The Most Important Thing Was Sandusky Comment Count

Brian

locker2[1]

You can't throw a rock today without hitting a piece on Joe Paterno, and I'll add my bit. I've read a half-dozen of them and feel myself drawn to the portions that focus on his ignoble demise at the hands of a long-overdue grand jury investigation into Jerry Sandusky. The ones that skip it entirely, as many PSU-based POVs do, or attempt to put it "in perspective" seem to be succumbing to the same disease that felled everyone when Nixon died and people scrambled for good things to say about him other than "he's dead."

Paterno is not Nixon, obviously. Nixon is the most obvious public funeral held in which ill things were not spoken of the dead due to social taboo, rather than reason. I dislike that natural impulse to whitewash. When Christopher Hitchens died I spent a lot of time reading his withering obituaries just to watch him stick the knife in and twist. If that makes me ruthless, okay.

I just can't get over how it all came crashing down. Not only did Paterno and the culture he created shelter Sandusky, Paterno did not seem to feel remorse for half a second. Maybe this is just an addled old man speaking but it is appalling that this came out of his mouth at the impromptu pep rally at his home in the immediate aftermath of the grand jury's testimony:

The kids that were victims or whatever they want to say, I think we all ought to say a prayer for them. Tough life, when people do certain things to you. Anyway, you’ve been great. Everything’s great, all right.

Virtually the entire media edited Paterno's statement into a less awful version because their sense of propriety could not grasp the words that had actually come out of his mouth. This was Joe Paterno. He couldn't have said that. He shouldn't have said anything. He should have been in his house crying to his wife, finally realizing the monstrous consequences of his inaction.

Instead he seemed to think of himself as a victim. A lot of people find ways to blame themselves for massive tragedies they are not responsible for. Paterno was oblivious to his role to the end. Maybe that's forgivable to some people who look at the donations and the football coaching and the Great Experiment. Not me. I have great respect for Chris Grovich of Black Shoe Diaries but I can't read this

Behind Joe Paterno's Beaver Stadium statue are the words, "Educator, Coach, Humanitarian." They really could have been arranged in any order.

…without inserting "child rape enabler" in any order. That phrase overwhelms the rest. If he did lead a program that strove to prove it was capable of operating at a higher plane that just makes it worse. He was held up—he held himself up—as a man who could achieve success on and off the field in a way that others could not.

Maybe any one of us would have done the same thing if confronted by the terrible truth about a long-time friend. Maybe 90% of people would not have had the courage to blow up a reputation so carefully crafted over such a long period. Maybe Joe Paterno was just being human.

That's not enough when you have a statue. Paterno wasn't supposed to be human, he was supposed to be Joe Paterno. He wasn't and now he never was. He had over a decade to do something about Sandusky and did not. That is no mistake, or misjudgment, or error. It is immensely sad, but in the end Paterno failed his charge more spectacularly than a man who dared less would have. You can call him Icarus if you want; I'm not inclined to give him that benefit of the doubt. The costs were not worth the attempt.

The statue is Joe Paterno now. The man is dead. Hopefully the idea behind the statue can help people be better than the man turned out to be.

---------------------------

[Editor's note: Orson and I both go for the statue conceit. We've seen people crying or overturning news vans in its vicinity it every 30 seconds over the past few months, so maybe not a huge surprise.]

Comments

coastal blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:13 PM ^

You can't be serious?

It's not even about him being "built up into a legend" and then failing everyone.

It's about him being someone who absolutely could have stopped this and not doing anything about it. And we're not talking about some football players cheating on tests or tattoos or practice time. We're talking about children being raped. You don't need a statue to be expected to do everything you can to prevent such things from happening on your watch. You just have to be a decent human being. Clearly, he was lacking in that department and thats why people think he's horrible. 

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:29 PM ^

He did do something about it. He reported it to his superiors who SHOULD have launched an investigation. I believe he was assured that that it was going to investigated, at least that is what he alleged he was told. You make it seem like he did nothing. In practice, yes, his report amounted to nothing. He made a grave error (in hindsight) by not being persistent with the higher ups and by not being more pro-active about the matter but he did do something. In hindsight, as we learned, the administrators never bothered to do anything and nipped it in the bud.

Erik_in_Dayton

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:37 PM ^

No, it happened in real time.  The boy who Sandusky allegedly raped in the shower that day was apparently abused for something like five more years.  Paterno had that much time to say, "Hey, those guys never did do anything about that.  Maybe I oughta make a few phone calls."   

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:58 PM ^

It would not have happened overnight. I have a few friends that work in various legal enforcement agencies, from local squads to the Feds. Investigations take a long time, especially ones that involves serious allegations and heinous crimes. The idea is that you do not want to charge someone without having a very solid case. Although it seems like only yesterday, it has been, what, months since the story broke, and the police are probably just at the beginning of their investigation, collecting info, interviewing witnesses (victims, members of the community, members of Sandusky's charitable organization, etc.). You are right, Paterno could have been more persistent with Shultz and the administration, continuing to press the issue, trying to find out what is happening, where is the investigation going, etc. My sense is that he felt that since he reported it to the appropriate authorities (his superior, the Chief of Campus Police) it would be investigated and they would deal with it. I do not know what he knew about the investigation, or the lack thereof, and I will not make any assumptions, but real time in the legal investigative process can be as short as a few months and as long as decades.

STW P. Brabbs

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:02 PM ^

You might be right about the criminal investigation. But he kept letting Sandusky use the locker room, the showers, and the rest of Penn State's facilities for years. He let him continue to run his camps there for years. Even after more and more allegations came forth regarding Sandusky and children (not that one shouldn't have been sufficient.)

If you still think Paterno maybe didn't really know what was going on with Sandusky for all those years, you're just never going to be convinced otherwise. You don't want to believe ugly things about Paterno, so you won't.

(Note that the 'you' is, like, the royal you, man.)

BigBlue02

January 23rd, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^

This is the exact reason why anyone sticking up for JoePa doesn't really understand what the fuck he did. After he testified at the trial in 2010 and numerous people came out against Sandusky, JoePa STILL allowed him to use the facilities at PSU.  Think about that...JoePa testified under oath that McQueary told him something sexual happened between Sandusky and a young boy in the PSU showers AND STILL ALLOWED HIM TO USE THAT SAME SHOWER FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR. JoePa is fucking scum.

Gameboy

January 23rd, 2012 at 9:05 PM ^

You know that is all nice and all, but you know what is really appalling?

He NEVER asked once "how's that kid in the shower? Is he okay?"

He NEVER showed one OUNCE of concern for the kid who was abused. If he cared even a LITTLE about that kid who got raped, all of this would have been resolved properly.

THAT is what is so sad about all this. All he cared about, which is CLEAR from his action/non-action was that the football program be clean from all this. He just chucked the matter over the wall and hoped that it would disappear, which is pretty much exactly what happened.

Any moral leader would have shown SOME cursory compassion for that little victim. Paterno NEVER did until this whole thing blew up. Even then, he never asked how the kids are and what happened to them.

That is not someone I want leading my son/daughters.

saveferris

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:02 PM ^

He's not a monster, Sandusky is the monster.  Yet, for those who want to make the Sandusky affair into some kind of tragic footnote in an otherwise exemplary life by throwing out the caveat, "Joe was human" trivializes the tragedy of the episode.  Life throws challenges at you and Joe Paterno met most of them successfully, but he failed to rise up to meet the most important one he faced and to try and minimize that is wrong and does a disservice to the victims of Sandusky's abuse.

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:12 PM ^

harm that was caused by Sandusky in part because Joe (for whatever reason) was not more pro-active about the matter. However, as iconic of a coach he was, in the end he was a human being. I do not know why he was not more pro-active about it. Maybe he, naively, thought that fulfilling his legal duty took care of the matter (the higher ups conducting an investigation, involving the police, etc. etc.). I do not know what Joe knew. He was told by the President that they would look into the matter. Perhaps he thought that they did and the investigation revealed nothing. I do not know what he knew (Nor do most people. People like to make assumptions and go on those). That being said he could have been more persistent with the President (i.e. What is going with the Sandusky matter? Have you conducted an invesitgation? etc.) and could have confronted Sandusky about the matter. He did not. He had a lapse of judgment. He was human. He made a mistake which, in hindsight, proved to be a very grave mistake.

coastal blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:19 PM ^

He had 10 years to think about what he was told and did nothing. He had constant reminders whenever Sandusky showed up to his practices with Second Mile kids. 

That's not a lapse in judgement, that's a cover-up by omission. He gambled that no one would find out about what happened and it ended up costing many young kids dearly, as well as topple both his football program and his university.

Stop trying to minimize this as a mistake. 

 

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:09 PM ^

was assured that the matter would be looked into. And, no, I am not trying to minimize the travesty that happened. My point was he alerted the authorities, including the Chief of police. He was assured that they would "look into the matter". Could he have been more proactive about it by persistently following up? Yes. He did not. He made a mistake which, in hindsight, was a tragic one. Was he human? Yes. I would call his naivety and/or indifference a lapse of judgment. Mike McQueary's lack of action, on the other hand, imo, is a lot more grave.

coastal blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:32 PM ^

doesn't brush off Paterno allowing Sandusky being allowed to attend his football practices with young boys after Sandusky allegedly raped one of them as witnessed by a member of his coaching staff, as a mistake. Yours does. So which one of us is thinking clearly and which one of us is just being pigheaded?

 

coastal blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:26 PM ^

and/or refuse to acknowledge:

Joe Paterno was not some small town football coach in which going to his direct superior was all one would hope he could do. He is a powerful enough man in Pennsylvania to the point he could have taken matters into his own hands. He had superiors in title, but he was clearly at the top of the food chain when he wanted to be. He used his "superiors" as an excuse to wash his hands of the incident.

You say its "human nature" to make mistakes. That's fine. I say it is human nature to check-up on a potential child rapist that you cross paths with in your everyday life. That's where your argument loses all credibility.

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:45 PM ^

Yes, I know that he was all powerful. I am not stupid or naive (as you obviously seem to think). I realize how much power a football coach at a major program can wield (i.e. Gee comment re: Tressel). Could Paterno have been more persistent and done more? Absolutely. Should he have? Yup. Did he? No. That is because, at the end of the day, he was just a man, not Jesus Christ. And that was the point of my original post, that yes he wasTHE Joe Paterno, but he was also a man. He made a HUGE fucking mistake by not being persistent, by not confronting Sandusky, by not making sure that the proper authorities would get to the bottom of the matter. He failed to act when it most mattered and his legacy as a human being (more so than as a coach of Penn State) will forever be tarnished because of that, and many will argue deservedly so. But he was a man, not an infallible Christ-like figure. 

coastal blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 8:54 PM ^

It doesn't take a Christ-like figure to FOLLOW-UP ON CHILD RAPE ALLEGATIONS. Or from at least preventing Sandusky from being around children on PSU grounds when you have that power.

It takes a decent human being! That's it! And that's why all your "oh, it was a grave mistake, but he is just a human being after all" is falling on deaf ears and you look like incredibly ignorant. Because Paterno couldn't even do what a decent human being would be expected to do. 

That's why all this foolishness about what good he did overshadowing the bad is just a bunch of bullshit. He proved at that moment that he cared more about not tarnishing his football program more than he cared about the well-being of children and that goes well beyond a mistake and shows exactly what kind of person he really was. 

But go ahead and try and justify things like Sandusky still being on campus after Paterno testified as just being a human being, makin' mistakes like the rest of us. 

96goblue00

January 23rd, 2012 at 10:13 PM ^

trying to sugar coat his lack of moral judgment and his wilful blindness. Just remember, all the do-gooders have stains on their conscience, even Mother Theresa (allegations that she used funds donated for the poor for her own means, among other transgressions), Ghandi (used to beat his wife), MLK (cheated on his wife), etc. etc. They all had some serious transgressions in their lives but to say that they did not do good is false and to say that they were not good people, well, that is subject to debate. I guess when evaluating an individual's life the question becomes whether the good outweighs the bad, which you obviously feel is not the case in Paterno's case. The other question is whether an individual can be forgiven for his actions (or lack thereof) and whether the focus can shift at the good the individual did. I take it you feel that Paterno cannot be forgiven and that all that he has done is overshadowed by that which he did not do. In my "ignorant" opinion, Joe Pa is not the "scum of the earth," "a vile being". He made a serious moral error towards the end of his long life. By his lack of doing, he enabled a predator. It was was a very grievous error, appaling, and, in no way, am I trying to sugar coat what happened. I realize that he was a fallible, and most likely weak, human being, weak for not doing more, but I also know that he did a lot of good for a lot of people as a coach and as a human being. As far as judging Paterno's lack of action (I will reserve that for God).

I am not going to continue argue with you on this because obviously I am ignorant and you are morally superior than I am. I will leave you with this quote:

To err is human; to forgive, divine

 

Gameboy

January 23rd, 2012 at 5:52 PM ^

Chris Grovich is actually about the only sane person on that board!!!

Have you seen all the posts there about Joe Paterno? They all think he was completely innocent and he was just railroaded by bad mass media and clueless board of trustees.

They even have regular posts about conspiracy theories and other explanations that basically exonerates everyone including Sandusky!

That board is just sick...

When this whole thing exploded, I felt bad/sad for PSU, but after reading some stuff on that board, I can see why a guy like Sandusky can thrive for years without any objections.

Gulo Blue

January 23rd, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

What on earth does that even mean?  Whether he thinks what happened is no big deal or a terrible crime against the innocent and defenseless, it doesn't make sense.

WolverBean

January 23rd, 2012 at 8:02 PM ^

to me is that he (Paterno) couldn't really wrap his head around what had happened. That's why his quote sounds so un-empathetic: he is unable to empathize, because he can't really hold the concept of this crime in his head to begin with. I suspect this inability to get his own head around what allegedly happened is also the root cause of his fundamental failure in handling the matter. I don't think it was a question to him of protecting his reputation or the institution. I think he just couldn't understand it, and so he did what most people do when confronted with something they can't understand: he ignored it.

To be clear, in saying this, I'm not trying to excuse him in any way. I agree that his failure here is epic, and cannot be overlooked. I'm just wondering if it's possible to understand what led to that failure, or if this will always just be something to look back on and ask WTF?

BraveWolverine730

January 23rd, 2012 at 5:51 PM ^

This perfectly captures my feelings on the issue. All I saw on facebook and other sites were people falling over themselves to claim how great his legacy was.  I love football and college sports as much as anyone and I let them dictate my emotional equilibrium to a probably unhealthy degree. However, one thing that overrides that is the absolute inhuman suffering that was caused by Sandusky and the fact that Joe Paterno played a part in fostering both the environment to allow it to happen and continue is going to be what I remember him for, not for winning football games. 

cazzie

January 23rd, 2012 at 5:53 PM ^

The guy was a prick. He was also an iconic football coach. But after being told Sandusky was seen buggering a young boy in the locker room, and then seeing him with more young boys on campus, and running a charity camp for boys, for years afterwards and allowing it to go on, is ignorance and cowardice. And him claiming that he did not know about boy-rape. He's a catholic FERGODSAKES! Everyone is aware today of what evil perverted men, in position of authority, are capable of doing to young boys. 

Maybe we can all take something aways from this: If you ever hear of a man screwing boys in the butt, call the police. And if you later see them with another young boy, or hear that they are running a camp for boys, go up to him and punch him in the face, and then call the police.

Shame on JoePa, and on all the apologists.

BlueGoM

January 24th, 2012 at 12:04 PM ^

Most of his detractors can only focus on his drinking and very little else. 

There is also a nasty group of leftists that never forgave him for moving on from "their side", as it were, at least on the topic of fighting Islamic radicals.  Not that Hitchens ever became a right winger.

 

Space Coyote

January 23rd, 2012 at 5:59 PM ^

I think your Nixon comparison is apt, however, I think it goes beyond just the two people being compared, and they can also be compared in how people are speaking about them.  No one ever speaks of the good things Nixon did in his time as president, they only talk about the major bad thing he did (not trying to get into politics here).

I agree that the Sandusky thing is a major black eye on Joe Pa, but it isn't the whole story.  It is a a significant part of the story, but there are many other significant parts, and it is my feeling that you completely brushed those things aside for what is current.  This isn't correct, the whole body of work and the whole man should be looked at when judging the man.  He is neither hero no demon, he is a man, and he is somewhere between the two.  I feel that should at least be acknowledged.

Tha Stunna

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:16 PM ^

Thank you for the point about NIxon.  He will always be a caricature of evil for many people, but his legacy is much more complex than that.  It's difficult to figure out what to say about JoePa, but hopefully people can learn that the least you can do is not enough.

GoBlueYork

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:03 PM ^

Can Brian get his facts straight and preface every post he writes "if it's not Michigan, it's evil". Joe Pa was not a child rape enabler. He fucked up and should've done more as he said, but please, he didn't open the shower curtain to Sandusky's victims so to speak.

The block quote totally misquotes him as well. With the initial portion directed towards the victims and the last two sentences addressed towards his supporters standing on his front porch. Brian horribly manipulates the quote and loses credibility and integrity in my book. (I'm sure he'll lose sleep over this).

Finally, no reference of the 1000s of lives and minds he cultivated to become great members of society. As if he did nothing other than letting children get raped. This is one of Brian's worst written pieces ever. Shame on him.

LB

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:42 PM ^

Explain that one away, and I'll begin to listen.

 

Also - in regards to his comments; I hope none of you ever have to witness a loved one dying of lung cancer. If you believe that (age and circumstances notwithstanding), you were looking at a man wholly in command of his mental state, I suspect you are mistaken. I'm not giving him a pass for it, and in no way am I defending his actions, but lets be a bit reasonable, and human in our comments.

Run Up The Score

January 23rd, 2012 at 7:59 PM ^

Without getting into the substance of the rest of this mess (really, I'm punched out at this point, it's been a long two months of writing about this shit), Sandusky had access to the facilities when he was given emeritus status as part of his negotiated retirement package in 1999.  Did Joe Paterno have the authority to revoke that?  No.  Even with admitting that Paterno had way more influence than your ordinary football coach, it was not enough to unilaterally do that.



Just a point of clarification on that.

Logan

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:28 PM ^

"The block quote totally misquotes him as well."

Actually, the block quote totally quotes him. Brian didn't misconstrue him at all. Anyone reading it would know that the first part is directed toward the victims (or whatever they want to say) and the second part is directed to the supporters on the porch. How does that make the full block quote any less vile?

Brian's simply addressing the elephant in the room. If you want to read about all of the minds he's cultivated while glossing over that he turned a blind eye to a child rapist for a decade, then by all means, check out some of the stories Brian hyperlinked in his piece.

no joke its hoke

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:40 PM ^

The Pope helped thousands of people too,but they also transferred child predators from one church to the next. They are all pricks and karma comes for everyone. I'm not saying his good dead should be forgotten,but neither should sins that would make most men cringe.

Taps

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:05 PM ^

It has been astounding to me that if my social media and the media at large are representative, about 9 of every 10 people have taken "enabling child rape doesn't sound like something Joe Pa would do" to mean "enabling child rape isn't something Joe Pa did."

I had been feeling for the last few days that I had been taking crazy pills.  Thanks for the sanity.

soup-er-UM

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:06 PM ^

People need to get off this holier than thou pedestal.  He should have done more than the minimum required of him and he didn't, which is a tragic shame.  I'm not excusing his actions, but to disregard the entire body of his work is ridiculous.  

He wasn't Joe Paterno, the guy who never made a mistake, but he did generally try to do things the right way for the vast majority of his life, and he did manage to help thousands of men become better humans along the way.  His biggest error shouldn't completely eviscerate his many good works, especially when those criticizing him wouldn't have the guts to do half the incredible things (for many people which has been documented time and again by those at penn state and in college football) JoePa did in his lifetime.

 

AAB

January 23rd, 2012 at 6:15 PM ^

really unhelpful in this situation, so let's be clear about what the mistake was:

Joe Paterno knew that his former defensive coordinator had raped a child.  And he did nothing but report it to his superior, and took no further action when it became clear nothing was going to happen to Sandusky.  Then he kept quiet about the child rape that he knew about for more than a decade, during which Jerry Sandusky ran a camp for children.  

There.  See how much worse that sounds when you describe what he actually did, rather than use the term "mistake?"

soup-er-UM

January 23rd, 2012 at 8:10 PM ^

it's what happened.  He made a terrible horrendous mistake by not reporting his friend he was told was molesting children.  Is that specific enough?  

I don't think he had a malicious intent to harm children, but given the extent of his former friend's treachery I'm sure he wished he'd done more.  I think he is guilty of not fully grasping how evil his friend of 30 years was.  It's not an easy thing to do or an easy situation to be in, so while I don't excuse him at all, it's not enough to look in hindsight using moral absolutes and say he was a terrible person.  He's not the one who raped any kids, and he is the person who guided many, many, of his players with integrity and class.  That should not be forgotten and can be rightly honored in his name.

AAB

January 23rd, 2012 at 8:23 PM ^

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

I don't have any idea whether Paterno was, deep down, a good person.  I'd guess he probably was.  But that's not what matters.  What matters is that there are at least a dozen -- and probably more -- people out there whose lives are never going to be completely okay, and Joe Paterno was in a position to prevent the rape of at least a few of them, and did not.   There are few things in life that are black and white.  That's one of them.  And yes, those destroyed lives mean that everything else Paterno ever did takes a backseat.  

At the end of the day, I don't really care if he was a terrible person or not.  He allowed an unspeakably awful -- and evil -- thing to happen for over a decade.  At that point, what truly was in Paterno's heart becomes wholly irrelevant.  

soup-er-UM

January 23rd, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^

Then where is the vitriol and the hatred for the innumerable other people who were in a position to potentially prevent this?  When McQueary dies will he have people proclaiming him forever tarnished and be upset when they say nice things about him at his funeral?  What about Bradley, or the AD, Sandusky's grocer, the other people at Sandusky's charity, everyone who ever had contact with Sandusky?  They are at least as liable, and yet people seem more upset at Paterno because he'd done more and built up a better reputation before that time.  

It's was a difficult and terrible situation.  He didn't do the right thing.  I hope all the people bashing him would do the right thing in the same situation, maybe most would, but certainly not all.