By Douglas V. Gibbs
Joe Paterno has been the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years. The 84 year old man has defied time, and his critics. A fighter to the end, it turns out that what may force him out of the game is the sexual perversion of one of his coaches.
Facts have surfaced, and it turns out that former defensive coordinator and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky sexually abused eight boys over a 15 year time period.
What's worse, others knew about the abuse and said nothing. . . and among those others may possibly be Joe Pa.
Rumors have been circulating, since Penn State cancelled Paterno's weekly news conference this morning, that there may be some pressure for Joe Paterno to step down as head coach of Penn State.
Students have supported Joe Paterno, but the press seems interested in his resignation.
The crazy part about it is that the media has been after Joe Paterno for a while. Joe Pa has been accused of being too old to coach, yet at 84 he continues to be a force in college football.
Joe Paterno has hung in there, and nothing could knock him down, until now.
His impeccable reputation is at risk. Regardless of the truth, the media has him pegged as guilty.
Is he? I don't know. I don't know if Joe Paterno knew what was going on, or not. If he said nothing, and he knew, then he is guilty of failing to protect those children. But the sad part of it is that the discussions on how to manage his departure have already begun, before any facts have surfaced, and before Joe Pa has made any decisions regarding his coaching career.
Paterno has been extraordinarily successful. He has made the college a lot of money. He ranks among the nation's most revered sports figures. He has two national championships, and a football program that is what it is because of him.
Two top university officials, Gary Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, have been charged with perjury and failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations, as required by state law. Since Sandusky's arrest, the president (Graham Spanier), and Paterno, have been criticized for allegedly failing to act after learning that Sandusky might have been abusing children.
The media has been calling for the resignations of both Spanier and Paterno, suggesting their inaction led to more children being harmed by Sandusky.
Though Paterno has not been charged with anything, staying on may hurt the university, or at least that is what we are being told.
Paterno's knowledge of the abuse, as the story goes, is that an assistant, or student, witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in the Penn State locker room. He went and told his dad. His dad is said to have then told Paterno, then Paterno told authorities at the university, which is what he was supposed to do. However, it stopped there. The abuse wasn't stopped while it was happening, and Paterno is said to have failed to go the extra mile to ensure Sandusky was dealt with. Nobody stopped Sandusky when he was in the act. Time passed, and they acted as if it had never happened. Sandusky still used the football facilities after that when everybody knew what he did.
Paterno didn't act, and that is why his job is being called for. If Paterno had banished Sandusky, then it would be a different story.
I like Joe Pa. I'm not necessarily a Penn State fan, my loyalties lie with the Arkansas Razorbacks, primarily, but Paterno is a legend, and I respect him for that.
However, as much as I hope it not to be the truth, if Paterno did allow Sandusky to continue his perverted sexual crimes as suggested, his resignation may very well come soon.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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