So most people already know about the Joe Paterno/Penn State ordeal. I'm sure a LOT of people will be blogging about it this weekend. I apologize in advance.
When I first saw something about this on MSN, I wasn't altogether interested in what it was about. I like to watch football, and I have my favorite NFL and college teams, but I never kept up with stats or background on the players and coaches. As the story progressed though, and Paterno revealed that he was going to retire, the story caught my attention. He was obviously a dedicated coach, and would only retire to protect himself, or to do it before anyone else told him he had to. So of course, the story progresses even further. He is fired. He had planned to stick it out for the rest of this season, but he was thrown out right away.
The story is an extremely messy one. As for the crime, the affidavit is online, and can be viewed by the public here. Be warned that it goes into gruesome details about the abuse. Gerald Sandusky was a former coach of Penn State football. What he did was disgusting and twisted. I personally could not finish reading the whole thing. Thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. However, it is much more clear when explaining what it has to do with Joe Paterno.
Basically, Sandusky molested many children. In one incident, a graduate assistant walked into the locker room where Sandusky was raping a ten-year old boy. The GA fled, apparently in shock, and contacted Joe Paterno. From there, Paterno immediately notified the athletic director of the univerisity of the situation witnessed. The information ended with the athletic director, who was Paterno's immediate superior, and the vice president of the university. They ended up sweeping the situation under the rug, like scattered dust. They did not go to the police to report a rape, and did not try to uncover Sandusky for what he did.
This was in 2002. The little boy that was raped is in his twenties now, and has now stepped forward with his story. Of all people in the story that needs to be brought to justice, it's obviously Sandusky. Joe Paterno is in the middle of all of this, because he was told the information of a crime, but it did not reach the police. He did the right thing by going to his superior immediately, but when nothing happened from there, he was obligated to take further action.
I will use another perspective. My mom works at the post office, so if one of her employees told her that she saw another employee stealing mail, then it would then be my mom's duty to go to her boss, and tell him what was going on. However, if her boss didn't do anything about the situation, then she could be held accountable for withholding information, unless she takes the next step, and goes higher than her boss. Either to the police, or the next highest position above her boss.
Since Joe Paterno did not take that next step, then he is at some fault for the crime not coming uncovered. Did he deserve to be fired from his job? What sort of punishment does he actually deserve? There is a lot of gray area to this issue. But for some people who say Paterno shouldn't be punished, then they need to blow the dust of their brains and get back into the 21st century. There are many twisted details about the law, but Paterno did break it. No one is above the law; not Paterno, not Obama, not the little girl next door, not your parents, and neither you nor me.
Paterno is a legend in his coaching career at Penn State, but one error may have screwed up his remaining time coaching. I don't like seeing Paterno fired, he is a fantastic coach, and probably a decent man, but intentional or unintentional, I would find it hard to believe if he thought what he did was good enough.
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