Say It Isn’t So Joe!

It’s a sad, sad time for college football. For the first time in more that 45 years Joe Paterno is not the coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

I’ve been a JoePa fan for as long as I can remember. I have a small statue of him on my desk. A part of me is in denial because of my love and respect for JoePa and the other part of me is still trying to put the pieces together and gain an understanding of this story.

No one is going to defend Jerry Sandusky’s actions of child molestation. Jerry Sandusky is a sick, SICK man and he will meet his match in prison. What happened to these victims is repulsing. I read the Grand Jury Report, but I think there are a few pages missing…

Why almost 15 years later are we just now hearing about these awful events? Were promised scholarships not fulfilled, hush money stopped being deposited or something else…? What happened to the victims is awful and now we have to figure out how it went on for so long, the campus cover up and how to make sure this never happens again.

I can only speak for myself- I know how embarrassing I was as a child to my parents by just being me. The first time I heard the word penis, I said it over and over and over… along with every other “bad” word. I laughed when we walked by Victoria’s Secret because they had manikins in their underwear. I went to a hearing specialist for a year where my parents learned that my hearing was fine, I just didn’t listen. My point is that if I was fondled in any inappropriate way I would have told everyone just for being a kid, not because I knew it was a crime. Even if I was told not to tell, I would have “forgotten” and still said something….

I just feel like these victims said something and the mom of victim #1 even reported it- it’s in the Grand Jury report and nothing happened? Again, I’m not in any way defending San-disgust-me, but I’m trying to understand why we are hearing about it 15 years later.

The Penn State cover up is so deeeeeep and disturbing. I believe JoePa when he was notified by Mike McQueary of “fondling and horsing around” that he went to the AD, Tim Curley. McQueary SAW the shower incident of victim #2 and didn’t go to the police! He didn’t even try to intervene! WTH is wrong with McQueary? At the time, McQueary was 28 years old and a graduate assistant and from what we know, he is the only eye witness and he didn’t go the police. Isn’t that failure to report a crime?

Continue reading Sandusky’s Grand Jury Report and you learn that what McQueary saw and reported to JoePa, Curley and senior VP of business and finance Gary Schultz, were different stories. You could blame all them of being guilty of failure to report a crime that they didn’t witness. Police need indisputable evidence to pursue a crime not “he said, she said”. McQueary is the only one of those who could testify to the police what he witnessed, but instead he took a full time coaching position with Penn State… It’s funny how that timeline worked out for him. After what he saw, how could he work with Sandusky? Was he not scared every time he dropped a pen when Sandusky was in the room?

The reaction of Facebook and Twitter is the lack of empathy from Penn State students and fans towards the victims and criticism of Penn State students for the riots and the support they have shown for JoePa. But here’s the issue; no one supports child molestation and JoePa is not the one accused of the charges.

Students and fans were outraged by John Surma and the Board of Trustees decision to fire JoePa by saying it is in the “best interest of the university”. Shut the front door! How can you make that statement and then follow with “we don’t know all the facts”. In America, you are innocent until proven guilty. How do you fire the man who IS your University, who announced to his team he would retire at the end of season just days before his last home game after 45 years of commitment and dedication to the University when you “don’t know all the facts”??? But the one fact we all know is that McQueary witnessed the crime, didn’t go to the police and it took days later for the Board to announce he would not be coaching Saturday’s game and that he is in protective custody.

Penn State hasn’t fired him, but they fired the BEST tradition, a living legend, the heart of Penn State; JoePa and they think the fans would be okay with that decision? Wrong again. The Board of Trustees should be embarrassed for the way they have handled this sick, sick scandal.

I don’t even have to hope that Penn State doesn’t win another football game, without JoePa- what is Penn State’s selling point? And to go out like this is just sad. Say it isn’t so Joe! Joe Paterno should have been able to coach his last home game. The seniors deserved it, the team deserved it and JoePa fans needed a way to say thank you and good bye. John Surma- you just planned the funeral of not just Penn State Football but for Penn State University.

Joe Paterno: YOU ARE PENN STATE.