Paterno Investigation Finds the Real OJ Killers
Paterno family has released their own investigation today (in coordination with ESPN as it seems since they did such a great job with Te'o).
You can read about it here
And surprise, surprise, they find Paterno completely innocent of all allegation, scouts honor.
The "report" basically is a what a defense attorney would argue if this was tried as a criminal case in a court of law. They are arguing that none of the evidence the Freeh Report is beyond reasonable doubt. Which is correct since Freeh Report was never meant to be beyond a reasonable doubt. It was more like a Civil Case conclusion where you just need more than likely as the basis. Shift the goalpost and it is easier to score, go figure.
Here are parts of the new report pretty much says all you need to know
There is another troublesome email implicating Coach Paterno that the Paterno family experts challenge. In February 2001, Spanier, Schultz and Curley met to figure out an action plan about the McQueary allegation that he saw Sandusky assaulting a boy in the shower. The options, according to Schultz's notes: report it to the Pennsylvania Department of Child Welfare, tell the chairman of the board of Sandusky's charity, The Second Mile, and tell Sandusky "to avoid bringing children alone into Lasch Bldg."
Two days later, Curley reported he had changed his mind about the action plan "after giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe [Paterno] yesterday." Curley decided to talk with Sandusky: If Sandusky was cooperative, they would inform The Second Mile, and not alert authorities. And if he was not cooperative, Curley said then, "We don't have a choice and will inform the authorities."
Spanier agreed to this approach, saying, "The only downside for us if the message isn't 'heard' and acted upon, and we then become vulnerable for not having reported it. But that can be assessed down the road. The approach you outline is humane and a reasonable way to proceed."
All three of the Paterno family's experts say this single email is insufficient grounds for Freeh to have concluded that Paterno conspired to cover up the 2001 incident. "The report falls glaringly short of suggesting, let alone proving, any concealment by Mr. Paterno," Thornburgh writes in the report.
Insufficient? By whose standard? Seems pretty damning to most people who read it. If I say it is a cold day today, I think these people would also argue that that statement is insufficient to conclude that today is cold
I am sure the folks at Black Shoe Diaries are celebrating this "report" like a Fourth of July today.
Is it still too late to kick them out of our conference?
February 10th, 2013 at 3:19 PM ^
This is the actual report. At "paterno.com":
http://www.paterno.com/Overview/default.aspx
(Click on the embedded button to download the .pdf of the report.) I have to confess that I haven't the time, to read the full Freeh report, and then the 238-page "Sollers" report. Now, I have never much liked Penn State and I never was all that comfortable with their being in the Big Ten conference. For my own reasons. Schembechler-era kinds of reasons.
Not that I anticipated the Sandusky scandal. (Although I asked a very knowledgable Penn State fan, at the "Manningham" upset game, why it was that Sandusky -- the heir apparent in the late nineties -- had been so suddenly "disappeared." And that fan quietly said that he didn't know.)
The Sollers report isn't such a bad piece of work, from the parts I spent about 45 minutes reading.
I'd like to hear from some credible, neutral journalist/reviewer about both sides, and a deconstruction of the two competing reports.
And I'd urge Michigan fans to just try to be a bit circumspect about Paterno personally, since he was very nearly signed to be the Head Football Coach at Michigan in the winter of 1968-69, and it was largely Paterno's recommendation that one Glenn E. "Bo" Schembechler of Miami (Ohio) be interviewed for the job.
February 10th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^
please stop
the members of the family and the university community have shown us by their actions over many years that they are isolated, delusional and unaware of the national outrage.
PSU should mend its ways and become an example of transparancy and de-centralized power in college sports.
February 10th, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^
that the Paterno family released a report detailing how innocent Joe Paterno was. But seriously, it's embarassing how much they care about their name and how little they care about anyone not named 'Paterno'
February 10th, 2013 at 3:43 PM ^
Hey Paternos, surprised you found time to commission this report amidst all the time you're assuredly devoting to help the victims of brutal crimes that happened at facilities under the purview of your patriarch, for which he was paid millions over decades. Oops no? Guess that egomaniacal self-centeredness that would cause JoePa to never retire and give one of his deserving assistants a shot as his head coaching limelight runs in the family.
Just STFU and GTFO.
February 10th, 2013 at 4:28 PM ^
Those 4 didn't report it, they should have, all 4 are paying a huge price for not doing so but have damn near sunk the football program because they didn't do the right thing.
Spanier, Schultz and Graham all are more culpable as they didn't answer to Joe, all had the responsibility to report it themselves.
Joepa, yeah, he influenced the nonreporting, but the deal is, he answered to them, not the other way around.
Mcqueary, at any time could have picked up the phone and called police...
February 10th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
Penn State fans are going to be believe what they want to believe. They love Joe Paterno because he defined their school for 40+ years and can't come to terms with that he didn't do the right thing in this situation.
The rest of the world looks at the email where Curley talks about Paterno and can see clear as day that Paterno basically convinced him to change his mind. That's a damning piece of evidence.
FWIW, I perused BSD to see their reactions, and most of them aren't rejoicing. Their opinions are basically the same as they always have been.
February 11th, 2013 at 12:51 AM ^
The dream of the '90's is alive in Portland.
February 11th, 2013 at 6:56 AM ^
OJ is dead?
February 11th, 2013 at 8:03 AM ^
He's on Mike & Mike right now if anyone cares.
February 11th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
You might not get thru a criminal case with this information from these reports but you truly can come to some legitimate conclusions. Thus the NCAA approaches Penn State with sanctions that are agreed upon by Penn State officials. This was nothing more than a plea bargain with Penn State agreeing to the terms. Penn State knew very well they needed to make some decisions that would put the institution in better light with the public. The longer this went on the more scrutiny Penn State would face. So they agreed to terms to sanction the school on the very doorstep where the tragedy occurred and that's the football program and Joe Paterno. Penn State did not need to be judged beyond the shadow of a doubt when they agree to terms. They could have fought the allegation, let it linger on for months more and eventually have more damage done to the university's image. They agreed to attempt damage control and accepted the NCAA terms. The NCAA was acting more as an arbitrator than a disciplinary authority. In fact they probably did Penn State a favor by expediting the matter.
It boils down to one thing. Joe Paterno was and will always be a great football coach. No one can dispute his record. However, his unwillingness to stand up as a humanitarian will always be questioned. No one person is bigger than life and we should never put a person on that type of a pedestal.
Jay Paterno needs to shut up.