Around the 'Shoe

'Family Defends Paterno'

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Joe-Paterno-family-Release-all-emails-and-records-070312

Any confirmation that Paterno was involved in the decision not to report the shower assault won't matter to 1966 Penn State alumnus Michael S. Kirschner, a Bryn Mawr businessman and who chaired the Paterno Library board.

''To me it doesn't, because I love the man. I learned from him, and I can walk from my home in Philadelphia to Penn State in the footsteps of mistakes I've made,'' Kirschner said. ''The legacy of those of us who believed in him will not be tarnished. No matter what.''

well, I see the cowards are awake and ready to get started w/the dv's. unless it's a PSU coward, which is fitting for this thread.

hey Nut, your new assignment is to revamp the up/downvote system....everyone wants to share their ups, let's make share their downs.

This entire situation stinks to high heaven. From the act itself, to the coverup, then the justification process some people are fabricating. The entire truth is the administration, coaches, law enforcement, and the PSU fans choose to turn a blind eye and let a child predator operate on and around their campus for years to protect their brand and image. JoePa was a man whos legacy gave him way to much power. He was at the head of a multimillion dollar cash cow and was seen as a deity among the PSU fan base. It is now coming out how truely corrupt an organization can be when individuals are allowed to remain in power for too long. I feel for the victims of this monster named Sandusky and all those who allowed it to happen. I have seen questions on boards if this would have been the same situation had it been a professor from the history department and the answer is, NO it would not. The fact is it would not have been the same in any other department of the school. The individual would have been turned over to authorities right away and no further victims would have been created. Because it was the bread winner (football team) and JoePa had the power he had, it was swept under the rug as if it wasn't happening. Spanier, Shultz, Curley, and Paterno should go down in history as the worst abuse of power that has ever happened in sports. PSU and the sports program should be punished drastically and if the NCAA doesn't they should just fold up camp and go off into the sunset because if they do not dole out the harshest punishment ever given then they are truely the joke everyone believes them to be already.

I hope this guy's mistakes didnt effect others like JoPa's.

He is a piece of shit and that statue needs to come down asap. Most disgusting situation in sports ever. Id be setting off H 100's on his stupid statue face today if it was nearby

Thank you :)

Really? The fans were on to this and we chose to let it go? A lot if people are at fault, but fans had nothing to do with this. I won't speak for all PSU fans, but as for me, I am very disappointed in how this tragedy occurred and went unreported for years. This terrible story will carry on for years to come and will always be a sad chapter in my book of being a fan of PSU. It is not a position I would wish on any fan to be in, but as you make your comments and call for drastic punishments, put yourself in our shoes. Imagine how you would feel if this had happened to your university. We have sports to try to escape the everyday crap this world throws at us. The thought that players and coaches and a program that had no connection to these events could be severely punished for the acts of a few is hard to phathom. I do not pretend to know how this will play out, but I do know hat it has been a terrible 7 months and I'm sure more misery is to come. Just keep this in perspective and who is really to blame. We are no different than you. We love our team and our university and we hope that better days are soon to come.

That's just the way things work in the NCAA......others pay for peoples' mistakes. If anything happens to PSU football, I am sure the NCAA will give the players left behind a chance to go elsewhere without having to sit out....which did not happen here. And as far as sports being an escape....that's not an excuse or a reason to NOT levy penalties against the football program. There are other sports for you and your fans to watch and "escape" if your football team gets some sanctions.

When I offer my opinion about what should happen, I try and take the fact that PSU fans were over here (and on their own site) gloating about OSU's problems out of the equation.....I really do. But I will ask you the same question....put yourselves in OUR shoes. If we were all over your site because some of your players sold stuff and your coach covered it up.......wouldn't most of you be calling for harsh penalties for OSU? I live in Pgh and I know MANY of your fans and I know the answer to that question.

FWIW, if what happened at PSU happened at Texas or LSU or anywhere else, I am sure I would feel the same way.

Bottom line is, you have to truly ask yourself if you honestly believe that the reasons for the cover up had absolutely nothing to do with protecting PSU football and the money making brand that it is. I do not believe that for one second and that's why I feel that this IS a football issue and an NCAA issue. You guys lost some recruits because of this....good recruits. If this came out 10 years ago, it's safe to say you would have lost recruits back then. So, it's reasonable to conclude that you could have won some games back then that you should not have won....maybe even gotten to a bowl game or 2 that you would not have gotten to otherwise. Therefore, covering this up benefited the football program and the money making machine that it is. It's pretty simple in my book.

You need to look at Paterno like any other person and judge him over his entire lifetime and career. He made a horrible mistake and misjudgment in covering up for Sandusky. It looks particularly aggregious especially with the benefit of hindsight (I believe Paterno when he said he didn't know or understand the full scope of Sandusky's actions), but it doesn't necessarily wipe away all the good he did. This killed Paterno, his memory will forever be besmerched, I don't know what more you want PSU fans to do or say. My guess is their program will get the death penalty from the NCAA for the institutional cover-up. I'd say they will be out for at least a couple years.

this happens every single day in every single business in america/world. that's life. preaching this to ohio state fans probably isnt the best group to be asking for sympathy from.

You believe Paterno?? Really?? I wonder why he fired Sandusky back in the late 90s when he was one of the best defensive coaches in the country. Because he knew jag.....he knew. Joe knew enough to fire him and have his career pretty much halted.

Atta boy GA.....you put your job and livelihood on the line to do the right thing and protect others. People who had enough money to retire and live on the beach forever couldn't do that. Staying ahead of Bobby Bowden appeared to have been more important for St Joseph.