317 replies to this topic

[Steve Dillard]

Statement by the Paterno family: "It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Paterno passed away earlier today"

I'd have run.

Bet the plaintiffs and prosecutors are pissed never to have gotten his deposition.

Edited by Steve Dillard, 22 January 2012 - 10:35 AM.

[knucklecup]

You really have to wonder if the student news paper report was accurate, and some shadyness behind the scenes went down, allowing JoePa to be seen as a fighter.

Clearly the kid had a pretty good lead to run the story... I trust him more than I trust PSU.

[Foulkey Reese]

You really have to wonder if the student news paper report was accurate, and some shadyness behind the scenes went down, allowing JoePa to be seen as a fighter.

Clearly the kid had a pretty good lead to run the story... I trust him more than I trust PSU.

It would be kind of fitting if his last act in life was ruining yet another kid's life.

Edited by Foulkey Reese, 22 January 2012 - 10:40 AM.

[PaulinMyrBch]

Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

[canderson]

It would be kind of fitting if his last act in life was ruining another kid's life.

His final "fuck you" to the media, too.

It was just a matter of hours and semantics last night.

[knucklecup]

Well played, Foulkey.

[Hendu's Gait]

The prosecutors should charge him posthumously with obstruction of justice by dying and not being deposed/testifying. And charge Sandusky with Paterno's murder, too. Kids were involved, so a circus is fitting anyway.

Edited by Hendu's Gait, 22 January 2012 - 10:49 AM.

[JimBoSox9]

T&P and whatever, I suppose, but I can't deny that my first reaction was that I'm a little pissed that the timing of this death, while not as fortuitous as a couple months ago would have been, will allow his legacy to be somewhat preserved, martyr-like, instead of being fully pulled apart like he deserves.

Don't believe me? Watch ESPN's coverage ongoing now. They're holding a wake, more or less, focusing 100% on his legacy. This SportsCenter is basically what our worst-case scenarios for Posnanski's book are. Somewhat disgusting.

[Bob Montgomery's Helmet Hat]

T&P and whatever, I suppose, but I can't deny that my first reaction was that I'm a little pissed that the timing of this death, while not as fortuitous as a couple months ago would have been, will allow his legacy to be somewhat preserved, martyr-like, instead of being fully pulled apart like he deserves.

Don't believe me? Watch ESPN's coverage ongoing now. They're holding a wake, more or less, focusing 100% on his legacy. This SportsCenter is basically what our worst-case scenarios for Posnanski's book are. Somewhat disgusting.

You're absolutely right. Musberger just referred to his involvement in the scandal as "this little lapse in judgement"

Edited by Bob Montgomery's Helmet Hat, 22 January 2012 - 11:12 AM.

[mabrowndog]

T&P and whatever, I suppose, but I can't deny that my first reaction was that I'm a little pissed that the timing of this death, while not as fortuitous as a couple months ago would have been, will allow his legacy to be somewhat preserved, martyr-like, instead of being fully pulled apart like he deserves.

Don't believe me? Watch ESPN's coverage ongoing now. They're holding a wake, more or less, focusing 100% on his legacy. This SportsCenter is basically what our worst-case scenarios for Posnanski's book are. Somewhat disgusting.

I expected nothing less from ESPN. None of the people they interview -- from Millen to Ditka to Holtz -- are going to do anything but canonize Paterno as one of the greatest human beings ever to walk the face of the earth. Christ, Holtz went on and on about how nothing could take away all the great things he accomplished for young people -- not even "the scandal that just happened".

Yes, he actually used the phrase "just happened" to describe a decade of young kids getting raped in the Penn State showers.

[cshea]

Musberger: "I think his good deeds out weigh his little lapse in judgement."

Christ.

Edit: Beaten by BMHH.

Edited by cshea, 22 January 2012 - 10:59 AM.

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Will his eulogy include, "He was a great friend. You could tell him anything, he really knew how to keep a secret..."

[Victor Hatherley]

Cue Idiots Saying "He got what he Deserved".

[JimBoSox9]

He got what he Deserved.

[Skeesix]

Cue Idiots Saying "He got what he Deserved".

?

[Mystic Merlin]

Good God, the media coverage of this is making me wanna vomit up shit.

[johnmd20]

Good God, the media coverage of this is making me wanna vomit up shit.

Indeed. I cannot look away but it is also making me sick. I have trouble thinking anything but, "Fuck Joe." All the great he did over the course of his life gets tossed out, in my opinion, because he allowed a child molester to go on and continue molesting. He allowed one of the worst things that can happen happen.

[InstantKarmma]

[Soxfan in Fla]

Glad I wasn't drinking coffee. I would have spit it out on my iPad.

[Royal Reader]

That's the single classiest thing I've seen done by anyone at PSU even tangentially related to the Paterno/Sandusky mess.

The contrast is heartbreaking.

Someone upsets the Paterno family, he "Could not be more sorry for the emotional anguish," and says "There's no excuse" and immediately resigns.

When the Sandusky story breaks, what did JoePa do?

Fuck him. If Foulkey had tweeted that line, I'd retweet it. You know what's less funny than mocking people who cover up child rape? Child rape.

[Freddy Linn]

I'm going to pretend this isn't happening.

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Cue Idiots Saying "He got what he Deserved".

No - he died naturally and many drooling idiots still see him as a great man. He didn't get what he deserved.

Paterno getting his true just deserts would be something like him reincarnated into an altar boy or a Second Mile beneficiary 20-30 years ago.

[Reverend]

So is that kid gonna get his job at the blog back or what?

[Blacken]

So is that kid gonna get his job at the blog back or what?

If I know how this sort of thing works, and I don't...

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

God needed somebody to cover up Michael Philbin's abuses in the afterlife.

[Freddy Linn]

Lie in State College.

[Prodigal Sox]

Good God, the media coverage of this is making me wanna vomit up shit.

But I wan't to know how this is going to affect the Conference Championship coverage? I was going to tune in to listen to various experts and pundits opine on the the games and now all I'll get is Joe Pa coverage. Couldn't they have kept hm alive until tomorrow?

[JimBoSox9]

But I wan't to know how this is going to affect the Conference Championship coverage? I was going to tune in to listen to various experts and pundits opine on the the games and now all I'll get is Joe Pa coverage. Couldn't they have kept hm alive until tomorrow?

Incidentally, that was my second thought.

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

Wait - Walt Disney tweets:

ALIVE!

#WDisney.

[bsj]

Someone somewhere says he is still alive. Time for another ridiculous indignation and hope cocktail.

If my dad has hours to live, I will be locked in his hospital room holding his hand, not listening to/responding to media reports. fucking bizarre

[E5 Yaz]

If my dad has hours to live, I will be locked in his hospital room holding his hand, not listening to/responding to media reports. fucking bizarre

Is your dad a national figure in the middle of a major scandal?

[bsj]

Is your dad a national figure in the middle of a major scandal?

I don't care who he is. If he has hours to live, one would think doors should be closed, phones turned off, and wagons circled, spending his last moments focusing only on being with him. Just odd to me to be issuing press releases vehemently denying the death of someone clearly on deaths doorstep. This is why you usually hear nothing until the inevitable happens.

[drleather2001]

Yea, in a strange way his family's handling of this underlines the culture of narcissism that Joe Paterno helped develop in Happy Valley.

"He's SICK!"

"He's DYING!"

"He's NOT DEAD YET!"

Like, Christ. 2 months ago he wasn't saying peep, but now it's all about him again, even in death.

[JBill]

Just odd to me to be issuing press releases vehemently denying the death of someone clearly on deaths doorstep. This is why you usually hear nothing until the inevitable happens.

That's because CBS reported the guy was dead. He wasn't dead. The family had already released a statement saying he was in serious condition, I don't see a problem saying "as we said, he's in serious condition, he's not yet dead, CBS is wrong." I don't think it was anything weird or shady.

[E5 Yaz]

I don't care who he is. If he has hours to live, one would think doors should be closed, phones turned off, and wagons circled, spending his last moments focusing only on being with him. Just odd to me to be issuing press releases vehemently denying the death of someone clearly on deaths doorstep. This is why you usually hear nothing until the inevitable happens.

Sorry, but every circumstance is different. To say you know best how another family should act, especially one in the eye of a media storm, is presumptuous at best.

[canderson]

So PA's governor Tom Corbett issued a statement this morning offering his condolences, then revised the statement, then rescinded his statement. All within about 20 minutes.

Who the hell rescinds condolences? Great job, Tom.

Edited by canderson, 22 January 2012 - 02:31 PM.

[barbed wire Bob]

Will his eulogy include, "He was a great friend. You could tell him anything, he really knew how to keep a secret..."

This made me laugh.

[Tartan]

Cue Idiots Saying "He got what he Deserved".

He died having lived a long life with more personal, superficial success than most. He got so much better than he deserved. He deserved to live a long time more, as the continuing fallout from the scandal and trials showed him the human cost of his ego. I absolutely never wish death on anyone, and his gives me no joy. But I don't shed a tear for him either, and anyone canonizing the guy just because he died is full of shit.

Edited by Tartan, 22 January 2012 - 07:01 PM.

[page 2 protege]

http://www.theonion....se-to-te,27125/

Edited by page 2 protege, 22 January 2012 - 07:44 PM.

[Three10toLeft]

All that comes to mind...

lol boo hoo

[CaptainLaddie]

Good riddence. Fuck him.

[CJM]

From a friend's facebook page:

"Anyone offended by jokes about Joe Paterno that they might hear today should honor his memory by looking the other way and pretending that nothing happened."

[natpastime162]

The contrast is heartbreaking.

Someone upsets the Paterno family, he "Could not be more sorry for the emotional anguish," and says "There's no excuse" and immediately resigns.

When the Sandusky story breaks, what did JoePa do?

Fuck him. If Foulkey had tweeted that line, I'd retweet it. You know what's less funny than mocking people who cover up child rape? Child rape.

I am still waiting for a consensus to be reached on whether he did just enough as required by the law, turned a blind eye, covered it up, or enabled it.

Sadly, whether intentional or not, I believe Paterno, Spaniard, et al enabled Sandusky's actions by turning a blind eye.

[Sprowl]

I am still waiting for a consensus to be reached on whether he did just enough as required by the law, turned a blind eye, covered it up, or enabled it.

Sadly, whether intentional or not, I believe Paterno, Spaniard, et al enabled Sandusky's actions by turning a blind eye.

That's a harsh thing to say about the Spanish everywhere, but I don't think that either Paterno or Spanier were as culpable as Curley and Schultz, who were the ones who actively downgraded the charges and shirked their moral and legal duties (or at least, that is what the Grand Jury concluded).

I vote for 1, 2, and 4.

1 because that was the conclusion reached by the Pennsylvania prosecutors -- he did report it to his nominal superiors, and there is nothing to indicate that he put any pressure on them not to do their jobs.

2 because there is no indication that he did any follow-up at all, and his last interview claimed that he was more worried about academic protocol than protecting children from rape. That is moral cowardice, and possibly worse.

not 3 because a cover-up requires some evidence of actual complicity. Now that he's dead, Curley and Schultz may spill those beans as well, but until they do and it is corroborated by somebody who is not trying to pass the blame, I think that blaming Paterno for a cover-up is a step too far.

4 because everybody who heard the story and then did nothing while Sandusky continued to prey on kids and haunt the campus is guilty of enabling child rape.

[Sohaib]

The guy lived a great life. The job he loved, great success, the fame and money that came with it and a community that considered him an absolute saint.

About the kids: well, some of them got free tickets to football games with all expenses paid. Most of this stuff wasn't even coerced, they agreed in exchange for the goodies. People need to relax on the whole boo hoo, they're scarred for life rants.

[natpastime162]

That's a harsh thing to say about the Spanish everywhere, but I don't think that either Paterno or Spanier were as culpable as Curley and Schultz, who were the ones who actively downgraded the charges and shirked their moral and legal duties (or at least, that is what the Grand Jury concluded).

I vote for 1, 2, and 4.

1 because that was the conclusion reached by the Pennsylvania prosecutors -- he did report it to his nominal superiors, and there is nothing to indicate that he put any pressure on them not to do their jobs.

2 because there is no indication that he did any follow-up at all, and his last interview claimed that he was more worried about academic protocol than protecting children from rape. That is moral cowardice, and possibly worse.

not 3 because a cover-up requires some evidence of actual complicity. Now that he's dead, Curley and Schultz may spill those beans as well, but until they do and it is corroborated by somebody who is not trying to pass the blame, I think that blaming Paterno for a cover-up is a step too far.

4 because everybody who heard the story and then did nothing while Sandusky continued to prey on kids and haunt the campus is guilty of enabling child rape.

Whoops, my bad

Edited by natpastime162, 22 January 2012 - 11:20 PM.

[mabrowndog]

About the kids: well, some of them got free tickets to football games with all expenses paid. Most of this stuff wasn't even coerced, they agreed in exchange for the goodies. People need to relax on the whole boo hoo, they're scarred for life rants.

I'm not sure if this post is performance art or that you're just a supremely ignorant douchebag.

[Wings]

The guy lived a great life. The job he loved, great success, the fame and money that came with it and a community that considered him an absolute saint.

About the kids: well, some of them got free tickets to football games with all expenses paid. Most of this stuff wasn't even coerced, they agreed in exchange for the goodies. People need to relax on the whole boo hoo, they're scarred for life rants.

Wow. This HAS to be trolling, but I just can't let this go. You are implying that since some children got free gifts and were not coerced it is okay? I'm all for letting consenting ADULTS doing whatever the heck they want as long as it is consensual.

But children do not have the cognitive abilities to make these decisions, even if they get free stuff or it was a "trade" and wasn't coerced.

[Sprowl]

I'm not sure if this post is performance art or that you're just a supremely ignorant douchebag.

Probably both, since he tried to post the same blame-the-kids rant under a banned username first.

[Tartan]

Edit- Never mind. Shouldn't feed trolls.

Edited by Tartan, 23 January 2012 - 02:58 AM.