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Joe Paterno has passed. How do you view his legacy?

post #1 of 42
1/22/12 at 1:48pm
Thread Starter 
I'm not really sure why it matters what people think of someone after they have passed, but it is something that is important to most people, and I think in this case it provides an interesting starting point for conversation.

When you think of Joe Paterno now, what is your mental image of his legacy? Do you view him in a positive light or a negative one, or is it a bit of both?

The few articles I have quickly read, and the few radio hosts I have heard, all seem to want to say that he should be viewed as a great man and leader, who leaves behind a great legacy, and that this one incident in no way defines him as a man. I am unsure.

Any thoughts SF?
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post #2 of 42
1/22/12 at 5:13pm
This one incident drove him to his grave. I believe he had the power to purge Sandusky from ever setting foot on college ground again instead, he allowed this man to have a charity to spend time with little boys for years after this incident was reported. I once looked at Joe Pa as a nice grandpa type which I'm sure he was but he let one major incident get by and will always be remembered for not taking care of his program in regards to this matter.
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post #3 of 42
1/22/12 at 10:16pm
He was a football coach who allowed a child rapist have his way within his facilities and did nothing to report the actions in the end. He was nothing but a football coach. Who knowingly allowed heinous crimes to occur while doing nothing to stop them.
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post #4 of 42
1/22/12 at 10:57pm
Negative light. He turned a blind eye to sexual abuse of dozens of children. Unforgivable.
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post #5 of 42
1/22/12 at 11:07pm
Mostly negative. Seemed like a nice enough guy, but not reporting a child rapist in order to save the image of his football program is totally inexcusable and will taint his image forever.

Also, he wasn't that good of a football coach. Penn State has been relatively mediocre as of late, and I'm sure it had something to do with having a borderline senile 85 year old cancer patient leading their program. His unwillingness to step down was selfish. He should have retired 5-10 years ago.
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post #6 of 42
1/22/12 at 11:19pm
I'm a Penn Stater, so it's hard for me to get perspective on his legacy. It sounds like a cliche from all the news reports, but it really is hard to overstate how important a figure he was at Penn State. One of the library buildings is named after him (because he donated big money for it) and there's a Paterno endowed chair in the English department. He really was more than just a football coach. On the other hand, I certainly think he should have done more to protect children from Sandusky, and I think it was right that he lost his job over the issue. I guess I view his legacy like that of nearly every human being: as quite a mixed bag.

And yeah, he should have stepped down about ten years ago. He played hardball with the university to get them to renew his contract, basically threatening to make alumni donations dry up. He did not cover himself in glory there.
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post #7 of 42
1/23/12 at 12:30am
Fuck him. He knew all along as did everyone around that program. The focus is on the major incident where that asshole receiver coach walked in on Sandun raping that kid but I feel sure that there were a hell of a lot more small incidents and truck load of warning signs. And of course there are rumors that the child molestation went further than just Sandunsky.
Fuck him and all the rest of them. He can take that English chair and shove it up his ass.
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post #8 of 42
1/23/12 at 1:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by L'Incandescent View Post

I guess I view his legacy like that of nearly every human being: as quite a mixed bag.

WTF, I don't know of many humans that turned a blind eye to egregious cases of child molestation.
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post #9 of 42
1/23/12 at 6:58am
A great, great man brought down by a salacious media and a handful of backstabbing pricks on the board who want to take the fun out of college because they weren't good enough to play sports themselves in high school. JoePa's legacy will live far longer than Penn State's.
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post #10 of 42
1/23/12 at 7:09am
joe paterno is a great american hero. who gives a shit if he let dozens of children get brutally sodomized? he won a SHITLOAD of football games. and that's what america's about. WINNING.


(and child rape)
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post #11 of 42
1/23/12 at 7:19am
jesus teger stop following me around
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post #12 of 42
1/23/12 at 10:40am
Okay, I might not have everything straight but from what I understand Paterno never had any first hand knowledge of his Sardusky's behavior. Wasn't it reported to him by an aide of some sort? That changes the nature of Paterno's responsibility significantly in legal and arguably ethical terms according to a few of my lawyer friends.

I think it's too bad the popular argument over Paterno is moral outrage vs. hero worship.
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post #13 of 42
1/23/12 at 11:09am
Look, there is no denying that the man was a great coach. But to say that his life should not at all be defined by what happened in the past year is ridiculous. It was the worst scandal in college sports history. I believe he played dumb about the entire situation AND helped to cover it up along with other faculty of the university. Great coach? Yes. Great human being? Not so much.
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post #14 of 42
1/23/12 at 3:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by runner-guy View Post

Look, there is no denying that the man was a great coach. But to say that his life should not at all be defined by what happened in the past year is ridiculous. It was the worst scandal in college sports history. I believe he played dumb about the entire situation AND helped to cover it up along with other faculty of the university. Great coach? Yes. Great human being? Not so much.

Being complicit in an act such as Sardusky's AND making conspiratorial efforts to conceal such a crime and not reporting something that was reported to you and out of your first hand experience are two radically different things. In fact, if Paterno was suspected of the former he'd probably have been investigated (if he wasn't already) and prosecuted.

I think people are so outraged by the heinousness of Sardusky's acts and the institutional behavior of PENN around those acts that it keeps people from being objective. Once again, I don't know anything about football or care who Paterno is, I'm just dismayed over the popular reaction to this stuff.
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post #15 of 42
1/23/12 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by boogaboogabooga View Post

Okay, I might not have everything straight but from what I understand Paterno never had any first hand knowledge of his Sardusky's behavior. Wasn't it reported to him by an aide of some sort? That changes the nature of Paterno's responsibility significantly in legal and arguably ethical terms according to a few of my lawyer friends.
I think it's too bad the popular argument over Paterno is moral outrage vs. hero worship.

Dude, it was not just an aide and JP was not just a coach. He ruled that school and had deep, deep connections and influence throughout the community including the police and courts.

And there was a lot more knowledge about what was going on then one single isolated incident.

And even if there was only one report and no rumors, what would you do if someone said, "Hey boga, I just saw this guy who works for you fucking a ten year old boy in the ass down in the showers"?
Would you just say, "meh, sounds like a personal problem, lets get back to planning for next week, Oh what's that ? Sure Sand, bring a few kids along, hell, have some comped tickets on me"?

I would hope that you might actually take some fucking action.

Besides, I don't trust Joe Pa an inch. All this smoke blowing about "how he did it right, ran a clean program, always led from the front" blah blah fucking blah. There is NO WAY IN HELL Penn State or any other Div I program is clean. Zero. And I tend not to trust people who prattle on endlessly about morality and their own fine fiber.
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