- Shock (as in, "Holy shit, this is horrible")
- Disgust
- Nausea
- Anger
- Shock (as in, "Holy shit, I can't believe how poorly Penn State is handling this")
- Selfish relief (as in, "Thank god it wasn't Notre Dame and involving a priest")
- Annoyance (when Paterno announced his retirement after the season ended, telling the BoT not to worry about little old him. Fuck you, JoPa)
- Appeasement - they did the right thing in firing Spanier and Paterno, effective immediately
- Embarassment - at some people's reaction to how Paterno was fired v. their reaction to the details found in the grand jury document
- Relief (as in, "Thank god this horror show is over")
- Curiosity (as in, "What the hell is going to happen at the game Saturday")
At the end of the day, here's my take on things - Adults in positions of power witnessed firsthand or knew of children being sexually abused by other adults in positions of power and not only did not intervene or do anything to help, they tried to cover it up and allowed it to continue. The action taken is the bare minimum to punish those involved. Sending every one of them to jail for life and closing the entire fucking university would be justified in my mind.
UPDATE: Upon further reflection maybe closing the whole university would be a bit extreme. Now, shutting down the football program? That seems more fair...
UPDATE: Upon further reflection maybe closing the whole university would be a bit extreme. Now, shutting down the football program? That seems more fair...
4 comments:
Wow Ian - you really don't like Penn State.
It's sad to see Joe Paterno go down this way, but there wasn't any way he should be coaching anymore, and his "hindsight" comment made him seem like he was evading responsibility. I agree that Paterno and those involved (basically all the university leadership) should be gone, and some/most should have criminal action taken against them. But closing the university might be a little much.
Kevin -
Obviously, I'm not advocating the closure of one of the largest public universities in the country. And it's nothing personal against Penn State. I had no problem with Penn State. I've liked Penn State up until the last 10 days even though I though it was crazy that Joe Paterno was still considered the "coach." But my opinion is that there is no punishment too extreme for any public run institution that turns its cheek to this happening repeatedly on its premises. Terrible...
Correction on #10 Ian...
http://www.businessinsider.com/jerry-sandusky-donors-2011-11
Sounds like the worst is yet to come. I hope to God these are just rumors. However, it sounds like several reporters are actively pursuing this story. This might be the end of Penn State football.
Also, the government is getting involved. You know, the people that provide financial support for the public university. Don't forget about the 20 (and counting) victims who will soon be suing PSU for everything they've got. The Vatican has pretty deep pockets. Can PSU withstand these lawsuits?
Oh dear God! It gets way, way worse...
http://www.hlntv.com/article/2011/11/10/sadusky-case-and-missing-da-investigation?hpt=hp_t1
Connecting the dots, I'm starting to put this together like this:
1) Sandusky is a pedophile. He rapes boys.
2) He founds Second Mile to "help" boys, but uses it as a cover for pimping them out to his rich buddies who are all associated with PSU.
3) Word gets out in 1998 and the DA investigates. No charges are pressed. Story stays pretty quiet. Coverup ensues.
4) Sandusky is forced to "retire", but keeps his access to the school.
5) An eyewitness in 2002 sees Sandusky raping a boy in the PSU locker room showers.
6) He goes to his father and Paterno. Coverup is continued. Eyewitness, McQueary, is promised a job on coaching staff to stay quiet.
7) DA gets wind that another incident has occurred. He decides to reopen or pursue the investigation.
8) DA goes missing. His computer and its hard drive are found separately in the river - obviously tampered with.
9) DA is never found. Body is likely in that river as well.
10) Continued complaints come in and an ongoing investigation identifies 8 victims who come forward.
11) Enough evidence is finally obtained for a grand jury indictment of Sandusky.
12) Coverup is blown and the you know what hits the fan last weekend - over 13 years after this was originally investigated.
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