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Thoughts on Joe Paterno and Penn State
Posted : 17 Nov, 2011 11:02 AM

Rather than being remembered as a great coach, Joe Paterno should be an example of why it is so important to do the right thing and that integrity is not just confined to following the letter of the law. Also, cynical as it may be, I wonder if he is sorry for the victims or just sorry he got caught.

What are your thoughts on the situation there?

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Thoughts on Joe Paterno and Penn State
Posted : 20 Nov, 2011 06:11 PM

Certainly it is a very sad situation, one that went on far too long. I hope the victims will receive justice for the acts committed against them.



Personally, over the past few years I've been following college football, I've felt that JoePa was too old to be coaching, and also kind of out of it. These allegations in my mind further support what I've believed about him.



The 2002 shower incident should have never happened. Joe Paterno should have acted decisively in 1998, and certainly after the incident the janitor saw (not sure when that was). Two serious incidents in the span of only a couple years? Shows something sick was going on. And the reaction of Joe Paterno and the Penn State administration was to basically slap on Sandusky's wrist by saying "don't bring kids here anymore but we'll still let you access our facilities/weight room/etc." Absolute garbage.



Speaking of decisive action, I was pleased to see that after Joe tried to tell the board that "he'd resign at the end of the year" they fired him immediately.



It seems pretty clear that there was a a decade long, systematic cover-up at Penn State, in which Joe Paterno participated. He should be held fully accountable just like the rest of them for his failures and inactions. Paterno may have followed the law but as we can see that doesn't make a person moral. Ethics do not stop with simply following the law.



I honestly feel that Penn State shouldn't be playing football right now. The rest of the season should have been canceled the moment this story broke. Playing football is a distraction from the much larger issue at hand.

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