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Sex scandal forces board to fire Joe Pa; Penn State riots
By Daniel Dullum November 9, 2011 |
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Penn State head coach Joe Paterno has announced Wednesday that he will end his 46-year tenure with the football program after the season, and he's not going away quietly. The school is in the middle of an underage sex scandal that saw two administrators, AD Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz arrested for perjury, and former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is allegedly up for child molestation charges and currently is out on bail. Paterno 84, closes out a long career at the school, "this is a tragedy, it is one of the great sorrows of my life, with the benefit of hindsight I wish I had done more." said Paterno in a prepared statement for the media. Paterno reportedly informed Curley of one sex abuse charge by Sandusky in 2002, as reported initially by his assistant coach, Mike McQueary. Paterno who shared regrets that he didn't take more action when he learned of Sandusky's violating a child after learning from McQueary was under pressure after it was learned that he gave the information to Curley but didn't take further action like reporting it to the police and then firing and banning Sandusky from the college. In his statement, Paterno said he was "absolutely devastated" by the developments in the case and that he "grieves for the children and their families." Even with Paterno's announcement on Wednesday, rumors still persist that he legendary coach will be forced out following Saturday's game at Nebraska, if not before. Paterno told the media, "I have come to work everyday for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind to serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today. That's why I have decided to announce my retirement today. At this moment the board of trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address, I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can." There is no shortage of copy on line or in the papers of the Penn State situation, as it was a sad situation that Sandusky was named as an alleged child molester. There's allegations flying left and right and you know, sometimes where there's smoke, there's fire. Witnesses in the case are ready to step forward and whether or not their going to address the media is still a contention. Eye witnesses are being interviewed who had been alleged victims of Sandusky's and unfortunately even though Paterno legally fulfilled every responsibility he was supposed to do with the football program, you know the buck has to stop somewhere. Paterno knows this, he's 84 years old, Paterno had planned to coach to the bitter end, but under the circumstances there was no way he was going to survive a scandal like this when it happened on his watch. This is huge black eye, not just on Penn State football but on the NCAA. You can be assured the legal system will handle Jerry Sandusky's situation, and as for Paterno he'll get out of this legally unscathed. But if your Joe Pa, this is not the way you wanted to go out. You want to go out with a blaze of glory with a good season, when a big bowl game, and then you want to say good bye. This wasn't on the game plan for Paterno, you feel bad in a way for Paterno but at the same time you have to wonder how do you look the other way for that long? Again he had to hear rumblings, he had to know about some of this but maybe he didn't. He knew about the alleged molestation in 2002 which he reported to Curley, but Paterno said it himself on Wednesday, "I didn't do enough." JoePa, you've had a great run, but it's time to go. Daniel Dullum covers Stanford football & Stanford basketball for Sportstalk Radio |
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