Patern-al Order of Malice

Rarely in the history of The Vibe has a topic required a second blog. In fact, it has never happened.

Has there ever been a topic as inflammatory as this Penn State stuff? I'm not talking college football. I'm not even talking sports. I'm talking in the history of our country. I make that statement not for shock value or to devalue scandals such as Watergate or the Lewinsky debacle. In the moral scheme of things, it just blows everything out of the water.

We (as a society) are going on Week 2 of hour-by-hour Penn State coverage. That speaks volumes. In the thick of an NFL season as competitive as any in recent memory....At a time when the MLB offseason is heating up with firings, signings, and trade rumors....When NBA owners and players are in a historic greed-fest over who will get a piece of the multi-million dollar pie....Hell, there's even hockey going on.

And all we can talk about is Penn State.

One of the only games each year that I rooted for Penn State. After witnessing Ohio State taking a credibility hit this off season, Michigan sees another rival bite the dust. Who cares about the Fab Five anymore anyway?

The last blog dealt with the surface handling of the scandal of the PSU big wigs. It was written pre-Paterno-canning and before the nation had a chance to chew this up and digest it. I too have had a chance to digest this a bit more. And I'm getting angrier and angrier at Joe Paterno as the days pass.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll point out again that I was not in love with Paterno to begin with. I always thought that he had an arrogance about him. I felt that he was completely enamored with the idea of himself as the face of Penn State. I resented how PSU would run up the score (especially in the 90's) against the likes of inferior teams. A classic "kick 'em while they're down" program (81-0 vs. Cincinnati in 1992, 70-7 vs. Maryland in 1993). I don't single them out in that regard, because your Miamis and Florida States did the same.

I was always of the opinion, though, that the Paterno self-enamoration was something that was Penn State's thing. The Nittany Lion faithful were down with Joe Pa's aura, and that was all that mattered. Who cares what a non-Penn State fan thinks of what they had going on? It worked for them, to the tune of tremendous success. Incidentally, I really feel for my PSU-faithful friends who were gung ho Joe Pa. It has to be devastating watching this demise.

Turns out, Paterno was really into himself as the Godfather of PSU. And I'm sorry, but in my opinion that is not debatable. Do I think he went out of his way to definitively orchestrate a cover up of this Sandusky business? No. Do I think that conversations went on behind closed doors about how to make this go away without damaging the PSU image? Absolutely. Was Joe Pa involved in those conversations? You had better believe it.

Joe Pa always loved him some Joe Pa....

 As WFAN's Mike Francesa pointed out, it was no coincidence that Sandusky "decided" to retire after the 1998 regular season ('99 Alamo Bowl) at the ripe young age of 55. Coincidental that evidence came out in 1998 (as reported to police for the first time) of sexual abuse?

Joe Paterno knew nothing of this? News to him? I don't buy it for a second.

This is what I think happened. This is based on the countless hours of media coverage and news articles, and reflects only my personal opinion.

Opinions are like assholes...everyone has one....even this guy!

The Vibe's Take

Joe Pa caught wind of those allegations in '94. But as many a man might, he did not act swiftly because there was no proof, and no criminal charges. He kept Sandusky on and in 1998, the program was rocked internally by the police investigation of Sandusky. PSU officials came to Paterno and they worked on getting Sandusky out as a coach. They gave him the option to go out with "dignity" and he took it.

TURNING POINT....If they had also told Sandusky to stay away from campus, to disassociate from the university completely, and to not show his face around...they would have fulfilled their moral obligation. The onus would have been on the police to whom it was reported to prosecute and investigate. If that happens - no janitor incidents, no Mike McQueary dilemma, no Paterno demise.

But they opted for the low road. Paterno stood idly as Sandusky continued to be a presence around campus. Scratch that...Paterno HAD to have wanted to keep Sandusky around. We all know that anyone Joe Pa really wanted out would be gone at the snap of his fingers. He even allowed him to run football camps using Penn State football as a lure. Joe Pa wasn't giving that the OK?

And then Mike McQueary inadvertently lit the end fuse of a bomb in 2002. At the time, the pelirrojo is likely running around trying to do anything and everything to catch on with Paterno's staff for good. Joe Pa says jump, he asks "How high?" Then he unsuspectingly walks in on this monster, a man who he revered for 4 years as a player and likely the next 4 years trying to break in as a coach. Having no knowledge of the situation, his world was rocked. And he made the morally fatal choice to leave instead of intervening.   

He tells Joe Pa....Joe Pa reports it to the the powers that be. Immediately, they think "Oh shit...this is NOT going to look good....this was brought to our attention in the past and we allowed the guy to continue coming around....we have to make this go away" And people got greased up, paid off, whatever you'd like to call it.

"I'm gonna make him an offer he won't refuse. Okay? I want you to leave it all to me." Don't think for a minute that deals didn't go down in this whole fiasco.... 

This part is NOT MY OPINION.

It is what came of the grand jury testimony. McQueary testified to a grand jury that he witnessed an anal raping of a young boy. Paterno reported to the grand jury that he had been told that Sandusky was "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature" to a young boy. AD Tom Curley and VP Gary Schultz testified that they were told there was some "horsing around in the shower" of an inappropriate nature. President Graham Spanier testified the same.

It's like a bad game of telephone.

Just about every picture you can find of the game "telephone" is of kids playing it. Didn't think it would be appropriate given the nature of this blog. Instead...who doesn't love to see hot girls? Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Another pelirrojo disappoints in this blog.

And from there, Sandusky was not charged. Things went back to the way they were, Paterno unbelievably continued to coach with McQueary on staff, all the while having Sandusky in an office upstairs. How could he sit there in meetings, in good faith, with this man who had reported such an unthinkable act to him.....and not feel bad for looking the other way?

"Looking the other way? But Joe Pa testified!"

Once again, if Joe Pa wanted someone gone from that program, it would have taken 10 minutes for it to happen.

How many poor kids were victimized after 1998, when Paterno first heard? How about after 2002, as Sandusky used his PSU credentials to run camps and charities (as an avenue to access victims)?

I wonder how Paterno lives with himself knowing that because he didn't want to make waves in his program, a handful of young boys had their innocence robbed by a monster. How can he make a blase' comment like "I wish I would've done more" and then end with "let's pray for the victims"? How can he smile and say "I love you too" to student supporters gathered outside his residence? How can he minimize his role in this and release a statement saying that he will retire and that the board can "focus on their investigation" and not worry about him?

He still doesn't get it.

With great power comes great responsibility....and not to oneself, but to the greater good...A large amount of the blood is on his hands.