New PSU documentary blames media for Paterno's downfall

Submitted by Leaders And Best on

New PSU documentary called "The Framing of Joe Paterno" in which they (including a member of the PSU Board of Trustees, a PSU professor, and of course the crazy rantings of Franco Harris) blame the media for Joe Paterno's downfall and firing.  The ironic thing is they build part of their argument railing against ESPN and Mark Schwarz for "protecting" Bernie Fine whose case was dropped by the Feds today.

Video includes a confrontation between the director and ESPN's Mark Schwarz at Beaver Stadium on the sideline.

 

WolverineHistorian

November 9th, 2012 at 2:57 PM ^

Indeed.  Secret underground meetings, payoffs, Lloyd Carr being related to the refs and basically all Big Ten athletic directors having the PSU logo on a dart board in their offices as they twirl their mustaches and do their evil villain laughs.

There isn't a single conspiracy theory I didn't hear from those guys back when I posted on rivals.com.   

angry byrne

November 9th, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^

PSU:  "It didn't happen."

SANITY:  "But what about this condeming evidence that JoPa and the administration knew something was going on?"

PSU:  "Evidence?  I'm not listening! LA LA LA LALALALALA!"

jtmc33

November 9th, 2012 at 12:08 PM ^

"And we would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky victims and the media..."

-Ghost of JoPa as special celebrity guest in a Scooby-Do episode

 

 

lhglrkwg

November 9th, 2012 at 12:11 PM ^

wow if you go to the youtube video, Penn State fans are totally pumped for this. Again, Penn State fans still more concerned about Paterno's legacy than molested children. And now I'm back to wanting to see them lose every game ever.

jackrobert

November 9th, 2012 at 12:18 PM ^

It's really amazing to see such denial.  Franco Harris has convinced himself that because McQuery didn't see "intercourse," therefore what McQuery did see was not a sexual assault.  Because, you know, there is nothing sexually inappropriate about a grown man pressing his naked body against a naked prepubescent boy in a shower at 9 p.m. on a Friday night.  I wish they had gotten the death penalty for 4 years.

Perkis-Size Me

November 9th, 2012 at 12:31 PM ^

ugh let this story die already, though i know it never will. i'm all for psu rebounding as it makes the B1G stronger, but the delusion is sickening. your coach was a fraud who cared more about wins and losses than the well-being of children. he's responsible for his own downfall. story over, move on.

blacknblue

November 9th, 2012 at 12:43 PM ^

Let's start with one point the media is slanted and biased and will butcher the truth in anyway they feel will elicit the largest response out of people. Anybody who believes anything they are told without a large helping of skepticism deserves the fate that comes to them. With that being said who really cares if somebody else puts out something that's biased slanted and butchers the truth to try to elicit the response they are looking for. No one knows the truth or what Joe Paterno actually knew, or how he interpreted things or what his motivations were. Probably the only person who knew the truth is dead and if he wasn't nobody would be interested in what he had to say unless it fit their narrative anyway. With all that being said I would have been surprised if something like this never came out.

LSAClassOf2000

November 9th, 2012 at 1:08 PM ^

...but I guess my only question is this - does the International Documentary Association also give out a yearly award for the "Most Unashamedly Biased Documentary"? If so, will John Ziegler get some sort of grant to produce more like this? I hope not.

ADDENDUM: John Ziegler is the person who produced this - here's the link to his accompanying editorial on the subject. If you didn't watch the video, reading this will basically tell you why you shouldn't watch the video if you're expecting something thoughful (which you shouldn't).

superstringer

November 9th, 2012 at 12:57 PM ^

Srsly, and some idiot made a movie denegrating Muhammad.

Look, anyone with a computer can make a movie these days.  And stick a camera in someone's face and record total drivel.

I don't see anyone explaining who made this video.  I didn't see any credits, up front or at the back (sadly, I'm not compelled to watch all 32 minutes).  So when the OP said "PSU" made this, I don't think so.  An official PSU movie would say that, someplace.  Frankly, anyone with a professional reputation would say who made this.

Seems to me this is some underground PSU fan trying to put up a fight for the sake of fighting.  Not anything official or sanctioned. And no one in the mainstream is going to believe this garbage, so don't get worked up over it.

In other words, move on people, just someone wallowing in his misery.  (And wasting some of his coin to do it.)

Section 1

November 9th, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^

Who has a website, www.FramingPaterno.com , and he's using the YouTube video to try to get publicity to get funding, for a larger documentary project.

If somebody has a story to tell, I guess I don't mind it so much.  I'm not terribly afraid of information or storytelling or reporting; it will all meet the critical analysis of the public marketplace of ideas, right?  If is is a garbage apologia, it'll show, I suppose. 

And yes, there does not seem to be so much as a hint of any official Penn State involvement in the project.  Far from it, probably.  Although it looked as though some interviews were conducted on university property.  Was that all borrowed footage?  Is this just some video cut-and-paste job so far?  Or has John Ziegler actually shot video?

mGrowOld

November 9th, 2012 at 12:59 PM ^

I, for one, am looking forward to the upcoming perjury and obstruction of justice trials of the "big three".  My bet is that at least one (if not more) of them will roll big time on St Joe in effort to save their skin.  It will be very interesting to see what the PSU slappies have to say if one of them say....has physical evidence they can produce showing evidence of Paterno trying to extort their silence.

As much as they'd like it to be over the public disclosure and investigation of the depth of their crimes has really just gotten started.  Who knew what and when did they know it is going to come out.  It always does.

ijohnb

November 9th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^

agree that the media "framed" Joe Paterno.  However, I do think that Paterno became "the face" of the scandal as opposed to the actual perpetrator of the original henious crimes.  I think that many people have crossed over into actually associating Joe Paterno with Sandusky's acts, and that is unfair. 

BoFan

November 9th, 2012 at 1:18 PM ^

I watched the first minutes and all they say is "No they/he did not" across every news report. Sounds like they are attempting the now infamous and nearly successful Etch-a-Sketch defense.

bronxblue

November 9th, 2012 at 1:29 PM ^

Listen, I had my doubts about the quality of this film, but then I saw animated text superimposed over video clips and I was hooked.

Listen, when you don't have facts on your side OR public sentiment, just stick two fingers in your ears and yell really loud until everyone listens to you.  That is apparently the approach taken by this video.

Paterno wasn't the monster who raped a bunch of boys; he's just the guy who let it happen under this watch and failed to take adequate steps to halt it.  He's not a "bad" guy in the same way Sandusky is; he's a person who grossly failed in his duties as an employee at PSU and as someone who should be trying to protect small children from a sexual predator he employed.

His Dudeness

November 9th, 2012 at 1:41 PM ^

If the PSU folks in the video believe all of what they say in the video to be true then why not sue the living shit out of ESPN for slander, liable and anything else?

Why make some youtube video about it?

Chester Cheetah

November 9th, 2012 at 2:46 PM ^

I hope everybody realizes that the actions by a crazy faction of the fanbase doesn't represent the entire fanbase.  I know a lot of PSU alums and none of them are even close to resembling the crazy fools who keep making the headlines like this.

The hatred for the parties responsible for what happened is understood but I really wish the blanket statements and lumping of groups would stop.  It really sucks when some of your close friends are called Ped State rapists when they are just as disgusted by what happened as anyone else.

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 9th, 2012 at 3:07 PM ^

Ever get the impression that Coach O'Brien has the "super jalapeno sensation" with this topic - very uncomfortable during the first dose  while eating and then persistent discomfort while exiting. 

"Super" with PSU because they're trying to shove the excrement all the way in reverse and disclaim the whole thing.