Paterno should be canned.

Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
For some additional insight, here's an article from the local newspaper of Centre County, PA.
(Bold emphasis mine)
...you have to understand the culture that has prevailed for at least as long as Paterno was in charge of the football program. It was, right up until he was removed from his position Wednesday night, a climate of Kremlin-like secrecy, of tightly-controlled access, of rule by dynamic terror. It was understood that if you wanted to be around his program in a professional aspect, you did so at his pleasure and by his rules. And that kind of climate is a petri dish for what happened in what must now be called the Sandusky Scandal.
But the toxic climate isn’t confined to the football program at Penn State. It’s pervasive on the campus from the lowest worker in the Office of the Physical Plant to the corner offices in Old Main. It’s all about keeping your mouth shut, doing your job, looking the other way at the various indiscretions and currying favor with those above you in the food chain in order to keep or improve your position. Stray from these guidelines at your own peril.
Anybody that's been involved with a large university - public or private - can understand the mentality described in this article. PSU may be worse in this regard than other schools, but they all have a code of "Omerta" to some degree.
 

witness23

Veteran Expediter
Notice in the report that about 1/2 of the victims went along with Sandusky's homosexual encounters multiple times over a number of years. These kids were old enough to know what's right and wrong, and they participated in Sandusky's perversions anyway; that doesn't excuse any of that nonsense or make it right. Some of the younger victims made it a point to avoid Sandusky after the first inappropriate contact. My point is that some of these older victims were willing participants in order to continue getting the goodies and perks, and were old enough to know better.

You're kidding right? Man, I would seriously consider editing that part out of your comment.
 

clcooper

Expert Expediter
yep we have laws that are just for the poor people and laws that are just for the rich and famous people .

the kids were poor so they are not as important as the one that used his power . and the ones that knew about it just covered it up for their rich buddy

oh no and this is about a sport team . oh no the people in sports are gods. lets find those kids and tar and feather them for saying bad things about our sports team and the coach that is 84 years old that is the greatest coach to ever live .
 

Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilgrim
Notice in the report that about 1/2 of the victims went along with Sandusky's homosexual encounters multiple times over a number of years. These kids were old enough to know what's right and wrong, and they participated in Sandusky's perversions anyway; that doesn't excuse any of that nonsense or make it right. Some of the younger victims made it a point to avoid Sandusky after the first inappropriate contact. My point is that some of these older victims were willing participants in order to continue getting the goodies and perks, and were old enough to know better.

You're kidding right? Man, I would seriously consider editing that part out of your comment.
No - I'm not kidding and I'm not recanting. Read the Grand Jury report, especially the part about victim 1. He continued to associate with Sandusky for 4-5 years, up into his freshman year in high school. Victim 1 admitted in his grand jury testimony to knowing what he was doing with Sandusky was wrong. Now, if he has some mental issues we're not aware of the picture changes entirely, and makes Sandusky even more of a ghoul (if that's possible). If victim 1 is gay, that might explain it somewhat but it doesn't make it right.
SO WHY DID HE ALLOW THE RELATIONSHIP TO GO ON THAT LONG, AND WHY DIDN'T HE TELL SOMEBODY EARLY ON? We may never get a clear answer.

Assuming for the sake of argument that there might be something in Victim 1's mental condition that would make him so vulnerable to a predator like Sandusky, one would assume that his mother and the teachers and coaches at his high school would be aware of his situation. With this in mind, why did the teachers, coaches and administrators at his high school allow Sandusky to take the kid out of class for "special sessions" and sometimes take the kid home with him without ever notifying the kid's mother? The high school wrestling coach had witnessed Sandusky and the kid in compromising positions on more than one occasion, yet did nothing and told no one. However, when victim 1's mother finally figured out what was going on she phoned the administrators at the high school who banned Sandusky from the premises and reported him to the authorities as they should have. So there is yet another record of Sandusky's criminal activity being known by school authorities who did nothing until forced to by parents.

But that brings the argument full circle to my original question: why did the kid continue to have a relationship for years with Sandusky knowing what he was doing was wrong - really bad wrong?
 

witness23

Veteran Expediter
Wow! I thought maybe, just maybe.....you were not articlulating something correctly in your post but I was obviously wrong. What a sick twisted way of looking at this. To be honest, I have no idea why you even thought of it or brought it up. :confused:
 

jaminjim

Veteran Expediter
Pilgrim said:
No - I'm not kidding and I'm not recanting. Read the Grand Jury report, especially the part about victim 1. He continued to associate with Sandusky for 4-5 years, up into his freshman year in high school. Victim 1 admitted in his grand jury testimony to knowing what he was doing with Sandusky was wrong. Now, if he has some mental issues we're not aware of the picture changes entirely, and makes Sandusky even more of a ghoul (if that's possible). If victim 1 is gay, that might explain it somewhat but it doesn't make it right.
SO WHY DID HE ALLOW THE RELATIONSHIP TO GO ON THAT LONG, AND WHY DIDN'T HE TELL SOMEBODY EARLY ON? We may never get a clear answer.
I'm pretty much speechless
 

cheri1122

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Possibly, but I'm not one of them. Of all the people involved in this, from the president to the campus police to the DA's office to the grad assistant, to Sandusky (y'all remember Sandusky don't you? - he's the one who molested those children) Paterno is far and away the least culpable of all, and the only one to do precisely what the law said he should have done. The mob mentality has reached a point where if Sandusky were to walk on a technicality, that's OK, because Paterno's head is on a pike, and that's the important thing here. <snort>

Every state has a 'duty to report' known or suspected child abuse to the police and/or child welfare officials [I knew most states did, but I didn't know they all do] so no, Paterno didn't do what he was required to do, either legally or morally.
I think everyone's more concerned with Joe P because Sandusky [the pedophile] was arrested - the law will take care of him. But when we learned that he could have been stopped years earlier, if Paterno had made the right choice, we found HIS behavior outrageous - we know a pervert will act like scum, but the coach isn't supposed to aid & abet him.


As for minimizing Greg, that's pretty easy to do when he (and Cheri, apparently) doesn't understand the difference between a kid's game and high level athletic competition, much less the psychological importance of spectator sports in general, the fact that (most) people in societies have an innate need to be part of something larger than themselves, where people of disparate socio-economic backgrounds who would otherwise never commiserate, are unified in a strong, cohesive group with a common goal and purpose. Sports are not at all unlike religion in that respect.

I understand the difference - but the fact remains, it's still a game. People can satisfy their innate need to be part of something larger than themselves in a multitude of ways, many of which actually benefit society, not just the 'athletes' and those who surround them. [OWS comes to mind]


There are mating ritual parallels, of course, where the strongest compete in mock battles while others watch, as is currently the case with many in the animal kingdom, and as once was the case with humans where athletic ability could mean the very survival of the group. It's certainly no secret that it’s the "jocks" that get the girls.

I'd remind you that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all got girls, too. :p

Sports can offer us some sanity and order in an increasingly confused and insane world. In sports, you have a clear-cut winner, and a clear-cut loser. As a fan, we belong, we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are able to vicariously experience a sense of wholeness, worth and autonomy often lost for the majority of us in a predictable and routine-based work existence.

I'll get my sense of autoonomy, wholeness and worth without contributing to the games, thank you.

Rooting for a sports team can even modify human physiology. In the classic "spectator study" (BERNHARDT, P. C., J. M. DABBS, JR., J. A. FIELDEN, AND C. D. LUTTER. PHYSIOL BEHAV 65(1) 59–62, 1998) several studies were done, with the three principal studies being that of soccer, basketball and football fans. "Basking in reflected glory, in which individuals increase their self-esteem by identifying with successful others, is usually regarded as a cognitive process that can affect behavior. It may also involve physiological processes, including changes in the production of endocrine hormones." The present research involved studies of changes in testosterone levels among male fans, and estrogen levels among female fans, watching their favorite sports teams win or lose.

In the first study, participants were eight male and 6 female fans attending a basketball game between traditional college rivals (ACC). In the second study, participants were 21 male and 23 female fans watching a televised World Cup soccer match between traditional international rivals. The third study participants were 14 male and 14 female fans watching a college football game between rivals (Big 10). Participants provided saliva samples for testosterone and estrogen assay before and after the contest. In both studies, mean testosterone and estrogen levels increased in the fans of winning teams and decreased in the fans of losing teams.

These findings suggest that watching one’s heroes win or lose has physiological consequences that extend beyond changes in mood and self-esteem. There are many studies and volumes of data on the subject of the psychology and physiology of participant and spectator sports. These are far more than just "kid's games played by adults". These "games" play a vital role in both the individual and in society at large.

Who wrote that, the rep for the Athletic Association?
There are also DAILY reports of cheating, [even sanctioned cheating, as when a team member on the Cleveland Indians snuck into a mgrs office to retrieve the bat confiscated from Albert Belle during a game for suspicion of tampering], drugs [steriods, HGH, and recreational], excessive alcohol consumption & rowdy and/or malicious behavior by fans [must be the estrogen levels:rolleyes:], illegal gambling, and recruiting violations out the wazoo - so much for instilling integrity into our youth, eh?
 

RLENT

Veteran Expediter
I'm pretty much speechless
Well, I read that thing in the other thread about having the media decide which Republican candidates are top tier and which ought to be debating ...... so I was kinda prepared ...... still ..... :eek:
 

Pilgrim

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Wow! I thought maybe, just maybe.....you were not articlulating something correctly in your post but I was obviously wrong. What a sick twisted way of looking at this. To be honest, I have no idea why you even thought of it or brought it up. :confused:
It's called being objective - so don't give me any chin music about not being sympathetic to the victims. We all know what happened to them was horrific and morally reprehensible, to say nothing of their being victimized by a psychotic criminal.

I thought of it and brought it up because I remember what it was like to participate in sports in high school and college. I remember being a teenager in Jr. high and high school. It's beyond my comprehension for ANY heterosexual young man that old and that physically developed to have allowed a homosexual pervert like Jerry Sandusky to continually do what he did over a period of years. Would you have allowed some 60-year old sicko to grope your private parts when you were that age?

It's understandable that a kid might get caught in an untenable situation by an older authority figure and gets taken advantage of ONCE - but only once. From what was revealed in the Grand Jury Report - using victim 1 as an example - Sandusky would invite these kids into his home (they didn't have to accept the invitations if they knew what to expect), and would show up at their high school unannounced and get them out of class. There were numerous opportunities to report this pervert to teachers or coaches at the school.

Another thought that comes to mind is that it's highly likely there was gossip going around the schools and community about Sandusky, considering the number of kids he must have hit on over the years and that he had been caught in a compromising position at PSU and reported to the authorities in 1998. One would think that at some point the word would spread among the kids that Sandusky was a sicko and to stay away from him.

Keep in mind that the above thought exercise applies only to the OLDER kids - not the 8-10 year olds.

Now, having revisited that background I'll repeat the question: Why would a kid that old allow the Sandusky thing to continue over a period of years?

If you can refrain from the personal cheap shots at me for a moment, I'd like to hear your opinion/answer, and anyone else's for that matter. Maybe if there's a legitimate answer to that question it could help other kids avoid these kind of attacks in the future.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
Every state has a 'duty to report' known or suspected child abuse to the police and/or child welfare officials [I knew most states did, but I didn't know they all do] so no, Paterno didn't do what he was required to do, either legally or morally.
Well, OK, but after a 3-year investigation, the PA Attorney General disagrees with you.

I understand the difference - but the fact remains, it's still a game. People can satisfy their innate need to be part of something larger than themselves in a multitude of ways, many of which actually benefit society, not just the 'athletes' and those who surround them. [OWS comes to mind]
Yes, people can and do satisfy their need to be part of something larger than themselves in many ways, from OWS to "We too are Load 1" to the VFW and the UAW. But to imply that rooting for sports teams doesn't benefit society is just ignorant. Anyone who lived in Cincinnati during the 1975 and 1976 baseball seasons will tell you that an entire community came together in a commonality, and the entire city was better for it. There are countless examples of that.

I'd remind you that Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg all got girls, too. :p
Most women are hard coded to look for a mate that provides security. DNA tells women that a physically strong man will provide that, since it was precisely that which was required for survival. But in today's world, while the hard coded instinctive urge for a strong, powerful mate still exists, the security which money can provide is often an overriding factor. It's part of the cliché where when women are looking to get laid, they'll go to a biker bar, but when they are looking to settle down, they'll go to a CPA's office. :D

I'll get my sense of autoonomy, wholeness and worth without contributing to the games, thank you.
Nothing wrong with that, until you start deriding those who do, especially since the vast majority of the population get theirs from sports. Prior to WWII spectator sports wasn't anything like it is now. And there's a reason for that. After the war, women as a whole became much more involved in the economic and educational sectors of our society during this time, triggering major domestic changes in marital and familial life that was (not coincidentally) paralleled by the huge growth spurt in the spectator sport industry.

After the war, our culture began to experience the phenomenon of "anomie" for the first time, which is a fancy way of saying that with larger size comes less individual participation and satisfaction.

Imagine "Dennis," not all that many years ago, getting his first job at the local hardware store. "Dennis" becomes not only part of the family business but part of the family, and he has a solid, steady career for life. Today things are different. Now imagine "Dennis" today getting his first job at the Home Depot after fighting off all the other unemployed contenders. Personal, community controls have been replaced by corporate, institutional ones. Quality work, individual craftsmanship and a tight-knit work force are replaced with quantity sales, corporate trainings and a ginormous building with an ever-alternating lineup of replaceable unskilled first-jobbers.

What is unattainable for "Dennis" at home or at work is made readily available through spectator sports. Sports gives "Dennis" all the other fans something to care about and something to share about, something to feel good about. There's nothing wrong with that.



Who wrote that, the rep for the Athletic Association?
No, I did, in a synopsis amalgamation from the actual study and a book on the subject.

There are also DAILY reports of cheating, [even sanctioned cheating, as when a team member on the Cleveland Indians snuck into a mgrs office to retrieve the bat confiscated from Albert Belle during a game for suspicion of tampering], drugs [steriods, HGH, and recreational], excessive alcohol consumption & rowdy and/or malicious behavior by fans [must be the estrogen levels:rolleyes:], illegal gambling, and recruiting violations out the wazoo - so much for instilling integrity into our youth, eh?
So much for high-level athletics being nothing more than grown men playing a kid's game, eh? There's a reason why most people will not tolerate cheating in sports. They want their "heroes" to be actual heroes, to be of sound mind and body (goes to the mating thing), and they want to be able to honestly associate themselves with that, to have that "something larger than themselves" be both a projection and reflection of themselves. Home runs are great, but they're tainted and unwanted if they were produced with steroids. Granted, football is a little different, where both spectators and participants alike have their more basic animalistic needs and desires met, to win at all costs, where it's more of a battle than a competition. Football is like going to a gentleman's club with a fistful of dollar bills, whereas baseball is more like an intellectual afternoon at the museum.
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
There is a lot of questions that don't add up to this story. Starting with Sandusky. Here is someone who was a coach for a long time around boys and young men,married and has sons that are grown men, yet allegedly is a pedophile. How does that happen? Was he always one? Did he become one later in life?Did he snap and become crazy as he got older? Is there any possibillity he is innocent? Why didn't McCreary try to break up the act when he seen it happen? Is his story accurate? The former athletic director denies McCreary's account. Is he lying or McCreary? Why would either lie? Is the janitor's story accurate or not? His testimony wasn't admissable at the grand jury and he was deemed incompetent to testify. Are the alleged victims stories accurate or not? It looks like there is a lot of evidence against Sandusky and most have assumed he is guilty. I'm just asking is there any possible chance he is innocent?
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
All good questions. The other day on XM radio several former players, many who went on to pro ball, were interviewed about Sandusky, and all stated unequivocally that they never saw or even heard of any hint of anything inappropriate. That could mean nothing, or that he's actually innocent, or it could mean he was able to live such a double life convincingly. Either way, it goes back to my point of Paterno and those who keep banging the "must report suspected child abuse" drum. If Paterno didn't suspect it, it was hardly an incumbent duty on him to report it to the police. It was his duty to forward McQueary's accusation, whether he believed it or not, to the AD, which he did. If one wants to blame Paterno for "aiding and abetting", despite the police and other authorities saying otherwise, then you must first assume Sandusky is guilty, and that Paterno actually knew or suspected Sandusky was doing it.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
(Reuters) - A 13-year-old boy has been arrested for the rape of a 5-year-old girl at a McDonald's Playland in southern Ohio, police said Friday.

The assault allegedly occurred on October 29 in Anderson Township, near Cincinnati. The 5-year-old old was visiting the restaurant with her grandmother and playing in the Playland area at the time of the alleged attack.

After investigating the complaint, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday released a photo of the suspect from the McDonald's camera to the news media, according to Lieutenant Michael L. Hartzler, a district commander.

The next day, the boy and his parents came into his department for an interview. Hartzler will not disclose what was said in the interview, but the juvenile was taken into custody.

He doesn't know whether the suspect will be tried as an adult. "Ultimately that will be decided by a juvenile court judge," Hartzler said.

In a statement, the owner of the McDonald's, Judson Pickard said, "The safety and well-being of my customers, especially children, is extremely important. As a parent myself, I was very upset to learn about this situation. I'm taking this matter very seriously and fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation."

"Obviously this is something we don't like to see," Lt. Hartzler said. "We tell parents don't take your eyes off your kids."
The suspect is awaiting arraignment in the Hamilton Juvenile Detention Center.
Notice that the owner of the McDonald's, Judson Pickard, and Joe Paterno, the head coach of Penn State, both have the same initials. JP. Coincidence? The Pickard states the blatantly obvious, "I'm taking this matter very seriously and fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation." Seems like a classic overcompensation in an attempt to hide his complicit behavior in such activities that have been going on for who knows how long. Clearly, Pickard needs to be fired, along with the Playland Director, the restaurant manager, and the vice-president of Happy Meals. Maybe even Ronald himself needs to go.
 

skyraider

Veteran Expediter
US Navy
Notice that the owner of the McDonald's, Judson Pickard, and Joe Paterno, the head coach of Penn State, both have the same initials. JP. Coincidence? The Pickard states the blatantly obvious, "I'm taking this matter very seriously and fully cooperating with authorities in their investigation." Seems like a classic overcompensation in an attempt to hide his complicit behavior in such activities that have been going on for who knows how long. Clearly, Pickard needs to be fired, along with the Playland Director, the restaurant manager, and the vice-president of Happy Meals. Maybe even Ronald himself needs to go.

Tell me again why fast food joints need playgrounds anyway. I guess we or our kids need constant activity while eating, like looking at tv and on our cellphones, yep adults are like their kids, gotta be playing during mealtime I guess:eek:
 

muttly

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Tell me again why fast food joints need playgrounds anyway. I guess we or our kids need constant activity while eating, like looking at tv and on our cellphones, yep adults are like their kids, gotta be playing during mealtime I guess:eek:

These fast food joints have discovered that kids will drag their parents by their ears to these places to play and buy up lots of happy meals.:D
 
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