R.I.P.Joe Paterno (1926-2012)

[plastroncafe]

I'm sorry, but no.

[Katie]

Alright. I can't keep my thought to myself.

The man was a legendary coach...a father...grandfather....and husband. But that does not excuse him from taking backlash for a dumb*ss decision. He told his bosses what happened? So the f*ck what?

If I saw that sh*t happening i'd call the cops. One of my employees came in all freaked out and said he saw a guy having sex with a kid. Cops would be called. Period. Even if the "right thing" by policy was to tell my boss, once I realized nothing was being done....cops. I don't care what the damage to the school would have been. It damn sure would have been less than what it is now.

I'm very sure that any of those people who were molested or raped by Sandusky in the TEN F*CKING YEARS between when Paterno found out and when a high school coach called the cops on Sandusky....probably don't relieve him of some responsibility.

Read the charges. It will make you sick. Sandusky is a sick f*ck. Paterno, along with many many others, was an enabler. They allowed him to continue by not getting the authorities involved.

He is not a victim. Any judgement he gets is well deserved IMHO

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

I'm just sick of people being so narrow-minded without listening to the whole story.

And I'm sick of people jumping to his defense just because he was a highly successful football coach for a remarkable period of time.

If this exact same thing happened at say... VMI or Appalachian State, everyone involved would have been burned at the stake. But since poor old Joe won lots of games, he gets people standing up for him.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Katie has hit the nail on the head. At best, Joe was a coward who failed to call the authorities when he should have.

Amazing how so many people are so forgiving of a person's serious crimes because they were a great [whatever]. Like when Ted Kennedy died, so many people glossed over his having caused the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne-oh he was a great liberal who made a few mistakes when he was young. (Paraphrasing of actual quotes.)

[Leonardo Mystic]

Originally Posted by Type 97 Chi-ha

Amazing how so many people are so forgiving of a person's serious crimes because they were a great [whatever].

I've never even heard of Joe Paterno or his accomplishments until the scandal broke last year. I don't follow sports and it doesn't play a part in my opinion.

A lot of you need to go back and read over all the articles released on this. Mike McQueary was very vague to Joe about what he saw that day. He didn't tell him enough for Joe to understand it was far more serious than he knew. Joe was also from another time and had never heard of rape and a man. Ignorant, yes, but that's no reason to condemn the man to hell.

He did go tell the right people, he did do the right thing, but then those people didn't act on that information to investigate as they should have. There is where the fault lies. The line of communication was broken.

I've never heard of a man being guilty before proven innocent, but that's just what has been going on here towards Joe Paterno. People act as if he himself sodomized those boys instead of Sandusky. Every one was looking for a scapegoat, including the Penn State's Board of Trustees, and it happened to be him. In fact, the board was such cowardly asses that they couldn't fire him in person. No, they fired him over the telephone, and as what his wife said when she called them back "He deserved better".

Those who knew Joe personally supported him to very end and they knew the truth. There are thousands of those people who were outraged at how he was treated, but Joe himself was never bitter about it. Those same thousands are now paying their respects at his public memorial on campus.

The man is now dead; leave him alone. He was first someone's loved one. A family is in mourning.

[Samhain]

Originally Posted by Leonardo Mystic

I've never even heard of Joe Paterno or his accomplishments until the scandal broke last year. I don't follow sports and it doesn't play a part in my opinion.

A lot of you need to go back and read over all the articles released on this. Mike McQueary was very vague to Joe about what he saw that day. He didn't tell him enough for Joe to understand it was far more serious than he knew. Joe was also from another time and had never heard of rape and a man. Ignorant, yes, but that's no reason to condemn the man to hell.

He did go tell the right people, he did do the right thing, but then those people didn't act on that information to investigate as they should have. There is where the fault lies. The line of communication was broken.

I've never heard of a man being guilty before proven innocent, but that's just what has been going on here towards Joe Paterno. People act as if he himself sodomized those boys instead of Sandusky. Every one was looking for a scapegoat, including the Penn State's Board of Trustees, and it happened to be him. In fact, the board was such cowardly asses that they couldn't fire him in person. No, they fired him over the telephone, and as what his wife said when she called them back "He deserved better".

Those who knew Joe personally supported him to very end and they knew the truth. There are thousands of those people who were outraged at how he was treated, but Joe himself was never bitter about it. Those same thousands are now paying their respects at his public memorial on campus.

The man is now dead; leave him alone. He was first someone's loved one. A family is in mourning.

Gimme a freakin' break.

[Wingnut]

Originally Posted by BubblyShell22

Can we please try and separate the scandal from the legendary football coach?

That will be absolutely impossible. I don't care if you're amongst the most ardent of Penn St. fans who would rather take a bullet to the head than bring it up, it will still be the elephant in the room.

He will forever be associated with the scandal. That ship has sailed.

[Leonardo Mystic]

Originally Posted by Samhain

Gimme a freakin' break.

What? Did you want a Kit-Kat?

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes for a change. Maybe you'll understand one day, especially when similar circumstances could happen to you.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Originally Posted by Leonardo Mystic

What? Did you want a Kit-Kat?

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes for a change. Maybe you'll understand one day, especially when similar circumstances could happen to you.

Ever known anyone who was molested as a little child? Try walking in their shoes and see what you have to say about that.

[Katie]

I really don't give a f*ck if he actually heard the word "sex" or not in conjunction with the shower incident. The fact that Sandusky was naked in a shower with a child....that's enough to warrent some investigation. At a minimum find the kid and make sure he's ok.

The fact is that Paterno was basically a god at Penn State. What he said went where the sports facility was concerned and a lot of other places on campus too. Don't think for a minute Paterno was ignorant to what was being said about Sandusky. Paterno himself told Sandusky he'd never be coach of Penn State....and proceeded to keep coaching to make sure that didn't happen. Sandusky was the logical heir to Paterno should he have retired.

Think Paterno thought Sandusky was a good stand up guy? Nope. Think he didn't really know what was going on? Nope.

Paterno was an enabler. Period.

[BubblyShell22]

Yes, I agree that he should've gone to the cops, but he probably thought that the higher-ups would do that. I don't care what anyone thinks. We all have our differing opinions on what happened and how we feel about it. But I believe he did all he could, and I'm sticking by that. I'm not a fan of Penn State. I barely watch sports at all. I'm just calling it like I see it. Even my dad said the same thing that he should've gone to the cops but that he did at least tell the superiors. Dad said he would've done the same thing if he'd been in Joe's shoes. I just hate that people seem to act like Joe did everything. Sandusky was the one who committed the acts and should be condemned. Plain and simple.

It's fine if you guys disagree with me, but that's how I feel. I do feel sorry for the victims who've had to suffer through all of this, and I really hope that Sandusky gets what's coming to him. But as for Joe, there's really nothing that can be done to him now. He's gone and should be left in peace.

[The Stryker]

He didn't call the cops and you acknowledge that but then say that he 'did all he could'. He kinda didn't do that at all dawg.

He did next to nothing. He deserves a great deal of the blame.

[joe-eyeball]

The bottom line is that Paterno knew enough about that incident to warrant a call to the police. He chose to keep it in house more than likely to avoid being the one who would bring chaos to his beloved university. He turned a blind eye and now his legacy will pay the price. Fair or unfair this is the way our society handles things.

[Cure]

Originally Posted by Leonardo Mystic

What? Did you want a Kit-Kat?

Sorry, Nines, THIS IS NOW THE BEST POST EVER.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

With apologies to Ludacris:

My coach bad, my coach hood,
My coach turned a blind eye like I knew he would...

[BubblyShell22]

Then I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this. But I stand by my opinions.

[plastroncafe]

You and all the kids who rioted when he was fired.

[Sword Slicin' Leo]

you people that say how great of a coach he was..who gives a ****...As a man if you see a child being molested you do something not look the other way

[KROW]

This is why I watch wrestling.

I think this thread should die along with the man's memory.

[The Stryker]

Originally Posted by KROW

This is why I watch wrestling.

I think this thread should die along with the man's memory.

Yeah because Wrestling doesn't have a truly awful tragedy involving a formerly beloved figure that people still defend despite mountains of evidence.

Oh......Wait......No.