Joe Paterno And The Penn State Hierarchy Deserve Everything They Get
I do not attend Penn State University. I cannot speak for the culture in State College. I realize that football drives that city, that school and that lifestyle. I understand that people are outraged at this past week’s events and how they have unfolded. What I cannot comprehend is the fact that cheers of “We Want Joe” and “Beat Nebraska” rang out from the streets surrounding the Penn State campus.
What I cannot come to grips with, is how students in Happy Valley can go out and violently riot when their beloved Joe Paterno was fired on Wednesday evening. Could his firing have been handled better? Yes, absolutely. But in the grand scheme of things, the manner in which Paterno was fired should not overshadow the fact that he failed at his job as a figurehead, coach, mentor and human being.
I attend the University of Missouri, a major university in terms of athletics, but by no means as big as Penn State. I am also a passionate sports fan. I live in the city of Columbia where college football athletics are the town's only form of sports. I recognize how important football is to the Nittany Lion nation, but there is a certain line where football becomes irrelevant and we are at that point with this story.
My heart goes out to all of the victims whose lives have been ruined by the disgusting acts of Jerry Sandusky and all those who failed to protect them. I cannot comprehend how the Penn State hierarchy could have acted with such negligence. I believe that everybody involved is responsible and should be fired, from the top down.
And I am going to go out and just say it: All those who are in support of Joe Paterno are ignorant.
Paterno, a member of the Penn State family for over half a century, did not break any United States laws, but he had an obligation as a human being to report what he heard to the police, or at least keep pursuing his higher ups, who (lets be honest,) are only that by title.
This was not an issue of players accepting illegal gifts from boosters or failing classes. This was not a football problem. Human lives have been destroyed. Simply telling a superior was, and will never be, enough in such a scenario. Local authorities should have been notified, and a formal investigation should have been launched immediately. The man himself has even come forward saying that he could have and should have done more.
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