Monday, January 30, 2012

Scapegoating JoePa

Michael Novack says the lilliputians on the Penn State Board of Trustees gave Joe Paterno a raw deal.
 First news of the Sandusky scandal, in which longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was accused of sexually molesting underage boys, broke in March 2011, and it came before the board of trustees that June. They said it was not a Penn State problem, because Sandusky had left the university in 1999, though he continued to use an office there for several more years. It was a problem for the institution Sandusky had founded, the Second Mile organization for youngsters. 
Then, quite suddenly in November 2011, with a huge national scandal erupting, the board suddenly acted as if the burden were on them. They did not weigh their own responsibility, their own inaction, their own failure to get to the bottom of the scandal of five months earlier. In a fit of what to many alumni seems to have been fear for themselves, the board’s members ducked their own responsibility, and in the most ignoble and impersonal way, made JoePa, the moral giant of Penn State, a moral outcast.
What did they do? Despite the fact that JoePa had said he was going to resign after the 2011 season was over, they gave Joe (after nearly 60 years of leadership unparalleled in the annals of any university) over to the national press and the national mob as a scapegoat, to bear the whole heartbreaking scandal on his shoulders, to be burned as a live offering, in expiation of their sins.

11 Comments:

Blogger jake said...

Bravo, Michael Novack.
Now blow up the media lynch mob the same way.

As a point of local interest, the new Chairman of the PSU Board of Trustees is Karen Peetz. She is a 1973 graduate of Springfield Delco High School.

January 30, 2012 at 3:05 PM 
Anonymous Rus said...

Bravo to Gil for his railing at McQueary.
Darts to lack of media attention to the real criminal Sandusky.
Kudos to this article lashing out at the board of trustees.
Also darts to minimal coverage of victims, although they probably do prefer the anonymity.
Did JoePa deserve what happened? I don't think so.

A graduate of Shippensburg State, who else am I going to pull for in NCAA action. We are....

January 30, 2012 at 4:38 PM 
Blogger Bob Bohne said...

Rus - Shhhh. You bring up the McQueary thing, you're really going to upset Jakes apple cart.

January 30, 2012 at 5:26 PM 
Anonymous Rus said...

Then maybe I can throw some rotten tomatoes Jake's way.
I cannot say how I would have reacted, but I don't think I would have walked away.

January 30, 2012 at 5:59 PM 
Blogger jake said...

It's funny Rus. I have yet to hear from one blog warrior who wouldn't have been a tough guy.
Amazing how hindsight makes Mark Wahlberg heroes of us all.

January 30, 2012 at 6:18 PM 
Anonymous Rus said...

Jake, I didn't say that would have clocked Sandusky. I said that I would not have walked away. Given Sandusky's stature vs mine, I probably would have ended up in the hospital. McQueary cannot say the same. He could have take Sandusky easily. But my intervening maybe would have stopped the bad behavior towards that kid.

January 30, 2012 at 7:30 PM 
Anonymous Rus said...

Oops. I fell into the trap of claiming guilt before trial. I am sorry about that. Let's give that some time.

But given the expressed circumstances, I cannot condone McQueary's lack of action.

January 30, 2012 at 7:33 PM 
Blogger Dannytheman said...

Joe should not have been fired!

January 30, 2012 at 7:47 PM 
Anonymous Rus said...

Thank you Danny.

January 30, 2012 at 8:42 PM 
Blogger CharlieSix said...

Mr. Novack's commentary very eloquently says what so many have concluded... I wish his brother Ben well as he runs for an open seat on the Board. It was not Joe Paterno who did not take action, it was the PSU Board. And under the so-called leadership of Ms. Peetz, instead of taking a deep beath and looking in the mirror, they choose to summarily deny what Mr. Paterno stood for, deny what he had done over 60 years for Penn State, deny their own failures, and decree him to be a non-entity. It is no wonder that he passed away so quickly. Broken hearts are known to take over the body when the mind cannot any longer fathom the loss which one has suffered. And a loss he suffered is beyond question, due to the actions of the Board of Trustees, he lost his faith in the institution which he strove for so many years to build.

January 30, 2012 at 10:52 PM 
Blogger wardkingg said...

I was really grateful to have a screen chair so I could view the New Zealand scenery happen below me before my planes joined the atmosphere.

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January 30, 2012 at 11:18 PM 

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