to the owners and admin if this is inappropriate for this forum. I have communicated with this group of peole for years and enjoy reading their opinions on sports so I am going to ask.

What do you guys think of the Paterno story?

He appears to have been a win at all cost hypocrit if you ask me. The Freeh report slamed him and basically said he covered up the molestation.

Sorry for an off topic post. I am just interested in this. I never liked Joe Paterno.

 

[OUHoops]

Don't have a problem with off-topic sports subjects in the offseason.

 

[tycat947]

I agree. Paterno was a hypocrite! He was more concerned about himself and his football program and appeared to squash any perceived negative news about that program. Most all of the characters in this story are all long-time Penn Staters, whether by employment or alumni. Paterno's holier than thou attitude even makes this more despicable IMO. His family should discontinue their constant public bantering as they are making it worse. I anticipate even more incidents to come to light in the future. What a pathetic story! I just hope the victims can come to some peace in their lives which probably won't happen.

 

[garyeb2]

I wish he were still alive. Just so his defenders could watch him go to jail.

 

[sdcloud9]

Very disappointing.

He ripped Barry and Jackie Sherrill and what he did was much worse. He protected his legacy at the expense of children.

A very selfish man.

 

[StatGeek]

I am of the opinion that the NCAA should be compelled to give PSU the SMU treatment, anything less would be a disgrace.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

We should always be skeptical of what is written in newspapers, and what is reported on TV.

A legend in his own time. Over several decades, Paterno and Penn State cultivated the perception that Joe Paterno was the apex of integrity, honesty, and ethical leadership. Both the local media in Pennsylvania, and the national sports media, joined in and became a propaganda machine that repeated this theme at every opportunity. “Joe Pa” not only became the coach with the most career wins, but also the coach that always did things the “right way.”

A short time ago, a man was almost worshiped by college football fans in State College, Pennsylvania. Now, some want to rip his statue out of the ground in Happy Valley. The man has died, and the legend is no more.

:OUbball-logo:

 

[Salt City Sooner]

We should always be skeptical of what is written in newspapers, and what is reported on TV.

A legend in his own time. Over several decades, Paterno and Penn State cultivated the perception that Joe Paterno was the apex of integrity, honesty, and ethical leadership. Both the local media in Pennsylvania, and the national sports media, joined in and became a propaganda machine that repeated this theme at every opportunity. “Joe Pa” not only became the coach with the most career wins, but also the coach that always did things the “right way.”

A short time ago, a man was almost worshiped by college football fans in State College, Pennsylvania. Now, some want to rip his statue out of the ground in Happy Valley. The man has died, and the legend is no more.

:OUbball-logo:

Apparently, some more than others:

On Tuesday, a small plane pulled a banner over State College reading, "Take the statue down or we will."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8173833/anti-joe-paterno-statue-banner-flown-beaver-stadium

 

[Darwin]

I feel sorry for many of the PSU fans. Some have supported the program for many decades, stabbed in the back by their icon, they have to feel crushed with no hope in sight. Joe certainly knew the shame he brought to himself and loved ones before he died, better that, than going before the $hit hit the fan.

 

[DenverSooner]

I feel sorry for many of the PSU fans. Some have supported the program for many decades, stabbed in the back by their icon, they have to feel crushed with no hope in sight. Joe certainly knew the shame he brought to himself and loved ones before he died, better that, than going before the $hit hit the fan.

I agree.

 

[campbest]

Big time football coaches think they are above the administration at almost every school, hopefully these revelations will help buck that trend.

 

[bocabull]

I love it how his kids call him Joe Paterno instead of dad in interviews. It's like he is a brand instead of a person.

What's really gross is that Sandusky was in President Spanier's suite just days prior to his arrest. They knew all about a grand jury and the previous accusations and hung out with that freak.

 

[bgrch1350]

1. I think people need to realize what Joe Paterno really was....A FOOTBALL COACH. The same thing goes for Stoops, Switzer, Johnson, Gundy, Meyer..there coach's. Its a job and fans turn them into gods as long as they win football games. Did he do good things in his life...yes. But when it came down to it....he turned a blind eye to save his job and his program. These aren't NCAA violations...these are criminal violations.

2. Should his statue come down...yes.

3. Should the program be given the death penalty...On one hand, I say yes...b/c it was the program that allowed these kids to be violated and to me thats harsher than any ncaa violation could ever be. It is better to pay players than to allow this to ever have happen. Also, how can anyone go to a penn state game and support this program. ON the other hand...These kids are going to have lawsuits and lawsuits coming...and they deserve every dime that institution can give them...and they might need the football program to stay open to give all their revenue to those kids. Those kids deserve to be compensated and compensated they will be.

Whether Joe Pa ever could truly believe that his friend could ever have done what he was accused of...It takes a true person to give the kids the benefit of the doubt and let the law decide if it truly happened.

 

[Perk's Scowl]

I would have a hard time giving the death penalty to the football program Penn State. I think that what happened is beyond awful, but I can't see how the death penalty can be applied. Sandusky was no longer a football coach. He was an employee of the university. He had access to the buildings because he had an office there and was still employed by the university. I understand that he had these privileges because he was a former football coach, but there is a difference. Paterno definitely had the opportunity to stop the whole thing, but the same can be said for the athletic director, president, and board of trustees.

If anything, it is more logical to give the entire athletic department sanctions. That alone is a slippery slope. Should a swimmer, rower, or golfer lose their scholarship and funding because the horrible acts of a former football coach? That is a tough sell to me.

I am fully on board with taking down the statue of Paterno. This entire thing shows how selfish he was in protecting his own legacy and image over the safety of innocent children. The whole story is even crazier when you think about the DA from State College that went missing in 1998 right after not indicting Sandusky despite credible evidence.

 

[DenverSooner]

But the NCAA has an ethics clause and requires institutional control. Allowing the football program to trump the law seems a blatant violation of any ethical standard and a lack of institutional control.

I think the football program should be shut down. To not take action is like saying it is acceptable for a school to ignore the law in order to protect the reputation of its football program. That is the wrong message and might encourage others to repeat this behavior.

Something to consider is what did Baylor do to get on probation? I really don't know but I know one player killed another and the coach (not the whole school) did some very questionable things.

 

[Perk's Scowl]

I agree that they should get punished and punished severely. My points were more of does the athletic department as a whole get the hammer or just the football program. To place it all on the football program seems unfair to me.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

If I'm the President of Penn State: Tear down the statue and erase him permanently from the record, he never won a game at Penn State and the program didn't even exist while he was affiliated with it. I have no doubt that Paterno did some "good" in his life, but this was a "bad" that warrants excommunication.

 

[Perk's Scowl]

If I'm the President of Penn State: Tear down the statue and erase him permanently from the record, he never won a game at Penn State and the program didn't even exist while he was affiliated with it. I have no doubt that Paterno did some "good" in his life, but this was a "bad" that warrants excommunication.

Do you forfeit the national title, too? Do you draw the line of when he first had knowledge of Sandusky molesting kids? Because up to the point where he found out about Sandusky, he hadn't done anything but good.

I am tending to agree with you, though. Erase it all. Take down the statue, take down the conference and national championship banners.

 

[Perk's Scowl]

I found this while looking at the "lack of institutional control" question.

"It would be a completely unprecedented act for the NCAA to find a lack of institutional control where the lack of institutional control does not relate to a failure to prevent specific NCAA violations," said Stephen Ross, director of Penn State's Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research.

"I think it would be a huge increase in scope of the NCAA's jurisdiction if the NCAA says it's going to start holding members responsible under NCAA rules for various things that are of this nature."

Granted, this is coming from Penn State. It is a pretty good point.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Do you forfeit the national title, too? Do you draw the line of when he first had knowledge of Sandusky molesting kids? Because up to the point where he found out about Sandusky, he hadn't done anything but good.

I am tending to agree with you, though. Erase it all. Take down the statue, take down the conference and national championship banners.

1. Absolutely.

2. I tend to agree and even state that he did "good" in his life, but this "bad" is so overwhelmingly egregious as to warrant the most harsh of internal sanctioning by the university.*

*As with many OU fans, I will admit to having a bias here based on comments that Paterno made in the past about the way our program was being run.