<p>MomofWildChild- I am not condemning college sports. I’m a big supporter and contribute a good deal to D’s D3 varsity sport. But they are true student/athletes. Many players who participate in high revenue sports, primarily football and the big schools, are athletes first, and students in some sort of nominal degree. Corruption is inherent when the goal is to make money and be a breeding ground for pro sports.</p>
<p>Personally I would like to at least hear from those accused before I start handing out any punishment to anybody. Heck, I could even wait until after those accused have a chance to defend themselves in court.</p>
<p>But Sax, I don’t know how we are going to here from them? If Sandusky pleads, there will be no trial.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>There may be civil suits.</p>
<p>Can I ask those who have real issues with Paterno what they are-</p>
<p>Are they that he did not go to Child Protective Services and report the incident?
Are they that he did not resign from the charity that Sandusky founded?
Are they that Sandusky continued to have an office and run camps at Penn St?
Are they related to the 1998 incident?
The 2002 incident only?
Are they related to the abuse that happened after 2002?</p>
<p>I am sure that there will be civil suits, but those will be ongoing for years. Should we wait until those are all over?</p>
<p>“Personally I would like to at least hear from those accused …”</p>
<p>There is no way a competent defense attorney is going to let any of the accused get on the witness stand. As for civil trials, what did we learn about Ron and Nicole’s killings from OJ’s civil trial?</p>
<p>I don’t know. </p>
<p>I do know that I live in America. I am proud to live in America. I am proud that we live in a country where you are not stoned to death because everyone believes you did something before all the facts are in.</p>
<p>This thread is a great pulse of the nations response to these charges . It frightens me to see so many people willing to throw away others rights because they “believe” they know all the facts. </p>
<p>We live in a world that allows you to get immediate information. How people use this information and figure out if its true or not will be this generations charge.</p>
<p>i went to the Holocost Museum in Washington this past month. They have an exhibit on how people misuse information to create power and turn public opinion. </p>
<p>Please, please take a step back . Take a breath, folks. </p>
<p>Im all for punishing the bad guys. Lets just make sure we have them first.</p>
<p>GTAlum. I agree, all the money that is thrown around with Div 1 football programs seems to be naturally corruptive. Penn State is the just the most extreme example where protectiing the football program was more important than protecting children.</p>
<p>Sax–I don’t think that pulling the Nazi card is appropriate here.</p>
<p>And I’m not seeing whose rights are being trampled here. No one has a “right” to coach football. If people are being indicted in the public’s mind (which the public can do if it wants), the indictments are founded in these people’s own words and actions, as accounted for by them.</p>
<p>“Can I ask those who have real issues with Paterno what they are-”</p>
<p>Not sure it’s a “real issue” … but I can’t understand how an individual of Paterno’s stature and reputation would fumble this issue so badly.</p>
<p>I do not know how going forward in 2002 was going to damage the football program. Sandusky was out in 1999 in an instance where the DA did not prosecute so what blame could the football program faced in 2002?</p>
<p>tom1944 - my biggest issue with Paterno is that he continued to associate with Sandusky - with the charity and at Penn St. </p>
<p>It seems that the 1998 incident and Sandusky’s retirement in 1999 are related. It is hard to believe that Paterno would not know what had happened - he was the heir apparent. He saw Sandusky with young members of his charity at games. We know for sure they were at bowl games. That is what turns my stomach.</p>
<p>NewHope- that is my question what exactly do people think he fumbled? Maybe there are plausible answers to what he did and why he did it. Maybe there are not plausible answers. I would like to know the specific things he did wrong.</p>
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<p>Football tunnel vision in an insular Happy Valley separated from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>rom- I also believe they are related but there was no prosecution so why is it not plausible that there were doubts that he was an abuser? They cut him from the program which lets face facts if he was innocent that was severe.</p>
<p>Also if Paterno was led to believe that the 2002 incident was reported to Child Protective Services (Schultz testified he and Curley reported) then would Paterno resigning from the charity and banning Sandusky from campus have compromised any investigation?</p>
<p>Sax: Joe actually might have finished out the season except for his incredible arrogance. When he announced his retirement and then told the board that they did need to spend anymore time on his status, that sealed his fate. Will all that was going on the last thing they needed was an example on how JoePa and his team was more powerful than the trustees. </p>
<p>All their trials will come in due course. But until Paterno finally talks like he has been saying he wants to, we can only go on the facts we have now.</p>
<p>kumit- many here are going beyond the facts here. They are extrapolating things not yet proven.</p>
<p>I did not intend to “play the nazi card.” That was not my intention. I apologize if thats what people think.</p>
<p>I did not think that</p>