Thursday, November 10, 2011
Good-bye, Joe Part II
Eric Wilbur points to this April 2011 column, by Mark Madden of the Beaver County Times, as one of the earliest previews of what ultimately unfolded at Penn State. The “worst-case scenario” came to pass. It’s a great piece that admirably asked the tough questions well before the national media realized that something was amiss in Happy Valley. …
One of the big remaining questions: Why did Jerry Sandusky suddenly leave the Penn State football program in 1999? If it turns out his departure was part of an effort to sweep controversy under the rug, it means Paterno et gang knew about the sexual-abuse allegations for 12 long years – and effectively allowed Sandusky to keep sexually preying on other children. And they knew he hadn’t stopped.
FYI -- Dennis & Callahan interviewed Mark Madden this morning. Madden says more allegations may surface.
Update -- While not mentioning the Penn State scandal, George Will zeroes on what makes big-time college sports programs tick: Money. ... The NCAA and higher-ed people don't realize it yet, but they're headed for a crack up. They aren't running "student-athlete sports" programs anymore. They haven't for a while. They're running multibillion-dollar businesses that exploit young people for the gain of others. They've lost control of the system. The TV networks are effectively running the show now.
Update II -- From Reader JW on the original Paterno post:
Eric Wilbur points to this April 2011 column, by Mark Madden of the Beaver County Times, as one of the earliest previews of what ultimately unfolded at Penn State. The “worst-case scenario” came to pass. It’s a great piece that admirably asked the tough questions well before the national media realized that something was amiss in Happy Valley. …
One of the big remaining questions: Why did Jerry Sandusky suddenly leave the Penn State football program in 1999? If it turns out his departure was part of an effort to sweep controversy under the rug, it means Paterno et gang knew about the sexual-abuse allegations for 12 long years – and effectively allowed Sandusky to keep sexually preying on other children. And they knew he hadn’t stopped.
FYI -- Dennis & Callahan interviewed Mark Madden this morning. Madden says more allegations may surface.
Update -- While not mentioning the Penn State scandal, George Will zeroes on what makes big-time college sports programs tick: Money. ... The NCAA and higher-ed people don't realize it yet, but they're headed for a crack up. They aren't running "student-athlete sports" programs anymore. They haven't for a while. They're running multibillion-dollar businesses that exploit young people for the gain of others. They've lost control of the system. The TV networks are effectively running the show now.
Update II -- From Reader JW on the original Paterno post:
Well said. Paterno's larger-than-life stature also is nominally why Penn State students took to the streets in protest Wednesday night, flipping a news van, throwing rocks, destroying property and generally causing chaos. Were all of them genuinely upset about the way a coaching legend was shown the door? Of course not. Many were bundles of raging hormones who went out to raise hell because that's what everyone else was doing. The dudes mugging for the CNN cameras gave that away.
We'll pause here for a brief public service announcement: Kids, don't drink and approach people with microphones. YouTube is forever. Many of those students will have children of their own in a few years, and then they'll finally understand why so many felt so disgusted by the way those in power at Penn State handled this nightmare. They'll realize they embarrassed themselves, their families and their university. They'll feel awfully stupid about the way they acted Wednesday, so don't be too hard on them. The hangover will come. Someday, they'll realize Joe Paterno wasn't the victim in this case. A bunch of innocent kids were.
