Esteh Leerrrr: November 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Update on Penn State sexual abuse

Joe Paterno, longtime coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, was fired yesterday by the university's board of trustees for his role in covering up the alleged sexual abuse by his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. University President Graham Spanier tendered his resignation rather than face termination.

Mike McQueary, the graduate assistant who witnessed Sandusky performing anal sex on a boy of about 11 years, was not fired and was set to coach in Saturday's game. However, latest reports from the team say McQueary, the wide receivers coach, will not attend the game.

Click on, if you are interested in reading the Grand Jury report on eight victims stories involving sexual acts Sandusky performed or tried to perform on them.

**I should warn that some of the acts are of extremely graphic nature, however, I think people should be aware of some of the behavior sexual predators employ to lower their victims' defenses. So please read with caution.

Farewell to Ol' Joe

JoePa didn't do enough for the kids
he loved so dear.

You can call him JoePa, the old coach, Mr. Paterno or just plain ol' Joe. But whatever you call him, you can now add the word unemployed to that lexicon. For 46 years, Joe Paterno was the head coach of the Penn State University football team. He took a vicious hit on the sideline during trainig camp from his own wide receiver (accidental of course) but still had the fortitude to come back and coach the next week. He was an entire university's honorary grandfather. But his legacy has now been tarnished forever.

Jerry Sandusky - the face of a monster.

Let's get one thing absolutely straight here. Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is a monster, not Joe Paterno. Sandusky preyed on young boys who were in vulnerable situations. I am certain that the stories which will start to come out about the things that Sandusky did will be shocking and horrible.

Penn State assistant coach
Mike McQueary.

Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary actually witnessed Sandusky raping a child in the showers of the Penn State locker room and did nothing to stop it.

Instead of stopping Sandusky and saving that 10-year-old boy, McQueary left the room and called his own father to find out what to do. At the time, Mike McQueary was a 28-year-old man. Is Joe Paterno responsible for the fact that Mike McQueary was unable to exercise common sense at a time when he saw a crime being committed?

I can understand some of the backlash against Paterno. He was informed of a serious crime against a child that happened in his locker room and all he did was report the incident to Penn State authorities. Sandusky retired from coaching in 1999 and wasn't even on the staff when the incident happened. It adds a whole new level of uncertainty to the whole thing. It just makes people feel like Joe Paterno had no control over his football program. Paterno should have had Sandusky arrested and McQueary should have come forward as a witness as soon as it happened. Having all of this come to light 9 years later is just disgusting.

For 9 years, Joe Paterno and Mike McQueary held on to a secret that could have ruined Jerry Sandusky. What Paterno and McQueary did not realize was that the longer they held the secret, the bigger the damage would be.

In the wake of the scandal, Paterno was fired and the Penn State president resigned. Why McQueary is still allowed on the field is beyond me. Are parents really going to trust a football program that allows coaches like McQueary to be part of the program? What else has McQueary seen or heard that he is not man enough to own up to? The whole thing is just disgusting, and it all fell on Paterno's head.

Joe Paterno is held in high regard by former and current Penn State players. He has been a mentor, coach and father to countless hundreds of young athletes. That is why his inactivity when informed of this event is so shocking.

Why didn't Paterno do something immediately? Even if McQueary gave vague details about the event, it should have still been enough to set off a long series of red flags in Paterno's mind. The whole manner in which McQueary and Paterno did not react is just startling. The fact that it has cost Paterno his job and McQueary has kept his is just unfair.

After dedicating his life to the development of young athletes, Joe Paterno's legacy is completely tarnished by a monster and a coward. Yes, Joe Paterno should have done more to make sure that Jerry Sandusky was never able to hurt another child again. But Mike McQueary was right there. He could have saved that last child and started the downfall of Jerry Sandusky. But he didn't. Instead, he walked away from the crime and called his father. That reaction is inexcusable.

I am not siding with Joe Paterno. But I could see why so many others are. What happened to the report that Paterno gave the school administrators about the event? Why was that never acted on? Why are Paterno and Penn State president Graham Spanier taking the fall alone on this when an assistant coach and the entire board of trustees for Penn State University should all be out on the streets?

I hope Jerry Sandusky faces serious jail time in the general population. Maybe he will get a new perspective on his crimes when he experiences them from the other side.