A sad, sickening and heartbreaking ending
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Isn't there an old saying of "All good things must come to an end?"
Being a follower of Penn State football, or more a follower of head football coach Joe Paterno, the sexual assault news coming out of Happy Valley this week by a former Penn State assistant coach not only stunned me, but it made me sick, sad, embarrassed, confused and angry all at once.
As hard as this is for me to say … my favorite football coach of all time, along with a few others, let down a lot of people. What I believed in as a fan of Penn State football for around 17 or so years has been nothing but a lie, or so it seems.
Two weeks ago, PSU nation was celebrating win No. 409 … now there is zero reason to celebrate.
I'm not going into any details (if you want gory details, read the court document), but what former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is being accused of doing to at least eight children makes me lose a lot of hope in this world.
This is about more than a result of a football game, national championships or how great a defense once was.
This is about doing the right thing. I want to feel for JoePa, I really do … but right now I can't because of what happened to those children … I just can't.
On TV, there were discussions on who will replace Paterno next season. A newspaper in Indiana wondered aloud if the Penn State scandal would help Notre Dame's recruiting of players opting against attending PSU now.
Who cares? That isn't very important anymore, is it?
Why don't they wonder what has happened to those children who were abused? How has the past 10-plus years of their life been? How their life more than likely will never be as good as it could have been? They were defenseless, and nobody was there to help them.
Not just JoePa, but many others dropped the ball on this, and in the process of covering up the alleged crimes committed, Sandusky just sickens me to no end. Plus, allowing Sandusky on campus as currently as last week, with the accusations against him, is mind-boggling.
They knowingly let that man (Sandusky) be in charge of a troubled youth organization. Even after what they knew of what he was being accused in 1998 and 2002, they still were OK with letting him be around children.
What has this world come to? (Say it ain't so, Joe.)
Paterno said in a statement Wednesday announcing he wanted to retire at season's end: "I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."
By Wednesday night, he was fired (by phone) by the Penn State Board of Trustees after 46 years of head coaching and 61 total years.
I know he did what he had to do legally … but when it comes to kids and being sexually abused being used in the same sentence, his phone call to his athletic director just wasn't enough. What happened to a moral obligation? That is my question.
Where was the statement on Sunday, or maybe he should have said this 10 or so years ago when now-assistant coach Mike McQueary told him what he saw?
I don't care what your job is … as a human being, how can someone just leave a situation like McQueary said he witnessed? McQueary doesn't deserve the privilege to be a coach in Division I football, either.
We know JoePa told his superiors whatever McQueary said to him (in the court documents), but what I can't wrap around my finger is why … why didn't anyone call the police? Why couldn't someone follow up on this?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not placing all the blame on Paterno, McQueary or the others over what Sandusky is being alleged of doing, but a lot of the blame has to go to them, who knew of something and not a single one of them called the police.
How do they even live with themselves as they knowingly, it seems, covered up crimes against a child at the Penn State facilities?
Trust me, never in a million years would I have ever thought this would happen to Penn State under Paterno's watch.
That is another problem … maybe as a Penn State fan, I put Mr. Paterno and even Sandusky on too high of a pedestal. Sandusky's defense schemes were great, and with Paterno, they were a great combo. A couple weeks ago, I was even talking about some of the Sandusky defenses and how good they were.
I feel sick. Paterno was my coaching hero. He was my Woody Hayes. He was my John Wooden.
I've watched, read and listened to people talk about Paterno's legacy and how this is just one mistake.
Really?
If so, a big mistake.
What legacy now?
The score of a football game, how many wins a team has, the championships or who the coach is no longer matters when it comes to this type of crime and/or a coverup of what is said to have happened.
Really, people are still worried about football? I'm pretty much done with college football.
Not one call to the proper authorities about the children in question?
This week, nobody, to my knowledge, has actually even said "I'm sorry."
It hurts me to say this, but I'm ashamed of being a fan of what seems to be one big lie after another.
I wish this was all a dream, but it is not.
But I have to put football aside because this isn't about football anymore. How can someone even think about doing what Sandusky is being alleged of doing to a child and live with themselves?
This entire situation is just a sad, disappointing and heartbreaking ending.
Paterno, who was said to be crying when talking to his players about his "retirement announcement," in the next-to-final paragraph of his "retirement" statement said: "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
Me too, Joe, me too.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.[[In-content Ad]]
Being a follower of Penn State football, or more a follower of head football coach Joe Paterno, the sexual assault news coming out of Happy Valley this week by a former Penn State assistant coach not only stunned me, but it made me sick, sad, embarrassed, confused and angry all at once.
As hard as this is for me to say … my favorite football coach of all time, along with a few others, let down a lot of people. What I believed in as a fan of Penn State football for around 17 or so years has been nothing but a lie, or so it seems.
Two weeks ago, PSU nation was celebrating win No. 409 … now there is zero reason to celebrate.
I'm not going into any details (if you want gory details, read the court document), but what former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is being accused of doing to at least eight children makes me lose a lot of hope in this world.
This is about more than a result of a football game, national championships or how great a defense once was.
This is about doing the right thing. I want to feel for JoePa, I really do … but right now I can't because of what happened to those children … I just can't.
On TV, there were discussions on who will replace Paterno next season. A newspaper in Indiana wondered aloud if the Penn State scandal would help Notre Dame's recruiting of players opting against attending PSU now.
Who cares? That isn't very important anymore, is it?
Why don't they wonder what has happened to those children who were abused? How has the past 10-plus years of their life been? How their life more than likely will never be as good as it could have been? They were defenseless, and nobody was there to help them.
Not just JoePa, but many others dropped the ball on this, and in the process of covering up the alleged crimes committed, Sandusky just sickens me to no end. Plus, allowing Sandusky on campus as currently as last week, with the accusations against him, is mind-boggling.
They knowingly let that man (Sandusky) be in charge of a troubled youth organization. Even after what they knew of what he was being accused in 1998 and 2002, they still were OK with letting him be around children.
What has this world come to? (Say it ain't so, Joe.)
Paterno said in a statement Wednesday announcing he wanted to retire at season's end: "I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case. I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."
By Wednesday night, he was fired (by phone) by the Penn State Board of Trustees after 46 years of head coaching and 61 total years.
I know he did what he had to do legally … but when it comes to kids and being sexually abused being used in the same sentence, his phone call to his athletic director just wasn't enough. What happened to a moral obligation? That is my question.
Where was the statement on Sunday, or maybe he should have said this 10 or so years ago when now-assistant coach Mike McQueary told him what he saw?
I don't care what your job is … as a human being, how can someone just leave a situation like McQueary said he witnessed? McQueary doesn't deserve the privilege to be a coach in Division I football, either.
We know JoePa told his superiors whatever McQueary said to him (in the court documents), but what I can't wrap around my finger is why … why didn't anyone call the police? Why couldn't someone follow up on this?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not placing all the blame on Paterno, McQueary or the others over what Sandusky is being alleged of doing, but a lot of the blame has to go to them, who knew of something and not a single one of them called the police.
How do they even live with themselves as they knowingly, it seems, covered up crimes against a child at the Penn State facilities?
Trust me, never in a million years would I have ever thought this would happen to Penn State under Paterno's watch.
That is another problem … maybe as a Penn State fan, I put Mr. Paterno and even Sandusky on too high of a pedestal. Sandusky's defense schemes were great, and with Paterno, they were a great combo. A couple weeks ago, I was even talking about some of the Sandusky defenses and how good they were.
I feel sick. Paterno was my coaching hero. He was my Woody Hayes. He was my John Wooden.
I've watched, read and listened to people talk about Paterno's legacy and how this is just one mistake.
Really?
If so, a big mistake.
What legacy now?
The score of a football game, how many wins a team has, the championships or who the coach is no longer matters when it comes to this type of crime and/or a coverup of what is said to have happened.
Really, people are still worried about football? I'm pretty much done with college football.
Not one call to the proper authorities about the children in question?
This week, nobody, to my knowledge, has actually even said "I'm sorry."
It hurts me to say this, but I'm ashamed of being a fan of what seems to be one big lie after another.
I wish this was all a dream, but it is not.
But I have to put football aside because this isn't about football anymore. How can someone even think about doing what Sandusky is being alleged of doing to a child and live with themselves?
This entire situation is just a sad, disappointing and heartbreaking ending.
Paterno, who was said to be crying when talking to his players about his "retirement announcement," in the next-to-final paragraph of his "retirement" statement said: "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
Me too, Joe, me too.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.[[In-content Ad]]