This Isn't the Way it Should've Ended...

Edit: Paterno was fired by the PSU Board of Trustees after their meeting Wednesday evening. He will not coach this weekend.
 
As I sit down to write this post, the news of Joe Paterno's coming end-of-season retirement has just broken. I am not a Penn State fan, nor am I an alumnus of that school. But for some reason, I always have felt some connection to the football team & the university itself. Maybe it was the 6 weeks I spent there in summer of 2005, or the fact that the Nittany Lions were always on TV when I was a kid, or perhaps it was just the respect and admiration I had for Joe Paterno. Throughout this massive and tragic scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, I still haven't lost that respect. The man obviously made a mistake in not reporting what was told to him to the police, but he performed his legal duty, according to this Grand Jury report. In that report, all of the horrible things that Sandusky did to children under his watch are chronicled. If you aren't interested in reading the report, be assured that the details are sordid and disgusting and Sandusky should be locked away for life. But there are people that are much more blameworthy than JoePa in this circumstance. AD Tim Curley & business VP Gary Schultz are both under investigation for perjury in front of the Grand Jury and are implicated in an effort to cover up the terrible acts that were perpetrated by Sandusky.  However, none of the people at Penn State who learned of the specific event that occurred on PSU's campus had ANY idea that Sandusky was a serial pedophile. A victim came forward in 1998, but was Sandusky was not charged, even as another victim stepped up. Why aren't these local law enforcement authorities catching any heat?

Joe Paterno has largely been bashed in the media recently for his inaction regarding this matter, and it seems to have led directly to his retirement. As written in the Grand Jury report, Paterno did not witness the attack, nor was he told intimate details. He referred the matter to his superiors and the university itself, and they were the ones presented with the details of the eyewitness account. I agree with most pundits in that I think Paterno and everyone else who knew about the attack should have reported it immediately to the police. However, I do not think that this man, who has had such a long track record of community activism & charity, should be crucified for one bad decision that he (and many others who knew) made.

Paterno was an all-time great coach, and is the leader in career victories. He led the Nittany Lions to 2 national championships in his ridiculous 46 years in Happy Valley. He has buildings all across the campus named after him (as well as an ice cream, Peachy Paterno, which is damn good by the way) and is by far the name that people associate most with Penn State University. Some might say that Joe hung on too long, but the man is a legend and has led his team to winning records every year since 2005. It is a shame that something like this scandal will be the last chapter in such an amazing story. I will remember Paterno as a great coach and leader of men, as well as a great man himself. I just wish he went out on top, like he deserves to, but I'm sure that he will be remembered in the future not for this mistake, but for the incredible accomplishments he had with Penn State.

-Cote