Cannot Forget the Victims

With Penn State's dismissal of legendary Head Football Coach Joe Paterno, we cannot forget the victims at the hands of former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky. While we hate to see a legend like Paterno be dismissed in this way, it's the young, innocent boys who's lives changed forever at the hands of a sexual predator that we cannot forget. So much went wrong at Penn State in not protecting these kids. It was and abject failure of epic proportions, that nothing was done to hold Sandusky accountable for these heinous crimes against defenseless children. As former Penn State player Matt Millen said, "If we can't protect our kids, then we as a society are pathetic."

We have to remember, this is not about football. It's not about a legendary coach and his legacy. It's about children getting their innocence taken away from them by a predatory adult. One of the sad things about the press conference that was held by the Penn State Board of Trustees late Wednesday night was a reporter asking the first question after Paterno's fate was announced... "Who will coach the team on Saturday?". That's the first concern, really? How about what will be done to help these victims? Sports is both a great distraction and it also can lead to people not thinking rationally. Most fans are not rational people, especially when it comes to their team. We all need to take a step back, even the most diehard Penn State fan, and realize that this is not about football. It's about adults not doing their jobs to protect kids. Let's not lose sight of what happened at State College. Let's not forget the boys who are the true victims in this. We are Penn State? That's bullshit right now...How about, where is the justice?

Below is the link to the 23-page Grand Jury report on the allegations against Jerry Sandusky. Caution: Material in the report is extremely graphic and disturbing...

href="http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf"

Coach Paterno & President Spanier Fired at Penn State

The Penn State Board of Trustees has announced that Head Football Coach Joe Paterno and University President, Graham Spanier, have been fired, effective immediately. Curiously, Wide Receivers Coach Mike McQueary is still employed as of now. A grown man who witnessed a horrendous act on a 10-year old boy in a shower by an adult, and did not do anything to stop it and only reported it to his superior and not the police, should not be employed either.

Watching the Penn State Trustees presser right now and the man taking all the questions is clearly rattled by the atmosphere of the room and the press throwing tough questions at them. Very odd scene. Penn State University is a mess...

The Penn State Sexual Abuse Scandal

The more that comes out about the sexual abuse allegations against former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, and the inaction of several high profile men at Penn State, the more disgusting this is becoming. Not only the act of preying on innocent young boys whom Sandusky met through his foundation, The Second Mile, is disgusting, but the fact that there appears to be a cover up is almost as appalling. There are many questions that need to be answered both legally and morally. I'm not going to get into the details of the acts itself, but the questions remain as how this was allowed to continue and why Sandusky had full access to all Penn State facilities up to this day?

While I'm not, in anyway ignoring the victims in this case, but another question has to be asked, what should happen to Head Coach Joe Paterno? Paterno, who seemingly has run a clean program through his entire 46 year run, and has recently become the all-time winnigest coach in FBS history, has come under fire as well. Basically it comes down to, how much did he know and when did he know it. He reported an incident that he was made aware of to his boss, then Athletic Director Tim Curley (who stepped down early Monday morning). What exactly did Paterno know? Did he know details about the incident or did he just hear of something, and not knowing much about it, reported it to his boss, as he should. Did he know more? Should he have followed up with his AD and asked him what was being done about this? Thse are all tough questions that need to be answered. If you hear of sex abuse allegations against a child, wouldn't you go to the authorities? We can all say we would, but it comes down to, how much did he know and when did he know it.

I'm not defending Paterno, or anyone else involved in the Penn State program. I have thought a lot about whether Paterno should step down or not and I think he should. Not only should he resign, but anyone that knew about these allegations against Sandusky and anyone who continued to allow him to be involved with the Penn State program and allowing him on campus should also resign. There are a lot of people to blame in allowing the abuse of these children to go on. It's absolutely disgusting to me that someone didn't do the right thing. If the Athletic Director was told about this, if the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance was told about this and did not investigate further or turn this over to the police, shame on them. Both AD Curley and Senior VP of Business and Finance, Gary Schultz, have bothe been arraigned on charges of lying to a grand jury and failing to properly report alleged child sexual abuse.

Paterno will hold his regular, weekly press conference Tuesday afternoon at 12:30pm. Reporters have been told to only ask questions about their upcoming game against Nebraska this weekend. I highly doubt any good reporter there will heed those instructions. Questions have to be asked. What did Paterno know...How much did he know...When did he know it...Did he do everything in his power to stop this? Those are just a few of the questions that Paterno needs to answer.