Opinions on Joe Paterno Statue Removal?

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JasonR86

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#1  Edited By JasonR86

Just recently a statue symbolizing Joe Paterno's success with Penn State University's football program was torn down. This came on the heels of an allegation that Paterno and three other high ranking administrators at Penn State had concealed sexual abuse perpetrated by Jerry Sandusky. The president of Penn State gave a nearly 600 page document to explain the rational behind this decision. In it, he made this remark;

"I now believe that, contrary to is original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond...For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8188530/joe-paterno-statue-removed-penn-state-university-beaver-stadium

I've asked some of my friends about this and we seem to be split on what we think about this decision. Here's where I stand. Joe Paterno was completely at fault for not acting once he knew about the abuse. He is completely culpable and should be held accountable. But so is the entire university. This wasn't just a football program problem. I will never buy the idea that only those in the football program knew about the abuse. That's complete nonsense. By tearing down Paterno's statue the university is removing itself from taking responsibility. This act damns and demonizes Paterno and the football program and lays the burden of responsibility entirely in their lap. That is unfair. By the logic of the president, the entire university should be torn down because that entire place is an 'obstacle to healing'. They are acting like children pointing their fingers at Paterno and claiming innocence. I don't know how to feel about the actual act of tearing down the statue. It is likely a very terrible reminder to be sure. But the rationale behind it and the meaning the act carries with it is frustrating and complete nonsense.

What is everyone else's thoughts on the matter?

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Jace

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#2  Edited By Jace

@JasonR86: They should've just made a smaller statue.

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laserbolts

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#3  Edited By laserbolts

From what I've read the guy was scum so it would be weird to keep it up.

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sissylion

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#4  Edited By sissylion

The library remains to be named after him. Everything is terrible.

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TruthTellah

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#5  Edited By TruthTellah

This is a big part of why I'm against statues for living individuals. You really never know what's going to end up happening or coming out to possibly taint that legacy. It's premature to give someone a permanent monument during their life.

In this case, Paterno became a sad symbol of Penn State's shame, especially with the conclusion of recent investigations showing how widespread and intentional the coverup was. Even seemingly good, inspiring individuals can ruin their legacy with poor choices in their later years. This was no exception. I think it was about time they took down the statue; it should have never been erected in the first place. Taking it down was the least the university could do, and as recent news reports have indicated, the university is only beginning to face the true penalties of their general deceit of the public and the student body. Don't you worry; you will see the university management receive its due. This is for the best.

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JasonR86

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#6  Edited By JasonR86

@TruthTellah said:

This is a big part of why I'm against statues for living individuals. You really never know what's going to end up happening to possibly taint that legacy. It's premature to give someone a permanent monument during their life.

In this case, Paterno became a sad symbol of Penn State's shame, especially with the conclusion of recent investigations showing how widespread and intentional the coverup was. Even a seemingly good, inspiring individuals can ruin their legacy with poor choices in their later years. This was no exception. I think it was about time they took down the statue; it should have never been erected in the first place. Taking it down was the least the university could do, and as recent news reports have indicated, the university is only beginning to face the true penalties of their general deceit of the public and the student body. Don't you worry; you will see the university management receive its due. This is for the best.

I suppose. It just seems like a premature way for management to save their asses, throw up their hands, and point fingers at Paterno. I guess it's just the intention behind the action that bugs me. It's disingenuous. This action has very little to do with keeping the university's reputation intact. It's about shoving off responsibility.

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chaser324

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#7  Edited By chaser324  Moderator

While I admit that Paterno's involvement in this Sandusky debacle has irreparably diminished his legacy, I think it's really unfair for the administration to just throw him under the bus like this. Paterno put in a tremendous amount of sweat, tears, and his own money into growing Penn State as both an athletic and academic institution.

Personally, I'd prefer to just see the NCAA bring down the 'death penalty' down on them to allow some time for the dust to settle. Even if they don't though, that football program is going to be looking at an uphill battle with bringing in top recruits and maintaining the fanbase.

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TruthTellah

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#8  Edited By TruthTellah

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

This is a big part of why I'm against statues for living individuals. You really never know what's going to end up happening to possibly taint that legacy. It's premature to give someone a permanent monument during their life.

In this case, Paterno became a sad symbol of Penn State's shame, especially with the conclusion of recent investigations showing how widespread and intentional the coverup was. Even a seemingly good, inspiring individuals can ruin their legacy with poor choices in their later years. This was no exception. I think it was about time they took down the statue; it should have never been erected in the first place. Taking it down was the least the university could do, and as recent news reports have indicated, the university is only beginning to face the true penalties of their general deceit of the public and the student body. Don't you worry; you will see the university management receive its due. This is for the best.

I suppose. It just seems like a premature way for management to save their asses, throw up their hands, and point fingers at Paterno. I guess it's just the intention behind the action that bugs me. It's disingenuous. This action has very little to do with keeping the university's reputation intact. It's about shoving off responsibility.

They waited this long after all of the information came out. It was about time they took it down. It should have been gone months ago.

Right now, they're looking at millions of dollars in penalties, and that's just from the NCAA. You just wait til you see the penalties handed down by the courts. No one is going unscathed in this. Paterno's statue came down now right after the conclusion of a larger investigation showing definitively the deception that occurred. It appears they were waiting for that investigation to wrap up before taking this action. I think there was enough evidence before, but they seem to have weighed otherwise. It's good that his statue has come down now, and it's only the beginning for the larger losses they will be seeing.

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Echofoxz

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#9  Edited By Echofoxz

Meh. I don't go to the school. I don't care for the school. No fucks given.

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NoobSauceG7

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#10  Edited By NoobSauceG7

I live in Pennsylvania and many of the people that live in my town either go to Penn State or currently go to Penn State and I think that they need to get some perspective on this. The man only cared about one thing and that is football. He hid the fact the there was a man that he worked with who raped kids. That is a bad thing. If he was half the man that all the Penn State people believe he was, then he should of had a pair and exposed Sandusky as a criminal. So my point is that it should absolutely be torn down.

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TruthTellah

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#11  Edited By TruthTellah

@Chaser324 said:

While I admit that Paterno's involvement in this Sandusky debacle has irreparably diminished his legacy, I think it's really unfair for the administration to just throw him under the bus like this. Paterno put in a tremendous amount of sweat, tears, and his own money into growing Penn State as both an athletic and academic institution.

Personally, I'd prefer to just see the NCAA bring down the 'death penalty' down on them to allow some time for the dust to settle. Even if they don't though, that football program is going to be looking at an uphill battle with bringing in top recruits and maintaining the fanbase.

It is definitely shaping up to look like a 'death penalty' scenario would have been better for their program. With the rumored amount of money they will be losing when it comes to funding the program and paying for scholarships and incentives to get players, they're looking at a dismal few years for the program. Taking down Paterno's statue certainly isn't assuaging anyone's concerns; it's the least they could do. The university is still getting its due.

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bacongames

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#12  Edited By bacongames

I just find it weird that someone would make a statue of the football coach. Then again I'm not someone who goes to a Division 1 school so there's that.

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sodapop7

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#13  Edited By sodapop7

Well the we already know the administration knew since the President, Athletic Director and Vice President have been fired and will face criminal charges. The statue coming down is just one step that has been taken. How was that statue possibly supposed to stay up? Many people are saying it should have come down a week ago and that Penn State has waited way too long (Nike took his name off a building and Brown removed his name from an award right after the Freeh report).

Monday the athletic penalties will come down and in the coming months the Department of Justice will come with theirs and the civil suits will be under way, the university will suffer you can be sure of that. This scandal came about because people considered the football program to be more important than those kids safety and well being. It even extended to the highest levels of the university but this is not an academic issue. Killing the whole university isn't even close to feasible so it's not worth discussing.

The only frustrating part of this is trying to figure out how the fuck this was allowed to go on for AT LEAST 15 years and how men that built their entire reputation on doing things the right way failed in this test of basic human decency.

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chaser324

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#14  Edited By chaser324  Moderator

@BaconGames: To be fair, building a statue of a coach isn't something done all that often. Very few coaches out there manage to be successful and keep their job at one place for as long as Paterno did. For the past few decades, Joe Paterno was Penn State.

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bacongames

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#15  Edited By bacongames

@Chaser324 said:

@BaconGames: To be fair, building a statue of a coach isn't something done all that often. Very few coaches out there manage to be successful and keep their job at one place for as long as Paterno did. For the past few decades, Joe Paterno was Penn State.

I guess I could see how but I'm glad I can put that into better perspective.

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EthanielRain

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#16  Edited By EthanielRain

He covered up the raping of little children and allowed it to continue. Having a statue stand in his honor would be an insult to people everywhere. Glad they got rid of it...wish they were smelting it down rather than storing it.

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Doctorchimp

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#17  Edited By Doctorchimp

@JasonR86: The problem is the university isn't sentient or conscious.

Joe Paterno was, he was a coach dedicated to helping young people and he covered up the raping of children. How are you confused by this? Great, he did some cool stuff with football...none of that shit matters in the grand scheme of things...believe it or not. It turns out he was a fucking monster, so yeah his statue is gonna get torn down. Why are you lost on this opinion?

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OneManX

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#18  Edited By OneManX

It had to be done, I dont think destroying it is right, b/c of the alumni and the Paterno family will make sure that wont happen. As for the program, I think they just shut it down... and get the Death Penalty, to much poison in the systems and the report pretty much states that this cover up went pretty deep.

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Milkman

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#19  Edited By Milkman

If you don't like that the statue is being taken down, just turn your head and look the other way.

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JasonR86

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#20  Edited By JasonR86

@Doctorchimp said:

@JasonR86: The problem is the university isn't sentient or conscious.

Joe Paterno was, he was a coach dedicated to helping young people and he covered up the raping of children. How are you confused by this? Great, he did some cool stuff with football...none of that shit matters in the grand scheme of things...believe it or not. It turns out he was a fucking monster, so yeah his statue is gonna get torn down. Why are you lost on this opinion?

By University I'm stating the collective of people, management or however you wish to call them, as being culpable. Not the building. You're right, the building isn't sentient. Neither was the statue. Duh. The statue symbolizes a man who made as many mistakes as he was successful. The University symbolizes the safe-haven for a pedophile under the suspicion and, in some cases, with the direct knowledge of what was happening by management and faculty. So to tear down one symbolic, though as you so elegantly put it, clearly not sentient object, with the intention of purifying the University's name while keeping the other symbolic object standing is hypocritical.

But, you are absolutely right in saying that the University is not sentient. Well put and point taken.

@Milkman said:

If you don't like that the statue is being taken down, just turn your head and look the other way.

Sort of missing my point dude.

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MariachiMacabre

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#21  Edited By MariachiMacabre

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

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TruthTellah

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#22  Edited By TruthTellah

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

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JasonR86

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#23  Edited By JasonR86

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

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TruthTellah

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#24  Edited By TruthTellah

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

Well, I can understand thinking ill of Paterno for what he did in the coverup, but to say he was a bastard worthy of no praise at all, I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. He was a misguided old man who put the interests of his football program over that of the students. That's a horrible thing, but it's nothing next to what Sandusky has done.

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Slag

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#25  Edited By Slag

At best he was just a great Football coach, no more no less. At worst well you already know. I love Sports as much as the next guy, but we should probably be building statues of Scientists instead of Athletes/Coaches anyway.

I feel sorry for the Penn State community for what they must be going through, but honestly I expected better out of them in this situation. For all the high and mighty stuff their Alum usually spout, you would think some of them would actually care more about righting the wrongs committed by the University instead of getting butthurt about getting every punishment they have deserved so far.

Having a Statue come down seems like a really minor thing in the light of everything else. If that's the worst thing to happen to Paterno's legacy he got off pretty dang light.

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donkeycow

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#26  Edited By donkeycow

@JasonR86: How much of the university management do you think was really aware of the situation? If tons of people knew then this sicking activity would have been ended much sooner. Paterno DID know, thus his statue is being taken down (which it should). I don't think its fair to say the entire administrative body of the University was in the know of what was happening, knowledge of this would have largely been focused in the football department.

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napalm

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#27  Edited By napalm

It's already been confirmed that he ignored the problem even after it was brought to his attention.

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InternetDotCom

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#28  Edited By InternetDotCom

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

There is a difference. And they are both awful humans for what they did. To a varying degree, but still awful.

I understand fully Joe was much much more than just a football coach at Penn St. But he undid all the good he did by covering this up.

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JasonR86

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#29  Edited By JasonR86

@Donkeycow said:

@JasonR86: How much of the university management do you think was really aware of the situation? If tons of people knew then this sicking activity would have been ended much sooner. Paterno DID know, thus his statue is being taken down (which it should). I don't think its fair to say the entire administrative body of the University was in the know of what was happening, knowledge of this would have largely been focused in the football department.

Sandusky was also a member of the faculty and ran his charity out of the school. He had his hands all over the university. I just can't believe that the football program staff were the only people sharp enough at the university to know what was going on.

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Animasta

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#30  Edited By Animasta

@JasonR86: I'm getting your point, but leaving it up would be an even worse option.

also just because he wasn't actually raping the kids doesn't mean he wasn't as terrible as Sandusky. I mean you could technically say that Sandusky, at least, had mental illness to make up for it (no one right in the head would rape kids, after all) whereas Paterno did nothing to help even though he could have. I'm not saying Paterno is the worst person here, but at some point perspective doesn't matter.

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donkeycow

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#31  Edited By donkeycow

@JasonR86: I don't think it has anything to do with "smart enough" its just it was the group he was the closest associated with and thus was most exposed to.

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JasonR86

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#32  Edited By JasonR86

@Animasta said:

@JasonR86: I'm getting your point, but leaving it up would be an even worse option.

also just because he wasn't actually raping the kids doesn't mean he wasn't as terrible as Sandusky. I mean you could technically say that Sandusky, at least, had mental illness to make up for it (no one right in the head would rape kids, after all) whereas Paterno did nothing to help even though he could have. I'm not saying Paterno is the worst person here, but at some point perspective doesn't matter.

Like I said, I totally understand taking it down though I have mixed feelings on the act. But what bugs me is the intention behind it and what the act means. On your second part I agree in part. Paterno made a fantastically terrible mistake and has payed for it and will continue to pay for it every time Penn State is brought up for the foreseeable future. He and this rapist will go hand in hand till the end of time. If that isn't a punishment I don't know what is. But having knowledge of and not stopping rapes isn't the same as being a serial rapist. It is unforgivable yes. But it is clearly not the same. I also hope people don't give Sandusky a pass because of the mental illness angle. A disease doesn't remove someone from culpability. Yeah, I suppose at some point perspective doesn't matter. I just don't think we're there with Paterno. But opinions right? My point still holds, this is a chicken-shit way for the school to demonize Paterno and take less responsibility for harboring and reinforcing a raping pedophile.

@Donkeycow said:

@JasonR86: I don't think it has anything to do with "smart enough" its just it was the group he was the closest associated with and thus was most exposed to.

And like I said he was everywhere. He wasn't just a coach. In fact, his last several years he wasn't even involved in the football program.

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MariachiMacabre

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#33  Edited By MariachiMacabre

@TruthTellah said:

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

Well, I can understand thinking ill of Paterno for what he did in the coverup, but to say he was a bastard worthy of no praise at all, I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. He was a misguided old man who put the interests of his football program over that of the students. That's a horrible thing, but it's nothing next to what Sandusky has done.

I know the difference and I see nothing forgivable in covering up a child molester. He was a good coach but the guy helped conceal a monster.

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TruthTellah

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#34  Edited By TruthTellah

@JasonR86 said:

@Donkeycow said:

@JasonR86: How much of the university management do you think was really aware of the situation? If tons of people knew then this sicking activity would have been ended much sooner. Paterno DID know, thus his statue is being taken down (which it should). I don't think its fair to say the entire administrative body of the University was in the know of what was happening, knowledge of this would have largely been focused in the football department.

Sandusky was also a member of the faculty and ran his charity out of the school. He had his hands all over the university. I just can't believe that the football program staff were the only people sharp enough at the university to know what was going on.

There's no reason to believe that the football program staff were the only ones to know. Reports have already shown that others higher up than the football program knew. There's no real doubt about it.

With what is known now, pretty much everyone knew. Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno knew. Former Penn State University president Graham Spanier knew. Former Penn State University vice president Gary Schultz knew. Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley knew. Everyone all the way up to the most powerful people at the university knew.

Taking down the statue was the right thing to do. It's just one small part of taking down everything tied to those involved. The school is facing big fines, and Paterno's statue being taken down is just the first blow in a number of big, well-deserved blows to the school and its management.

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Bocam

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#35  Edited By Bocam

He helped cover up the raping of children, that makes him scum.

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Animasta

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#36  Edited By Animasta

@JasonR86: Meh, there's really no way they can come out good in this situation, realistically.

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TruthTellah

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#37  Edited By TruthTellah

@MariachiMacabre: Yeah. And I definitely think that's part of why it's appropriate that they took down his statue. Though, I just wouldn't say he was a bastard worthy of no praise. His legacy is certainly tarnished, but that's a bit far, I'd say. It certainly fits what Sandusky has done though.

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InternetDotCom

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#38  Edited By InternetDotCom

The school's punishment from the NCAA is tomorrow.

Rumors seem to range starting at $30-60 million in fines. To basically tearing the the entire football program apart with such things as "no televised games until 2015" and the vacating of Joe Paterno wins from 1998 on (also thus making Joe Paterno no longer have the most wins of any college football coach, although that isn't really important right now)

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MariachiMacabre

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#39  Edited By MariachiMacabre

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre: Yeah. And I definitely think that's part of why it's appropriate that they took down his statue. Though, I just wouldn't say he was a bastard worthy of no praise. His legacy is certainly tarnished, but that's a bit far, I'd say. It certainly fits what Sandusky has done though.

I don't know, man. I just can't see a defensible reason to cover this up. He's most certainly not the only one responsible and he obviously wasn't the one molesting them but, as far as I'm concerned, their act of covering it up meant they cared more about football and their goddamn legacy than the well-being of those kids.

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otzlowe

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#40  Edited By otzlowe

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

Effectively enabling someone to rape children is every bit as bad as actually raping them. The difference is fairly minimal, frankly.

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JasonR86

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#41  Edited By JasonR86

@GorillaMoPena said:

The school's punishment from the NCAA is tomorrow.

Rumors seem to range starting at $30-60 million in fines. To basically tearing the the entire football program apart with such things as "no televised games until 2015" and the vacating of Joe Paterno wins from 1998 on (also thus making Joe Paterno no longer have the most wins of any college football coach, although that isn't really important right now)

It doesn't seem like enough. This isn't just an athletic problem and that's what bothers me about these punishment and apparent fixes. It was a University problem and the punishments need to reflect that scope.

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JasonR86

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#42  Edited By JasonR86

@Otzlowe said:

@JasonR86 said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre said:

Good, he was a bastard worthy of no praise.

Wait, you sure you're talking about Paterno? Paterno was the much-beloved, elderly coach. Not Sandusky, the convicted serial child molester.

I have a feeling most people don't see or care to acknowledge the difference. The demonizing is working wonders isn't it?

Effectively enabling someone to rape children is every bit as bad as actually raping them. The difference is fairly minimal, frankly.

Having knowledge and not stopping a rape isn't the same as raping. Both are terrible. One is worse. One directly hurts a person. The other does so indirectly. This discussion is also not really the point of the thread.

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#43  Edited By InternetDotCom

@JasonR86 said:

@GorillaMoPena said:

The school's punishment from the NCAA is tomorrow.

Rumors seem to range starting at $30-60 million in fines. To basically tearing the the entire football program apart with such things as "no televised games until 2015" and the vacating of Joe Paterno wins from 1998 on (also thus making Joe Paterno no longer have the most wins of any college football coach, although that isn't really important right now)

It doesn't seem like enough. This isn't just an athletic problem and that's what bothers me about these punishment and apparent fixes. It was a University problem and the punishments need to reflect that scope.

I imagine more punishments from other organizations will come. But the NCAA can only punish the sports teams. And no TV, taking away scholarships, a heft fine, would punish the team, and also the school due to the loss of all the income from the football team.

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JasonR86

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#44  Edited By JasonR86

@GorillaMoPena said:

@JasonR86 said:

@GorillaMoPena said:

The school's punishment from the NCAA is tomorrow.

Rumors seem to range starting at $30-60 million in fines. To basically tearing the the entire football program apart with such things as "no televised games until 2015" and the vacating of Joe Paterno wins from 1998 on (also thus making Joe Paterno no longer have the most wins of any college football coach, although that isn't really important right now)

It doesn't seem like enough. This isn't just an athletic problem and that's what bothers me about these punishment and apparent fixes. It was a University problem and the punishments need to reflect that scope.

I imagine more punishments from other organizations will come. But the NCAA can only punish the sports teams. And no TV, taking away scholarships, a heft fine, would punish the team, and also the school due to the loss of all the income from the football team.

Yeah, the NCAA really can only effect the athletic departments. But I do wish that the university itself could be punished in some way and make it just as public. And I understand that the NCAA punishments will hurt more then just the football program. But it all comes back to public perception. Those punishments still put the onus of responsibility for allowing rapes to take place on the football program in the eyes of the general public. It's just unfortunate because this demonizing will lead to the general public hating the football program at Penn State when the issue is so much bigger then that.

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#45  Edited By sockemjetpack

@Milkman said:

If you don't like that the statue is being taken down, just turn your head and look the other way.

Otherwise known as "Pulling a Paterno"

Badum dum tish.

But seriously folks not reporting the stuff going on is almost as bad as doing it in the first place. There are reasons why we don't have statues of cowards built.

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#46  Edited By phrali

paterno aided and abetted a serial child rapist. If there is a hell he is burning in it right now. Anyone that would think it is a good idea to leave a statue of him up is completely fucked up in the head.

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#47  Edited By Hailinel

It's better that the statue is gone now. It became a strange rallying point over an issue in which a stupid lump of metal really isn't that important and only distracted from the real problems at hand. Paterno may have done a lot of good for the school and the students on his team, but he also did some very bad things in ignoring what Sandusky did.

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#48  Edited By phrali

at some point the paterno apologists and penn state nutjobs are going to have a reckoning. The allies forced the germans living in the villages around the death camps to walk through and look at the piles of dead bodies. Someone needs to strap franco harris down and force him to listen to every word of the victims' disgusting and graphic testimony so understands exactly what legacy he is defending.

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#49  Edited By TruthTellah

@MariachiMacabre said:

@TruthTellah said:

@MariachiMacabre: Yeah. And I definitely think that's part of why it's appropriate that they took down his statue. Though, I just wouldn't say he was a bastard worthy of no praise. His legacy is certainly tarnished, but that's a bit far, I'd say. It certainly fits what Sandusky has done though.

I don't know, man. I just can't see a defensible reason to cover this up. He's most certainly not the only one responsible and he obviously wasn't the one molesting them but, as far as I'm concerned, their act of covering it up meant they cared more about football and their goddamn legacy than the well-being of those kids.

I agree. I don't think it's defensible in any regard. I'm just saying I wouldn't go so far as to say it means he's just a bastard deserving of nothing. Certainly Sandusky, but there are different levels of how horrible their actions were. And in this case, I just felt the language was a bit strong for his level of involvement vs the rest of his life.

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#50  Edited By SeriouslyNow

@JasonR86: They should have just turned the statue to look the other way. Also, "rationale".