kind of sad, but this is probably a generational thing. the guy was born in the '20s and went to brown. in the UK, many parents groups are actually trying to silence their own kids in the public schools for speaking out against molestation by staff and other students, because it is a british public school tradtion and you are expected just to endure it, as if it toughens you up or something. paterno probably absorbed these values from an ivy league that was waspier and more britishy in his day.

why we as a country are obsessed with sporting leagues occupied by felons-in-the-making with nothing but contempt for the rest of us puzzles me.

I agree. Just another symptom of our country's decline. Seeing a bunch of grown men cheer and go crazy over a group of thugs playing football is pretty hilarious.

i wonder whether we as a country were smarter as an electorate when we didn't have mass low culture. today it's sports and kardashasians, but it goes as far back as hearst newspapers and yellow journalism.

the fact that you can toss a ball farther or catch it better than 99% of the population gets you a pass on a lot of things in this country. if kobe couldn't ball, he'd be in prison like any other rapist. apparently this privilege is extended to coaches as well. if joe p were coaching HS ball and not famous, he'd be looking at a couple of years of prison time for failing to report a dangerous serial child molester.

oh well this is going to be an interesting clash between two distinctly american phenomena: the insane reverence for football and the insane hatred of child molesters. it's going to be explosive.

Watch yer fuckin words sir.

Says the guy with a fucking Tom Brady user name.......

He said that he didn't do enough which means many different things. All I am saying is this is fresh, all the facts are not out and people are attaching him as if he raped the kids himself.

What facts are going to come out that can possibly affect Paterno's culpability? If he had gone to the police when he was first notified, or if there were communications between him and the University's administration where he was pressing for action, those would have been the first things brought up after everyone looked to him. Nobody is going to sit on that kind of information with the whole nation calling for your termination. The bottom line is that, regardless of whatever verdict is leveled at Sandusky, Joe Paterno took the bare minimum of steps required by law when faced with allegations that a subordinate was committing an awful crime. No one is saying Joe had to go physically stop Sandusky. The point is that he should have alerted the police and taken the steps incumbent upon a man of his influence at State College - and supposed integrity - to follow-up.

Very well put. I'm not saying that JoePa commited a criminal act. However, we do know for a fact that back in 2002, a 28-year old graduate assistant told JoePa that he saw Sandusky molesting a ten-year old boy in the locker room showers. And yet, he did not alert the police but chose to give his assistant coach the benefit of the doubt. JoePa did just the bare minimum in this regard. Sandusky's actions were disgusting and morally egregious. JoePa's GROSS negligence warrants his immediate dismissal as head coach.

Blah, I am in different to this story. I simply think that Joe is being railroaded.

Going to have to disagree here. If Joe Pat is the moral compass he's made out to be, I would think he would've tar'ed and feathered this fucker for rapping 10 year old boys in showers. Just me though.

Sweet old Joe Paterno is in reality an incredibly self-serving man. For years he has pushed back against administration urging him to retire, before he gets his 400-whatever career win. Even today his narcissism shone through as he attempted to remain as coach for the rest of the season instead of actually thinking about his f***ing players and resigning immediately, so that the incredible media spotlight that will be on them for the rest of the season might actually be a little less glaring. I don't understand how you can not even ask Sandusky about McQueary's allegations, much less call the damn cops or follow up after you tell the AD, and then still have the audacity to consider yourself a role model to a bunch of 19-22 year olds.

This does not take away from his educational and philanthropic contributions, but the man is clearly an egomaniac.

Edit: The BOT did a nice little chicken sh** move by firing him over the phone instead of in person. Piss poor.

It's worth stating that JoePa had a courier arrive at his home last night with a letter for him instructing him to call the phone number in the letter. Once he did, he was fired via that phone call.

~50 years of service, most winningest coach in D1A football, fired over the phone.

Why were the president and the AD fired?

Were they even aware of Sandusky?

double post

look at your username...

YOU LIE! AND HARVARD WILL NEVER LOVE YOU!

WTF?

Well then it's a whole infrastructure of ignorance... should have just cut the guy loose with some benefits rather than risk collateral damage. Now it's game over for all of them.

Please stop with your mindless drivel about "those kids about Penn State." You know nothing about the school, you know nothing about Joe Paterno or what truly happened (none of us do as we only know what has been reported), and to be perfectly frank... you are making yourself sound like an idiot with your 5th grade logic and soap box rhetoric here. Sweeping generalizations are easy for one to make anonymously, on an internet forum, with the full benefit of hindsight, after thousands have already criticized. Please get off your fucking high horse because you sound like a douchebag. It may very well be that the man did not do enough, but we don't have all the facts yet, and while you jumping to conclusions and airing your ill-informed opinion may be your right, it doesn't make you sound any less of an idiot. Reserve judgement until you know all the information. Everyone is making it sound like the man didn't take this to the authorities, when the reality is he escalated this to the highest ranking police official in university park. While, I'm still unsure whether he did what was enough in the eyes of society, I have never been in his situation, and surely cannot be so hypocritical as to judge merely through the benefit of hindsight. I can, however, say this, that Joe Paterno is not the type of man who would have simply turned a blind eye to such events if he had had both proof and firm conviction of what went on. I think people are overlooking how difficult it must be to have such a situation brought before you when you did not see it, the witness bringing you the information while appearing genuine has not done so immediately (reports clearly indicate that there was a lag, and that he could not be characterized as an outcry witness), and the accused is someone considered by everyone in the community to be above reproach. This is not a simple issue, and while I can't go so far as to say that I blindly support his actions, what I can say is that I don't know enough to have a strongly informed opinion on the way he handled things. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families first and foremost, and my heart is broken for both them and for the school and its faithful. Hopefully all is brought to light so that we may have enough facts to weigh what has been done intelligently and in proper discourse, but until then I think people are being far too rash in their judgment.

Linking here a very well articulated article by a defense attorney... worth the read...

http://thatlawyerdude.blogspot.com/2011/11/strong-defense-of-joe-paterno...

Nebraska - 2.5 (opening line) may have been one of the best bets of the season. NOW, Neb - 3.5 could end up being the lock of the decade. Just thinking about the football teams (and ignoring the scandal) penn st is ridiculously over rated, they have no offense whatsoever. I'm not a huge believer in Nebraska, but how do they not win by a touchdown or more?

"The Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal is a 2011 child sexual abuse scandal involving allegations against former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and allegations of a university coverup of those incidents.[1] Sandusky, a longtime defensive coordinator under head coach Joe Paterno, retired in 1999 but retained access to Penn State's athletic facilities. A 2011 grand jury investigation reported that Mike McQueary, then a graduate assistant, told Paterno in 2002 that he had seen Sandusky performing a sex act on a 10-year-old boy in Penn State football's shower facilities. Paterno then reported the allegations to Penn State athletic director Tim Curley."

He didn't report the incident to the police. The AD didn't report this incident to the police.

It's a coverup plain and simple

I agree, it's not excusable for any of the parties.

Neither are facing jail time and neither should be affiliated with the Pennsylvania State University going forward. However, in this country we tend to hold people in positions of power to a higher standard and level of scrutiny and I wouldn't be surprised if the guy who witnessed the act got to keep his job (or at least fired later in a more discrete manner).

I would rather go to Michigan or UC Berkeley than your Alma mater.