thats certainly not all it would have taken considering what police overheard from inside the home of a mother that confronted him in 1998.

A media firestorm like this is bound to cause resentment. I think a lot of people are coming face to face with the fact that they did indeed do something inconceivable to themselves in enabling a pedophile-- and they can't face it, because they know they would never do such a thing-- but they did.

I actually shed a tear today over what happened, but even I kinda smiled at this.

The point is that several moms, dads, etc. that you described probably knew enough of the situation. Just because people know about things does not imply that appropriate action will be taken.

Joe Pos and Michael Schur/KenTremendous and friends and have done several podcasts together, and Schur's been pretty vocal on twitter against Paterno. Could lead to a pretty interesting podcast someday...

Isn't it pretty common for there to be someone in a given community who spends a lot of time mentoring kids that people are suspicious about?

Tom Osborne is advising Neb fans to not wear red this Saturday

Joe Pesci as Paterno in the movie ftw

I don't understand how this guy creating a charity for young boys didn't raise red flags. Volunteering is one thing. Doing something like this just seems suspicious to me.

Wat. So anyone who starts a charity is suspect? Man that's cynical.

this post is pretty sad

Dyenimator - I think all people are saying w/r/t Madden is he's been deep into reporting on this for quite a while, much more time spent than other reporters. Hence, he probably knows more than anyone else covering the story, and could be a good source for breaking news.

Agree with all this. It's a fair, somewhat nuanced take (accounting for well established human foible) without excusing McQueary.

And of course McQueary should have reported it to someone outside of Penn State, I don't think anyone is questioning that or excusing McQueary (if he couldn't trust the police in his community, he could've just called the AG, FBI etc as has been mentioned).

But I think it's interesting to think through the reasons why he didn't do it, as there are countless examples in history of people in similar positions not doing the right thing. Implementing institutional solutions that address this psychology could be useful in the long run (if that's even possible to do).

I'm purposely simplifying the issue to make my point, sure. But you know what I mean. It's just funny that students and now a newspaper are "outraged" at Joe being fired via a simple phonecall when kids were being raped with nary a phone call to outside authorities.

Depends how specific the charity is. Was it a charity for 8-11 year old boys, of a certain physical build and hair color... Because the more specific, the creepier it would be.

At the risk of getting silly here amongst some clearly serious stuff...

Given the Madden articles and discussion, are we really that far from the point of hearing that a significant reason for the coverup was that some of Sandusky's johns were major Penn State donors (football or otherwise) and this was all covered up in 1998 and again in 2002 to protect those people and keep the money flowing to the university? I said earlier that covering it up to "protect the university" doesn't make sense, because it's so easy to just hang Sandusky out to dry and wash your hands of the whole thing. This would be a real reason to cover it up.

I can't believe I just typed that, let alone think that it's like better than 50/50 that that is the end of this road. Someone convince me I'm nuts, please.

And if that happens, I mean, forget the football program, is just encasing the entire university in cement and barricading a 10-mile radius an unreasonable course of action?

Reagrding the 2002(?) investigation by Gricar. It was known that Gricar had no love for Penn State. After the mother of one of the victims brought allegations of abuse to him, he investigated. They hid a police officer and someone in the next room to listen to what Sandusky said. They recorded him say things like I wish I was dead, I know you cant forgive me...etc.

Based on what they have on tape, and the mothers statements, it sounds like a pretty strong case. So why didn't he prosecute? The only reason I can think of is the witness turned uncooperative. Why would he do that? I imagine there was a cash settlement. The question to me is who paid. If it was Sandusky it's gross but "understandable" but if it was Penn State God help them.

Or modern day Afghanistan.

(nauseating Frontline episode on Bacha Bazi)

People suck basically, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Reality Joe Paterno says everyday he strived to make the school a better place. If he truely believed that he would have resigned prior to being fired. He just was thinking of himself when he said he would retire at the end of the year

I mean while this is obviously speculation, you aren't nuts, unfortunately. Anything is possible now.

I don't think there's much that can bring the whole university down, though. That would take a plot far more widespread than athletics.

How many Toms are there at tOSU?

Yea maybe I'm too cynical. I don't know.

It's hard to explain.

They may both be getting this from the same source though.

oh yeah, I saw the Frontline on that... sigh.

i do wish you'd post more about the NYYankees tho

yeah, I'm seeing more systems in place. Checks and balances, etc.

Total BS. There is enough in place already.

It comes down to people putting things in their proper context and realizing things like sexual abuse of little boys is more important than the wins and losses and the reputation derived from them for their team.