CitadelGrad's PSU Bitch thread

[Grizalltheway]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... th-penalty" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cultists should count their lucky stars.

[∞∞∞]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... th-penalty" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cultists should count their lucky stars.

I know PSU fans hate their president right now for "giving in" to the NCAA, but the reality is that he earned his paycheck by negotiating the deal that he did. If anything, he saved the program's long-term future.

[bluehenbillk]

The mere fact that Lubrano's name is brought up, of all people at PSU, immediately discredits this thread.

[clenz]

Today on the Dan Patrick Show Franco Harris said "Jerry was ALWAYS around kids. Many people saw Jerry at games, at hotels, at functions, and in the showers with kids, but we all just thought it was Jerry being Jerry. He just groomed the community to believe that was normal" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

He then continued to blast everything and everyone about the situation....defending everything that happened.

How the FUCK IS BEING SURROUNDED BY KIDS 24/7...ESPECIALLY IN THE FUCKING SHOWER....EVERY CONSIDERED NORMAL?


I've finally figured out that those connected to Penn State (Harris, citgrad, frank tanks, etc...) will NEVER be able to look at this objectively. A e-mail could surface from Paterno admitting the whole thing from a couple years ago and they wouldn't believe it.


I hope Penn State tries to fight this and all the layers of the onion start to get peeled away.

For those that don't think Paterno had the power we all know he did - remember there were more than a couple of school and state employees that challenged Paterno (and how he was running things because they disagreed with the morality of it) and they ended up being fired shortly there after...Coincidence? Probably not.

[bluehenbillk]

For those that don't think Paterno had the power we all know he did - remember there were more than a couple of school and state employees that challenged Paterno (and how he was running things because they disagreed with the morality of it) and they ended up being fired shortly there after...Coincidence? Probably not.

Not to mention what happened to Ray Gricar

[UNI88]

Today on the Dan Patrick Show Franco Harris said "Jerry was ALWAYS around kids. Many people saw Jerry at games, at hotels, at functions, and in the showers with kids, but we all just thought it was Jerry being Jerry. He just groomed the community to believe that was normal" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

He then continued to blast everything and everyone about the situation....defending everything that happened.

How the **** IS BEING SURROUNDED BY KIDS 24/7...ESPECIALLY IN THE **** SHOWER....EVERY CONSIDERED NORMAL?


I've finally figured out that those connected to Penn State (Harris, citgrad, frank tanks, etc...) will NEVER be able to look at this objectively. A e-mail could surface from Paterno admitting the whole thing from a couple years ago and they wouldn't believe it.


I hope Penn State tries to fight this and all the layers of the onion start to get peeled away.

For those that don't think Paterno had the power we all know he did - remember there were more than a couple of school and state employees that challenged Paterno (and how he was running things because they disagreed with the morality of it) and they ended up being fired shortly there after...Coincidence? Probably not.

I agree with your post about showering with kids and Harris but I have to point out that Citgrad and Franks Tanks have taken very different positions on what's happened. FT hasn't denied the allegations, he has questioned the institution of penalties with incomplete information and the severity of those penalties. He hasn't denied that severity of what happened or that JoePa had a role in keeping it from surfacing. You can disagree with him but I wouldn't lump him in the same category as CG.

[clenz]

Touche....

[Franks Tanks]

For those that don't think Paterno had the power we all know he did - remember there were more than a couple of school and state employees that challenged Paterno (and how he was running things because they disagreed with the morality of it) and they ended up being fired shortly there after...Coincidence? Probably not.

Not to mention what happened to Ray Gricar

Joe called in his boys from the old hood in Brooklyn and put a hit on him.. clearly.

Much of the ton foil hat crowd has a million theories about Gricar. You can spend days reading about it if so inclined.

[Franks Tanks]

Today on the Dan Patrick Show Franco Harris said "Jerry was ALWAYS around kids. Many people saw Jerry at games, at hotels, at functions, and in the showers with kids, but we all just thought it was Jerry being Jerry. He just groomed the community to believe that was normal" ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

He then continued to blast everything and everyone about the situation....defending everything that happened.

How the **** IS BEING SURROUNDED BY KIDS 24/7...ESPECIALLY IN THE **** SHOWER....EVERY CONSIDERED NORMAL?


I've finally figured out that those connected to Penn State (Harris, citgrad, frank tanks, etc...) will NEVER be able to look at this objectively. A e-mail could surface from Paterno admitting the whole thing from a couple years ago and they wouldn't believe it.


I hope Penn State tries to fight this and all the layers of the onion start to get peeled away.

For those that don't think Paterno had the power we all know he did - remember there were more than a couple of school and state employees that challenged Paterno (and how he was running things because they disagreed with the morality of it) and they ended up being fired shortly there after...Coincidence? Probably not.

I hear what you are saying, but Franco is largely a space cadet these days. If you are looking for dumb quotes about the PSU mess call up Franco.


I think that IF there is anything deeper or more nefarious going on it has to do with the Second Mile charity and not PSU. The Second Mile provided campaign contributions to many PA politicians including Tom Corbett. For those that don’t know Corbett was AG is PA when the investigation started and had intimate knowledge of the Sandusky situation for some time. That didn’t stop him from providing a 3 million dollar grant to the Second Mile after he became Governor. Corbett is a member of the PSU BOT, as all PA Governors are, but rarely attended meeting or had any input in PSU matters. However he did urge the BOT to fire Joe in November, a move some suggest was to shift the onus of the story to Joe and away from him.

At best Joe could have done more (assuming his account of being mostly in the dark about the details at correct) at worst Joe pushed for a cover up by asking or suggesting that they handle it internally(as alluded to in the Freeh Report). Cover up will be the narrative unless Curley and Shultz tell a different and convincing story on their upcoming trials.

I mostly had an issue with two parts. First is the universal acceptance that a nefarious culture exists at Penn State that exalted the football program and made Joe the most powerful man at the university. Joe certainly had a ton of power for a football coach, and much of that was due to his ability to raise money for the school. He was way more valuable as head fund raiser than head football coach for the last 15 years. If is often cited that Joe basically told Spanier to f off when he approached Joe about retiring in 2004. While I understand that can indicate absolute power, I think it has more to do with lack of leadership by Spanier and the BOT. They were basically afraid to make the right decision on 2004- which was make Joe retire or at the very least get him to agree to a 2-3 year succession plan. Second is the lack of due process by the NCAA. I fully understand that it is unlikely that any additional information will come out that will make PSU look better, but I feel Emerett didn’t have all the facts. He bullied PSU by floating a 4 year death penalty and forced them to accept the current sanctions at the current time knowing he had a tidal wave of public opinion on his side.

[grizzaholic]

This thread needs a little laughter.

[Willie]

How about what Franco Harris had to say? Fucking disturbing...

"Many people saw Jerry in the showers with kids, but we all just thought it was Jerry being Jerry".

Stop defending these sick bastards.

[clenz]

I get what you are saying, but I really do think you are underestimating just how much power Joe really had. Read the article (yes it is sensationalized some) about Vicky Triponi (http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/15/us/tripon ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

I'll post some snippets from it....

She experienced firsthand the clubby, jock-snapping culture, the sense of entitlement, the cloistered existence. It's what drove her five years ago from her job as the vice president who oversaw student discipline.
She was told she was too aggressive, too confrontational, that she wasn't fitting in with "the Penn State way."
She clashed often with Paterno over who should discipline football players when they got into trouble. The conflict with such an iconic figure made her very unpopular around campus. For a while, it cost Triponey her peace of mind and her good name. It almost ended her 30-year academic career.

Her former boss at Wichita State University described Triponey as "a dedicated, ethical professional" who was devastated by her experience at Penn State.
"Vicky knew that she had attempted to do the right thing in disciplining the football players, but she was unable to do so in the Penn State environment," said Gene Hughes, a president emeritus at Wichita State and Northern Arizona University.

At Penn State, Triponey was among the few who stood up to Paterno, the legendary "JoePa" who for 61 years was synonymous with a football program that pumped millions of dollars into Penn State. And she paid dearly for it. At the end, nobody at the top backed her. And it didn't seem to matter to anyone whether she was right, or even if she had a point.

At the heart of the problem, the Freeh report stated, were university leaders eager to please Paterno above all else, a rubber-stamp board of trustees, a president who discouraged dissent and an administration that was preoccupied with appearances and spin.

Triponey has been saying that since 2005.

Triponey, a slim blonde who dresses preppie and carries herself with the reserve of an academic lifer, was always an outsider at Penn State, even though she grew up in central Pennsylvania. She was not involved in the Sandusky matter; she says she never met him. But she is keenly aware of the campus culture that allowed him to prey on boys for years, virtually unchecked.
"The culture is deep," she said. "The culture is making decisions based on how others will react, not based on what's right and wrong." It focused on the interests of those at "the top of the chain," she added. "Others at the bottom didn't matter."

"I know Paterno has so much power that if he had wanted to get rid of someone, I would have been gone," one janitor told investigators. "Football runs this university."
"If that's the culture at the bottom," Freeh told reporters, "God help the culture at the top."

The Triponey footnote sheds some light on the top. "Some individuals interviewed identified the handling of a student disciplinary matter in 2007 as an example of Paterno's excessive influence at the university," the footnote stated. It described "perceived pressure" to "treat players in ways that would maintain their ability to play sports," including reducing disciplinary sanctions.

Penn State can learn from its mistakes, she believes, but needs new leadership, fresh blood -- someone from outside Happy Valley.
"It's a cocoon. It's a bubble. That's why those inside the bubble are really struggling. They're afraid; they're embarrassed; they're struggling with what to do," she said.
"Now the question is, 'do you face reality?'"

Penn State recruited Triponey in 2003. She quickly figured out she was the leading candidate when the university brought on its A game for her interview. Her campus visit coincided with the weekend of "The Thon," a popular dance marathon that students hold to raise money for charity.
"I liked what I heard during the interview," she recalled. "It was a truly impressive place, and I considered it a fabulous next step in my career."
She also heard the expression "the Penn State way" for the first time that weekend. Had she understood its significance, she said, she would have "quickly run in the other direction."
Still, she enjoyed a long honeymoon. She felt she had the support of Penn State's president, Graham Spanier, who unabashedly sang her praises when she was hired and later at professional conferences they both attended.
"I arrived there and was supported, encouraged, and really for the first two years I thought we were doing good things," she said. "We were moving in some good directions. But that second year, in the fall, I started going home and telling Mike, 'They're not getting it. They're not embracing conversations about change.'"
There were controversies about her decisions to cut off funding to a student radio program and revamp the student government.
Spanier assured her that she was right to stick to her guns, but she was "hitting the brick wall in student discipline." Looking back, she says, "I was putting my neck out and taking a stand, but there weren't many people with me."
And then one day in late 2004, as disciplinary sanctions were being considered against a member of the football team, she received a visit from Paterno's wife, who had tutored the player.
He's a good kid, Sue Paterno said. Could they give him a break?
Triponey realized then that she wasn't in Kansas anymore. Or even Connecticut.
By the next year, 2005, she was battling Paterno himself over who controlled how football players were disciplined. Paterno also chafed over enforcing Penn State's code of conduct off campus.
Spanier called a meeting at which Paterno angrily dominated the conversation, Triponey recalled. She summarized the meeting in an e-mail to Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley and others, complaining that Paterno "is insistent that he knows best how to discipline his players" and that her department should back off.
Opinion: Penn State report is a warning to all of of us
She noted that Paterno preferred to keep the public in the dark about player infractions involving violence, and he pushed for not enforcing the student code of conduct off campus. She added that having "a major problem with Coach Paterno should not be our concern" in making disciplinary decisions.
"I must insist that the efforts to put pressure on us and try to influence our decisions related to specific cases ... simply MUST STOP," she wrote. "The calls and pleas from coaches, board members and others when we are considering a case are indeed putting us in a position that does treat football players differently and with greater privilege ... and it appears on our end to be a deliberate effort to use the power of the football program to sway our decisions in a way that is beneficial to the football program."
Curley, who once played for Paterno and according to the Freeh report was widely considered his "errand boy," responded to Triponey by explaining "Joe's frustrations with the system" and the "larger issues that bother him."
Triponey wrote back, complaining about Paterno's "disregard for our role and disrespect for the process." She added, "I don't see how we can continue to trust those inside the football program with confidential information if we are indeed adversaries."
She followed up with another e-mail to Spanier on September 1, 2005, stating her objection to Paterno's attitude and behavior, which she called "atrocious." She said others, including students and their parents, were mimicking him.
"I am very troubled by the manipulative, disrespectful, uncivil and abusive behavior of our football coach," she wrote. "It is quite shocking what this man -- who is idolized by people everywhere -- is teaching our students."
Paterno clearly seemed to resent "meddling" from outsiders, even if Triponey was simply doing her job. She saw the dangers of special treatment that placed football players under a softer standard than other students lived by. She said it wasn't right. But it was a battle she couldn't win.
Paterno ridiculed her on a radio show as "that lady in Old Main" who couldn't possibly know how to handle students because "she didn't have kids."
Tensions reached the breaking point in 2007 over how to discipline half a dozen players who'd been arrested at a brawl at an off-campus apartment complex. Several students were injured; one beaten unconscious.
Triponey met with Paterno and other university officials half a dozen times, although she preferred to remain neutral as the appeals hearing officer.
At the final meeting, Triponey urged the coach to advise his players to tell the truth. Paterno said angrily that he couldn't force his players to "rat" on each other since they had to practice and play together. Curley and Spanier backed him up on that point, she said.
Triponey recommended suspensions; Paterno pushed for community service that included having the team clean up the stadium for two hours after each home game.
In the end, four players were briefly suspended during the off-season. They didn't miss a game.
By then it was clear she no longer enjoyed Spanier's support. He began making noises about whether she really embraced "the Penn State way." He told her during an annual review that she was too confrontational, too aggressive. Triponey knew her days at Penn State were numbered when he advised her to think hard about whether she had a future there.

[dbackjon]

Pretty damning report there




Joe let his players run out of control. He covered up their crimes. Refused to punish them. Punished those that tried to do right.

Joe Paterno was scum, with good PR.

[Franks Tanks]

I get what you are saying, but I really do think you are underestimating just how much power Joe really had. Read the article (yes it is sensationalized some) about Vicky Triponi (http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/15/us/tripon ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

I'll post some snippets from it....

She experienced firsthand the clubby, jock-snapping culture, the sense of entitlement, the cloistered existence. It's what drove her five years ago from her job as the vice president who oversaw student discipline.
She was told she was too aggressive, too confrontational, that she wasn't fitting in with "the Penn State way."
She clashed often with Paterno over who should discipline football players when they got into trouble. The conflict with such an iconic figure made her very unpopular around campus. For a while, it cost Triponey her peace of mind and her good name. It almost ended her 30-year academic career.

Her former boss at Wichita State University described Triponey as "a dedicated, ethical professional" who was devastated by her experience at Penn State.
"Vicky knew that she had attempted to do the right thing in disciplining the football players, but she was unable to do so in the Penn State environment," said Gene Hughes, a president emeritus at Wichita State and Northern Arizona University.

At Penn State, Triponey was among the few who stood up to Paterno, the legendary "JoePa" who for 61 years was synonymous with a football program that pumped millions of dollars into Penn State. And she paid dearly for it. At the end, nobody at the top backed her. And it didn't seem to matter to anyone whether she was right, or even if she had a point.

At the heart of the problem, the Freeh report stated, were university leaders eager to please Paterno above all else, a rubber-stamp board of trustees, a president who discouraged dissent and an administration that was preoccupied with appearances and spin.

Triponey has been saying that since 2005.

Triponey, a slim blonde who dresses preppie and carries herself with the reserve of an academic lifer, was always an outsider at Penn State, even though she grew up in central Pennsylvania. She was not involved in the Sandusky matter; she says she never met him. But she is keenly aware of the campus culture that allowed him to prey on boys for years, virtually unchecked.
"The culture is deep," she said. "The culture is making decisions based on how others will react, not based on what's right and wrong." It focused on the interests of those at "the top of the chain," she added. "Others at the bottom didn't matter."

"I know Paterno has so much power that if he had wanted to get rid of someone, I would have been gone," one janitor told investigators. "Football runs this university."
"If that's the culture at the bottom," Freeh told reporters, "God help the culture at the top."

The Triponey footnote sheds some light on the top. "Some individuals interviewed identified the handling of a student disciplinary matter in 2007 as an example of Paterno's excessive influence at the university," the footnote stated. It described "perceived pressure" to "treat players in ways that would maintain their ability to play sports," including reducing disciplinary sanctions.

Penn State can learn from its mistakes, she believes, but needs new leadership, fresh blood -- someone from outside Happy Valley.
"It's a cocoon. It's a bubble. That's why those inside the bubble are really struggling. They're afraid; they're embarrassed; they're struggling with what to do," she said.
"Now the question is, 'do you face reality?'"

Penn State recruited Triponey in 2003. She quickly figured out she was the leading candidate when the university brought on its A game for her interview. Her campus visit coincided with the weekend of "The Thon," a popular dance marathon that students hold to raise money for charity.
"I liked what I heard during the interview," she recalled. "It was a truly impressive place, and I considered it a fabulous next step in my career."
She also heard the expression "the Penn State way" for the first time that weekend. Had she understood its significance, she said, she would have "quickly run in the other direction."
Still, she enjoyed a long honeymoon. She felt she had the support of Penn State's president, Graham Spanier, who unabashedly sang her praises when she was hired and later at professional conferences they both attended.
"I arrived there and was supported, encouraged, and really for the first two years I thought we were doing good things," she said. "We were moving in some good directions. But that second year, in the fall, I started going home and telling Mike, 'They're not getting it. They're not embracing conversations about change.'"
There were controversies about her decisions to cut off funding to a student radio program and revamp the student government.
Spanier assured her that she was right to stick to her guns, but she was "hitting the brick wall in student discipline." Looking back, she says, "I was putting my neck out and taking a stand, but there weren't many people with me."
And then one day in late 2004, as disciplinary sanctions were being considered against a member of the football team, she received a visit from Paterno's wife, who had tutored the player.
He's a good kid, Sue Paterno said. Could they give him a break?
Triponey realized then that she wasn't in Kansas anymore. Or even Connecticut.
By the next year, 2005, she was battling Paterno himself over who controlled how football players were disciplined. Paterno also chafed over enforcing Penn State's code of conduct off campus.
Spanier called a meeting at which Paterno angrily dominated the conversation, Triponey recalled. She summarized the meeting in an e-mail to Spanier, Athletic Director Tim Curley and others, complaining that Paterno "is insistent that he knows best how to discipline his players" and that her department should back off.
Opinion: Penn State report is a warning to all of of us
She noted that Paterno preferred to keep the public in the dark about player infractions involving violence, and he pushed for not enforcing the student code of conduct off campus. She added that having "a major problem with Coach Paterno should not be our concern" in making disciplinary decisions.
"I must insist that the efforts to put pressure on us and try to influence our decisions related to specific cases ... simply MUST STOP," she wrote. "The calls and pleas from coaches, board members and others when we are considering a case are indeed putting us in a position that does treat football players differently and with greater privilege ... and it appears on our end to be a deliberate effort to use the power of the football program to sway our decisions in a way that is beneficial to the football program."
Curley, who once played for Paterno and according to the Freeh report was widely considered his "errand boy," responded to Triponey by explaining "Joe's frustrations with the system" and the "larger issues that bother him."
Triponey wrote back, complaining about Paterno's "disregard for our role and disrespect for the process." She added, "I don't see how we can continue to trust those inside the football program with confidential information if we are indeed adversaries."
She followed up with another e-mail to Spanier on September 1, 2005, stating her objection to Paterno's attitude and behavior, which she called "atrocious." She said others, including students and their parents, were mimicking him.
"I am very troubled by the manipulative, disrespectful, uncivil and abusive behavior of our football coach," she wrote. "It is quite shocking what this man -- who is idolized by people everywhere -- is teaching our students."
Paterno clearly seemed to resent "meddling" from outsiders, even if Triponey was simply doing her job. She saw the dangers of special treatment that placed football players under a softer standard than other students lived by. She said it wasn't right. But it was a battle she couldn't win.
Paterno ridiculed her on a radio show as "that lady in Old Main" who couldn't possibly know how to handle students because "she didn't have kids."
Tensions reached the breaking point in 2007 over how to discipline half a dozen players who'd been arrested at a brawl at an off-campus apartment complex. Several students were injured; one beaten unconscious.
Triponey met with Paterno and other university officials half a dozen times, although she preferred to remain neutral as the appeals hearing officer.
At the final meeting, Triponey urged the coach to advise his players to tell the truth. Paterno said angrily that he couldn't force his players to "rat" on each other since they had to practice and play together. Curley and Spanier backed him up on that point, she said.
Triponey recommended suspensions; Paterno pushed for community service that included having the team clean up the stadium for two hours after each home game.
In the end, four players were briefly suspended during the off-season. They didn't miss a game.
By then it was clear she no longer enjoyed Spanier's support. He began making noises about whether she really embraced "the Penn State way." He told her during an annual review that she was too confrontational, too aggressive. Triponey knew her days at Penn State were numbered when he advised her to think hard about whether she had a future there.

I am aware.

I don't know the real story, but this lady has a poor track record. She was universally hated at PSU before all this stuff with Paterno came out.

Unfortunantly many PSU players were charged and convicted of crimes in this era. If Joe had real power they would'nt have been charged in the 1st place.

[Franks Tanks]

Pretty damning report there




Joe let his players run out of control. He covered up their crimes. Refused to punish them. Punished those that tried to do right.

Joe Paterno was scum, with good PR.

That is all B.S.

He sure did one hell of a job covering up his players bad behavior

"Since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news ... id=3504915" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[clenz]

Joe kept them on the field, even when they were charged. He kept the fact they were charged on the down low pretty damn well. If you look at the number of arrests they had during the last decade and how little press it actually got it's pretty clear he was able to keep it under wraps.

Why is it this lady has a poor track record only at PSU, and not anywhere else she has been? She was clearly trying to change the culture that has brought this all crashing down.

[clenz]

Pretty damning report there




Joe let his players run out of control. He covered up their crimes. Refused to punish them. Punished those that tried to do right.

Joe Paterno was scum, with good PR.

That is all B.S.

He sure did one hell of a job covering up his players bad behavior

"Since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news ... id=3504915" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How many were suspended or kicked off the team?

If that many arrests happened on the other sports teams, would the players have been kicked off the team?

[bluehenbillk]

As bad as PSU's crimes may be, I wouldn't have Triponey as the mouthpiece of PSU's faults. That's like McNamee being the expert witness in the Clemens case.

[Franks Tanks]

That is all B.S.

He sure did one hell of a job covering up his players bad behavior

"Since 2002, 46 Penn State football players have faced 163 criminal charges, according to an ESPN analysis of Pennsylvania court records and reports. Twenty-seven players have been convicted of or have pleaded guilty to a combined 45 counts."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news ... id=3504915" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How many were suspended or kicked off the team?

If that many arrests happened on the other sports teams, would the players have been kicked off the team?

Several. I don't have an excel spreadsheet that details who was kicked off the PSU team in 2007. In any event what does that have to do with covering up a criminal matter?

[Franks Tanks]

Joe kept them on the field, even when they were charged. He kept the fact they were charged on the down low pretty damn well. If you look at the number of arrests they had during the last decade and how little press it actually got it's pretty clear he was able to keep it under wraps.

Why is it this lady has a poor track record only at PSU, and not anywhere else she has been? She was clearly trying to change the culture that has brought this all crashing down.

There was a ton of press. Do ESPN outside the lines specials not count as press?

Joe was asked about the arrests constantly by PSU beat guys.

[GannonFan]

Joe kept them on the field, even when they were charged. He kept the fact they were charged on the down low pretty damn well. If you look at the number of arrests they had during the last decade and how little press it actually got it's pretty clear he was able to keep it under wraps.

Why is it this lady has a poor track record only at PSU, and not anywhere else she has been? She was clearly trying to change the culture that has brought this all crashing down.

There was a ton of press. Do ESPN outside the lines specials not count as press?

Joe was asked about the arrests constantly by PSU beat guys.

Seriously, what planet were people on that didn't know that Penn State had tons of off-field discipline problems for the past decade? You guys need to read the sports pages a little more, amazing what you can find in there.

[CitadelGrad]

The following was written by a former federal prosecutor. Would any lawyers on the board care to comment?

I believe the media, the Freeh Report, and many others have misrepresented Joe Paterno's culpability in the Jerry Sandusky matter. The evidence against Mr. Paterno amounts to virtually nothing. After more than 430 interviews and a review of more than 3.5 million documents and other information, the Freeh Report concludes that three emails from other people ? former Penn State President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Timothy Curley, and Senior Vice President Gary Schultz ? prove that Mr. Paterno was a co-conspirator in a cover-up. I do not read the evidence in the Freeh Report that way, and I do not believe the conclusions about Mr. Paterno are either warranted or fair.

The claim seems to be that Mr. Paterno knew about a 1998 allegation and did nothing, and that in 2001, when he learned about Mike McQueary's information, he waited a day before he reported the information to the athletic director (Curley) and the vice president in charge of the University Police (Schultz) and then did nothing else.

First, with respect to the 1998 incident, the Freeh Report says that several authorities promptly investigated and reviewed the matter, including the Department of Public Welfare, the University Police Department, the State College police, and the local district attorney's office. Freeh Report at 42-47. A "counselor" named John Seasock issued a report that found "no indication of child abuse." Freeh Report at 42-46. Mr. Seasock interviewed the alleged victim and determined that "there seems to be no incident which could be termed as sexual abuse, nor did there appear to be any sequential pattern of logic and behavior which is usually consistent with adults who have difficulty with sexual abuse of children." Freeh Report at 44 (quoting Mr. Seasock's 1998 evaluation of the alleged victim). The Freeh Report adds that Mr. Seasock "couldn't find any indication of child abuse." Freeh Report at 45.

The police investigated and "did not question Sandusky at this time," and the Freeh Report says that "the local District Attorney declined to prosecute Sandusky for his actions." Freeh Report at 45-46. A "senior administrator" explained that "the case against Sandusky was 'severely hampered' by Seasock's report." Freeh Report at 46. The University Police also investigatedthe matter and unlike the local police, they interviewed Sandusky. Sandusky claimed "nothing happened" (Freeh Report at 46) and the University Police concluded that "no sexual assault occurred." Freeh Report at 47.

The only evidence of Mr. Paterno's involvement is a passing reference in an email from Curley to Spanier and Schultz that says that Curley "touched base with the coach. Keep us posted." Freeh Report at 20, 48. A second email from Curley to Schultz that says "Coach is anxious to know where it stands." Freeh Report at 20, 48. There is no other information about Mr. Paterno's involvement in the incident. In fact, the Freeh Report does not even establish that the references to "Coach" refer to Joe Paterno. The most it can and does say is that "[t]he reference to Coach is believed to be Paterno." Freeh Report at 49. The Freeh Report cites no evidence to support this assertion, but even if "Coach" refers to Coach Paterno, what do these emails prove? The answer is: nothing. At most, these emails suggest that Mr. Paterno was concerned and wanted to know whether Sandusky was guilty of any wrongdoing.

Of course, if Mr. Paterno did express concern about the matter, then the question becomes: what did anyone tell him about the allegations and the investigation?

The Freeh Report provides no answer to this question. The Report does not provide any evidence about what Joe Paterno knew about the 1998 allegations against Sandusky. The Report does not provide any evidence about what Mr. Paterno did or said, or what anyone said to Mr. Paterno. Indeed, the Freeh Report suggests that both law enforcement and the University police agreed that nothing improper happened and that the allegations lacked merit. Did anyone tell Joe Paterno about those findings?

The Freeh Report concludes that the "record" is "not clear as to how the conclusion of the Sandusky investigation was conveyed to Paterno." Freeh Report at 51. The Report includes many statements that assert things like "nothing in the record indicates that Joe Paterno spoke with Sandusky." See, e.g., Freeh Report at 51. The absence of evidence or information proves only that Mr. Freeh did not find evidence. It does not affirmatively prove anything about Mr. Paterno.

Furthermore, despite the lack of evidence about Mr. Paterno's culpability with respect to the 1998 incident, the Freeh Report accuses Mr. Paterno of "allow[ing] Sandusky to retire in 1999, not as a suspected child predator, but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy." Freeh Report at 17. The Freeh Report's expression of outrage may sound compelling now, with the benefit of hindsight and the evidence that now exists about Sandusky's criminal misconduct. But given that (1) law enforcement officials and other people investigated the 1998 incident and found no wrongdoing; (2) Seasock's report exonerated Sandusky; (3) the District Attorney declined to prosecute the case; (4) Sandusky denied the allegations; and (5) the complete lack of evidence about Mr. Paterno's knowledge, involvement, and actions, it is difficult to see how Mr. Paterno can be subject to ridicule because he "allowed" Sandusky to retire "not as a suspected child predator."

As to the issue about whether Joe Paterno should have done more with the McQueary information, I keep coming back to one critical missing piece of evidence: what did Curley and Schultz tell him? Schultz, in particular, is the important actor here because he was the top university official in charge of the University Police. Freeh Report at 33. If JoePa wanted to cover this up, he would never have reported McQueary's information to Curley and Schultz within a day of receiving it. Is waiting one day on a weekend evidence of a cover-up? Mr. Freeh and others seem to think so. The Freeh Report repeatedly cites Mr. Paterno's comments about not interfering with the weekend as evidence of some kind of evil intent. But, again, this proves nothing. Would the Report conclude differently if Mr.Paterno had spoken with Curley and Schultz on Saturday evening instead of Sunday?

Furthermore, if Mr. Paterno had reported the McQueary information to me (were I, like Schultz, the official in charge of the University Police), I would have told him to keep his mouth shut going forward and let the authorities handle the matter. Otherwise, Mr. Paterno could have tainted the investigation. And, because he was a potential trial witness (to McQueary's prior consistent statements, see Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B) and Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence613(c)), any further statements or action by Mr. Paterno could have become cross-examination fodder for the defense. Any further action by Mr.Paterno could only have damaged the integrity of the investigation and any prosecution against Sandusky.

Indeed, Mr. Paterno explained his actions before died by saying that "I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the University procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did." Freeh Report at 77-78. This statement makes perfect sense, and the notion of a football coach supervising a criminal investigation is ridiculous. It is very possible that Curley or Schultz or both told Mr. Paterno to stay out of the matter; in fact, Schultz should have told him as much. But we don't know because Schultz and Curley are under indictment and not talking, Paterno is dead, and the Freeh Report did not find any information about this issue.

Much of the case against Mr. Paterno seems to rely on (1) the theory that the Athletic Director, Curley, was JoePa's "errand boy"; and (2) an email dated February 27, 2001 from Curley to Schultz and Spanier which says that Curley gave the matter "more thought" after "talking it over with Joe" and was "uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps." Freeh Report at 74-75. But the "errand boy" evidence amounts to a reference by an unidentified "senior Penn State official" (page 75), and what does it prove anyway? That one person viewed Curley as Paterno's "errand boy"?

There is no evidence that Curley-as-errand-boy covered up because Joe Paterno told him to do so. And the February 27 email at most suggests that Mr. Paterno spoke with Curley. It does not say what Curley and Paterno discussed, and without any explanation from either Curley or Paterno, it is absurd to read into this that Mr. Paterno was the puppet master behind a coverup orchestrated by Curley, Spanier, and Schultz.

Mr. Paterno was a football coach, not an expert in criminal law or investigations, and this notion of him as some kind of omnipotent and omniscient God who callously turned his back on a serial child molester is unsupported by any evidence.

This is a rather sorry record upon which to condemn Joe Paterno.

[dbackjon]

Sad how many are brain washed

[BlueHen86]

Sad how many are brain washed

While I think CitadelGrad is in denial regarding Penn St, I think there is some validity to the idea that Paterno is getting a bad deal. While Joe Pa is not innocent here, I'm not sure how much of a monster he is. Since he's dead he won't stand trial in a court of law, but he is losing in the court of public opinion and I don't think that's fair.

[CitadelGrad]

Sad how many are brain washed

It's true. You need professional help.