Showing posts with label Joe Paterno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Paterno. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

More on the dangers of the 'Joe Pa' cult of personality: WSJ's Reed Albergotti gets in-depth re Paterno's battles with PSU officials re punishment


Joe Paterno as Darth Sidious Time Lapse Painting

I read this Wall Street Journal article about yet another aspect of Joe Paterno's longstanding attempt to control all aspects of what happens with the Penn State football team
-and to steamroll legitimate scrutiny by others- with rapt attention within minutes of it first appearing online.

Afterwards, I sent the link to just about everyone I know who'd appreciate what was really going on here: Paterno's real character and authoritarian tendencies being revealed, and PSU administrators not eager to get into a pissing contest with a sports icon, even when he was clearly wrong.

To me, this is not unlike what many outsiders and constant critics of him always wanted to believe were true about Bobby Knight but weren't, and when they leveled many of their unfounded criticisms of Coach Knight, many sportswriters and journalists used sainted ol' Joe Pa the Pious as the model for angelic probity.

The only way this could have been better would have been if there was video of kindly Joe Pa saying, "Boys will be boys."

Well, now we are all learning the truth about who really believed in holding everyone on the team accountable to one high standard -Coach Knight- and who wanted special (favorable) treatment and dispensations for his players -Coach Paterno.
Sure would be nice to hear some nationally-known sports writers finally admit they were 100% wrong before they retire for good.
Don't hold your breath!

Joe Paterno really DID believe that the Penn State football players he coached should be held to a lesser standard than the one regular PSU students were supposed to follow, even when they violated the law or ran afoul of school rules. For instance, this nugget after a number of player incidents receive serious push-back from school administrators who wanted one firmly understood standard for everyone:
The incident prompted Mr. Spanier to visit Dr. Triponey at her home. Dr. Triponey confirms he told her that Mr. Paterno had given him an ultimatum: Fire her, or Mr. Paterno would stop fund-raising for the school. She says Mr. Spanier told her that if forced to choose, he would choose her over the coach—but that he did not want to have to make that choice.
Excellent reporting that is long overdue!!!

Wall Street Journal
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
NOVEMBER 22, 2011
A Discipline Problem, Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Players
By Reed Albergotti

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.—Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno clashed repeatedly with the university's former chief disciplinarian over how harshly to punish players who got into trouble, internal emails suggest, shedding new light on the school's effort to balance its reputation as a magnet for scholar-athletes with the demands of running a nationally dominant football program.
Read the rest of the article at:

See Reed Albergotti's answers to reader questions about this article, here:

Wednesday's follow-up to this article is:

Two Views on Administrator
Some at Penn State Call Ex-Official Courageous, Others Say She Micromanaged
By Reed Albergotti and Rachel Bachman

The former Pennsylvania State University administrator who clashed with football coach Joe Paterno over player discipline was seen by supporters during her time at the school as a courageous leader but by critics as a micromanager of student groups.
Read the rest of the article at:

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

USA Today's Michael McCarthy wonders aloud what I've been wondering, too: "Is Big Ten Network avoiding Penn State sex scandal?"; Matt Millen's p.o.v.


BigTenNetwork video: Former IU head football coach and current BTN analyst Gerry DiNardo and Dave Revsine talk about the latest news involving the evolving Jerry Sandusky sex scandal and cover-up at Penn State and the future of head coach Joe Paterno. Sports writer Pete Thamel of the New York Times appears on the program to confirm his report that Paterno's reign in Happy Valley is nigh, and that Joe Pa will NOT be back next year.




ESPN video: Matt Millen talks candidly to SportsCenter host Chris McKendry about Jerry Sandusky, a man he has known since 1976. November 8, 2011.
http://youtu.be/3bc4raMo4QU

"Penn State has to stop the train or face the train and that's what it is..."
-Matt Millen

USA Today
Game On blog
Is Big Ten Network avoiding Penn State sex scandal?
By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY
November 8, 2011

The child sex abuse allegations rocking Penn State have dominated TV, with ESPN aggressively covering whether coach Joe Paterno will survive and national network morning shows weighing in on what's become a national and international story.

The TV network that seems to be tiptoeing around the scandal, so far, is the one billing itself as the "ultimate destination" for Big Ten Conference fans and alumni. Namely, the Big Ten Network (BTN).
Read the rest of the article at:
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As if to buttress the reluctantly admitted fact mentioned in the article that the BTN is NOT a "24-7 news operation," which is to say that they are NOT really quite the resource that many Big Ten alums like myself wish they were, on Wednesday, they do not currently have a single LIVE program scheduled.

Everything is videotape, so nobody would think to turn there to see anything that is actually news Tuesday thru Thursdays.

According to their website, they did have a Special Report Tuesday night, one I missed, again, largely because they have so convinced everyone that they are not a full-service sports channel in the way we've come to accept it -and neither is CBS Sports Network for that matter- who would've thought to turn there?
Certainly not me.

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