CORRECTION: Joe Paterno

I would like to apologize for forwarding reports that former Penn State Football Coach, Joe Paterno, had died, Saturday night. Wirtz On Sports serves as an outlet for sports information that I gather from numerous media sources. Since I do not independently gather information on my own, I rely on credible media information to report the latest sports news. I, as a rule, make sure I have two sources before reporting any information. Tonight, Onward State, which is a student news organization that serves Penn State, reported first that Paterno had passed away. After seeing their report on Twitter, I waited to see if any major news organization confirmed the story. The first I saw was CBS Sports. They were followed by The Big Lead, Huffington Post, Deadspin, and a few others. ESPN, CNN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports, among others, did not report Paterno had passed away. Immediately after seeing CBS Sports went with the story, I posted Onward State's report, giving them the credit, as I always try to give the original source credit for a major news story. It turns out, Onward State was wrong. Both of Joe Paterno's sons, Jay and Scott, posted separate messages on Twitter, stating their father is still alive, but in grave and serious condition.

I know I have just a small following on both Facebook and Twitter, however, I take pride in making sure I report accurate information from the sources I post on my pages. I pledge that I will take even more care in making sure I have not two, but at least three, credible media sources before I post such a major story.

It's Time For Morris To Get The Call...

It doesn't matter how much time passes, Jack Morris is a Baseball Hall of Famer. The 2012 class was announced today, and former Cincinnati Reds Shortstop, Barry Larkin, was the only player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America, receiving 86% of the vote (75% is needed for induction). While Larkin's induction is more than deserving, Morris, who received 67% of the vote this year (received 53.5% last year), should have been voted in as well.

No one in the decade of the 80s won more games than Morris. When you wanted to win a game, he was the one that you wanted to give the ball to. Sometimes it wasn't pretty, but when he needed an out, he got one. In his career, Morris was the ace on three World Series winning teams (Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto); won 254 games, completed 175 games, and had 28 shutouts. He pitched a No-Hitter in 1984, won 20 games three times, and pitched 10 innings in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series and beat the Atlanta Braves, and John Smoltz, 1-0, to lead the Minnesota Twins to their first ever World Series title.

Critics of Morris point to his 3.90 career ERA and lack of awards, as some of the reasons why he is not deserving of the Hall of Fame. Baseball Reference's website compares his numbers to Hall of Famers, Bob Gibson, Red Ruffing, Amos Rusie, Burleigh Grimes, Bob Feller, and Jim Bunning. I'd argue he has better or comparable numbers with Ruffing, Grimes, and Bunning.

I think a lot of voters look too much at numbers and forget about what they saw when these players played. Bottom line is, Morris is a Hall of Famer. He is only on the writer's ballot for two more years. Despite the deep 2013 ballot, I think Morris gets in, as 2013 will be the first year where a lot of "Steroid Era" players will be on the ballot. Writers, it's time. Vote Jack Morris into the Hall...

Sandusky Posts Bail

There is one thing I am not understanding in this Jerry Sandusky legal matter. Why in the hell does the judge set bail at an amount that he can post? Initial bail was set at $100,000, which he posted. Yesterday Sandusky was arrested again as a result of a new Grand Jury report that contained new allegations from two more victims. The prosecution asked bail be set at $1 million. Instead, the judge sets it at $250,000. Sandusky spent the night in jail because he could not initially post bail. Now there are reports this morning that he has enough money and assets to post.

I don't get it. Sandusky is facing 50 counts of child sexual abuse from 10 victims. In my opinion, he should not be out of jail. He will be electronically monitored and confined to his home, but that's not good enough for me. Bail should have been set at $1 million and he should be sitting in prison through his trial...

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.

Wheldon Killed in Crash at Las Vegas

IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, 33, died Sunday afternoon from injuries he sustained after being involved in a 15 car crash at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was a two-time Indy 500 champion winning in 2005 and again this year. The Las Vegas Indy 300 was canceled and all drivers participated in a five lap tribute in his honor. The 2011 IndyCar season ends tragically. This is the series first death since Paul Dana in 2006 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

Wheldon is survived by his wife and two young sons.