# New book by Jay Paterno **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 31, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090 "2014-08-31T23:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/1 "2014-08-31T23:26:59Z")
He wrote a book, largely to resurrect his Dad’s legacy, by poking holes in the Freeh Report. Any interest in reading? ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/2 "2014-08-31T23:31:30Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/3 "2014-08-31T23:40:27Z")
If its _whole_ purpose is to resurrect Dad’s legacy by poking holes in the Freeh report, god no. If it’s a general biography that features a chapter on flaws in the Freeh report, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/4 "2014-08-31T23:48:53Z")
I saw an excerpt on Yahoo. Jay basically pokes holes in the timeline, and Joe’s legal culpability. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/5 "2014-09-01T00:41:54Z")
Holy cow, not specifically to do with the book, but specifically to do with Jay Paterno, [this CBS Sports article is recent and it is absolutely withering](http://www.cbssports.com/general/writer/gregg-doyel/24635578/the-fatal-flaw-in-jay-paternos-lawsuit-against-penn-state). Wow. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/6 "2014-09-01T01:03:50Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > Holy cow, not specifically to do with the book, but specifically to do with Jay Paterno, [this CBS Sports article is recent and it is absolutely withering](http://www.cbssports.com/general/writer/gregg-doyel/24635578/the-fatal-flaw-in-jay-paternos-lawsuit-against-penn-state). Wow. Ouch. Not that I would have read the book in the first place because sports interests me not at all and I think Joe Paterno is an evil piece of shit, but that article and the lawsuit link really paint his son as a gold digger and opportunist. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/7 "2014-09-01T01:15:25Z")
Chiro: Google “Jay Paterno book”, THEN tell me Joe is evil. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/8 "2014-09-01T01:36:10Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Chiro: Google “Jay Paterno book”, THEN tell me Joe is evil. Umm, OK. I did. Even landed on his [son’s website](http://www.votejaypaterno.com/#!books/cnec). I still think he is an evil piece of shit, along with his wife, and Jerry Sandusky. I hope they all burn in hell, forever. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/9 "2014-09-01T01:57:13Z")
Seems you went out of your way for confirmation bias. BIG shock! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/10 "2014-09-01T02:09:57Z")
I can believe there was some scapegoating in the Freeh report, but it’s going to take a lot more than a book written by Paterno Jr. to convince me that Joe Paterno was a good man who was done wrong. The best you can say is that he was a doddering old man who was utterly out of touch and that not only could be not be trusted to handle a crisis like this, but that Penn State was so badly warped by its devotion to Paterno Sr. and the football team that nobody could speak plainly to him about what was going on, which given his power was an enormous problem, and that the school thought more about protecting its image and its money than about stopping a horrible crime. None of that makes Joe Paterno look very good. It just reminds you that Penn State sucked institutionally, too. Reading the blurb for the book is aggravating enough; I cannot imagine what kind of Dante-esque torture it would be to read the entire freaking thing. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/11 "2014-09-01T02:36:27Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Seems you went out of your way for confirmation bias. BIG shock! :rolleyes: I really didn’t have a bias going in (apart from pedophilia = bad.) I didn’t pay much attention to the story, really. You seem to have a much stronger bias in defense of Paterno, which prompted you to post this thread i n his defense. I hope that works out well for you. So far, so good, right? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/12 "2014-09-01T02:40:33Z")
Marley, I assume you read the same excerpt I did, from [postgame.com](http://postgame.com)? My takeaways 1.Nobody says Joe committed a crime, and he shouldn’t have become collateral damage. 2.Freeh had scapegoated before (Jewel) 3.Never witnessed a crime! 4.The witness was vague about what he DID see, but was clear he didn’t witness a rape. Something the lawyers presenting to the Grand Jury GOT WRONG. 1. Grand Jury testimony is CONFIDENTIAL! 2. State commissioner publicly questioned Joe’s morals. 3. According to the Attorney General, Joe was nothing but cooperative. 4. The 1998 incident, which NEVER led to an indictment, was something Joe never knew about, would’ve been ILLEGAL for him TO know about it. 5. Once Sandusky retired, he NEVER has kids on campus. In fact, none of the incidents he was convicted of happened on campus. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/13 "2014-09-01T02:54:30Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Marley, I assume you read the same excerpt I did, from [postgame.com](http://postgame.com)? No. I followed the link to Jay Paterno’s site, read the words “the scandal itself was but a short moment in Joe Paterno’s life and legacy,” and wanted to angrily barf on someone. (There’s nobody deserving in the vicinity.) > [@](#): > > 1.Nobody says Joe committed a crime, and he shouldn’t have become collateral damage. Whether or not he committed a crime is not the point, and it was never the point. And I don’t think there was much investigation into this issue anyway since he was dead before the case was over. > [@](#): > > 2.Freeh had scapegoated before (Jewel) Richard Jewel was an actual victim. Comparing the differences between Jewel, who was a hero and got nothing but grief for it and probably died before his time as a result, to Paterno, who was viewed as a hero for decades and suffered about 15 minutes of infamy as a result of either apathy or cluelessness, is instructive. > [@](#): > > 3.Never witnessed a crime! Again, irrelevant. Most of these are totally irrelevant. They’re complaints about the legal process and frivolous-looking ones at that- they don’t change what happened. > [@](#): > > 4.The witness was vague about what he DID see, but was clear he didn’t witness a rape. Something the lawyers presenting to the Grand Jury GOT WRONG. Not this shit again. People have expelled millions of words about this case online and we’ve all heard this already. I see no reason to rehash it; you’re not sharing any new information. Like I said, there are two options here: Paterno knew and didn’t care, or he didn’t understand because he was old and clueless and because Penn State’s warped priorities made it a joke of an institution. Whichever one of those is true, we can’t - and shouldn’t - unlearned what we’ve learned. None of it makes Joe Paterno a hero again, if you were naive enough to think football factory coaches were heroes. I’m sure it’s been hard for Jay Paterno to watch his father’s reputation get trashed like this, so I have some sympathy for him on a personal level. But against all good sense and common decency, he’s still trying to wage this crusade in public, and he’s wrong. There are victims in this story, and Joe Paterno is not one of them. We’re arguing about whether or not he’s a villain or a fool, and since we’re talking about child rape, the only people who really need to care about the answer are the Paternos - and I’m not sure they should care. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/14 "2014-09-01T03:05:58Z")
Chiro: My bias, which I should’ve copped to: though not from western PA, grew up fan of team. And obviously, pedophilia BAD, VERY BAD. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/15 "2014-09-01T03:10:27Z")
Marley: I’m probably the ONLY American poster on this board who doesn’t DEIFY the basketball and/or football coach at my favorite school/flagship home campus. BTW, if you want to launch an investigation that PROVES Joe Paterno should’ve been indicted, AND convicted of a crime, BMG. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/16 "2014-09-01T03:21:19Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Marley: I’m probably the ONLY American poster on this board who doesn’t DEIFY the basketball and/or football coach at my favorite school/flagship home campus. No, you aren’t. > [@](#): > > BTW, if you want to launch an investigation that PROVES Joe Paterno should’ve been indicted, AND convicted of a crime, BMG. Why do I have to prove something to you? You started a thread about Jay Paterno’s book, and based on your summary of what he’s written, he has nothing relevant to say. Why do you believe these points matter? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/17 "2014-09-01T03:30:19Z")
Uh, he deserves his reputation back! BTW, the family sanctioned their own investigation, so it’s not like they were pulling things out of their asses. As to why YOU should lead an investigation, you’re the one ignoring evidence you don’t like. You only acknowledge 2 of my 9 points. What about the other 7? While I acknowledge there are non sport fans, you seriously believe fans (short for “fanatic”), are objective about their teams? That’s asking too much of us, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/18 "2014-09-01T03:35:45Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Uh, he deserves his reputation back! What do you mean “deserves?” Like I said, we can’t unlearn what we know about the guy. The best case scenario is that he was unable to do anything about this crime because he wasn’t mentally sharp or curious enough and was too protected by the school and everyone around him. That’s not very good leadership, is it? Not exactly up to the St. Joe standard, maybe? And you haven’t really responded to that point. Is there any way to interpret this situation so that nothing is Joe Paterno’s fault and nothing is wrong with the football program he ran and the university his football team propped up? I don’t think there is. > [@](#): > > BTW, the family sanctioned their own investigation, so it’s not like they were pulling things out of their asses. They paid an investigator to come up with the conclusion they wanted. That’s pretty much my definition of pulling things out your ass. > [@](#): > > You only acknowledge 2 of my 9 points. What about the other 7? I responded to four of them and said two were irrelevant. I think the other five are also utterly irrelevant. If you think they actually matter, tell me why. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/19 "2014-09-01T03:50:36Z")
5-8 were NEVER supposed to become public, mostly because they poison the jury pool. 3-4 a perfectly relevant, despite you DESPERATELY wanting them not to be. Joe did not witness a crime, and the Grand Jury was lied to about what the witness DID see. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090/20 "2014-09-01T03:53:04Z")
Marley: if someone you loved had their name slandered, you wouldn’t do everything in your power to fight back? Do you actually believe the family worked side by side with investigators they hired? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-by-jay-paterno/697090.md?page=2)