My Thoughts on Penn State

Pat and I spoke a little bit about the Penn State situation on the podcast that will go up later today but this story is moving so fast that since we recorded it last night a lot of things have happened. The three major parts to this story right now is Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno and the students reaction to what is taking place.

This morning Coach Paterno "decided" that he would retire at the end of this season. I say "decided" because that might be what the Board of Trustees allows him to do, instead of firing the iconic coach, they might be giving him one last chance to coach at this school. And maybe the Board of Trustees hasn't made a decision yet and Paterno is fired today. We don't know.

Joe Paterno heard about the molestation that took place in the football team's shower and reported it to his superior. By the letter of the law Joe Paterno did exactly what he was supposed to do and I would assume that Paterno is legally going to stay out of trouble.  The problem with Joe Paterno is that we, as a society, feel he didn't do enough. Joe Paterno is guilty, maybe not legally, but morally he is guilty. Joe Paterno could have and should have taken this to the police on his own. He did not and that's why we won't ever look at Coach Paterno the same way. He had an opportunity to do the right thing and he didn't. His inaction allowed Jerry Sandusky to molest other children and ruin lives and families beyond what Joe Paterno knew about. Joe Paterno is at fault for what he didn't do. This is not they way Paterno's career should end, but it's his fault it ends this way. 

Last night students took to the campus and streets to march for something. I was following on Twitter and it is hard to see exactly what they were marching for. It seems most were marching for the firing of Penn State President Graham Spanier and in support of Football head coach Joe Paterno.

I try to put myself in the place of students that protested last night and turned to Twitter today to discuss their disbelief and shock at Paterno's retirement. Students reported people getting emotional in class when learning that Paterno will retire. That campus must be an odd place to be right now with television vans, reporters and other media types rolling through the campus. In a school that prides itself in football and its head coach in the way Penn State does it must be difficult to have all of that crumbling down around you. From the outside you can see that people loved Paterno, they deified him to a certain extent, and when you make a man your god he will disappoint you. The students at Penn State are hurt because they believed in someone that ultimately failed them. 

Our anger should be at Jerry Sandusky and focused there. Other men dropped the ball and we should definitely be upset with those men but Sandusky is who committed crimes so horrible its difficult for me to read and hear them. The media has spent their time vilifying Joe Paterno but I think they have lost focus. Joe Paterno is the name in this story because he is arguable the greatest coach of all time. That being said the focus should soon switch to Sandusky and the victims of his abuse. We live in a country that prides itself on "innocent until proven guilty" except when it comes to child abuse. If you read the reports and see that the list of victims is growing it seems there is no one more guilty than Sandusky. 

Here's where our focus needs to be, on the victims of these crimes. Former Detroit Lions General Manager and Penn State linebacker, Matt Millen said this on ESPN yesterday "If we can't protect our kids, as a society, we are pathetic." and Millen is absolutely correct. The only positive from this story is that more attention is brought to this plight on the human race. I hate to say it but this probably happens more often than we imagine. As a society we should be aware of this and stay vigilant. Let's get money moving to the correct organizations to prevent these crimes or help the children affected by these sort of crimes. We, as adults, have to do something to protect children from the same situations. Whether we are proactive or reactive, as Joe Pa failed to be, we must continue to protect our children in ways that Penn State failed. Let's learn from their mistakes and do right by the victims of these crimes.