Joe Paterno Memorial Service

There has to be a lot of good in a person to have earned that much respect

Phil Knight's moving tribute

quote:

Originally posted by njbb:
There has to be a lot of good in a person to have earned that much respect

And alot of bad to turn a blind eye to child rape.

I liked the tribute from the Co-founder and CEO of Nike. Great stories and had no problem being blunt at the end.

@shortnquick - Before you post a stupid comment, learn the facts. That was totally inappropriate. Joe reported the one and only thing he ever heard about an incident involving Sandusky to his superiors. They dropped the ball. Sandusky was not a University employee at the time. It is ignorance like yours that has continued to spread misinformation and villified the wrong person, namely Joe.

quote:

Originally posted by VaRHPmom:
I liked the tribute from the Co-founder and CEO of Nike. Great stories and had no problem being blunt at the end.

@shortnquick - Before you post a stupid comment, learn the facts. That was totally inappropriate. Joe reported the one and only thing he ever heard about an incident involving Sandusky to his superiors. They dropped the ball. Sandusky was not a University employee at the time. It is ignorance like yours that has continued to spread misinformation and villified the wrong person, namely Joe.

Joe himself said he should have done more. I am also very well versed in the facts of this case. Joe was the most powerful man on that campus as well in the state. He was correct; he should have done more and could have done more.

I wonder if the alleged victim at the time would have been Joe's child or grandchild, would he have taken a more active interest to ensure that the right thing was done. Probably! That is my standard for a responsible adult and a leader in the community much less a man who was placed to almost godlike status.

I will not call your view stupid as you did mine. I could disagree with you without insult. I understand some people do need to hold onto the idea that someone like Joe Paterno was infallible. It's too much for some to look at a person they thought was righteous and for good and to accept that a young child being raped was not as important as the image of his university.

I am just glad Joe lived long enough to realize while his turning a blind eye was not criminal, was absolutely not righteous and he did not hold himself up to the standard that others believed him to be. Joe assisted in countless other children having there innocence stolen and taken from them. It was only right that Joe had the thing he cared about most taken from him before he died.

Phil Knight talked about needing a hero now that Joe is dead. A hero would have made sure that children were safe no matter how it would have made his university look. If "stupid" means reminding people that no matter what you do in life, protecting our children has to be #1, I am guilty as charged.

I guess where we differ is that you think reporting it to the university authorities is "turning a blind eye". Also, Joe's quote was "In hindsight, I wish I had done more." The media has conveniently dropped the first two words so it sounds more like an admission of guilt. In hindsight, there should be many people who wish they had done more dating back to the 90's. None of them have uttered these words.

Another point. Joe was not the most powerful person on campus. He was painted that way by the media. He had bosses to answer to and was not given carte blanche. He got turned down on ideas like everyone else. Just ask his colleagues.

He reported what was from his perspective, a single incident where he was not given the details. He didn't hide it so I guess I don't understand what he has been accused of protecting. I'm sure, like the rest of us, he was just sick when he discovered the full story.

My Dad always said that 20-20 hindsight is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, it is being used by the media and others to pass judgement on those who did not have the same benefit of full knowledge when the events were unfolding.

with the passing of JOE PA we may never know the full and true story

quote:

Joe himself said he should have done more.

You've never looked back at a situation and felt you should have done something differently?

Wow! Keep your head in the sand guys, be naive. I know it makes you all a bit more comfortable thinking about it. I do feel bad for his family, no doubt. However I will not let Joe off the hook, No Way.

quote:

Originally posted by shortnquick:
And alot of bad to turn a blind eye to child rape.

Of course, Paterno didn't turn a "blind eye". Nor did he do enough.

But it's not a "lot of bad"; it's actually a lot of ordinary. People generally don't respond in the way which we all want to think we would. And mostly we give others and ourselves a pass when we don't do enough.

Consider this: Many of Sandusky's victims became adults some years ago. They had certain and unmistakable knowledge of his behavior, and just as much reason as Paterno to believe it would continue. They had to know that keeping silent would result in more victims, and they also would know better than most the probable damage to new victims. Surely those now-adult victims didn't "do enough". Recently some have come forward, but it was after the scandal broke and too late to prevent additional victims.

So the victims themselves (once they became adults) didn't do enough. And they clearly knew with more certainty than Paterno just what was going on. I guess that at least some of them wish, in hindsight, that they had done more.

But I doubt that many of us would judge them as having a "lot of bad". I know I don't.

To blame the victims in any way is just unfortunate and absurd. To explain why a victim of child rape would not come forward as they enter adult life is more than could be explained in a post on a baseball message board. At this point I am going to keep my posts to baseball related topics. The separation of views on this topic are as far apart as they could get.