wondering the simple question of Why..? Why did this have to happen to such a prestigious university like Penn State.
Let me start with the ever so swift firing of Joe. The Board of Trustees knew that this was way out of their hands at this point. There was nothing more to do but to let go of the Paterno and move on. However, if I was a Board of Trustee I would of voted for a completely formal way of dismissing the 84 year old coach.
After four million dollars in donations, hundreds of victories, a library named after him and his name which will live with the university for the rest of its entirety, they fired him over the phone. Thats horrible. It appeared to me that during the Press Conference that the Board of Trustees held they were completely dumfounded with this situation. They had no idea what to do or what the correct way to go about it would be. This was essentially a slap on the face to all of these individuals who had to answer questions who have never spent a moment in the spot light. Now the entire country was looking down on them for answers to the questions the media presented to them.
I also get very irritated when you hear individuals, media members and groups of individuals try to piece together parts of this puzzle and give an edge to a particular side. Bottom line is, what was listed in the Grand Jury report is what was known and determined to this point. All of these other individuals seemingly read and hear the word "Rape" or "Molestation" in the same sentence as Penn State or Joe Paterno and they are completely thrown in the wrong direction. I would be willing to bet that 98% of people had ZERO IDEA, who Sandusky was. I guarantee they had ZERO IDEA he was the defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions. However, it was some what ironic to hear his name not even 1/4 of the time that Paterno's name was mentioned.
Its a tainted legacy and something that poor man has to deal with the rest of his life. He could of been taken off on the shoulders of his largest lineman with a grin on his face with pictures that would live forever in the world of sport. Pictures that would be held in sport almanacs and books for the rest of time. Instead, he's left with the front page image of him signaling for students to go back to their apartments with his left arm around his wife as she cries by his side. "Go do some studying, we love you all, thank you"
Students reply "We love you Joe".
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