I was doing my usual stroll through Facebook and I came across this piece. A PSU alum wrote this on Penn State’s official Facebook page. He absolutely kills it. Like it. Share it. Get it out there.
In the time that has passed since the issuing of the Freeh report, I myself have been told to rip up my Penn State diploma by three people, been called a pedo (simply because I attended penn state!), and accused of caring about football more than the welfare of children.
To each of these five different people, I asked: “Did you read the Freeh report?” and the grudged answer from each was “No but I read reports on it!”. In our reader’s digest culture we are reading reports of summaries of snippets of the original sources. In fact, now that I have reached my second paragraph, I doubt most of you will read all my words.
My point to everyone bashing Penn Staters: Shame on you. Do you really think our campus is the only place were these crimes happened? Do you really think they would not have if Sandusky did not have access to our facilities? Blaming individual Penn Staters for these atrocities makes as much sense as blaming everyone who lives in Pittsburgh, or San Francisco for that matter. Many were likely more connected to Sandusky than some of us! I was at Penn State for four years, I loved penn state football and went to many games, I had never even HEARD the name Sandusky before all of this. But yes, your point about me being a pedo just because I went to Penn State makes perfect sense!
My point to everyone telling me to tear my diploma up, well I’ll be very elegant here. Shove it. I worked hard for my diploma and learned from some of the top professors in their field. The disgusting actions of one man and a failure in administration of several others does NOT tarnish and has no impact on my education. I can be (and have been) a positive force in this world thanks, in part, to knowledge and skills acquired and honed at PSU. But yes, your point about how my education should be nullified and I should go back to being a waiter makes perfect sense!
To all those posting here: I urge you to re-read my second paragraph and then go actually READ the Freeh report. You can skip over the sections where he gives his conclusions and read only the facts presented with as unbiased of an eye as you can. I then urge you to form your own conclusions. This topic has been re-reported based on chain resyndincation. No news source can report other opinions other than the globally accepted one or they would be bashed! This causes overwhelming bias and belief in “truths” which may not exist. Let me also add on the original Freeh report: it is obviously not a complete accounting of actions taken / communications. It was created by a man and therefore, selection of what to be included is effected by that man’s bias. Either way, read the source document, only then should you raise your hand.
Finally, regarding the death sentence: Who would it punish? The University as already overhauling getting rid of every administrator “involved” or even, loosely associated. No it would punish all the other children living in state college now. The economy there would take a hit, businesses would go under, families would have to move away! Those that are anchored there will have less opportunities for their children.
The main response to me is likely going to be that more should have been done. YES! YES YES! You are right: more SHOULD have been done. I wont deny that, but that doesn’t mean I should stop my affiliation with PSU! How justified are YOU in decrying the actions taken when you do not even know what they were? READ the facts, the 267 page report, not a 1 page summary of them. Also, are you really are helping improve the safety of children everywhere by posting on this facebook wall? Go donate some money! Go volunteer! Let us all learn from this tragedy and change the division here. We should not be “Joe Pa Supporters” and “People who want to tear Joe Pa’s Statue down”. How is that even a topic of conversation!? We should all agree to focus on preventing similar tragedies from EVER occurring again. That is slightly more important to me than a statue.
WE ARE GOING TO STOP CHILD ABUSE!
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!
WE ARE GOING TO HELP END PEDIATRIC CANCER!
WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN A FOOTBALL TEAM!
WE ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A UNIVERSITY!
WE ARE —
YOU are nothing more than a University! You go to a good school, no doubt, but c’mon, to argue that you shouldn’t get the death penalty is a joke. If you keep claiming that well, JoePa and everyone involved is gone go and try to argue that point with USC and what happened with Reggie and Pete Carrol. They were both gone before anything happened
That’s completely different at USC. The actions at PSU were in now way intended to gain any players or coaches money, they weren’t meant to make the team better, and they weren’t cheating to recruit players. This was not a football incident, if some biology teacher at some school did this, would everyone be shouting no more biology majors? shut down the biology program? No they wouldn’t be, they’d blame the person who did it, and that’s what should be done here, not the football team
Sorry, but I have to disagree with you.
By not doing the “right” thing in reporting the abuses of Sandusky they were
proctecting the football program and the university. Therefore, affecting the choices of top ranked recruits and making the team better. This was a football incident AND a university incident . An example- my nephew was a top ranked recruit and highly sought by Penn State, he choose another school because he didn’t want to be caught up in the scandal of PS football!
I think harsh sanctions would be appropriate to send out the HUGE message to all schools across the nation that you HAVE to do the “right” thing by the children and report abuse!
What a surprise, another person who has no idea what he’s talking about. You and everyone else crying for PSU to get the death penalty have no understanding of what it’s for. The death penalty is for schools that use improper means to gain an athletic advantage. How exactly does the Sandusky case constitute that? It doesn’t. You can’t just go around making up new rules and measures by which to apply the death penalty simply because you feel like it. You and others who think like you are in desperate need of a reality check.
Did u read the second paragraph.
People calling you a pedo were obviously doing it tongue in cheek in the hope that it would rile you up enough to go out and write a baseless, manic article on how you don’t actually rape little boys. Get a grip man. Obviously 99.9999% of people at PSU had nothing to do with this. It’s people like you who are giving the school it’s nutbag reputation.
No, people actually do believe that students of PSU are pedophiles. That’s the world we live in, don’t be ignorant. Some people might say it to get you rallied up, but there are some true idiots out there who believe it. I’ve met them, I’ve had friends who believed it and turned on me.
Until you’ve received emails and been told to your face that you’re a pedophile, you support child molestation, etc. simply because of what school you went to, don’t talk down about our reactions.
Did you see the article written in Texas by a CEO saying he was going to go through all his employee records and fire everyone who went to PSU? Sure, it’s illegal and he (probably) wasn’t able to do it, but he wanted to.
Welcome to the real world, full of ignorant, arrogant people.
si, i agree
Maybe you should stop taking things so seriously, honestly.
So i was threatened to get beat up at my local shopping mall today by a couple idiots only because i wore my “Success with Honor” penn state shirt from Family Clothesline
Turns out the only people that post comments on theschoolphilly are shit bags^
Hmm.. You posted clearly a truthful post.
You’re part of the problem and a shining example of what is so wrong at PSU – the culture.
Nice lecture though.
What is wrong with having a strong closely knit community built up around pride and success (and I do mean the university, not just the football program)? Really? I think it’s much better to have a University you are proud, that makes you want to do everything to can to live up to it’s reputation and do something to bring pride to the school’s name. I’m in no way bashing other University’s that do not share the same pride among it’s students, but i’ve seen this terrible culture you reference be the source of amazing things. The academics and success of alumni aside, I’ve seen 18, 19, 20 year olds do incredibly unselfish acts, and sacrifice so much of their time that many other kids at that age would spend partying and such, just to give back and help others all in the name of their school. I’ve seen lives changed for the best because of the culture of Penn State.
and that culture was built upon kids getting raped and everyone in charge saying that that was cool.
The culture was built long before this happened. And if you want to play that game, look at the culture of America and tell me that we should all be thrown in jail or killed just because some people in that culture now do the very same thing. One or a few people do not condemn an entire culture. You get rid of them and make it better and stronger.
I’m really confused – that culture was NOT built upon kids getting raped. A man raped kids at PSU and a SMALL HANDFUL of people knew (and shamefully failed to act). But you can’t take away 150+ years of history, tradition and success because of the terrible action of one man and the inaction of a handful of others. You all say “tear down the statue” – that’s fine, take it! – but to say that the whole institution is plagued by this culture shows your ignorance.
Remind me next time you have a crime committed in your city to camp outside your house and yell insults at you because of your affiliation with living on the same street (and don’t say that’s ridiculous – it’s akin to what’s happening here – 500,000+ students and alumni being put in a single basket and persecuted for the actions of one man).
I’m really confused – that culture was NOT built upon kids getting raped. A man raped kids at PSU and a SMALL HANDFUL of people knew (and shamefully failed to act). But you can’t take away 150+ years of history, tradition and success because of the terrible action of one man and the inaction of a handful of others. You all say “tear down the statue” – that’s fine, take it! – but to say that the whole institution is plagued by this culture shows your ignorance.
Remind me next time you have a crime committed in your city to camp outside your house and yell insults at you because of your affiliation with living on the same street (and don’t say that’s ridiculous – it’s akin to what’s happening here – 500,000+ students and alumni being put in a single basket and persecuted for the actions of one man).
To those blaming the “culture” of penn state: did you actually ever GO to psu? if not, then please do not talk about something that you clearly do not know about.
Mike you’re a faggot
Correct – Mike is a dick riding faggot, he loves the attention.
– PENN STATE
For you Greg, USC did not give their football program the death panalty. They were TEMPORARILY suspended from bowl games. To suggest that no more football should go on at “Linebacker U” is rediculous. The football team is known for their stelar performance and academic excellence, not for hosting games so that little boys can be raped. As for all of the blame that falls on Paterno, he is being held more accountable than anyone simply because haters want to tarnish his reputation. Where is the blame for the janitor and grad student that witnessed this but did nothing? Paterno did so much more good than this one incident. How about mentioning how he personally went out to recruit men, suspended players who were not performing well enough academically, invited students into his home to offer tutoring, donated money to the school for scholarships and academic programs, and the list goes on and on. Penn State students raised over $1Million for sexually abused kids. To all of you who smack talk PSU, you should consider doing legitimate research before you open your mouths to support the negative hearsay or jump on hater bandwagons.
“The football team is known for their stelar [sic] performance and academic excellence, not for hosting games so that little boys can be raped.” Not true anymore, sorry. Just because you don’t want to believe something about someone, that doesn’t make it true. I used to look up to Joe, too…no more. Maybe he didn’t actually rape any kids, but he’s responsible for every one of them that got raped after he put the well-being of his football program ahead of their safety. Everyone who makes apologies for him is proving to the rest of the world that they are right about PSU.
In what universe would allowing a child molester to roam your campus be considered “putting your football program ahead of children’s safety”? I mean seriously. You act like Joe sat in his office and said, “you know what will make us a better team? Letting a grown man molest kids!” Per the Freeh report, the police interviewed and questioned Sandusky after being made aware of the 98 case. They never pressed charges. Don’t like it? Blame the police and DA. In America, no charges means no crime happened. That’s all Joe could go on. In 2001, Joe reported second-hand information to his superiors per PA law (I know, I’m a teacher and it’s what I would have been legally obligated to do if someone told me they saw a crime occur in my school but I had not witnessed it myself). Then of course there’s this bullshit theory that Joe was the “king of Penn State.” He had influence, sure, but not power. If the administrators really wanted to go to the police like they should’ve, they would’ have. They chose not to, and they will be punished for it. The football program, however, should not even be touched based on the evidence that’s been uncovered so far. Not just because it had nothing to do with this, but because it wouldn’t help the victims at all. They loved PSU football, and probably still do. If anything, it would make them feel guilty for destroying the program. The PSU haters need to think before they speak.
You need to take a look at the facts again. Paterno escalated the evidence he received as mandated. The school officials are the ones that should have looked into this deeper. If you want to blame anybody, take a closer look at the grad student who witnessed the act. That’s right, stop focusing on a legendary coach just because he is the big name being thrown around. Look at the facts and the people who witnessed things going on but did nothing. This is much bigger than a football team and the coach. this is about staff members who sat around not wanting to lose a job and a grad student who told what happened and left it go. Paterno may be blamed. His statue may be torn down. His reputation may get spit on. But I will always look up to the man the Paterno was, the steps he went through educating young men, donating money to the school and charities, and being a positive influence everywhere he went. I will remember Joe Pa for these things and not the things that the mass media has brain washed people into believing. To anyone trying to say something negative, do more research than watching tv or reading newspapers. Research the life of Joseph V. Paterno and research the actual facts of what happened. Then perhaps you can make a credible arguement.
The ignorance of the individuals commenting is appauling.
Your spelling is appalling.
I agree Penn State students shouldn’t be ridiculed for the actions of others.
P.S – Proof read your writing before posting it online.
Who cares if the jokes about being pedophiles are tongue in cheek….they’re sick jokes, perpetuate a climate of hate against a community much bigger than football, when we’re supposed to be creating solutions and healing. If you’ve never been there, you just don’t know. Get off your pedestals like you know what you’re talking about. Sweeping generalizations show your ignorance.
What continues to amaze me is the amount of hatred directed toward the Penn State community. That means the students, the faculty, town and the alumni. I ask myself, why? My daughter was a freshman this year and although she wasn’t a huge football fan, she certainly enjoyed the football games and the school spirit. As somewhat of an outsider, I ask myself, does this Penn State hatred have more to do with sports rivalry than it does the actual issue? Why else would so many people be so focused on putting down the students in the school, the fate of a statue and whether kids would play football or not. Shouldn’t everyone be focused on moving forward with positive changes? Acknowledging the pain and suffering of the victims by educating every student, teacher and community member about abuse would be a positive consequence. To me, much of this dialogue is representative of rabid sports fans that finally have an opportunity to bash a sports program and a powerful football power. My gosh, can you see how ridiculous that is? Any talk of devaluing a Penn State education because of this horrible incident is just incredibly shallow. Can we all just stop, take a breath and realize this?
The issue i have with all this is that every PSUer i have spoken to defends joepa to the very core– yes sandusky did these horrible things but joepa and many others allowed it to happen–essentially they condoned his actions. the joepa statue says he is a humanitarian–would a true humanitarian allow innocent children to be molested, tortured and ultimately become self-loathing? the answer is NO. he clearly didn’t care about the welfare of those children so why should we care about his reputation? is it ok for a mother to allow grown men into her house that she knows wil ltake advantage of her daughter? the answer is NO that mother would get in trouble for endangering the welfare of her daughter–she wasnt the one molesting/raping her but she gave those men access to her child and access to a secure facility to conduct the horrific acts– how is what joepa and the other officials involved ANY different?
I just want to share my agreement. The story was breaking as I was applying to graduate school at Penn State, PSU being my first choice school. People (my parents included) asked why I was continuing that application. When I went up for an interview weekend, the program discussed the controversy directly. That made up my mind. PSU knows that mistakes were made in certain areas, but they know that everyone makes mistakes and will not allow this to diminish their fine academic reputation. I am so proud that in the fall I will be bleeding blue and white.
Too anyone and everyone,
There is a lot of misdirected hate and blame throughout this entire ordeal. A point above was made about the effect that shutting down the entire program would have on the University and the town itself. Thousands of people rely on football season as a primary source of income throughout the year. Merchandise, local small businesses, restaurants, bars, the borough, and even the state benefits from the Penn State Football season. Not only that, but the football program funds all of the other sports at Penn State and numerous charitable organizations. Now, to further the argument, how many current players and students at Penn State were even at Penn State when these events took place?
Think of it this way, closing down the entire football program would be like indicting everyone in the mail room and all entry level positions instead of Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling for the Enron Scandal. How appropriate is that? Like I said the frustration, blame, and even hatred is understandable. What happened is unthinkable, but we need to blame the right people, punish the people who are responsible, and create an environment where this could never happen again anywhere. While we are at it, why don’t we consider speaking to our representatives about making the punishment for child abuse a little more harsh? The laws have changed a lot over the past few years but when it comes to child molestation the possible punishment is still just a slap on the wrist, especially when sentencing is up to the judge. When you violate the rights of a child to their innocents and a normal happy life you forfeit your rights as a human being and deserve the most harsh punishment available.
Ex FBI director Freeh’s credibility in my view is tainted severely as by all reports he resigned from the FBI before he was fired for “insubordination” and he also he was involved in cover ups regarding “Waco” and “Ruby Ridge” as well as several botched investigations. It is said during his tenure the FBI was a joke and a mess with its worse record in its history. Why they picked him I don’t know and if you don’t believe it look it up. I would not put credence in this man’s opinions as that is all he offered anyway.
“The University as already overhauling getting rid of every administrator ‘involved’ or even, loosely associated.” LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!! Maybe you should get a clue before posting another sanctimonious rant, fool. Spanier is still a tenured faculty member at Ped State, and Curley is on “administrative leave.” But honestly , who cares? How will firing them prevent child abuse? Go volunteer, you lazy asshole jealous haters!!!11 ARE YOU REDY FER SUM FOOTBALL?!?!?!?!
Spanier is fired and suing PSU…
how can you say you’re a fan of PSU football if you’ve never heard of Sandusky before this scandal?? From a strictly football standpoint he was probably more important than Paterno himself to the team’s success.
Oh, I don’t know… maybe because Sandusky last coached during the 1999 season? The students who are there now were born from about 1991-1995.
Okay let’s get one thing straight. As a fellow Penn Stater I can honestly say Penn State is not as much about football as everybody says. Not even close. The only reason people think that is because the football games are the things that all of us can go to to be together as Penn staters. Its not that we worship football, its just that we like each others company. Any Penn Stater can attest to that. And lets not forget the grand experiment. Joepa’s goal was not to have a nationally acclaimed football program, his goal was to have nationally acclaimed academic achievement within his football team. And I heard this on ESPN a couple years ago that Penn State was one of two Division one schools who had never been convicted of an NCAA violation. Now obviously this holds no merit anymore since the Sandusky trial but its worth noting. And something even more worth noting, even I’ll admit that Joepa should have done more with the information he was given, he still did more than anybody else, Including Tom corbett when he was PA attorney general. Because lets not forget that there was an investigation back in the 90′s that was never followed through with after Corbett knew about the investigation. In conclusion, I think what all the students want is to realize that we had nothing to do with it, and we feel terribly for the victims and beyond embarrassed that our university has been tarnished forever, but realize that it wasn’t us, it was one dirt bag who was appeased by a couple administrators. And lets not forget what Jay Paterno said at THON, “When the storm clouds gathered around the campus in November, many ran for the hills, but not the students,” and “Let [the media] come to THON. When the world wants to see what courage and leadership is, let them come [to THON],”
I would like to agree with some of the positive statements people have made about the culture at Penn State. If you aren’t familiar with it, you should visit sometime. It really is a special place. The community is one that I am very envious of and it breaks my heart to think about some of the harassment the students must go through.
If it wasn’t for that god damn ESPN 30 for 30, 95% of people would have no idea that the ‘Death Penalty’ even existed and wouldn’t be so quick to toss it around every fucking time something happens that is remotely related to any college football team.
SMU. University’s have been given the Death penalty for less. If my boss or some other high up was charged with the same thing it would effect the WHOLE company not just one person. Maybe even shut down the plant! Now, do the rest of the workers that knew nothing about this deserve this..NO. But that’s how it goes. Sorry.
And I did read the whole report and the grand jury testimony more than once and so did all of ESPN, FOX Sports, CNN, MSNBC, Shit even FOXNEWS knows better. Don’t listen to stupid people talking crap. The smart ones know.
Why would PSU be punished for a criminal matter that has nothing to do with the true game or spirit of football? SMU was punished for its BLATANT disrespect for NCAA guidelines. All sorts of nonsense was going on. I certainly believe Sandusky and everyone involved should be reprimanded, but the NCAA does not have the right to police the university on a matter based on the flaws of one man (and a few others) rather than following the rules of fair football.
You might want to read the NCAA rule book. Come back when you find where it says that the NCAA can intervene on criminal matters.
SMU. University’s have been given the Death penalty for less. If my boss or some other high up was charged with the same thing it would effect the WHOLE company not just one person. Maybe even shut down the plant! Now, do the rest of the workers that knew nothing about this deserve this..NO. But that’s how it goes. Sorry.
Yes I’ve read the report. Carefully . Maybe because I read the Grand jury testimony twice just to make sure I knew what I was talking about. You know to get may facts straight before making judgement.
From ESPN all the why to FOXNEWS, All of them have read it. Football players, Ex-football players, long time sports writers, Most of the people that were at the rally for Joe have read it. And they all are on the same page now.
I can’t believe mermaids really exist! Yall see that natgeo documentary? Prob 30 x more entertaining then this stuff. In 4 years this thing will blow over. In 8 years ppl won’t remember. In 20 years PSU will be 2 time national champs….. BUT MERMAIDS ARE REAL!!
so many people hate penn state because of how proud we are, and as a current psu student i will admit that we are pretty cocky when it comes to our school but to bring us down and to punish us for something we were not involved with is unfair. why punish the players and the students by taking away the football program? why call penn state students and alum bad names and ridicule them because of what a select few have done? sandusky and everyone else who was involved in this whole scandal can go to hell but everyone else who is apart of penn state should continue to be proud of our school. we, as students, recognize how terrible this whole thing is. we really do, and it’s such a shame that our school is linked to it.
WE STILL ARE
You poor delusional bastards. Can’t wait for the NCAA to give PSU the punishment it deserves: banishment from Division I (and yes, that can happen). Maybe that will teach you something.
What are you and the NCAA trying to teach us specifically? That child rape is bad?
How can you type that and be serious?
lame bro, very lame
Did we not already get enough punishment? We are watching our university’s reputation be tarnished, publicly. I am certainly not saying that I think Joe Paterno made the right decisions. Child abuse is something that needs to be taken seriously, and I think why we are all so upset is because we know this. JoePa is someone we all saw as a great man. I looked up to him. What if you found out someone you admired, and had admired your whole life, had let something terrible like this happen? We all understand child abuse is devastating, and we wish JoePa had done more for the children. What we need for recovery is unification. Did I abuse any young boys? No. Did I witness the abuse and not do everything in my power to stop it? No. To blame an entire university for a football coach’s actions is ridiculous. The football team had no NCAA violations, and football games is when we all unite. There is more than just football at PSU. What will a death sentence teach me and my fellow students? Child abuse is bad? No kidding. All of us are distraught about this dilemma, and some of us are embarrassed that someone we looked up too let something like this slide. But we are not embarrassed about our degree or our university. PSU is one of the highest ranked public universities. This is a time we all need to unite. WE ARE.
So, what will that teach us? What exactly do we need to learn from the NCAA? Pretty sure everyone here knows what happened was deplorable and disgusting. But you’re right we, the ones who had absolutely nothing to do with any of this, need to be taught a lesson. We are the ones that need to pay. I do not support what happened at my school, but I do support my school and fellow alum.
Furthermore, I went to Penn State for their level of academics, not access to student section seats. Any earlier post said that the games are a way for alumni to get together. I couldn’t agree more.
Don’t confuse me being proud of my accomplishments, the university, and people that helped me get to where I am as being delusional. If you have never experienced anything quite like our Penn State Pride, then you may not understand. But that is not my fault.
HAHAHA!! I cannot wait until your dumbass is shamed by PSU kicking your weak teams ass. The only people that want the program taken out are the ones that like weak teams that get beat all 9/10 times they play PSU or people who have no idea what the hell they are talking about.
“Finally, regarding the death sentence: Who would it punish? The University as already overhauling getting rid of every administrator “involved” or even, loosely associated. No it would punish all the other children living in state college now. The economy there would take a hit, businesses would go under, families would have to move away! Those that are anchored there will have less opportunities for their children.”
You’re totally missing the point here. The “death penalty” (whether or not it actually goes through) is not set up to punish students or families. The point is that college football got so big in State College (and pretty much every other major football college town) that it caused very important people to make very significant errors in judgement. The “death penalty” would serve to stop that from happening again. You have to be honest with yourself and know that if Penn State football wasn’t as powerful as it was this would have never happened. If Jerry Sandusky was the coach of some club sport, or even a professor, it would have reported right away. The fact is that football – and the revenue that it created – was bigger and more important to Penn State than the safety of children and the institutions reputation. The “death penalty” doesn’t punish the students, it serves to discourage a damaged and dangerous culture which is prevalent across the United States. It’s a shame that it has to happen to Penn State, but it’s ultimately for the best.
The death penalty will not happen because Penn State did not violate any NCAA rules. The NCAA has no jurisdiction when it comes to criminal matters. Get a clue.
Sandusky was not a coach at the time many of these things occured and this had nothing to do with football itself. Saying that putting a stop to football will put a stop to children being sexually abused is absurd. That is like saying we as a nation need to ban ice cream and candy because sexual predators use them to lure kids to them before they kidnap and assault them. He was not affiliated other than being a fan. If he hadn’t coached there he would have been a coach somewhere else. If he had previously coached at your school (or the team you support) then retired and attended games and abused kids would you still be suggesting the death penalty for a whole football team that did nothing wrong? I doubt it.
To all Penn Staters:
Please open your eyers, the death penalty should be given to the football program without question. I am not affiliated with PSU, but feel I hold a modest viewpoint. Yes, the product on the field was not altered due to the Sandusky case, but the ignorance of the administrators who run the university turned their cheek since 1998 when the first abuse was allegedly reported. The University won the Big Ten championship in 2005 and 2008, which eventually led to a large amount of revenue generated for PSU. The administrators never said a word about child abuse because the bottom line showed tremendous profit and why destroy a perennial BIg Ten power and throw away millions of dollars when a few kids were being molested that no one would hear about? Penn State deserves the death penalty for a minimum of 10 years to help clear the aura of child molestation and to forfeit the millions of dollars generated during the decade of the 2000s. This should be about humanity, not profit margines
I agree with you completely, but for me, I think it has a lot to do with the apologist mentality that many students, members of the community, and Penn State football fans are displaying in posts all over the net. If people (not saying you) continue to act like this was no big deal, how can the rest of the world believe claims that there is not a disturbing aspect to the football culture here? The world was watching when the kids rioted (without having all the facts, of course) when Joe was fired, and they’re watching now. I have heard people compare what Joe did to a DUI and call it a mistake, but the truth is (according to Freeh) that it was a willful cover up to prevent damage to the program and the brand. This had to do with money, and ego, and people who have clearly gone off the deep end. I think everyone involved needs to face investigation, from McQueary to Dottie Sandusky to then AG Corbett. I think this was possibly a poorly-kept secret across the NCAA…why else would a defensive legend retire at 55 and get almost no job offers after that? I think it’s likely that a deal was made that Sandusky quietly retire in exchange for the cover-up that would protect both Sandusky and the team. I’m betting Curley, Spanier, and Schultz are regretting that decision now…
My above comment was meant in response to Martin’s post. Sorry.
Yes, Rob- you most certainly are.
To some of the people posting here: If the big issue for you is the removal of the statue or whether PSU gets the death penalty then YOU are a manifestation of the misguided football culture that you are accusing PSU of!. Maybe some food for thought. Remember, “whenever you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you.”.
The victims, carrying out the law for those who are guilty, and positive changes to make sure this never happens again should be what we all care about. There should be no debate on that point.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8160271/joe-paterno-legacy-penn-state-aftermath-freeh-report
im pretty sure the SM case of their child molestation is very similar to PSU
SMU didnt contact the police
Boeheim supported his friend ( just like paterno)
To many innacurate accusations thoes are just some of the similarities. But i forgot Penn State is a well known school with a legendary coach so the media is having its fill with him, why are people only talking about him not mike mcquiry or however you spell his name? isnt he the one who walked in on it????????
As a graduate of The Ohio State University, I never thought that I would be writing about anything that related to Penn State. But, I can no longer take the ignorance and lynch mob mentality of many of the media outlets, as well as the general populace.
It has always amazed me that we (readers and listeners of mass media) have become so lazy that we swallow every morsel of so called news as gospel. Lest we forget that the media must sell their wares in order to remain in business. With the advent of ever evolving technology that task has become increasing more difficult. As a result, the media too have evolved.
What used to be a respected profession, where journalistic integrity and the reporting of the facts were not only the norm, but were sacred and guarded, has now become a mission to remain relevant and profitable. Their integrity and reporting of the facts have often taken a back seat to the sensationalizing of some facet of the news.
It’s no longer good enough to simply report the facts and allow the readers or listeners to form their own judgment or opinion. Many articles today are merely watered down editorials with morsels of the truth thrown in so one could call it a news article.
I believe that the media are the most powerful people in the world. We have been led to believe, in fact brain washed in a sense, to accept the words of the media as an unbiased and fair representation of the facts. The Sandusky Sex Scandal, or as it’s better know the Penn State Sex Scandal… because the word “Sandusky” won’t sell as many papers or TV ads as “Penn State”, is a prime example of the media gone wrong.
I continue to be amazed by the irrational comments from generally intelligent people. Their naive acceptance of the media’s portrayal of the students/athletes, as well as Joe Paterno and other officials at Penn State is very bothersome to me and it should be to you.
For those of us who have actually read Louis Freeh’s report (which is the most comprehensive study about the Sandusky Sex Scandal) with an open mind, it must make you wonder about a number of things.
One of the most basic tenets of the entire document has been largely ignored by media. The report clearly states that in 1998 an investigation took place regarding Sandusky and alleged misconduct with young boys. The District Attorney along with the police department and several state organizations conducted numerous interviews. School officials, parents and alleged victims were all questioned. The investigation was closed and no charges were filed.
Sandusky should have been stopped in 1998. He wasn’t.
The report went on to say that law enforcement and child welfare officials were ill equipped and not sufficiently trained to adequately recognize and handle adolescent sexual abuse. What? Why isn’t that the headline? Apparently, that won’t sell as many ads or newspapers.
That one sentence shines a whole new light on this entire tragedy. If the professionals who are hired to serve and protect didn’t have the proper knowledge, training and education as it pertained to adolescent abuse, what makes everyone think that a football coach or academic officials should?
However, not one media outlet picked up on that and reported the finding. Apparently, it wasn’t sensational enough.
In 2001, having been through a Sandusky investigation just three years prior, Joe Paterno reported yet another incident to school officials. Knowing the result of the 1998 investigation, one might understand (not condone, but understand) why, after the initial report was filed, there was limited follow up on the part of Joe Paterno.
There’s no doubt that Paterno and school officials made some horrendous decisions. But, so did the law enforcement personnel and state agencies who were supposed to be knowledgeable about pedophiles and their characteristics.
I question why the media and many of you are holding a football coach and an administration to a higher standard than law enforcement and agencies whose job it is to protect all of us? Would you hold Child Protective Services, State Police or the District Attorney responsible if the Nittany Lions lost a football game? Of course not. It’s irrational and idiotic. I’m not downplaying the acts of Sandusky. They were horrific!
Further, I’m not defending anyone, but simply pointing out the fact that the mob is trying to condemn Penn State’s current students, athletes and officials for grievous acts committed 12 or 14 years ago. For the most part, today’s student body at Penn State were just getting out of diapers when these acts occurred. How is it rational or just for them to be punished?
One final thought. During the same time frame of 12 to 14 years, the students at Penn State have raised and donated nearly $100 million dollars for research and a cure for pediatric cancer. Thousands of young lives have been saved or made better because of the students at Penn State. Let’s stop casting aspersions and not forget all of the good they have done.
So, before you jump on the band wagon, perhaps you should know the facts and not just what the media want you to believe.
I’m proud to be a Buckeye, but feel very sad for the victims, students and everyone who calls Happy Valley home.
Rob: Spanier sued the university over the release of his emails, not over being fired. He was relieved of his duties as university president, but is still a tenured faculty member. Google is your friend.