Joe Pa Fired

This just in .... Joe Paterno has been fired as the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions effective immediately.

What a sad ending to a great career. Still with a lapse of judgement that huge, there could be no other outcome.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/justice/pennsylvania-coach-abuse-charges/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Not just a lapse in judgment, but involvement in a cover-up that extends from the campus police to assistant coaches up through the head of the football program and the top of the university organization.
 
This story is just beginning.  I'm afraid that we are going to see a lot more kids come out about being molested by Jerry Sandusky.  This guy could have been stopped years ago- Nobody bothered to do it.
 
 
 

My guess is that he will go to that big stadium in the sky relatively quickly. This tragedy will break his heart and his will to live. Very, Very Sad.

Foodbme


My guess is that he will go to that big stadium in the sky relatively quickly. This tragedy will break his heart and his will to live. Very, Very Sad.

Oh, somehow I doubt that. If he could look the other way when he discovered one of his assistants was a child sex offender, his heart's probably fine. If it exists at all.
 
Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Students rioting and demanding JoPa back? Don't they have any educators in Happy Valley?

Popularity is usually not based on intelligence.

It is blatantly unfair that the media have put Joe Paterno's face on this mess.  The grand jury did not find him negligent in any way.
 
Read the grand jury transcript: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html .
 
The 28 year-old graduate assistant who witnessed that horrendous criminal act against a child did not report it to police.  When, on the advice of his father, he told Coach Paterno he did not tell Paterno the truth.  He characterized the act as "inappropriate" and "horseplay".  That is very much like calling what Oswald "gave" JFK a "double love tap".
 
Still, troubled by the graduate assistant's concern, Paterno very appropriately reported the matter to his supervisor and his supervisor's supervisor and asked (and trusted) them to investigate the matter.  According to the sworn grand jury testimony such was the full extent of Paterno's involvement.  And again, the grand jury did not find Paterno to have been negligent in any way.
 
Now, with 20/20 hindsight, the media are shrilly claiming that JoePA "should have done more".  The simple fact of the matter is that had Paterno been told the complete truth he would have called the Pennslyvania State Police faster than he benched Franco Harris for a "bad attitude" before a bowl game for the National Championship.
 
Please appreciate that Joseph V. Paterno is far more than "just a coach"; truly, he is the Pope of Pennsylvania.  By his conduct, good deeds, singular achievements, and philanthropy he has earned such status -- and power.  Coach never abused that singular power.  So he knew that any charge he would make to the police based on a graduate assistant's accusation of "inappropriate horseplay" would be over-proscueted.  Therefore, he asked his supervisors to investigate the charge so understated to him by a graduate assistant.  Clearly in retrospect, his trust in his supervisors was grossly misplaced.
 
And for that Paterno was fired?! 
 
I live in the Republic of Texas where the highest paid state employee is Longhorns' football coach Mack Brown.  He is paid FIVE TIMES as much as JoePa.  Yet, despite accepting a salary far below his market worth, Paterno has donated millions to PSU (including PSU's main library) while living in a modest house that, aside from historic value, wouldn't sell for $100 grand.
 
And the Trustees fired him to satiate the media beast.  No wonder the students in Happy Valley are rioting and turning over media trucks.  I feel like joining them!

MetroplexJim


It is blatantly unfair that the media have put Joe Paterno's face on this mess.  The grand jury did not find him negligent in any way.

Read the grand jury transcript: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html .

The 28 year-old graduate assistant who witnessed that horrendous criminal act against a child did not report it to police.  When, on the advice of his father, he told Coach Paterno he did not tell Paterno the truth.  He characterized the act as "inappropriate" and "horseplay".  That is very much like calling what Oswald "gave" JFK a "double love tap".

Still, troubled by the graduate assistant's concern, Paterno very appropriately reported the matter to his supervisor and his supervisor's supervisor and asked (and trusted) them to investigate the matter.  According to the sworn grand jury testimony such was the full extent of Paterno's involvement.  And again, the grand jury did not find Paterno to have been negligent in any way.

Now, with 20/20 hindsight, the media are shrilly claiming that JoePA "should have done more".  The simple fact of the matter is that had Paterno been told the complete truth he would have called the Pennslyvania State Police faster than he benched Franco Harris for a "bad attitude" before a bowl game for the National Championship.

Please appreciate that Joseph V. Paterno is far more than "just a coach"; truly, he is the Pope of Pennsylvania.  By his conduct, good deeds, singular achievements, and philanthropy he has earned such status -- and power.  Coach never abused that singular power.  So he knew that any charge he would make to the police would be over-proscueted.  Therefore, he asked his supervisors to investigate the charge so grossly understated to him by a graduate assistant.  Clearly in retrospect, his trust in his supervisors was grossly misplaced.

And for that Paterno was fired?! 

I live in the Republic of Texas where the highest paid state employee is Longhorns' football coach Mack Brown.  He is paid FIVE TIMES as much as JoePa.  Yet, despite accepting a salary far below his market worth, Paterno has donated millions to PSU (including PSU's main library) while living in a modest house that, aside from historic value, wouldn't sell for $100 grand.

And the Trustees fired him to satiate the media beast.  No wonder the students in Happy Valley are rioting and turning over media trucks.  I feel like joining them!

 
I could not have said it better myself......
 

IMHO the media should be ranting about the "Perp" in this case...and again aiming at the ultimate school official who should have been the contact point between the University and the PA Law Enforcement Authorities. Everyone else, be they famous, or just one of the common folks, is a secondary associate in this mess, and that includes the Coach.  Nail the guy who did it, and follow the chain of authority who passed the decision "Upward", and you will find the President of the University being fired. Reprimands to those who failed to inform their supervisors, or who altered the facts, but fire the President and those who counseled him into ignoring the issues involved.
  Paterno should have been allowed to retire with what dignity he could muster, and be left alone by the sharks of the media.

MetroplexJim


It is blatantly unfair that the media have put Joe Paterno's face on this mess.  The grand jury did not find him negligent in any way.

Read the grand jury transcript: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html .

The 28 year-old graduate assistant who witnessed that horrendous criminal act against a child did not report it to police.  When, on the advice of his father, he told Coach Paterno he did not tell Paterno the truth.  He characterized the act as "inappropriate" and "horseplay".  That is very much like calling what Oswald "gave" JFK a "double love tap".

Still, troubled by the graduate assistant's concern, Paterno very appropriately reported the matter to his supervisor and his supervisor's supervisor and asked (and trusted) them to investigate the matter.  According to the sworn grand jury testimony such was the full extent of Paterno's involvement.  And again, the grand jury did not find Paterno to have been negligent in any way.

Now, with 20/20 hindsight, the media are shrilly claiming that JoePA "should have done more".  The simple fact of the matter is that had Paterno been told the complete truth he would have called the Pennslyvania State Police faster than he benched Franco Harris for a "bad attitude" before a bowl game for the National Championship.

Please appreciate that Joseph V. Paterno is far more than "just a coach"; truly, he is the Pope of Pennsylvania.  By his conduct, good deeds, singular achievements, and philanthropy he has earned such status -- and power.  Coach never abused that singular power.  So he knew that any charge he would make to the police based on a graduate assistant's accusation of "inappropriate horseplay" would be over-proscueted.  Therefore, he asked his supervisors to investigate the charge so understated to him by a graduate assistant.  Clearly in retrospect, his trust in his supervisors was grossly misplaced.

And for that Paterno was fired?! 

I live in the Republic of Texas where the highest paid state employee is Longhorns' football coach Mack Brown.  He is paid FIVE TIMES as much as JoePa.  Yet, despite accepting a salary far below his market worth, Paterno has donated millions to PSU (including PSU's main library) while living in a modest house that, aside from historic value, wouldn't sell for $100 grand.

And the Trustees fired him to satiate the media beast.  No wonder the students in Happy Valley are rioting and turning over media trucks.  I feel like joining them!

Great post.  It's apparent that some posters here don't need actual facts before they formulate an opinion.  To me, the biggest villain in this, besides Sandusky, is Asst. Coach McQueary, the guy who witnessed it and chose not to do anything on the spot.  Yeah he was a graduate assistant then, but he was 28 years-old.  He should have rescued the kid when he saw what was going on.  To me, it's outrageous that he'll be on the sidelines coaching Saturday.

This is all the media's fault????

MetroplexJim

Read the grand jury transcript: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/documents/sandusky-grand-jury-report11052011.html .

The 28 year-old graduate assistant who witnessed that horrendous criminal act against a child did not report it to police.  When, on the advice of his father, he told Coach Paterno he did not tell Paterno the truth.  He characterized the act as "inappropriate" and "horseplay". 

That is not what the grand jury report you linked to says at all.  It doesn't let you cut and paste, but on page 7 it says the graduate student "reported what he had seen," and then Paterno told his superiors that the grad student had seen Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy."
 
Paterno broke no law but his sense of morality and decency is suspect from that account.  I wouldn't want a guy like Sandusky on my staff, but Paterno kept him.

Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle


Paterno broke no law but his sense of morality and decency is suspect from that account.  I wouldn't want a guy like Sandusky on my staff, but Paterno kept him.

Sandusky retired from the PSU football program in 1999, roughly 3 years before the alleged assault.

"After retirement in 1999, Sandusky hosted many summer football camps and was active in The Second Mile, a children's charity he founded in State College Pennsylvania in 1977. Citing Sandusky's work with The Second Mile charity to provide care for foster children, then U.S. Senator Rick Santorum honored Sandusky with a “Congressional Angels in Adoption” award in 2002. JoPat was informed of the witnessed attack in 2002 yet Sandusky wasn't banned from State College until Nov. 6th of this year. " Sure he informed the college President  but he allowed him to continue to work with young kids? I'm sure we'll find out and I really hope he can salvage some dignity but only if he deserves dignity. The victims deserved better in any case. Remember it wasn't the media that brought down Woody Hayes, it was Woody Hayes.

MilwFoodlovers


This is all the media's fault????

Please differentiate between the media reporting on the facts of a story that is legitimate, stomach-turning, and tragic and the media focusing for sensationalism's sake on a Great Man whose actions were deemed by the grand jury as "not negligent".

Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle
 

I wouldn't want a guy like Sandusky on my staff, but Paterno kept him.

 
Mr. Sandusky retired in 1999, three years before the incident in question.
 
Upon his retirement the University, not Coach Paterno, granted him emeritis status and with that status an office and access to university facilities.
 
 

Joe Paterno did the legal minimum of what was required of him.  He is, or at least was at the time, the most powerful man at Penn State.  Do you really think he didn't know what was going on with someone as close to him as Sandusky?  Do you find it odd that Sandusky, who was the head-coach-in waiting, suddenly "retired" in 1999 after the incident?  There's a lot more to this story that will be coming out, and I'm sure, in the athletic department, it was well-known what was done, and that knowledge extended up through the ranks to the AD and the president of the university, including the other incidents that Sandusky was involved in.  It wasn't an isolated incident.  I find it hard to believe that knowledge of something as abhorrent as the anal rape of a child would be swirling around and Paterno had no knowledge of it.

MilwFoodlovers


JoPa was informed of the witnessed attack in 2002

Coach Paterno was MIS-informed by the graduate assistant who very much minimized and mischaracterized the incident. 
 
And I most certainly can see just how that happened:  picture a large, athletic 28 year old who aspires to work in Paterno's program sitting face-to-face with the Man Himself in Paterno's living room; is this individual going to admit that he wasn't man enough to stop a man of 62 from raping a 10 year old?  Or is he going to "sanitize" the incident?
 

MilwFoodlovers

Remember it wasn't the media that brought down Woody Hayes, it was Woody Hayes.

It is true that Washington and Nixon were both Presidents, however ...

I don't have a clue who he is but I sure hear his name on the radio lately

As a long time University Professor I am saddened by what happened. But the sadness is not for Joe Paterno.It is for the victims. Joe Paterno needed to report the alleged incidents to law enforcement. He is supposed to be an educator and therefore has some responsibility to protect young people/

I don't see how they can let McCluskey stay. He's as negligent as anyone else - maybe more so. I'm sure the Sharks, aka Lawyers, are scrambling like crazy to sign up the victims for the lawsuits. Not that the victims shouldn't receive some settlement but to see Lawyers profit from other peoples misery just sticks in my craw.

Foodbme, have any victims received any settlements without a lawyer?

Foodbme


I don't see how they can let McCluskey stay. He's as negligent as anyone else - maybe more so. I'm sure the Sharks, aka Lawyers, are scrambling like crazy to sign up the victims for the lawsuits. Not that the victims shouldn't receive some settlement but to see Lawyers profit from other peoples misery just sticks in my craw.

McCluskey was shot in the throat at Louis' Restaurant.
 
Mike McQueary is the grad assistant now coach I believe you mean.

Foodbme


I don't see how they can let McCluskey stay. He's as negligent as anyone else - maybe more so.

Jack Ford, the legal analyst for CBS, was a guest this morning on ESPN's "Mike & Mike" and believes that it may be because McQueary is a potential witness and the prosecution doesn't want to risk alienating him.  Kind of a form of immunity, if you will.

From what I have read, the mess at Penn State is going to get much messier. Paterno and the president may just be the beginning.
 
Folks like the perp develop a reputation that tends to be well known.  The perp had multiple issues and that had to be well known by many, not just a few.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN 

eruby

Foodbme


I don't see how they can let McCluskey stay. He's as negligent as anyone else - maybe more so. I'm sure the Sharks, aka Lawyers, are scrambling like crazy to sign up the victims for the lawsuits. Not that the victims shouldn't receive some settlement but to see Lawyers profit from other peoples misery just sticks in my craw.

McCluskey was shot in the throat at Louis' Restaurant.

Mike McQueary is the grad assistant now coach I believe you mean.

Thank You. My bad!
I'm so mad I can't think or spell straight.
I believed in all that was good at Penn State for so long that I'm just crushed by what has happened.

The Board of Trustees did the right thing in immediately firing Paterno and Spanier. 

There's a lot more going on here. It's as if Sandusky and the university system was too big to touch. Over 14 years, multiple witnesses,parents, the university police knew, they turned it over to the police in '98, a supposed hard-assed DA with reams of solid evidence decides to drop the case, then vanishes off the planet a couple of years later.
 
This is a total corrupt culture, not a few folks looking the other way not to make waves or lose their jobs. Even the law apparently didn't want to up against the machine and wanted them to handle it internally and make it go away.

There's a lot more to this story, I suspect people's opinions will change as more info comes to light. I did enjoy a comic headline I saw somewhere 'Joe encourages people to pray for victims...Victims would rather he called the cops'..