pick6pedro {l Wrote}:BCFAN94 {l Wrote}:What we think we know and the evidence is damning: Sandusky is a slimey, sick, freaky child rapist weirdo who should be behind bars and should have been years ago. It was reported to civil authorities and Penn State by others well before McGready’s shower report. Sandusky was not prosecuted. McGready personally witnessed what he believed was rape and waited a period of time, consulted his dad before going to his boss Paterno. Went to Paterno, Paterno acted on the second hand information and reported it to his superiors. Paterno never witnessed any acts first hand, Paterno never raped or had inappropriate relationships with young boys. Paterno was a great football coach, one of the best ever in the college game. Paterno admitted he should have done more. Which he should have but, many are assuming that he had some super official power over PSU and use of it's facilities. I think by the time all of this shit hit the fan, Paterno probably napped in his office 5 hours a day, drank prune juice and talked about the good ole days to anyone who would listen. I don't think he was very observant or even aware of some guy sneaking kids into the shower at 9:00 at night, calling many if any shots and he certainly didn't have administrators quaking in their boots.
Did Paterno have a serious, serious lapse in judgment, yes, does in automatically negate all of the good things he brought to college football? Does it make him an enabler? I don’t think so.
The best part about your explanation is that he still turned a blind eye to it even though he had the power to either do something more proactive about it or at least monitor the problem so that on the off chance it was true, it wouldn't happen again or would be handled if the proof became sufficient. And then he's off the hook when the shit hits the fan because he's a batty old man? Unreal.
I didn't say he was off the hook as a matter of fact, I said he should have done more and because he acted cowardly (not a hero) in confronting the situation, it shouldn’t be ignored when considering his legacy.
But I think putting the responsibility on Paterno, detracts from what really happened:
Sandusky raped and molested children. He is the criminal.
Sandusky was reported directly to the university and police in 1998 by a mother of one of the victims. Paterno essentially fired Sandusky by telling him he would not be considered for the HC position.
McGready witnessed a crime and instead of going to the police, waited a few days and reported it to Paterno as his boss. Paterno had an employee report that something had happened in the shower (not clear if he called it rape at the time or that he even saw what was going on) with someone who was affiliated with the university but no a direct report of Paterno and he reported it to his superiors.
Sandusky was not affiliated with the football program and was given emeritus status and an on campus office by the university, not Paterno.
I think the responsibility list goes as follows:
1. Sandusky
2. The civil authorities
3. The university administration
4. McGready and ANYONE else who had first hand knowledge.
5. Paterno and all others who had second hand knowledge.
The point of the batty old man was not to excuse Paterno as much as it was to point out, that I don’t think he had as much juice within the university or with the authorities as everyone appears to be making him out to have. As a matter of fact, I think he was on thin ice with the administration and alumni since the late 90’s but was donating so much money to the university that they let him stay.