JoePa Fired/What is happening at Penn State?!?!

[HILLCYD]

THIS! JoePa acted on an accusation, but this board wants to string him up along with the pedophile. NOBODY here knows what Paterno was told. What we do know is that he followed the protocal of most organizations. NOW we know that there was more to it. But this guy has shown DECADES of doing the right thing, and a rush to judgement will bring him down.

Being in large corporations I've been faced with somebody coming to me to report accusations regarding others in the organization (fortunately none of them child-rape) several times. Many of them seemingly far-fetched, and others seemingly plausible. Once they're brought to me I have to treat each of them the same, taking them upstream in the process. As much as I want to call some of the accusers an idiot at times, and as much as I want to handle myself the ones I know are likely, I cannot. I have to go through a protocal, much like I suspect Paterno had to. For me, once the folks in the Compliance and HR Departments find it plausible we call the police together.

Put away your pitchforks you self-righteous idiots who can stand and blather about what you'd do if you were him. You don't know what you'd do until you're faced with it. Pray for the victims, but don't judge others on what you don't know. One of the reasons I loved the people at ISU was their ability to reason, seemingly beyond all others. What happened to those people?

You have no idea what he has been doing for decades, nor does anyone else on this board.

I guess I am a self-righteous idiot as you called it, but there is no question he knew something was going on. Using the "protocol" arguement is hilarious. In my position I am made aware of issues (nothing nearly as serious as this) and I follow the protocol AND follow up on my own.

By your logic the old cop out that the Nazi's "only followed orders" was a valid excuse for what happened. Hell, they followed protocol!

I am not calling for the man to be "strung up", but this situation clearly shows that all of the respect that this guy seems be getting from world is undeserved. Hell, you heard more about how sad it was for Paterno to go out like this than you heard about the victims until recently. That is asinine. In my personal opinion, anyone related to this program during the time that these incidents occurred shouldn't be anywhere near the football field this weekend.

 

[CycloneErik]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

Glad to see he is going to be gone. This whole scandal has really tarnished his legacy. My hope is that Penn State falls flat on their faces the rest of this season and then turns down the crappy bowl invite they get. It would be a shame to watch these classless folks at Penn State celebrate football success after the total disregard they have shown to the victims of Sandusky that they for the most part facilitated by doing absolutely nothing about it.

Don't worry. During their bowl game, the commentators will talk about JoePa and overcoming adversity to reach this point. They'll conveniently ignore that the adversity came from his own failure to act responsibly.

 

[Enginerd]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

I would possibly wish that for the Penn St players, who are not guilty of any crimes. But that program is dirty from the top, and Paterno is nothing short of a self-preserving coward for what he failed to do. He does not deserve to go out a winner.

I must spread reputation around before giving it to you again.

The fact that Joe Paterno has not resigned or been placed on immediate leave of absence by the university is all you need to know about Joe Paterno and Penn State. I always knew the guy was a fake but I had no idea how low he would go to get his "record" and protect himself. We will never know how many boys' lives were ruined by Joe paterno and his staffs' actions. If the allegations of a boy being sodomized in the Penn State showers seems to me to beg action by the NCAA. I guess winning football games and making money for Penn State University is a higher priority than justice and accountability for sodomizing young boys.

 

[temperflare]

One prostitute =/= eight young boys and a graduate assistant. But good try on "shaming" me. I'm pretty comfortable with my statement.



GREAT post. I am physically ill after reading the 23-page report. I just can't even think about how anyone could have let that go.

Assuming JoPa was told what happened, which is EXACTLY what you are basing your opinion on and I consider that stance to be both ignorant and shameful.

But by all means, be comfortable with being ignorant if that works for you. But then, maybe JoPa was comfortable with being ignorant too, and might have something to do with why he didn't report the incident to the cops.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

It's too bad that he allowed 9 additional years of child rape because he did not have the courage to do what was right.

Exactly. Waiting until tomorrow is too lenient in my opinion. He should be gone now.

 

[JP4CY]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

Glad to see he is going to be gone. This whole scandal has really tarnished his legacy. My hope is that Penn State falls flat on their faces the rest of this season and then turns down the crappy bowl invite they get. It would be a shame to watch these classless folks at Penn State celebrate football success after the total disregard they have shown to the victims of Sandusky that they for the most part facilitated by doing absolutely nothing about it.

Completely disagree. The athletes on this football team deserve a bowl game more than ever. They have nothing to do with this stuff about Paterno/Sandusky.
Penn State fans also deserve it for going to all these games, have you seen their stadium? They show up to games.
People that condone the actions of the athletic department are on a different level though, and I am not including them on my above response. Those people deserve the full extent of legal consequences and more.

 

[Bigman38]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

What I don't get is why he isn't in any legal trouble. I understand that he did the bare minimum of what the institution requires but how is it not illegal to know about this and not report it to the police?

 

[benjay]

THIS! JoePa acted on an accusation, but this board wants to string him up along with the pedophile. NOBODY here knows what Paterno was told. What we do know is that he followed the protocal of most organizations. NOW we know that there was more to it. But this guy has shown DECADES of doing the right thing, and a rush to judgement will bring him down.

Being in large corporations I've been faced with somebody coming to me to report accusations regarding others in the organization (fortunately none of them child-rape) several times. Many of them seemingly far-fetched, and others seemingly plausible. Once they're brought to me I have to treat each of them the same, taking them upstream in the process. As much as I want to call some of the accusers an idiot at times, and as much as I want to handle myself the ones I know are likely, I cannot. I have to go through a protocal, much like I suspect Paterno had to. For me, once the folks in the Compliance and HR Departments find it plausible we call the police together.

Put away your pitchforks you self-righteous idiots who can stand and blather about what you'd do if you were him. You don't know what you'd do until you're faced with it. Pray for the victims, but don't judge others on what you don't know. One of the reasons I loved the people at ISU was their ability to reason, seemingly beyond all others. What happened to those people?

JoePa did the minimum that was required of him as an employee. As a moral human being, he failed.

 

[acgclone]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

The more I read about this, the more disgusted I am with JoePa and Penn State. Joe Pa needs to be terminated immediately.

 

[clonefanpaul]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

What I don't get is why he isn't in any legal trouble. I understand that he did the bare minimum of what the institution requires but how is it not illegal to know about this and not report it to the police?

Because everyone involved in the investigation wants to keep him out of this. It's pretty easy to avoid charges if people refuse to charge the person.

 

[MLawrence]

AP Article

There's nothing really new in the article, but I found this interesting:

The coach defended his decision to take the news to his athletic director. Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student was “distraught,” but said the graduate student did not tell him about the “very specific actions” in the grand jury report.

 

[ISUKing]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

Sad thing is: there will be a JoePa Tribute special on ESPN or something similar to that.

I don't think this is true. I would normally agree that ESPN is classless and doesn't really care about real life issues, but every interview I have heard and all the guys interviewed on Mike and Mike seem to agree that it is a shame it is ending like this but they find it inexcusable and reprehensible. I think ESPN will probably try to say something about his career, but also won't make a huge special about it. They don't want to get mired in the PR mess that would create. Just my 2 cents.

 

[CyBer]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

Time to fire Joe, and he shouldn't be allowed to "retire" because he shouldn't be getting any money from the school.

 

[TXCyclones]

JoePa did the minimum that was required of him as an employee. As a moral human being, he failed.

BS. He acted on the minimum information he had at the time.

 

[IowaSTATCyclone]

Re: Paterno to retire at seasons end

Both what's left of the school and JoPa will be able to play the "addled old man" card to give him a muted, but not abrupt, send-off, even though any other head coach in the business would be gone.

In other words, although he is a legal mandatory reporter, his decrepitude gives him cover to have "misunderstood" the process. Since he's innocent of criminal activity, he's got enough (barely) wiggle room to play dumb.

I don't for one minute believe the guy is addled or doesn't understand the basic rules of addressing pedophilia. I don't think for an instant that he didn't know that when your former employee and friend rapes a child in your offices that the appropriate response is to call the cops.

I think he heard what he wanted to hear. I think he convinced himself that it "couldn't be that bad." I think he is a coward, and enough of one to "earn" himself a semi-graceful end to his long and storied career.

It doesn't matter so why shouldn't he get to sit in the press box at a few more all-important football games? This mess doesn't invalidate his precious coaching achievements one bit.

It only invalidates the facade of his character and the myth of the Penn State Way.

A 50 year coaching career is going to have its moral shortcomings and ethical breaches. But this? This goes beyond that. The myth is dead, and it isn't getting up out of the grave.

So let them lose this weekend, or let them roll on to taste the thorns and bitter roses of a big bowl victory.

Win or lose, stay or go, that is such a trifle in comparison to the wealth of integrity that has forever been lost in the dark and damned heart of a single man, and the powerful cowards who, in the name of honor, did nothing to expose him.

 

[HILLCYD]

BS. He acted on the minimum information he had at the time.

As a leader would it MAYBE be his job to find out more? To ensure that terrible acts weren't being committed at his university within the athetic department by a current and former DIRECT REPORT? I mean, he is such a GREAT leader right? He has done the RIGHT thing for decades right?

Is his your grandpa or something? :realmad:

 

[CycloneErik]

BS. He minimally acted on the information he had at the time.

Did a quick edit for you.

 

[FarminCy]

BS. He acted on the minimum information he had at the time.

And decided not to follow up with anything and still allow the child molester to use football facilities for the next nine years.

No matter how you spin it JoePa and McQueary failed as decent human beings. They looked the other way.

 

[MNCyGuy]

Assuming JoPa was told what happened, which is EXACTLY what you are basing your opinion on and I consider that stance to be both ignorant and shameful.

But by all means, be comfortable with being ignorant if that works for you. But then, maybe JoPa was comfortable with being ignorant too, and might have something to do with why he didn't report the incident to the cops.

Exactly. Nobody knows what JoePa actually knew and the administration on Penn State is not letting him talk about it. That should say something. I get the desire and need to hang somebody for this, but I think people are incorrectly (at least for now) making Paterno that person because he is the most public figure to be connected to the story. I'm not saying that he might not be much more guilty just because he's JoePa and we didn't think he's that kind of guy, I'm just saying that it has been 5 days and we don't know the full story yet.

 

[CyBer]

You would think a normal human being would see that the guy was still there and call the cops.