Happy Valley seems to have gotten a whole new meaning this week after former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky was revealed to have sexual harassed eight boys in a span of fifteen years while affiliated with the football program. This morning we learned that Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and school vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz with both leave their posts amid the scandal.
The details of the scandal are gut-wrenching, to say the least. Sandusky, who played for Penn State for four years and coached another 23 under Joe Paterno, started a charity for troubled boys called The Second Mile. The Second Mile was started in 1977 by Sandusky and it was affiliated with Penn State throughout the years. According to the Grand Jury’s report (which can be found HERE), Sandusky performed oral sex on the first victim, “more than 20 times through 2007 and 2008”. The first victim, named “Victim 1” in the grand jury’s report, began to stay in Sandusky’s basement during the summers (starting as early as 2005). Victim 1 was taken around the Penn State campus and to Philadelphia Eagles games by Sandusky.
The details of the report or sickening, to the point that I don’t even want to talk about the other seven victims as I originally had planned. In terms of the court case and the fate of Sandusky, what may be the most terrible thing is that the first evidence was gathered thirteen years ago, and it took this long to bring this pervert to justice. The lives of he other boys could be drastically different if it weren’t for the preverbal “red tape” that causes court cases to be dragged out to no end. However, all that is to be saved for a justice and law blog, not a sports blog.
Penn State has been, for years, an esteemed and respected program for college football. Joe Paterno, who just won his NCAA record 409th career game, has been coaching at Penn State for 61 years, with little to no controversy. Needless to say, Paterno’s legacy is now tarnished. The fact that Sandusky was once considered the “coach in waiting” to Paterno is a black mark against Penn State. However, with Sandusky being a longtime coordinator under Paterno, the question has to be raised as to whether or not Paterno had any knowledge of Sandusky’s actions throughout the 15 year period of his...extracurricular activities. Sandusky and Paterno have had to be close, for him to name Sandusky the coach in waiting and keep him on staff as the defensive coordinator for all those years.
Sandusky retired in 1999 from the Penn State coaching staff, while still maintaining a relationship with the school and Paterno. Whether or not the 55 year old Sandusky retired due to age (not likely) or because Paterno found out of the despicable actions remain to be seen.
One thing that needs to be kept in mind is the case of Jim Tressel and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tressel was fired this past summer when it came out that he had knowledge that a number of his players, including captain quarterback Terrelle Pryor, had willingly accepted gifts from local Columbus businesses, most notably a tattoo parlor that gave Buckeye players free tattoos, violating NCAA rules. Tressel was an esteemed coach, but not as esteemed as the NCAA darling Paterno.
If Paterno had any knowledge of the actions by his former coordinator, then he needs to fired immediately. Paterno no longer coaches on the sidelines at Penn State games, instead sitting in the coaches booth. Cameras during the game show that Paterno doesn’t even wear a headset or call plays during the games. It is as if Paterno is just a face for recruiting and the aura of Penn State. People at Penn State believe Paterno to be a God (or more fittingly, a cult leader). They worship him, as do members of the media (watch last weekends Sports Reporters on ESPN, where they all backed Paterno 100%). If the NCAA wants to play judge and jury with student athletes and the coaches that oversee them, then Paterno needs to be fired. Now, if JoePa had no idea of what was going on (not likely), then sure, he deserves a pass. But, it needs to be reiterated over and over again, Paterno can not continue to be head coach at Penn State if he failed to report Sandusky to authorities after learning the facts. Forget his legacy or the aura at Penn State, 15-year-old kids lives have been ruined because a sicko took advantage of them in their weakest moments. The NCAA needs to do the right thing. Knowing sports and how prominent figures are treated in today’s realm, don’t be shocked to see Paterno retire at the end of this season, cashing his last paycheck and riding off into the sunset forever considered one of the greatest, cleanest, coaches in sports history.
No comments:
Post a Comment