# It's time to officially Pit Joe Paterno and the Penn State football program. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167 "2011-11-07T14:23:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 64
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1261 "2011-11-19T02:44:46Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > Could be worse. Could be raped up the ass by an old dude. > [@Kolga](#): > > And then have powerful people not report it to the proper authorities. All the while, it could be raining. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1262 "2011-11-19T02:58:11Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > All the while, it could be raining. And there could be a complete absence of salty snacks. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1263 "2011-11-19T03:16:10Z")
Damn good thing he read the Nixon playbook. For Crissakes, somebody might actually think that he didn’t do the right thing. But if he has cancer, that’s like a plenary indulgence. JoePa might just be the next Pope. He qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1264 "2011-11-19T07:16:56Z")
Joe Paterno’s son was shown on 20/20 saying that his father didn’t do anything wrong by not reporting the abuse because Sandusky was retired at the time- “he didn’t even work there!,” he said. I wonder if he actually believes that this wasn’t a crime that needed to be immediately reported to police, or if he just needed something to say to the media and picked that. If the former, then this is a family with some serious morality and priority problems. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1265 "2011-11-19T22:57:40Z")
NYT is reporting that the Second Mile is making plans to close down/transition its programs to other organizations. > **[Charity Founded by Accused Ex-Coach May Fold (Published 2011)](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/sports/ncaafootball/charity-founded-by-sandusky-plans-to-fold.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=second%20mile&st=cse)** > > The Second Mile will try to transfer its programs to other nonprofit organizations and will conduct an investigation into its actions relating to Jerry Sandusky’s alleged sexual abuse. I hope that’s a case of doing the right thing rather than trying to get the money out before the lawsuits start flying. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1266 "2011-11-20T01:42:53Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > And there could be a complete absence of salty snacks. You are a sick, sick person. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1267 "2011-11-20T12:04:07Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Joe Paterno’s son was shown on 20/20 saying that his father didn’t do anything wrong by not reporting the abuse because Sandusky was retired at the time- “he didn’t even work there!,” he said. Which gives him even \*less \*right to be in the locker room raping little boys. Oh, wait, I forgot, football before all. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sinsaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sinsaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinsaint)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1268 "2011-11-21T01:10:30Z")
I’ve been thinking about this for days now… Curley and Schultz must have called Sandusky in at some point to talk about the accusations, even if just to notify him that his keys needed to be turned over and no more kids on PSU campus. Any innocent person would have asked why. Curley and Schultz would have had to admit that a witness reported inappropriate conduct with a minor. I suppose if he’s guilty, he knew exactly what the witness reported and since they weren’t threatening to report it to the police he was more than happy to just turn in the keys and walk away without a fuss. On the flip side, why didn’t Curley or Schultz press Sandusky for his version of the story and the name of the boy? It was like two adults sticking their fingers in their ears and shaking their heads in a belief that if they didn’t hear it then it wasn’t so. Anyway, I read and re-read the GJ report. I noticed something tonight that I hadn’t noticed before. McQueary went to Joepa on Saturday. Joepa testified that he called Curley to his house on Sunday. The testimony states that Joepa told “him” (Curley) about “fondling or doing something of a sexual nature” with a young boy. The next part is basically about McQueary talking with both Curley and Schultz about what he saw. The report is very specific that Joepa did not attend this meeting. When Schultz testified he said he attended a meeting with Curley and Joepa and attended a subsequent meeting with Curley and McQueary. The way it’s written it appears that Joepa had two meetings about what McQueary reported. One with just Curley and another with Curley and Schultz. If that’s true then all three of them knew it was serious. Joepa and Curley aren’t going to waste their time over towel snapping and horsing around. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1269 "2011-11-21T01:14:31Z")
They didn’t waste their time over child rape either. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1270 "2011-11-21T04:04:17Z")
> [@Sinsaint](#): > > I’ve been thinking about this for days now… > > Curley and Schultz must have called Sandusky in at some point to talk about the accusations, even if just to notify him that his keys needed to be turned over and no more kids on PSU campus. Any innocent person would have asked why. Curley and Schultz would have had to admit that a witness reported inappropriate conduct with a minor. I suppose if he’s guilty, he knew exactly what the witness reported and since they weren’t threatening to report it to the police he was more than happy to just turn in the keys and walk away without a fuss. On the flip side, why didn’t Curley or Schultz press Sandusky for his version of the story and the name of the boy? It was like two adults sticking their fingers in their ears and shaking their heads in a belief that if they didn’t hear it then it wasn’t so. > > Anyway, I read and re-read the GJ report. I noticed something tonight that I hadn’t noticed before. McQueary went to Joepa on Saturday. Joepa testified that he called Curley to his house on Sunday. The testimony states that Joepa told “him” (Curley) about “fondling or doing something of a sexual nature” with a young boy. The next part is basically about McQueary talking with both Curley and Schultz about what he saw. The report is very specific that Joepa did not attend this meeting. When Schultz testified he said he attended a meeting with Curley and Joepa and attended a subsequent meeting with Curley and McQueary. The way it’s written it appears that Joepa had two meetings about what McQueary reported. One with just Curley and another with Curley and Schultz. If that’s true then all three of them knew it was serious. Joepa and Curley aren’t going to waste their time over towel snapping and horsing around. **Sinsaint** , are you the DA? If not, I wish you were. You seem to have this thing scoped out as well as anyone. (Sinsaint would be a good handle for a DA). ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1271 "2011-11-21T18:56:11Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Boeheim better hope he’s done his homework – he didn’t just deny the allegations on behalf of Fine, he repeatedly called the accusers “liars” yesterday. Very odd story. Bobby Davis went to police in 2002 with his allegations. None of the people he gave as witnesses were willing/able to corroborate Bobby’s story, and the police declined to continue. Bobby then contacted Mark Schwarz, a reporter with ESPN, apparently because of a piece Schwarz did on a junior hockey coach abuse case. Again, ESPN could find no one willing to confirm Bobby’s story, so ESPN didn’t air the story. Syracuse apparently conducted its own investigation in 2005 - again, nothing. According to Schwarz, when no one was willing to confirm his story in 2002 and ESPN told him they weren’t going to air the story, Bobby said ‘oh, well, I guess there’s nothing I can do’. If you were really that troubled and had gone through the trouble of talking to ESPN for several days…would you just give up?? I don’t get that at all. Anyway, now there’s a second person to back up Bobby’s story - problem is, it’s a relative of Bobby (half-brother), although it doesn’t sound like they are particularly close. The denials from Syracuse are astounding - it feels a heck of a lot different vs the Penn State reaction. If there’s anything to this story, I would expect more victims to come out, and I’d expect some sort of proof - Bobby says he was with the team on road trips, staying in hotel rooms and such - there would have to be bus tickets, plane tickets, pictures etc. I heard an interview with the accuser and gotta say…I found him very very unconvincing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1272 "2011-11-22T15:37:25Z")
Not very surprising, but a recently-retired “student disciplinarian” at Penn State says [Paterno wanted special treatment for his players.](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/11/22/penn-state-paterno.ap/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a9&eref=sihp) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1273 "2011-11-23T04:15:18Z")
I spent a couple of days reading through the 26 pages of this thread. I hadn’t exactly been following the news, and I wanted to see what was going on. I feel dirty. (I orginally had put that thought into words as “I feel like I need to take a shower”, but I realized that would sound… unfortunate in this context). ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1274 "2011-11-23T06:09:12Z")
Fuck, how can people still defend [this guy](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577052073672561402.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories)? > [@](#): > > In 2007, as many as two dozen players broke into an off-campus apartment, sparking a melee that captured headlines and prompted the police to file criminal charges against six Penn State football players. “Pretty much the entire Penn State defense broke in and started swinging bar stools and stuff,” says John Britt, then a third-year criminal-justice major who was beaten up in the incident. Mr. Britt says he took a beer bottle to the back of the head—and that players apparently continued to beat him after he’d lost consciousness. (Now 25, Mr. Britt serves warrants for state court in Philadelphia.) > > Dr. Triponey’s department began an inquiry. According to a Penn State employee’s record of the proceedings, Mr. Spanier was involved in at least nine meetings with representatives of the judicial-affairs department, and Mr. Paterno was involved in at least six. > > In a meeting with Messrs. Paterno and Spanier and others, Dr. Triponey complained that the players were stonewalling her and suggested that Mr. Paterno ought to compel them to be truthful, according to one person familiar with the meeting. Mr. Paterno angrily responded that his players couldn’t be expected to cooperate with the school’s disciplinary process because, in this case, they would have to testify against each other, making it hard to play football together, these people say. > > In the end, police dropped many of the charges against the players, and two pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. The school’s inquiry led to four players being suspended for a summer semester. They did not miss any games. > > Coach Paterno imposed his own punishment: he said the whole team would spend two hours cleaning up the stadium after home games that fall. So much for his reputation of making players responsible for their actions. Yeah, I know, it’s typical for college athletics. But the whole, JoePa is different, and he’s so full of integrity and honesty, and blah blah blah…guess it’s all bullshit. (BTW, I read somewhere that he was offered the position of Steelers head coach, before it went to Chuck Noll. Glad he turned it down!) ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1275 "2011-11-23T21:21:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Fuck, how can people still defend [this guy](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204443404577052073672561402.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories)? It’s called willful blindness. From the bottom of the previous page (that is, several weeks into this mess): > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Well, I am a fan of Paterno and think we should wait until the facts are out before condemning him THE FACTS ARE OUT!!! EVERY SINGLE FACT NECESSARY TO CONDEMN HIM IS OUT!!! NO ADDITIONAL “FACTS” COULD UN-CONDEMN HIM!!! It’s no good, though. They’ll believe what they want. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1276 "2011-11-23T21:43:21Z")
[One of the new allegations of abuse against Jerry Sandusky comes from within his own family.](http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7274012/penn-state-nittany-lions-scandal-one-new-allegations-jerry-sandusky-came-family-member-attorney-says) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1277 "2011-11-24T00:46:04Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > THE FACTS ARE OUT!!! EVERY SINGLE FACT NECESSARY TO CONDEMN HIM IS OUT!!! NO ADDITIONAL “FACTS” COULD UN-CONDEMN HIM!!! Oh yeah? What if he’s been replaced by his evil twin Moe Paterno who has been secretly running the football program for the past 15 years? WHAT THEN??? Ha - refute that one! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1278 "2011-11-24T05:30:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [One of the new allegations of abuse against Jerry Sandusky comes from within his own family.](http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7274012/penn-state-nittany-lions-scandal-one-new-allegations-jerry-sandusky-came-family-member-attorney-says) Yeah, that was on the news earlier tonight. I thought I heard something about one of his adopted kids accusing him, so I’m assuming this is an additional accusation? (Possibly a grandchild?) Just when you think this case couldn’t get anymore sordid… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1279 "2011-11-28T03:10:40Z")
The Syracuse thing may have legs after all: [Syracuse basketball coach fired amid sex abuse investigation](http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/justice/syracuse-coach-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167/1280 "2011-11-28T06:38:46Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > The Syracuse thing may have legs after all: [Syracuse basketball coach fired amid sex abuse investigation](http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/justice/syracuse-coach-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1). “That shit totally happened.” As I suggested, Boeheim should have done a lot more homework. He called the putative victims “liars” and extortionists last week. He backpedaled today, which he’d never have done if it weren’t pretty clear to him that this is very likely true. Another arrogant prick emboldened to assuming omniscience in a cow-town. I spend a lot of time defending Middle America against Euros and Coastal elites. Syracuse is in a beautiful part of the world. But maybe the Euros and elites were right in part about the corrupt nasty side of flyover country. Thanks Coach! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167.md?page=63) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-time-to-officially-pit-joe-paterno-and-the-penn-state-football-program/602167.md?page=65)