Some of you may not have heard, and in case you haven't, there's a fairly large scandal taking place right now in Happy Valley, PA. Penn State University, specifically. One of the most iconic figures in college athletics is right in the middle of this scandal. Joe Paterno. Up until a few days ago, Paterno had been head coach of the football program at Penn State. He had a reputation as being a fiery little guy, both on the field and off. In addition to building a stellar football program at the University, he also has raised millions of dollars for the school....either by donating his time for functions, such as a campus ball, where the proceeds from the tickets sold go directly to the school. Or by coaching the football team to a big bowl game, where upon millions of dollars goes to both the schools playing in the game. He has built a library, and other buildings at the school. There is a bronze statue of the man on campus. I told you about several of the good things he has done in his life, because if you do, or have, heard of the scandal Paterno is involved in at the school.....all of those things will become irrelevant to you. They have to me.
You would be hard pressed to find a former player of Paterno's, that had a bad word to say about him. In fact, several of his former players went on to coach with him at the school. One of those players, was a man by the name of Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky played on the defensive line for Paterno, and Penn State from the years of 1963-1965. After he graduated he got a few gigs coaching at some smaller schools, until Paterno gave him a job as defensive line coach at Penn State in 1969. By the year 1977, Sandusky had worked his way up to defensive coordinator. Sandusky, by all accounts was a great coach. In fact, was named assistant coach of the year, both in 1986 and 1999. In 1999 Sandusky retired from coaching. He remained a mainstay at the University, often hosting football camps at the school, for young children. Just about a week ago, the story broke...that Sandusky had been arrested and charged with seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, eight counts of corruption of minors, eight counts of endangering the welfare of a child, seven counts of indecent assault, and a handful of other charges. I'm going to spare you the gory details, but it turns out that Sandusky was basically using his football camp program to lure young boys to the campus, get them alone, and do things to them.....that makes you cringe to think about.
These aren't just allegations. This investigation has been going on for over 3 years. Sandusky has admitted guilt to these charges. If he's convicted he could face up to life in prison. Where does Paterno fit in to this scandal? Well, apparently in 2002....a grad assistant of Paterno's by the name of Mike McQueery, happened to witness one of these heinous acts. McQueery, was apparently bringing some shoes to the locker room, to put into Sandusky's locker. Which is odd to me that a man that wasn't on the staff, would have a locker at the football facility. It was apparently late at night when McQueery went into the locker room. He saw that all the lights were on, and the showers were running. After McQueery put the shoes into the locker, he turned and looked towards the showers. There he saw a naked Sandusky, having his way with a naked 10 yr old boy. McQueery, who was 28 at the time and a former football player, was so shocked by what he saw, that he didn't do anything to break up the scene, but rather left the facility and went to be consoled by his father. After talking to his father, McQueery the next morning, went and told Paterno what he had seen the night before. Paterno, shocked himself, told McQueery to go home and that he (Paterno), would take it from there. Paterno told the athletic director, Tim Curley, and the senior vice president for finance and business, Gary Schultz. Now, by the letter of the law Paterno did all that was required of him. Curley and Schultz did nothing with the information that was given to them, and in the course of the next 6 years 8 more boys were violated.
Here's where I have a problem with Paterno, and the rest of the lot that didn't do as much as they should have. McQueery should have broken up the scene in the locker room that night. He should have gone straight to the police after. Paterno should have gone to the police, after speaking with McQueery the next morning. And Curley and Schultz certainly should have done the same. The in-actions of these men, ultimately resulted in the loss of 8 boys innocence. The fact that Paterno didn't do his due diligence to see this matter through to the end, over the course of the 6 years is mind boggling to me. Not only did he not follow up on these allegations, but he allowed Sandusky to visit the facility any time he wanted. He allowed him access to the field, the locker rooms, the weight rooms (which he (Sandusky) was using as little ago as last week), he let him go to bowl games with the team, where he saw Sandusky with children. And Paterno, and his lot of minions did nothing! His lack of motivation in seeing a conclusion, to this matter is what got Paterno canned a couple of days ago. You may have seen footage of the riots on campus, of current students upset to see the icon go out the way he did.
That's the other thing that is disturbing in my mind. The amount of supporters Paterno has. If you find yourself, as one of these supporters.....I urge you to read the grand jury testimony from this case. If after you have read it, and you still find yourself thinking that Paterno got the raw end in this deal.....ask yourself a couple of questions. How would you feel if you were a parent of one of the victims? And you found out that Sandusky could have been stopped years before your son was violated, but the powers that be decided to sit on the evidence/information. How would you feel if you were one of the victims themselves? How would you feel almost 10 years later, knowing that if some people had acted properly....Sandusky would have been behind bars, instead of behind you? If you still find yourself believing in Paterno.....well, that just makes me sad.
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