OT: Paterno statue to stay for now, per ESPN

Submitted by vablue on

Per the below ESPN article the Paterno statue at PSU is going to stay, for now.  Personally, I think that is a huge mistake.  I have a lot of family that are big PSU fans and I understand the love for the guy.  But, I think the Trustees (ironic name in this case) is in for a bit of a shock when they realize that every televised game is going to start with them showing the statue and talking about what Joe did, or did not do.  Essentially, every time your University is put on TV it is going to be shown how they still praise a guy who at the very least enabled a child molester.  Yeah, that is just the way I would want my University represented.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8166643/joe-paterno-statue-remain-penn-state-sources-say

 

 

Njia

July 14th, 2012 at 8:50 PM ^

Now, to the old adage, "Well, except for that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" we can now add:

"Well, except for that, how many lives did you change, Coach?"

ThadMattasagoblin

July 14th, 2012 at 8:04 PM ^

Plus, there has to be something the program did against the NCAA Rule Book.  While the crime is terrible and one of the worst scandals in history, I'm not sure that the NCAA can punish them without it being in the rule book.

BlueHills

July 14th, 2012 at 10:04 PM ^

I agree with this. Yes, it's an unprecedented situation, and sometimes unprecedented situations require unprecedented interpretations of the rules.

The NCAA can't simply stand idly by; its constituency will lose respect for the institution and all it is supposed to stand for if it does. A remedy will have to be fashioned by stretching the interpretation of the rules.

Not that I want to compare WW2 and its atrocities with this situation, that would of course be inappropriate. But there is an example of appropriately strecthing the interpretation of the rules of war that arose out of that circumstance:

There was no such war crime as "Crimes Against Humanity" before Nuremburg. The situation, however, was so heinous that everyone knew that the Geneva Conventions couldn't be the limit of the inquiry. They literally invented this crime because the unprecedented holocaust that was WW2 demanded a whole-cloth solution, even if one had to be created for it.

In a similar way, I believe that the NCAA will step in and give the death penalty to PSU for a year or two. It has to, regardless of precedent, and even if that means making a pretty big stretch.

So, let PSU have its statue. It's just more evidence of people with their heads in the sand who really have no idea what the rest of the public is thinking.

 

ChopBlock

July 15th, 2012 at 1:40 AM ^

Perhaps the Big Ten has more leeway in sanctioning members for this kind of thing than the NCAA does. If that's the case, I think it's very conceivable that the Big Ten bans them from competition for a year or two. Presumably they wouldn't be able to field a full slate of games, at the very least, on such late notice. Also probable is that teams would shy away from scheduling Penn State OOC during that time. So it would be in effect an unofficial death penalty.

Wolverine Devotee

July 14th, 2012 at 8:17 PM ^

If this crap doesn't get penn state kicked out of the B1G, then what the hell does it take to get kicked out? Mooning Delaney?

What that sick piece of shit did is WORSE than murder IMO. And the four scumbags who covered it up, are considered pedophiles in my mind too since they enabled it.

I'm so sick of all these horrid things happening in this country, and the people responsible getting away with a slap on the wrist. penn state will get the lack of institutional control charge, because the football coach RAN that school.

And not to put on my tin foil hat, but did anyone remember about the DA that went missing i 1998? Kind of strange how they were ready to reveal all of this back then, and the DA just disappeared and has been missing since then.

Joe Paterno is a liar, a fraud, a scumbag, a con-artist, a massive hypocrite and I hope he is rotting in hell. I don't care if this post gets negged, because I am pissed off everytime I think of this.

The complete disregard those vile human beings had for the children, and the 100% caring about the football program and their image makes my blood boil.

Mr Miggle

July 14th, 2012 at 8:26 PM ^

I'm not expecting PSU to get kicked out. That being said, I don't think it has much, if anything, to do with money. PSU could easily be replaced. The money difference wouldn't be that great. I just think enough of the schools would consider kicking PSU out an overreaction. For now, I think they're just going to wait and see what PSU does to sanction themselves.

 

BILG

July 14th, 2012 at 8:16 PM ^

Pathetic, it took one day for the Paterno apologists to come out of the cave.  Dude conspired to protect a serial rapist.  Is this clear to anybody over there.  A statue...worried about offending people.  How about worrying about the innocence and and trust that were stolen from Sandusky's victims. 

This isn't, some players cheating on exams, getting kickbacks, banging prostitutes, or taking performance enhancers.  This isn't the run of the mill NCAA scandal.  This is the straight up enabling of a child rapist.  It is insane that one day after the Freeh report and media rips PSU a new one, already you get the apologists and contrarians trying to aid the "healing process."  Rittenberg is a total moron btw.

I really do not want to sound self-righteous and I am not a moralizing person...but fuckin A, there has to be a line somewhere, and I think child rape is on the wrong side of that fence.  If Sandusky is a twisted sociopath, Joe Pa and his stooges are even worse, as theirs was the intoxication of power, not a birth defect.

This was violent, criminal shit with a coverup.  Seriously, it's infuriating to see anything resembling a rationalization of what occurred. 

Even Terrel Pryor knows, "Everybody lies, steals, cheats, kills people," but shit, you don't see rapes little boys in there...

Wolverine Devotee

July 14th, 2012 at 8:27 PM ^

Death Penalty cases-

  • Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball for the 1952-53 season
  • Louisiana men's basketball program for the 1973-74 & 1974-75 seasons
  • SMU football for the 1987 & 1988 seasons
  • Morehouse College men's soccer (DII) for the 2004 & 2005 seasons
  • MacMurray College men's tennis (DIII) for the 2005-06 & 2006-07 seasons

Owl

July 14th, 2012 at 8:32 PM ^

If your argument is that what happened at Penn State is more egregious than what happened in those instances, I doubt very much that you’ll find anyone who disagrees with you. I don’t think that’s the point though. If you’re saying something else, you’ll have to explain because I don’t understand.

Wolverine Devotee

July 14th, 2012 at 8:39 PM ^

When football becomes the #1 priority at a university, over everything else, you need to put a stop to it. It obviously was, since the 3 stooges above paterno (really they were below him) were afraid to say anything because of the football program or the image of the school. It's time to cut the ties.

As justingoblue said above, the last two death penalties were given without there being a case of said school being a repeat offender. penn state needs to learn that football is not their most important priority over the safety of children.

I wouldn't be surprised though if little is done. Really wouldn't. The wussification of America makes me want to gag.

Owl

July 14th, 2012 at 8:54 PM ^

“When football becomes the #1 priority at a university, over everything else, you need to put a stop to it.”

I agree 100%. I do not agree that it is the NCAA’s role to do so, however. They are not moral arbiters, and it would amount to laughable hypocrisy for them to assume that role now. It wouldn’t serve the interests of the victims, only the interests of the NCAA.

BoFan

July 14th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^

These NCAA penalties are for cheating and for trying to enforce a level playing field where criminal and civil laws don't apply. Stop trying to belittle these serious crimes.

ThadMattasagoblin

July 14th, 2012 at 9:14 PM ^

I'm not trying to belittle the crimes.  I just find it hard to believe that the NCAA will slam PSU for a legal issue and cheating is too broad a term.  I think they will get sued to hell, and all the people involved will never see the light of day, but I don't think that they will be punished just my own thoughts.

BoFan

July 14th, 2012 at 9:12 PM ^

Getting rid of it will unfortunately hurt alumni donations.

They can keep it, but just make sure the epitaph is changed so that it doesn't lie like Joe did.

...and move it to the family's front lawn.

jmblue

July 14th, 2012 at 9:33 PM ^

PSU is a university run by a bunch of George Costanzas. They need to start doing the complete opposite of every instinct they have.

I mean seriously . . . this is about the most obvious gesture of contrition possible.  A guy who enables a sexual predator and covers up for him for over a decade should not be honored with a statue.  The entire non-pedophile population of the country that isn't affiliated with PSU agrees that it's inappropriate to celebrate the man at this point.  If this is a bridge too far for them, holy crap they are nuts. 

Leaders And Best

July 14th, 2012 at 9:26 PM ^

But the community's obsession with it reinforces why this scandal happened in the first place.  It's like these people have learned nothing. That statue would be a constant reminder of how deranged that institution and commnunity is. Especially with it labeled "Humanitarian."

I can't wait until PSU students set up Paternoville this fall.

 

UMgradMSUdad

July 14th, 2012 at 9:34 PM ^

I'm su'rprised the statue isn't being defaced or the area around it vandalized on a daily basis with graffiti denoting shame and demands to remove it.

SamirCM

July 14th, 2012 at 9:35 PM ^

The TV's will NOT mentioned this by the time the Penn State's second B10 game starts, network anchors will get told, even impicitetly, to not talk about this on the air. 

 

And this is what saddens me, that I highly doubt that outside of the coming civil lawsuits, Penn State will brush this off and have no tangible damage done. 14 plus years of silence will scores of vulnerable kids whose innocence was shattered and they are just going to spin their culpability. 

Jasper

July 14th, 2012 at 9:49 PM ^

Another JoePa posting? I've probably done enough b*tching about this, but I would like to share an observation:

How many of these posts have been prepared by people with just over the minimum (100 points)? Quite a few, AFAICS. I find that interesting.

This one at least adds a new detail. A few of the others reduce to "I'm very angry about what happened at Penn State!"