Should Joe Paterno retire or step down after Jerry Sandusky alleged molestation???

[renaissance]

I have a question - I keep hearing people say (here, and on the radio this morning) "well, we don't know what JoPa was told" or "we don't know what McQueary said he saw". Is there any level of grown man in a shower room with young boy that is acceptable???

[gbear]

I know every one of us from behind the computer screen thinks seeing the rape happen and not reporting it is the second worst action in the chain of events. I agree. However, stepping in on a rape in progress seems rare. "How can that be?" the answer is the assumption somebody else will step forward. It's easy to confirm or deny what somebody else said. It's much harder to be the one who steps forward. Such courage shouldn't be rare. Such empathy for the victims seen and unseen shouldn't be rare. It just is. It's easier to walk on by, to do nothing. It is far easier to assume a person like this will surely be caught.

As I said earlier, a self defense class at college taught students to yell fire rather than rape. Fire attracts people and their attention. Rape just doesn't. People don't want to even admit it happens or let their mind interpret what they are seeing as rape. Most of us project our morals in our interpretations of the actions of others. Instant recognition of something so foreign to our mindset is difficult. That's why instant recognition of a rape happening isn't easy. It may be he only realized it was rape afterwards...but still saying stop playing in the showers or questioning the grow up in the shower with a kid should have been said. The follow up with and by authorities after seems severely lacking on so many levels.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." I remember seeing this quote of Edmund Burke down town at the Holocaust Museum. While this evil is certainly no holocaust, it does set itself up as a champion example of the quote's relevance in modern times.

[Popeman38]

I have a question - I keep hearing people say (here, and on the radio this morning) "well, we don't know what JoPa was told" or "we don't know what McQueary said he saw". Is there any level of grown man in a shower room with young boy that is acceptable???

NO. Absolutely, without a doubt, on any level, NO.

He was slapped on the hand and told not to shower with little boys in 1994. Strike 1.

He was investigated in 1998, forced into retirement in 1999. Strike 2.

2002 incident to GJ investigation, to Saturday when he was arrested. Strike 3.

University President, the AD, Joe Paterno, and every single football coach should be fired. NOW. They allowed a predator who was investigated 3 times for improper contact with little boys to have unfettered access to the football facilities and university property. Unacceptable. They should all be fired, no resignations. FIRED. Anyone defending anyone in that tree should be ashamed of themsleves as human beings. Wrong is wrong, and EVERYONE knows this is wrong.

[Btubes18]

NO. Absolutely, without a doubt, on any level, NO.

He was slapped on the hand and told not to shower with little boys in 1994. Strike 1.

He was investigated in 1998, forced into retirement in 1999. Strike 2.

2002 incident to GJ investigation, to Saturday when he was arrested. Strike 3.

University President, the AD, Joe Paterno, and every single football coach should be fired. NOW. They allowed a predator who was investigated 3 times for improper contact with little boys to have unfettered access to the football facilities and university property. Unacceptable. They should all be fired, no resignations. FIRED. Anyone defending anyone in that tree should be ashamed of themsleves as human beings. Wrong is wrong, and EVERYONE knows this is wrong.

I couldn't agree with this more. As I keep saying, and no one has an answer: What if this happened in YOUR own work place? Or if YOU saw this crimnal act in YOUR workplace, what would you do? The Cops would be called immediately, and if I were a boss and was told something of this magnitude, the cops would definitely be called. In any other circumstance all parties involved would be fired or be asked to resign.

[KingGibbs]

I couldn't agree with this more. As I keep saying, and no one has an answer: What if this happened in YOUR own work place? Or if YOU saw this crimnal act in YOUR workplace, what would you do? The Cops would be called immediately, and if I were a boss and was told something of this magnitude, the cops would definitely be called. In any other circumstance all parties involved would be fired or be asked to resign.

People have indeed answered this question either in this thread or the other.

I'm glad to see the majority have morals in this case. There's a few that I would like to meet in person and take them behind the woodshed. There is no reasonable explanation to defend the lack of PROPER action by the parties involved INCLUDING Paterno.

[visionary]

http://twitter.com/#!/AP

BREAKING: AP source: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has decided to retire at end of the season. -BW 3 minutes ago

[John Lydon]

People have indeed answered this question either in this thread or the other.

I'm glad to see the majority have morals in this case. There's a few that I would like to meet in person and take them behind the woodshed. There is no reasonable explanation to defend the lack of PROPER action by the parties involved INCLUDING Paterno.

I can only speak for myself, but I don't think anyone is defending anybody in this case. The question being raised is who gets to define "proper" action? The majority seem to think that JoePa's rock star status at Happy Valley obligates him to become judge, jury, and executioner. This doesn't compute with me. The man is a football coach. He reported it to his superiors whose job it is to handle these matters. Sandusky was not on Joe's staff, nor was Paterno responsible for Sandusky. Sandusky was their because the board of directors allowed him there. Not for anything Paterno did. In absolutely no way, shape, or form, do I condone anything that happened to these kids but to hang a man simply because he is the most recognizable face in the crowd is wrong.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what Joe should have done beyond what he did. Hindsight obviously tells us he should have taken it to the cops but unless it comes out that he had knowledge that the investigation stalled out, I can't fault him for that. If you have an issue at work and take it to your boss, you fully expect the matter to be handled. Why should Paterno think any differently?

[SKINS@THEGOALLINE]

The AP has just reported that Joe Paterno will step down at the end of this year. :mad:

[Kilmer17]

Not good enough.

[Busch1724]

I can only speak for myself, but I don't think anyone is defending anybody in this case. The question being raised is who gets to define "proper" action? The majority seem to think that JoePa's rock star status at Happy Valley obligates him to become judge, jury, and executioner. This doesn't compute with me. The man is a football coach. He reported it to his superiors whose job it is to handle these matters. Sandusky was not on Joe's staff, nor was Paterno responsible for Sandusky. Sandusky was their because the board of directors allowed him there. Not for anything Paterno did. In absolutely no way, shape, or form, do I condone anything that happened to these kids but to hang a man simply because he is the most recognizable face in the crowd is wrong.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what Joe should have done beyond what he did. Hindsight obviously tells us he should have taken it to the cops but unless it comes out that he had knowledge that the investigation stalled out, I can't fault him for that. If you have an issue at work and take it to your boss, you fully expect the matter to be handled. Why should Paterno think any differently?

Amen.

[KingGibbs]

I can only speak for myself, but I don't think anyone is defending anybody in this case. The question being raised is who gets to define "proper" action? The majority seem to think that JoePa's rock star status at Happy Valley obligates him to become judge, jury, and executioner. This doesn't compute with me. The man is a football coach. He reported it to his superiors whose job it is to handle these matters. Sandusky was not on Joe's staff, nor was Paterno responsible for Sandusky. Sandusky was their because the board of directors allowed him there. Not for anything Paterno did. In absolutely no way, shape, or form, do I condone anything that happened to these kids but to hang a man simply because he is the most recognizable face in the crowd is wrong.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what Joe should have done beyond what he did. Hindsight obviously tells us he should have taken it to the cops but unless it comes out that he had knowledge that the investigation stalled out, I can't fault him for that. If you have an issue at work and take it to your boss, you fully expect the matter to be handled. Why should Paterno think any differently?

Man, you truly are ****ing clueless, aren't you? Are you that big of an idiot?

I've stated the actions that Paterno should've taken and I'm not going to reiterate those to an enabler which is essentially what you are. That and what can be perceived as a coward.

[GibbsFactor]

3 games plus the bowl? Too long. He needs to step down now.

[KingGibbs]

3 games plus the bowl? Too long. He needs to step down now.

The **** storm waiting for the players and coaches when they visit their opponents is unimaginable. They are going to have to really ramp up the security at those games. I feel for the players.

[Busch1724]

Man, you truly are ****ing clueless, aren't you? Are you that big of an idiot?

I've stated the actions that Paterno should've taken and I'm not going to reiterate those to an enabler which is essentially what you are. That and what can be perceived as a coward.

We don't know all of the actions he had taken after telling Curley. That's the point. The GJ testimony is written to implicate those being charged. At some point we'll know everything else Joe said, but it wasn't pertinent to those particular charges.

[John Lydon]

Man, you truly are ****ing clueless, aren't you? Are you that big of an idiot?

I've stated the actions that Paterno should've taken and I'm not going to reiterate those to an enabler which is essentially what you are. That and what can be perceived as a coward.

I really don't think personal attacks are necessary here. As a veteran of two tours in Iraq, a sworn peace officer, and government liaison, I think I can talk with some modicum of expertise when it comes to handling sticky situations. There are only two definite truths when it comes to situations like this: Hindsight is always 20/20, and you never know how you will react to any given situation.

I saw that you thought JoePa should have switched to Hardy Boys mode and taken it upon himself to investigate, expose, and run Sandusky out of town, but this simply isn’t the way things work in reality. Given the extreme sensitivity of the crimes committed, it is easy to let tempers flare and call for the head of everyone involved. That does not mean it is the correct thing to do though. Do I think JoePa could have or should have done more? Sure. But I have no clue what he could have done given the facts we know. Like I said earlier, if it comes out that Joe knew the issue had been dropped by his superiors then I fault him 100%. Until then, I’m inclined to believe he handled the situation as well as you could expect from most people.

[rdsknbill]

The **** storm waiting for the players and coaches when they visit their opponents is unimaginable. They are going to have to really ramp up the security at hose games. I feel for the players.

And I am going to the PSU OSU game next weekend in Columbus. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!

[NoVaSkins21]

Paterno is probably going to step down because that is probably the "graceful" thing to do. I put graceful in quotes because that is probably the way it's going to be spun by the university. I'm not advocating anything that was done his tenure up until now. That includes hiring that POS scum Sandusky. He didn't care about anything, but the wins that he racked up which allowed him to become "bigger than the school." :doh: EDIT: I wanted to add what a figurative and literal load his son is for saying that the media follow his @ss on Twitter to get any updates about his father or the situation. This is not time for self promotion. What an @ss.

[KingGibbs]

I really don't think personal attacks are necessary here. As a veteran of two tours in Iraq, a sworn peace officer, and government liaison, I think I can talk with some modicum of expertise when it comes to handling sticky situations. There are only two definite truths when it comes to situations like this: Hindsight is always 20/20, and you never know how you will react to any given situation.

I saw that you thought JoePa should have switched to Hardy Boys mode and taken it upon himself to investigate, expose, and run Sandusky out of town, but this simply isn’t the way things work in reality. Given the extreme sensitivity of the crimes committed, it is easy to let tempers flare and call for the head of everyone involved. That does not mean it is the correct thing to do though. Do I think JoePa could have or should have done more? Sure. But I have no clue what he could have done given the facts we know. Like I said earlier, if it comes out that Joe knew the issue had been dropped by his superiors then I fault him 100%. Until then, I’m inclined to believe he handled the situation as well as you could expect from most people.

Thank you for your service. I'll leave it at that.

---------- Post added November-9th-2011 at 10:28 AM ----------

We don't know all of the actions he had taken after telling Curley. That's the point. The GJ testimony is written to implicate those being charged. At some point we'll know everything else Joe said, but it wasn't pertinent to those particular charges.

Go back and read the GJ testimony. Paterno ADMITTED that he was told by the GA that Sandusky was "fondling a young boy in the shower."

What the **** else do you need?!

[rdsknbill]

Thank you for your service. I'll leave it at that.

---------- Post added November-9th-2011 at 10:28 AM ----------

Go back and read the GJ testimony. Paterno ADMITTED that he was told that by the GA that Sandusky was "fondling a young boy in the shower."

What the **** else do you need?!

Yep, That pretty much sums it up for me. If I heard that about one of my assistants, as the Head Coach, I would've definitely pressed the issue if I felt the the University wasn't taking proper actions! Sorry, This just doesn't fly with me.

[ixcuincle]

If I were coach I'd fire him on the spot and get him the **** away from the university

This isn't about friendship or cover ups

If **** like this goes down you squash it immediately and call the ****ing cops, period. No cover-up.

[Forehead]

University President, the AD, Joe Paterno, and every single football coach should be fired. NOW. They allowed a predator who was investigated 3 times for improper contact with little boys to have unfettered access to the football facilities and university property. Unacceptable. They should all be fired, no resignations. FIRED. Anyone defending anyone in that tree should be ashamed of themsleves as human beings. Wrong is wrong, and EVERYONE knows this is wrong.

Why would you fire every coach on the staff? I mean, Tom Bradley, the D-Coordinator...Ron Vanderlinden, the LB coach, Larry Johnson, the DL coach...none of them had anything to do with this, and may not have been aware of any of it. From a staff standpoint, it seems to only involve McQueary and Paterno as the negligent parties. Why clear out everyone else? They can coach the team for the remainder of the season, and when a new head coach is brought in, they'll probably lose their jobs as is. But I don't think they deserve to be fired.

[rdsknbill]

[Kilmer17]

From Joe Ps statement-

"That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can.

REALLY?????

Well then it's settled. Joe P obviously has enough sway to tell the BoTs what to do and not do. But not enough power to do anything about a pedophile on his staff for decades.

**** him.

[GibbsFactor]

"With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Now you can Joe Pa. Step down right now.

[rdsknbill]

"With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Now you can Joe Pa. Step down right now.