# Joe Paterno Fired at Penn State **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 10, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469 "2011-11-10T03:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/21 "2011-11-10T18:31:56Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So, my suggestions: Penn State should now consider shutting down the **entire college** for a year. Just send everybody back home to think about it for a while, and maybe everybody should write a 4800-word essay. Come back and try again next year. Part of me agrees, but another part feels that punishing students who did not riot and who are not supporting Paterno is unfair. On an academic board on which I participate, there are professors from Penn State posting that the news coverage is not getting the full picture from the student body, or from the faculty, and that there is actually a lot more outrage against Paterno et al. than is being reporting. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/22 "2011-11-10T18:34:36Z")
Should the Big Ten put pressure on Penn State? Should they boot them out for besmirching all? Should they put forfeit the rest of the season? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/23 "2011-11-10T18:48:39Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And now this: In today’s news, we see that those student protests have evolved into a full riot. “Occupy Philadelphia” this ain’t. [Penn State Students Riot in Protest](http://news.yahoo.com/joe-paterno-fired-penn-state-students-riot-protest-082630177.html) As I have said elsewhere, a few dozen kids turning over a van is “Tuesday” at Penn State (and a lot of other college campuses that quiet that stuff down). As **Kolga** rightly notes, this is a tiny minority of PSU’s 90,000+ student body. > [@](#): > > So, my suggestions: Penn State should now consider shutting down the **entire college** for a year. Just send everybody back home to think about it for a while, and maybe everybody should write a 4800-word essay. Come back and try again next year. What the hell for? “Somebody I didn’t know did something unspeakable here ten years before I got here, and a few yahoos who aren’t me got upset that someone (who I also don’t know) lost their job about it–even though the vast majority of us agreed with that decision–so my punishment is I have to sit out of college for an entire year while I ‘think about what I did wrong’?” Dude, you are going into utter insanity. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/24 "2011-11-10T19:17:05Z")
Responding to **Senegoid** and **gonzomax** : The only reason I see a problem with shutting down the football program is simple–unless you’re alleging a really weird conspiracy, what did the players have to do with any of this? If there was no malfeasance on their part, why punish them for something the coaches and administrative staff did. Similarly, the rioting? There are something like 45,000 students enrolled at Penn State University Park, an equal number at the branch campuses, and you’re proposing punishing \*all \*of them for the actions of what I’ve seen in town police reports as approximately 1,700 rioters? Not to mention the uninvolved staff and faculty. Paterno had definite responsibility for what happened. Spanier has to live with, at minimum, the fact that his trusted subordinates cared more about football revenue than they did about the safety and well-being of children. What did the players or students do to deserve being punished, again? The NCAA should be leery of getting involved, IMHO. The crimes committed involved the football program staff, but they didn’t involve the football program itself, and that’s a damn crucial difference. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/25 "2011-11-10T19:30:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s a damn shame for Joe to go out like this. Sorry to pick on you a second time here, but The Onion nails it: [Sports Media Asks Molestation Victims What This Means For Joe Paterno’s Legacy](http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/sports-media-asks-molestation-victims-what-this-me,26609/) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/26 "2011-11-11T14:06:33Z")
Yeah all this talk about Paterno’s legacy misses the point: enabling child rape IS Paterno’s legacy. It will be the first line in his obituary and rightly so. If he didn’t want this to be his legacy, he should have prevented a pedophile from turning Penn State’s athletic facilities into his own personal rape room. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/27 "2011-11-11T14:39:48Z")
One of the central figures in this sex scandal involving male pedophilia is [Mike **McQueary**](http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7215664/penn-state-nittany-lions-mike-mcqueary-not-attend-game-weekend)?😕:eek:😃 Man, that beats Anthony Weiner for the all best sex scandal name. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/28 "2011-11-11T16:58:20Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah all this talk about Paterno’s legacy misses the point: enabling child rape IS Paterno’s legacy. It will be the first line in his obituary and rightly so. Well, no, the first line will be something like “Joe Paterno, who won more college football games than any other coach at a major program during a 46-year career at Penn State University but was fired after failing to to report that one of his defensive coordinators had sexually abused children, died today…” etc. With possible revisions if he goes to jail or is sued for millions and millions of dollars. Not that that changes the broader point. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/29 "2011-11-12T01:35:08Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I’m still not certain as to why, and nobody seems to be coming forward with an explanation. The grand jury report does not even include Spanier’s name, not once. Nobody has argued that Spanier knew any of the details of the case–in fact the athletic director and the VP who were indicted were _specifically_ charged with not reporting to the proper authorities, one of whom would have been Spanier. So what exactly did he do to get canned? I think Spanier initially supported the two administrators being charged with crimes, making Penn State appear to not care/understand the importance of the issue. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/30 "2011-11-12T02:18:18Z")
[Cars.com](http://Cars.com) withdrew their sponsorship for tomorrows game with Nebraska. I am surprised the Vegas Bookies has not taken this game off the boards. Nebraska is favored by 3 to 3.5 points. I can’t imagine that PSU playing a good game tomorrow with all the distractions. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/31 "2011-11-12T04:05:50Z")
Is that the last game this season? Then I guess a bowl game? The sad thing is I still believe Paterno and McQueary were decent and highly principled men. That just didn’t respond well to this situation. Maybe from embarrassment, or a misguided desire to protect the school. McQueary could have just kept his mouth shut. He did report the incident. Only he knows why he didn’t call the cops. That’s something he’ll live with a long, long time. A Rabbi wrote an interesting article about this sad mess. The Rabbi makes some good points about human behavior. > [@](#): > > The university board has taken the approach of “cutting off the head of the snake”, firing Coach Paterno, presumably in the hopes that as with a snake, once the head is gone, the threat is gone. But is it that simple? Will that really make kids safer?? And if the argument is that it’s about the need to “make a statement” about the coach’s failure to act, why fire Paterno alone? > \ > _By firing Paterno, nobody else needs to ask what they could have done to keep Sandusky’s alleged victims from ever having been victimized, and by extension none of us has to ask what we could do in any of the situations when we have the opportunity to step in and help someone else in need._ [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/11/11/what-would-do-if-were-in-joe-paternos-shoes/](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/11/11/what-would-do-if-were-in-joe-paternos-shoes/) ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/32 "2011-11-12T04:55:08Z")
Oh, bullshit. This continued claim that Paterno is being scapegoating misses the point that Paterno was informed at least once, if not more, that someone he was intimately acquainted with was engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with children, and he failed to ensure that a proper investigation was conducted. Paterno is not a martyr or victim. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/33 "2011-11-12T15:34:47Z")
I wonder how many of the people involved (and there were quite a few) in the heinous actions and the subsequent cover-up will do jail time? ---
**Author:** ![Kitten\_Mitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@Kitten\_Mitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitten_Mitten)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/34 "2011-11-14T01:04:55Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yeah all this talk about Paterno’s legacy misses the point: enabling child rape IS Paterno’s legacy. If he didn’t want this to be his legacy, he should have prevented a pedophile from turning Penn State’s athletic facilities into his own personal rape room. Exactly. Joe Paterno was an ENABLER. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/35 "2011-11-14T02:18:10Z")
Poor guy- forced out of his job at the tender age of 84 and with nothing but a pension and a few million dollars to live on. The bad part is that due to his age he’ll likely never spend a day in jail and probably won’t even live long enough to see the verdict if he receives civil suits (which I hope he does). ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/36 "2011-11-18T19:58:12Z")
The NCAA is launching a [formal investigation](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBC_PENN_STATE_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-18-14-47-19)into the scandal. And now there is similar situation afoot at Syracuse. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/37 "2011-11-18T20:58:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Is that the last game this season? Then I guess a bowl game? > > The sad thing is I still believe Paterno and McQueary were decent and highly principled men. That just didn’t respond well to this situation. Maybe from embarrassment, or a misguided desire to protect the school. Isn’t giving in to the instinct to protect the super-organism, and one’s position in the super-organism, [one of the classic signs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials) someone is NOT decent and highly principled? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/38 "2011-11-18T21:26:59Z")
[This](http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45360259/ns/sports-college_football/)announcement seems oddly timed. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/39 "2011-11-18T21:38:47Z")
Only worth 16 points. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469/40 "2011-11-19T03:11:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The bad part is that due to his age he’ll likely never spend a day in jail That’s not due to his age, it’s due to the fact that he didn’t actually do anything illegal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-paterno-fired-at-penn-state/602469.md?page=1)