PSU Alums to erect a new JoePa statue

Submitted by Yo_Blue on

In yet another "what are they thinking" moment, a pair of Penn State Alums have received the OK from State College to erect a status of Joe Paterno.  It would not be on campus but rather downtown, two miles from the original statue which was torn down a couple years ago.  In this version, Paterno would be sitting on a bench reading Virgil's Aeneid.

The story is here:  LINK

French West Indian

April 24th, 2014 at 10:52 AM ^

"There's no evil conspiracy, just a tragic sequence of events."

The trials of Schultz, Curley and Spanier have all been continually delayed.  Notice how quickly Sandusky and the football program were scapegoated and severely punished.

Meanwhile, the trials of the administrators who ostensibly played a role in the cover-up have been practically dropped from the narrative of the mainstream press.  You hear a lot about Sandusky, Paterno, whether or not the sanctions on the team were too harsh.  Yet, there's almost no mention of the fact that President Spanier also has top secret government clearance.

There must be some very interesting behind-the-scenes posturing going on.  If things were simple then these trials wouldn't have been delayed.  The full truth would have been quickly brought to light by the judicial process.

Instead, the trials have been delayed and the names of the three administrators have been dropped from the public consciousness in favor of inane debates over the legacy of Paterno.  Something fishy is going on and if you're curious to know the full scale then do some research on the franklin scandal coverup in Nebraska during the late 80s.

Everyone Murders

April 23rd, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^

Paterno was not just derelict in his duties in failing to act, he also gave Sandusky access to PSU athletic facilities and thus gave his b.s. charity an air of legitimacy, enabling Sandusky to continue raping those boys.

Also, you could argue that firing Sandusky was a cover-up move - depends upon how you define "cover-up" I suppose.

vablue

April 24th, 2014 at 7:28 AM ^

At a minimum he was an enabler.  He knew of the accusations and he allowed the man to continue to use PSU to come into contact with young boys through the foundation.  Either way though, and no matter what good he did at PSU, the rest of the country will associate Joe PA with child molestation.  If you were in charge of that university, would you want every televised game at PSU to also show a shot of a statue to a man the rest of the country views in that light and be reminded of that awful thing that took place at your university?  Is that how you want your university to be remembered?  This was by far the best thing for the university, even if the current alumni hate it.

rob f

April 23rd, 2014 at 4:33 PM ^

would PSU Alums think that erecting another JoePa statue to worship is a good idea?  I don't remember it ending well for the Egyptians

 

 

 

when they did the same thing back in Biblical times.

MGoGrendel

April 24th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^

to worship after they left Egypt. Things went bad for the Egyptians when they didn't let Moses' people go. Point taken though - PSU may be "wondering in the desert for 40 years" until all the old guard fans are dead. #no religion!!

NittanyFan

April 23rd, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^

the Penn State fanbase is VERY heavily divided these days --- the Paterno loyalists are generally the older folk whereas the "it's over, let's just deal with the penalties and move on" people are generally the younger folk.

 

But in such a divided atmosphere --- I knew something like this would happen eventually.  The Paterno loyalists aren't going to give up.  If anything, the NCAA penalties has given the Paterno loyalists a "martyr complex" and has made them MORE hardcore (something I thought might happen after Emmert went the nuclear bomb route with the penalties versus encouraging Penn State to be introspective and self-penalize themselves).

 

Anyway, the Penn State fanbase probably is going to have to deal with this schism for (AT LEAST) the next generation.  

 

Is what it is.

LSAClassOf2000

April 23rd, 2014 at 4:56 PM ^

"I'm not involved so much in the politics," he said. "I'm an artist."

Well, I would say they chose the right artist then, someone undisturbed by the nature of the controversy and in need of a commission, I would imagine. If nothing else, he was forthright about this. 

CLord

April 23rd, 2014 at 5:00 PM ^

They revere this guy like he did anything more than just win.  Like he was such a great community guy when in fact, every single coach who has a long tenure at a top 10 college football school gets heavily involved in that school's community.  Every such coach also assumes the revered father figure role to his players.

Even taking the atrocity of his ignoring the pedophile in his midst so as not to disrupt his tidy little set up, Paterno wasn't even decent enough of a man to retire and reward one of his assistants with the throne, much as Bo did with Mo. 

In so many ways, JoPa cared about JoPa.

Can't wait for the vandalism that will assuredly befall this ill-begotten statue.