Phil Knight's eulogy for Paterno
Did anyone hear Phil Knight's eulogy just now? He ripped the PSU board of trustees, prased Paterno for never once complaining through the whole process, and for deliverine one message through the whole unjust ordeal: "We are Penn State." This was followed by about a minute long standing ovation. I just don't get it. I'm glad Michigan is with Adidas.
quick edit: Knight was choked up the whole time. He also said when his wife told him the news that "Joe had passed" he said, through tears, "Who will be my hero now?!!"
January 26th, 2012 at 3:50 PM ^
Given Nike's past (and possibly current) practice of using child labor, I suppose we can't be too shocked if the rape of children doesn't seem like a big deal either...Phil Knight, he never let's the welfare of children get in his way.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:58 PM ^
"We have some morals unlike that douchebag Knight"
-Angry baboon
January 26th, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
Dude that's a bit over the top, don't you think?
Yes child labor is wrong. Yes Paterno's non-action was terrible.
But going from that to Phil Knight not thinking child rape is a big deal is Glenn Beck-esque logic.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
I would have had no comment about Knight and child rape until today. The fact that a five-alarm fire didn't go off in Paterno's head (or at least that he didn't act on it) when he heard from McQueary is precisely the problem. Knight tried to whitewash that today and thereby condoned Paterno's inaction.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:50 PM ^
Another idiot scumbag.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:50 PM ^
Who was the victims hero? Not paterno.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:55 PM ^
Sounds like he wants to coach in the Big Ten again (PSU)
January 26th, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
That would be Phil Knight, founder and CEO of Nike, not Bob Knight, former Indiana men's head basketball coach and victim of rosacea.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:14 PM ^
Phil Knight is not a coach
January 26th, 2012 at 5:20 PM ^
Phil Knight is also not an alumnus of Penn State University, so I'm confused as to why he's eulogizing Joe Paterno. What's his connection aside from PSU is a Nike school?
January 26th, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 3:56 PM ^
a hero for a bunch of young kids by ensuring that Sandusky was stopped. He could have done everything in his power to stop the abuse--but he didn't. He even said so himself that he wished he'd done more. So why didn't he?
January 26th, 2012 at 3:59 PM ^
Knight's only concern is the success of his brand. I remember him once saying, back when the U.S. soccer team was sponsored by Adidas, that he never rooted for them because they were "on the wrong side" or something like that.
The PSU fanbase, which Knight needs to keep buying those jerseys, is on JoePa's side so naturally he's going to take that position, too.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:28 PM ^
try and protect the PSU brand. You would think Knight would have seen how that worked out for him. If he sincerely doesn't see what Paterno did to fail these children, I feel sorry for him. If he did it for economic reasons, I feel sorry for his company, because it will have negative repercussions on the brand. Sure, suck up to Penn State, and piss off the rest of the country. Seems like a bad plan.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:35 PM ^
Rest of the country will probably not know outside of educated college sports fans.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:09 PM ^
because espn and Adidas will make sure his postion is known. It's still sad he chose to take this issue up. He had many ways to speak about JoePa to honor him, and this was a bad road to take.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:21 PM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 4:47 PM ^
Did anyone else catch Jay Paterno's reference to PSU being the realization of Martin Luther King Jr's Dream??? This dude has lost it.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:31 PM ^
Er, I don't once remember the color of anyone's skin being an issue throughout this horrible scandal.
On the other hand, some PSU fans are doing a really crappy job of judging people by the content of their character.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:35 PM ^
Not only that. He made it seem like they were the only program in the country that has both black and white players. What a ridiculous statement that could not have been less related to anything going on at State College.
January 26th, 2012 at 3:59 PM ^
Here's the ESPN tweet:
Rittenberg/Bennett @ESPN_BigTen
January 26th, 2012 at 4:02 PM ^
Just got through reading this powerful story...someone should send it to Phil Knight: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/22/1057341/-F (NSFW language)
January 26th, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
That was hard to read. I feel bad for her, and I understand her resentment towards Jopa for not doing enough.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
I'm glad I did. It's impossible to comprehend the horror that these unfortunate victims go through, but reading a first-hand experience like that gets you closer to really understanding.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:52 PM ^
It's a natural reaction (for "normal" people) to despise child abusers and pedophiles but reading that first hand account really brings it home. Horrible story but she writes it very well.
January 27th, 2012 at 2:18 AM ^
This should be a mandatory read all JoePa supporters. Let him rot in hell.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
He needed to go hard for PSU so that the students and fans would keep buying his gear. That's his concern and he had a free opportunity to advertise and he did.
BFD.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:01 PM ^
Delusion and fandom are inextricably linked.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:03 PM ^
As Ronnie James Dio sang, the mob rules.
Darryl Clark said yesterday that he hopes the BOT gets whats coming to them. Just really makes their base as a whole look bad.
Almost all non PSU students/players/alums/fans agree with the board's decision. They will try the rest of their days to get Joe's name away from the scandal, something that is impossible.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:15 PM ^
I agree that it looks bad on the schools part, but it seems like many of the folks over at state college were heated at the board for how they got rid of Joe after essentially sixty years at the university. Imo that was pretty low. We can say what we want about the situation, but we will never know all the details. Of course you have to feel for the victims, and as a head coach he is responsible. He had to go, but over the phone is horrible after everything he had done at the school. you can disagree with the beliefs, but if you disagree with how they told him he was out then there may be something wrong with you.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:19 PM ^
Considering that the board was dealing with the fact that PSU was sitting on an exploding bomb that involved knowingly letting a child rapist to bring children to its facilities unmonitored and generally be free in its community for more than a decade, I don't think that figuring out the best way to tell ol' Joe that he was fired was the first thing on their minds. I can sympathize.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
completely understandable. However you know that's why they are trying to rationalize the way they are. it's that whole us against the world mentality. basic psychology. the fans will forever claim that the university essentially threw Joe under the bus, even if it ultimately his own actions, or lack thereof that sealed his fate.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:04 PM ^
Not to mention that a day or two before the BOT meeting, JoePa basically told the Board to fuckoff and that only he was in control of his career and was going to retire on his schedule
January 26th, 2012 at 4:45 PM ^
Although I can understand that the board of trustees could probably have handled the firing of an icon better, what Paterno has done for them is build and elite program and allow this entire incident to continue. He has allowed the university to turn its head and further dig them into this hell-hole. Yes, he did do so much for Penn State, but he failed in so many other ways and this has caused an immense amount of harm. I don't think judgment should be passed on the board for their decision on Joe.
Also, you are being incrediblely reasonable but I thought this segment of your comment was ironic: "but if you disagree with how they told him he was out then there may be something wrong with you." I'm going all main stream media and quoting you out of context, but it is slightly ironic that you are citicizing the board morally for communicating when Paterno's lack of communication has led to such a mess.
January 26th, 2012 at 5:25 PM ^
So mad... had my response all typed out and my phone just logs me off. I wouldn't disagree. The statement is rather ironic. My original intent was not to defend Joe Pa, or the university, but rather I am just trying to rationalize and understand why they (fans - financial/sponsors like knight) are showing so much support now. IMO the reason they are all coming out with so much support now is because they have had time to think about everything and they see this funeral and memorial services as the perfect medium to vent. I can kinda understand where they are coming from because there seemingly invincible coach was dragged through the mud (most argue rightfully so). I hope people learn from all the mistakes he did seemingly make and this kinda horrible situation never happens again. Until then, psu fels that they have a moral obligation to defend their man (and rightfully so based on everything he did for the school and community). Once again, I am not defending either Joe or the school, I am simply arguing that these are some of the reasons that they are defending him so passionatly now. People are saying that similars actions would not have taken place at other schools, but I beg to differ. Its really hard to say what would have been done at any institution if a situation like this arose. Joe should be held responsible, but I made the original statement that you quoted knowing that the majority of people would disagree with what I had to say simply because it sounded as though I was completly and blindly supporting Joe & company. More less just rationalizing and playing devils advocate.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:09 PM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 4:08 PM ^
Did Knight go to PSU or Oregon?? Im confused
January 26th, 2012 at 4:12 PM ^
this whole parade is a joke. i wash my hands of the entire situation.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:13 PM ^
Considering he already owns Oregon football, I guess I'm not surprised that he'd be tone-deaf about PSU as well.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:16 PM ^
Totally classless. A memorial service is not the proper time and place for defiance and bluster. These people live in their own world.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:20 PM ^
The place where laws don't mean shit.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:29 PM ^
"If there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation, and not in Joe Paterno's response."
I can't believe he would say this. Like. I can't comprehend this. "If there is a villain in this tragedy"? What about the guy who raped children? What about the legendary coach who enabled it? What about every single person who knew and didn't stop it? There are no heroes here. There are just villains and victims.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:30 PM ^
Did Michigan send anybody to this memorial service? Did Carr go? Do we have a "Senior Associate Athletic Director for Ceremonial Appearances"? (Like sending the Secretary of State, not the President or even the V.P., to the funeral of a lesser-noble...) Was Hoke there? I understand from a report in the WSJ that Urban Meyer was there, sitting up front.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:40 PM ^
If Urban was there it was to seal MOAR PSU commits.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:41 PM ^
January 26th, 2012 at 4:58 PM ^
So far, at least what EPSN is reporting, Michigan hasn't commented.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/44154/big-ten-statements-on-joepas-passing
January 26th, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^
They have
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/012312aaa.html
and Brandon had some quote in the ESPN articles too.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:59 PM ^
Meyer was there, sitting next to Luke Fickell.
January 26th, 2012 at 4:42 PM ^
Yep, ten years of doing absolutely nothing while Sandusky brought boys on campus left and right and all those times during the week, during the day, during that decade that JoePa had to have crossed paths with him....doing absolutely nothing. I don't think we'll ever hear from anyone in the PSU family on that issue.
This just gets better and better for Sandusky's victims, doesn't it? Watching all these folks mourn the man who had all the power to stop your abuse but did nothing to follow up. PSU deserves plenty of blame but that does not excuse JoePa's inactions.
How can any PSU fan walk past that statue of JoePa now and not always think about the "10 years of doing nothing," factor? Wouldn't that make you sick?
January 26th, 2012 at 11:42 PM ^
But the common statement is that Paterno would have had to seen Sandusky all the time, with boys, and have known he was on trips. I believe the latter has already been documented as false (some of sandusky's travel was last minute). If you remember in 3 & out, rodriguez didn't have control over sideline passes.
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<br>I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that with a massive program like Penn State, and an older coach like Paterno, that much of the activities were delegated to others and that he would not know. Since they were NOT close (now well documented) its not like Jerry would seek out Paterno.
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<br>Joe was still responsible for his program and his failure to do more breaks my heart. I see ignorance and poor leadership, but neither malice or intent to deceive from JoePa. I do see that in his superiors.
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<br>I really want to separate fact from supposition so that we can all learn from this and try to effectively prevent in the future.