Hot Topic: Penn State Riots

“Joe Paterno will no longer be the head football coach. Effective immediately.”

Those were the words spoken by the Penn State Board of Trustees that ignited a student “protest” outside of the administrative building. To call what transpired last night in State College a protest is a vast understatement, those kids were rioting at the firing of a legendary head coach. 

To an extent, I get the anger that some fans and students may have felt. Paterno is a legend in his field, and it is somewhat sad to see his book closed like this. However, I believe the riots were unwarranted and stupid. Now, I don’t go to Penn State. I’ve never been to Penn State, I’ve never even rooted for Penn State. But I know sports, and I know the degree of fandom that goes along with the sports world. 

What the students and the Paterno apologists need to understand that this should never have become about football. Because of the riots, the story of this all will be Paterno’s firing. Paterno is not the villain in all of this, but he was an enabler, an accomplice, and a man who just didn’t do enough. 

The riots from last night, to me, were absolutely dumb. The boy who was brutally raped in the Penn State shower in 2002 is 19-years-old now, the same age as many of those students from last. I want to know what the rioters think that boy was thinking last night as they protested and fought the firing of a man/men who could have stopped these acts of brutality and did nothing. 

After watching the media coverage of this entire situation for the past week, watching the riots from last night and seeing what Penn State students are saying about it all has me very scared. I’m scared that this will be remembered as a football issue. We can never forget that this is not about football. Its not about sports. Its not even necessarily primarily about Joe Paterno. He shouldn’t be the focus of the story. The children, the victims, the monster who raped them should be the focus of this story. 

Last night’s firing was not about letting go a football coach. It was about holding the men responsible for enabling a monster accountable for their actions, and that is something that we can never forget. Paterno, Mike McQueary, president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, they all messed up. They could have done something, and they didn’t. Rioting is stupid all together, but last night’s events were inexcusable. 

I know that the fans and students are upset. Their hero and coach is gone. But what I want all of them to think about is that if Paterno had picked up the phone nine years ago and called the police, then he never would have gotten a phone call last night saying that he had been fired. Paterno is not the victim. He is not the villain. He should not be the story. This should have never became about sports.