wow. light to his health and his transition if that, truly, is near.

sad

his uncaring press conference (ending with a Penn State cheer of all things) , in the wake of a CHILD rape scandal that he had a prominent role in, is kind of all I will ever think of when JOPA's name comes up.

Denier, naive, call it whatever you will, but how he handled all of that diminishes any "leader" work he ever did in my eyes.

My wishes go out to his family, but not him unfortunately.

BREAKING: Joe Paterno has died, according to Penn State officials.

http://www.huffingtonpost...21289.html

This is such a tragedy anyway, but to face the end of one's life with such a cloud hanging over him was even more tragic.

Those children he allowed to be molested have been dead inside for a long time.

I hope he rots in hell, what a POS.

Terrib3Towel said:

Those children he allowed to be molested have been dead inside for a long time.

I hope he rots in hell, what a POS.

He didn't allow them to be molested; the Penn State administration did. He didn't handle the situation very well, but he didn't cover it up like the AD, the provost, and the university president did. Nevertheless, he probably died a broken man. Yet we shouldn't overlook his great coaching career and the huge number of players he graduated from college. May he rest in peace.

Terrib3Towel said:

False alarm: according to his family, the old bastard is alive-- but in grave condition.

728huey said:

He didn't allow them to be molested; the Penn State administration did. He didn't handle the situation very well, but he didn't cover it up like the AD, the provost, and the university president did. Nevertheless, he probably died a broken man. Yet we shouldn't overlook his great coaching career and the huge number of players he graduated from college. May he rest in peace.

[Edited 1/21/12 20:03pm]

728huey said:

I was reading that the students were all in route to his statue for mass mourning when they heard the news. The more I hear bout Penn State the more it comes off as a weird ass cult.

lazycrockett said:

I was reading that the students were all in route to his statue for mass mourning when they heard the news. The more I hear bout Penn State the more it comes off as a weird ass cult.

Its that way with a lot of colleges and their alumni. I never understood it at all. Of course, I hate people, so whatever.

If he is dead, RIP. It is sad that his life ended (or is ending) this way, but I agree that he made these mistakes himself and should have to suffer the consequences like anyone else would, regardless of age or personal history.

Makes me wonder if he would have made it through another season, or if maybe the stress expedited some previously existing health issues. Seems like the acceleration of bad health happens a lot to people who retire late in life and have nothing else to do. Another reason to look forward to getting old.

It's official now. ESPN is reporting on his passing.

http://espn.go.com/colleg...ncer-fight

JerseyKRS said:

his uncaring press conference (ending with a Penn State cheer of all things) , in the wake of a CHILD rape scandal that he had a prominent role in, is kind of all I will ever think of when JOPA's name comes up.

Denier, naive, call it whatever you will, but how he handled all of that diminishes any "leader" work he ever did in my eyes.

My wishes go out to his family, but not him unfortunately.

Sad to say I agree 100% with Jersey

Too bad he didn't live long enough to face all the rape victims in court. He was complicit in allowing a sexual predator to continue abusing young boys. Rot in hell, Joe.

[Edited 1/22/12 15:55pm]

Fury said:

Terrib3Towel said:

Those children he allowed to be molested have been dead inside for a long time.

I hope he rots in hell, what a POS.

Wow. Kinda harsh there

For real. A lot of harsh words here. No matter how bad the situation was with him at

PSU it ultimately up to the man upstairs to be his final judge and jury.

728huey said:

Terrib3Towel said:

Those children he allowed to be molested have been dead inside for a long time.

I hope he rots in hell, what a POS.

He didn't allow them to be molested; the Penn State administration did. He didn't handle the situation very well, but he didn't cover it up like the AD, the provost, and the university president did. Nevertheless, he probably died a broken man. Yet we shouldn't overlook his great coaching career and the huge number of players he graduated from college. May he rest in peace.

I have to disagree.

Joe was GOD at Penn. Bigger than the admin, AD, Pres, etc. etc. It's why he was allowed to stay for as long as he did. The man was vain and pretty much cared only about himself and his program IMO. Hell, his ass should have been fired years ago cause he was TOO GOD DAMNED OLD. Not to mention a ho-hum record year after year in the end.

Now, I don't know all the facts, but what I do understand is he had an idea something was up. If you "have an idea" of what is currently being alleged as happening, and you're the biggest public figure for the uni, let me ask you....do you just let it all work out as he did or do you blow every whistle you can? Joe didn't do that. He just kinda went business as usual. In my eyes, he's as guilty as the rest of them. Guilty of not doing enough to save children being molested. It's disgusting in every sense of the word and to watch all the alum and current students blindly follow this man is just sad to me.

for christs sake, it's kids we're talking about. Maybe younger, but the same kind of kids that he swore to parents all across the country he would take care of if they went to Penn. If you care about taking care of kids, you don't lay idle.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

“Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.”

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

“On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right?

"There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”

football records and graduating adults from school mean jack shit in this instance.

whew, sorry for the long wind. Don't move this to P&R Luv!!!!!

[Edited 1/22/12 8:23am]

Well..

Idk what his role was when it came to the Penn State scandal, but if he truly was innocent, then I feel deep sorrow for the way in which he died, and under these circumstances. If he knew what really happened and did nothing, then I can't feel much for him, other than give my sympathy to his family.

But whatever his role was, I know right now he's being given the ultimate Judgement. There's really nothing more we can do.

phunkdaddy said:

Fury said:

Wow. Kinda harsh there

For real. A lot of harsh words here. No matter how bad the situation was with him at

PSU it ultimately up to the man upstairs to be his final judge and jury.

Would either of you be saying this if Paterno was the actual molestor/rapist? Or, would you say this if Jerry Sandusky is proven to be guilty, and then he suddenly died?

WaterInYourBath said:

phunkdaddy said:

For real. A lot of harsh words here. No matter how bad the situation was with him at

PSU it ultimately up to the man upstairs to be his final judge and jury.

Would either of you be saying this if Paterno was the actual molestor/rapist? Or, would you say this if Jerry Sandusky is proven to be guilty, and then he suddenly died?

or if it were your children that were raped?

Enabling molestation is unforgivable.

He probably tasted the forbidden fruit a few times himself.

WaterInYourBath said:

phunkdaddy said:

For real. A lot of harsh words here. No matter how bad the situation was with him at

PSU it ultimately up to the man upstairs to be his final judge and jury.

Would either of you be saying this if Paterno was the actual molestor/rapist? Or, would you say this if Jerry Sandusky is proven to be guilty, and then he suddenly died?

But he wasn't. Who gives a shit about Sandusky? He's irrelevant in this thread.

I never said Joe Pa was innocent in the whole scandal but the guy isn't even in the

ground yet and the town of Salem is ready to roast him in the fire.

RIP.

I don't really see why the Penn State scandal has any relevance to his death. This thread isn't about what kind of a person he was, it's about discussing the fact that he's dead. If anybody doesn't care that he's dead, fine, but it's rude to bring it up now. And if you're happy that he's dead, that's sick, no matter what he did or didn't do.

CrabalockerFishwife said:

RIP.

I don't really see why the Penn State scandal has any relevance to his death. This thread isn't about what kind of a person he was, it's about discussing the fact that he's dead. If anybody doesn't care that he's dead, fine, but it's rude to bring it up now. And if you're happy that he's dead, that's sick, no matter what he did or didn't do.

I will say this much. I've been following the reactions to Joe Paterno's death on several websites today, and the reactions have been polarizing to say the least. While half of them have been complimentary towards Paterno and his long and storied career, the other half have been a near virtual hatefest of "Fuck you, Joe Paterno," "I hope you're burning in hell right now," "you disgusting child rapist enabler," etc. Granted, I'd say about a third of those negative comments are from a bunch of haters, but the others are from people who have experienced some serious physical or sexual abuse as children. While I certainly sympathize with those survivors and wish them peace and comfort from their ordeals, I beileve they are having serious issues looking at the whole situation with Paterno and Jerry Sandusky objectively. I didn't know the man personally, and I don't know whether Paterno knew this molestation was going on prior to 2002 or how much knew knew afterward, but he made a mistake which he even admitted to later on. That doesn't make him a monster. And frankly we'll never know exactly what or how much he knew about this situation, because he is no longer around to defend himself. Most of those accusing him of enabling such abuse are saying he shouldn't be treated like he's some kind of God on the Penn State campus, yet their very asumptions about what he should have done are based on those same qualifications that he had more power than he had to rectify the situation. The outrage needs to be directed at Jerry Sandusky and the PSU adminstrators who sat on the allegations that Paterno broiught up and covered up the whole affair.

My two cents are as follows...

There is no excuse for Paterno not reporting Sandusky immediately if he had even the slightest suspicion that something illegal was taking place.

However, Paterno, by all accounts, never molested anyone. So people really need to give allegations of that sort a rest.

Also, Joe Paterno still helped thousands of kids become better people over the course of his career. Nearly everyone who ever had anything to do with the guy will tell you just that. I don't believe that making the admittedly huge mistake he made wipes all that away. Tarnishes? Yes? Puts a shadow on his legacy? Yes, a big one.

Again, I'm not excusing his lack of action in regards to what he may have known. And I say "may have", because even that is still muddled and confusing. Whatever he knew, he certainly should have done more to be sure it was permanently stopped.

728huey said:

Granted, I'd say about a third of those negative comments are from a bunch of haters, but the others are from people who have experienced some serious physical or sexual abuse as children. While I certainly sympathize with those survivors and wish them peace and comfort from their ordeals, I beileve they are having serious issues looking at the whole situation with Paterno and Jerry Sandusky objectively.

That isn't an excuse for spewing hatred. I was abused as a child, too. I just think this scandal doesn't have relevance to the story of this man's death; and being happy that somebody is dead or wanting somebody to be tortured ('hope he's burning in hell') is disgusting to me, no matter what they did. You have to be better than those people. I don't believe in an eye for an eye, and I find death sad, even when it happens to people I don't know or don't like.

I'm not defending him in regards to the scandal, which I'm probably not as educated on as some people here, but I find some of these people's comments regarding a person's life ending truly disgusting.

If people want to discuss the scandal, it should be taken to another thread.

[Edited 1/22/12 21:12pm]

RIP but I wished he had checked out whoever he hired to be part of his school...

Ironic that he would have had to be replaced anyway.

light to Joe, students and all involved in the big mess.