Found an interesting article. You know I love Joe Paterno, a man who has devoted 60 years of his life - transparently - for the betterment of humanity. So when every talking head in the land began crucifying him for some perceived inaction it made me very angry at all of them, because fo their vain "superiority." What little do their shallow minds know.
Me 53 XW 50 M 18 Years +2 S14 D19 Bomb 10-24-10 Served 1-27-11 Mediate 4-21-11 Civil D Final 6-2-11 No church anullment "A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits."
So when every talking head in the land began crucifying him for some perceived inaction it made me very angry at all of them, because fo their vain "superiority." What little do their shallow minds know.
I'm not being vain, or acting superior Pickle....
I would actually love to hear more of YOUR thoughts about this, since you are a PSU alum.
Realistically, every person out there has had the opportunity to act on a morally higher ground at some point throughout our lives, and have chosen to not act the way we would like to, or should have. Hopefully NOT on this level though...
I know that I have raised questions within myself since this has become so public. In DBing terms, do my actions match my words ? Am I really who I want to be ?
I'm not bashing JoePa here.
There are very few people who actually know what DID happen there. I'm definitely not one of them.
Nor is it my job to judge, sentence, or crucify any of them.
What almost all of us know, is dependent on what has been presented to the nation through the media. And I don't see too many reports supporting the other side. And I'm fairly certain that a Grand Jury would NOT indict a highly ethical gentleman for no apparent reason. SOMETHING happened there that we will learn-down the road-is probably somewhere in the middle of these two things.
I think we all pray that it doesn't turn out to be deeper than what has already been painted.
My thoughts are, that SOMETHING was going on there. And the institute failed, not just one person. The system failed, not one person. It just so happens to have happened on the watch of THE one person, who has stood on the soapbox for MANY years about his high moral fiber.
He said himself, that he wished he would have done more. Not that he wished he would have looked into it more. To me, that screams that he knew more...
From what the media allowed us to hear from the accused , his answers certainly raised even more questions for me.
JP HAS done great things for many years. Does doing great things make one a great person ? Maybe so...
It's too bad that his legacy will have this asterisk behind it.
One of the things I find disturbing about this....
IF....this is true, and there was an ongoing investigation for many years with this...
WHY ??? Did the Grand Jury wait until the afternoon AFTER his record setting win was in the books..to start this fire ????
THAT would show me, that even the legal system, put the athletics department , and the individual accomplishments of the man on watch, ahead of the children in this once again.
Pickle, I pray every night that this isn't true.
Not for the exoneration of the "man on watch" though, for the people that would have to live with that truth if it is true....
I liked the article....a lot of thinking material.
I can also see where you feel the way you do about the program. I would imagine that you ( and all of the PSU alum) would feel betrayed to the core. That all that was once good, is somehow tainted. For that ? My sympathy goes out to all PSU alum, as well as the alleged victims.
Hindsight is always 20/20. JoePa even admitted publically, he wished he had done more.
But the focus of my wrath is the media firestorm directed at him by smug judges trumpeting their sympathy for someone else's victims and casting their stones at the bystander instead of the perpetrator. They all screamed: "He enabled! He looked the other way!"
At this the board of trustees panicked. Every talking head in the country was repeating the same mantra: why didn't Paterno follow up? They shaped public opinion to the point that it almost appeared as if JoePa was the target of the investigation. So the trustees attempted to remove the subject of discussion from the front pages and appear to sieze control of the situation. I suppose they had little choice.
But their haste will inevitibly backfire. It is inconceivable to many that a man with a history as transparent as Paterno's would end up being found culpable in a scandal in which proper authorities were aware of it's genesis from the beginning, that was 1998.
Sure, he could have pursued a "follow up" conversation, if he distrusted those whom he'd already told. And who's to say he didn't follow up? Paterno will eventually have an opportunity to tell his side of the story. But as of now, due to legal ramification, he hasn't been able to speak in his own defense, even as the stones fall all around him. I believe he's been scapegoated by a mob media.
David Brooks'article indicts those smug judges for their vanity and shallow mindedness.
Me 53 XW 50 M 18 Years +2 S14 D19 Bomb 10-24-10 Served 1-27-11 Mediate 4-21-11 Civil D Final 6-2-11 No church anullment "A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits."
Me 53 XW 50 M 18 Years +2 S14 D19 Bomb 10-24-10 Served 1-27-11 Mediate 4-21-11 Civil D Final 6-2-11 No church anullment "A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits."
