It was easy to root for Penn State for the past 19 years or so. For me, they embodied all that was good about big-time college athletics. Old-school coach, basic boring uniforms with NO names on the back, adhering to relatively strict academic standards, and generally presenting themselves with dignity and class. I've heard some argue that there is no place for athletics in an academic environment. That there is nothing redeeming about college athletics at all. To them I would say simply that I couldn't disagree more.
Just like anything else in our 'can't hide from the relentless 24 hour news cycle' society, we immediately hear about indiscretions, scandals and law breakers from the world of sports, both professional and collegiate (personally, I hold college athletes to a slightly LOWER standard than I do professionals but that is a comment for another blog). What does not make the news, however, are the thousands of student athletes who come through the Penn State academic system with flying colors. What does not make the news is the positive influence which 99.9% of Joe Paterno's players insist he had on them. What does not make the news is Joe Paterno's unmatched graduation rate of his players of his 46 year tenure as head coach. What does not make the news is the tremendous philanthropic efforts Joe Paterno has made for the university. What does not make the news is how he consistently held his players accountable for their actions and would suspend, punish or even dismiss players who failed to live up to his standards. Standards which were generally higher than the NCAA demanded and, for the most part, higher than the standards to which his competitors held their student athletes.
So there I am, a huge Joe Paterno fan....and then came this. This somber news that made me begin to doubt all I believed about Joe Paterno and his program. This despicable, gut-wrenching catastrophe allegedly perpetrated by Paterno's long time defensive coordinator and friend Jerry Sandusky. There really are no words to describe the immense disgust I have with the allegations facing Jerry Sandusky, should they prove to be accurate. All early evidence seems to indicate they are just that. Read the Grand Jury report (as I have) and you'll know they have a mountain of evidence against this creep. He should rot in a horrible place for the rest of his life if he is found guilty of these crimes. And it's almost too much to bear even trying to contemplate the hurt, pain and anguish his young victims and their families endured and most assuredly continue to endure. This is just such a sad situation on so many levels.
Friends of mine know that I'm a Penn Sate Football fan. They have called and written to see what I think. It's taken me a while to wrap my head around this story. But I've watched and read a good deal of the media coverage and I've read the report, so here's my take on the people involved in this crisis:
- The victims and their families. All actions and decisions by the board of trustees at Penn State University should be made in the context of what would be in the best interests of the victims and their families. Any decision they come to should be based on making sure all those responsible, to any degree, are held accountable. Any course of action they take should be made with the intent of getting to the absolute truth of the matter with zero regard for reputations or how this may go down in history. It appears to me, by letting the president and the head coach go, they are charting the correct course so far. The victims ARE THE STORY in this matter...not the coaches or the football program. This is a criminal case, not some cockamamie NCAA infraction. We are talking about people's lives. The victims and their family's anguish is far and away the saddest part of this situation.
- The Penn State students. Those protesting (or rioting really) are way off the mark. Go back to class. What's important is justice for these victims, not whether or not Joe gets to coach 4 more games.
- Jerry Sandusky. If found guilty, and I'm confident he will be, I hope he rots in a nasty jail for as long as he lives (I am against the death penalty).
- Athletic Director Tim Curley. If found guilty of not reporting this incident and/or covering this up, he should spend a long time in jail thinking about the position of responsibility he had and how he disgraced himself and the university.
- Senior VP for business & finance Gary Schultz. If found guilty of not reporting this incident and/or covering this up, he should spend a long time in jail thinking about the fact that his department oversees the campus police. Thinking about how he neglected his responsibilities and how he neglected the victims.
- President Graham Spanier. Tough spot for this guy. We do not know yet exactly to what extent he was aware of any of this. He was briefed on the situation but that came from two people that have been indicted for lying to the Grand Jury. In any case, all this happened on his watch and he had to go. Obviously, if it turns out he knew the seriousness of these allegations against Sandusky, he should also go to jail.
- Graduate Assistant Coach Mike McQueary. Another tough spot for this guy. He was just breaking into the coaching profession when this occurred. So you can understand if he had a certain level of apprehension about approaching his boss with this news. But the more I think about McQueary and his position in this, the more I hold him accountable. He was a 28 year old man at the time. He was allegedly the only person who actually saw this event take place. He could have tried to intervene and stop it, he could have called 911, he could have immediately run to the police, but he did none of these things. Instead, he went home and told his dad. The next day he may have absolved himself from criminal liability by informing his head coach, but I believe he could have and should have done more. Picture yourself having been an eye witness to a horrendous crime. If you told your boss and nothing came of it, would that be the end for you? It wouldn't for me and it shouldn't have been for McQueary either. I am not a lawyer, so I have no idea if he can be held accountable in a legal sense, but I hold him accountable in a moral sense.
- Head Coach Joe Paterno. At the very least, Paterno had to be suspended indefinitely as a result of this incident and investigation. The board made the decision to dismiss him of his duties entirely and I really have no argument with that decision whatsoever. You have an unresolved criminal investigation going on. You cannot have a head coach, who is in the middle of the investigation, working on the sidelines of a university sanctioned event representing the school. That would be too divisive and too distracting. More importantly, it would send the wrong message. It would send the message that the football program is more important than the investigation. It isn't and the board got this one correct. The tricky part for me in this case is the fact that we really do not yet know what Joe Paterno knew and when he knew it. There are two possible scenarios as I see it. The first cuts Joe some slack. The first scenario is that when McQueary brought the news to Joe he did so in a way that didn't specifically go into enough detail. And whatever McQueary said, he was talking about Paterno's long time close friend, a man Joe knew better than anyone. Joe may have truly had a hard time believing the story could be true. If he did believe any part of it, he might have thought McQueary's account had to be mistaken or inaccurate in some way. It's a plausible reaction. And it's potentially how some of us in the same situation may have reacted. Five, six, seven years later, nothing came of this, so you go on, believing your own interpretation of the story was correct, that it was nothing significant. The second scenario is that Joe deliberately downplayed the graphic information McQueary provided. Then he downplayed it again to his superiors. Then he failed to follow up on this potential crime committed against an innocent child. Within the context of this second scenario, you could speculate that Joe perhaps knew of other crimes committed by Sandusky. You could speculate that Joe purposely covered up evidence to protect his program. Scenario number two is damning. And frankly, scenario number one could not exactly be considered a highlight of Joe's career. Unfortunately, I could see either scenario proving to be true. Neither is good. If number one is true, Joe goes out on a disgraceful note but absolved of any crimes. Maybe just guilty of being blindly loyal to a fault and arrogantly protective of his football program and its reputation. If scenario number two proves to be closer to the truth, we've potentially got criminal activity on our hands and I will have lost my admiration for the man. For me, all the philanthropic deeds, the positive elements and the general pride he brought to Penn State will be gone completely. And I'm very sorry to say, much as I loved and respected the man up to this point, I really can't be worried about Joe's reputation in all of this - I can only hope that justice is served.
July 12, 2012 -
Less than three weeks ago, Jerry Sandusky was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 45 of 48 sexual abuse counts against him (read about the verdict here). These charges stemmed from the accounts of ten victims. Undoubtedly, there were others. Ironically, the attack the public was most familiar with - the Penn State locker room shower incident which was witnesses by assistant coach McQueery - was the one that accounted for the three acquitted counts. All I can say is thank goodness those victims were brave enough to come forward and take the stand in a court of law. The vile monster that is Jerry Sandusky will never see the light of day again.
Today the Freeh report was made public (read the entire Freeh report here). This is a 267 page investigative document regarding the entirety of the Penn State scandal. It is pretty close to a worst-case scenario as this mess relates to those with the most authority on the Penn State campus at the time of these incidents. Yes, Joe Paterno is implicated in a cover-up...there is no other way to spin what is contained in the report. I am saddened, disappointed and, frankly, disgusted. But I can't say I'm entirely surprised. As I wrote just two days after the scandal broke in November of 2011, I could see this as a likely outcome. I just wish it wasn't.
-dp
