Kind of interesting in the timing of his passing. It was just a couple of months ago when the whole Sandusky thing came out and then Paterno was fired and then he died. All happened pretty quick.
So ESPN had stuff running on Paterno all day yesterday. I understand that he is a legend. He has the most victories of any college football coach. He is Penn State. He holds many records. I also understand that he has had a positive impact on many of his players and that is all well and good. However, I also get that he had a tremendous impact on the young boys that were allegedly molested by Sandusky. Paterno did not do enough to protect those boys.
I really didn't have any feelings for Paterno one way or another six months ago. It's sad what has happened in the last 2-3 months to him but he brought that stuff on himself. He did NOT do what he should have done. It severely tarnishes his legacy and frankly he will be remembered just as much for his lack of action in this scandal and his ultimate firing as he will for his decades long service and coaching at Penn State.
I understand people are sad at his passing and want to glorify him and so forth. However, what about those young boys and their lives? I know Paterno wasn't the one that molested them but he knew about it and didn't do as much as he should/could have. Sandusky was allowed to continue to have an office at Penn State and use the facilities there. It's a shame on all that knew of this. The thing is if this had happened under any other college coach, he would be vilified but because it is JoePa we should allow some leeway because of his accomplishments and he was old and he was sick? I say no. He was wrong in his actions. Any one that disagrees should read the indictment of Sandusky and read the allegations of what happened to those boys and what they had to endure. It's horrific and Paterno knew that was happening. I am not trying to spit on the man's grave but we should certainly be upset by what took place at Penn State under Paterno's watch.
2 comments:
It is too bad - I wonder how much the scandal and his firing did to speed up his death.
There seems to be little question that he did not do enough. Maybe he didn't fully believe it, maybe he just didn't know what to do. Whatever the case is, he had to go and Penn State needed to move on.
He died from a broken heart (sniffle, sniffle).
Post a Comment