I’m no longer a Penn State football fan, and maybe I’m also done with college football altogether. With the scandal at hand (http://bit.ly/t4RD3u), I no longer feel the affinity that I have enjoyed for some 20+ years. I’ve been to four games in State College PA (one during my honeymoon!), enjoyed the pre-game tail-gate festivities and the post-game wind-downs. I’ve made friends there, and I loved going there. Plans were underway to look at going again on a future anniversary. Not now though, I’m done with it.
I feel bad for coach Joe Paterno, aka Pappa Joe, I suppose, in a way. I guess if he was informed of a serious allegation, but refused to believe it, and thought nothing of it again, well, that’s the best light I can shine on him, and it’s not that good. If he and others were fully aware of what went on there for almost 20 years, then it is a crying shame, not to mention a crime.
There are stories of people aware of wrong-doings, but were unwilling to blow the whistle for fear of losing their jobs. Hmmmm. If you blow the whistle, and lose your job because of it, maybe you have to sell your house and move away. That’s not a good balance sheet, but at least on the plus side, you can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you did the right thing. On the other hand, if you know that a crime has been committed, and do nothing, you maybe save your job, but you can’t look at yourself in the mirror. You saw evil, you could have done something about it, you did nothing. That’s not a good balance sheet either. And then if the world finds out that you knew, and did nothing, well....
The rally in front of Papa Joe’s house yesterday might have been heart-warming under most any other circumstance. Normally, the vision of a college campus rallying to support their heroes is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Well, the tears are there, but for a different reason. The time to rally the cause is past. The time to rally was when the first allegations came out. That was the time to investigate, and to ensure that the truth was exposed. A second allegation was the time to slam on the breaks and ask “what the hell is going on here!?!”
I think that they need to shut the football programme down right now. Think about it- other football programmes have been shut down for things like requiting violations. For allegations of bribery and betting, and payments under the table to players and students. Guys, this is worse than all these things put together!!
Worried about the reputation of the Penn State football programme? Well, I got news for you guys, it ain’t “Linebacker U” anymore. Now and for the future, it’s “Pedophilia U...”
I’m out.
I feel bad for coach Joe Paterno, aka Pappa Joe, I suppose, in a way. I guess if he was informed of a serious allegation, but refused to believe it, and thought nothing of it again, well, that’s the best light I can shine on him, and it’s not that good. If he and others were fully aware of what went on there for almost 20 years, then it is a crying shame, not to mention a crime.
There are stories of people aware of wrong-doings, but were unwilling to blow the whistle for fear of losing their jobs. Hmmmm. If you blow the whistle, and lose your job because of it, maybe you have to sell your house and move away. That’s not a good balance sheet, but at least on the plus side, you can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you did the right thing. On the other hand, if you know that a crime has been committed, and do nothing, you maybe save your job, but you can’t look at yourself in the mirror. You saw evil, you could have done something about it, you did nothing. That’s not a good balance sheet either. And then if the world finds out that you knew, and did nothing, well....
The rally in front of Papa Joe’s house yesterday might have been heart-warming under most any other circumstance. Normally, the vision of a college campus rallying to support their heroes is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Well, the tears are there, but for a different reason. The time to rally the cause is past. The time to rally was when the first allegations came out. That was the time to investigate, and to ensure that the truth was exposed. A second allegation was the time to slam on the breaks and ask “what the hell is going on here!?!”
I think that they need to shut the football programme down right now. Think about it- other football programmes have been shut down for things like requiting violations. For allegations of bribery and betting, and payments under the table to players and students. Guys, this is worse than all these things put together!!
Worried about the reputation of the Penn State football programme? Well, I got news for you guys, it ain’t “Linebacker U” anymore. Now and for the future, it’s “Pedophilia U...”
I’m out.
