Doing the math on Paterno

[yendi]

"Doing a lot for the game*" is not equal to or greater than "sitting on the knowledge that one of your assistant coaches has been raping boys for years."

So no, it's not the loss of a great man this morning. Although the vast amount of vitriol directed at a student editor who reported the story earlier is fascinating in light of the utter lack of vitriol at the man who turned Penn State into the NCAA equivalent of the Catholic Church in recent years.

*Whatever the hell that means, exactly. Most people seem to treat it as "doing your actual job and requiring football players on scholarships to actually take classes."

Comments

[nounsandverbs]

That student editor made a rookie mistake that, in the long run, did little damage to anyone. He accepted responsibility immediately and publicly, and resigned with little fuss.

Paterno, not so much.

[radiumhead.livejournal.com]

I dont want to say that sports fans are idiots, but the reactions a lot of them had to that scandal does kind of make me think that.

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

I can't help but wonder if the kid did have it right, but the family didn't want the word out quite that quickly. I mean, this IS Penn State. They're pretty good at keeping things quiet most times.

I'm waiting for the former players, etc. screaming "SEE WHAT YOU DID TO A GREAT MAN? YOU MADE HIM GIVE UP THE THING HE LOVED AND IT KILLLLLLLED HIM!"

[nishar.livejournal.com]

I agree, what people are going to remember about him in 20 years is Paterno enabled child rape.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

I've already heard that from several people already.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

Here in PA, JoePa is worshipped about as much as Jesus (maybe more, since most bible-thumping folks round here don't actually "worship" Jesus, they just call themselves Christians and go to church but don't pay attention when they do). You have no idea how many people I know (most of whom went to PSU) are deeply saddened by his death and feel that he was wrongly lambasted and treated as a scapegoat.

Winning at football is clearly more important than anything else, even more than protecting children from sexual predators. The "enabling child rape" part will be a glossed-over footnote when compared with the fact that he was "the winningest football coach EVAR OMG."