By Logan Holman
staff writer
Penn State was university thought of as a great academic institution and good athletic school before this football season. But, this year was full of surprises for them.
Events that no team wants to hear happened on Nov. 4, when a grand jury for a Penn State child molestation case reported the happenings of the last 34 years. The case focused on Jerry Sandusky, one of head coach Joe Paterno’s former assistant coaches.
Joe Paterno the legendary coach, universal icon and former role model was fired on Nov. 9. He is the first coach that comes to mind when thinking of winning. He has the most wins of all time with 409 and just 136 losses. To me, his firing was wrong as he was never really involved in the situation at hand.
The firing of someone who has stood by Penn State for 61 years is wrong. In 1966, he became the head coach and has held that position through ups and downs ever since. But as soon as the going got tough for Penn State, they dumped JoePa as soon as the window of opportunity appeared.
Some say Paterno is just as guilty for the actions of Sandusky. Paterno was told by an assistant coach, Mike McQueary, that he saw Jerry Sandusky horsing around with a boy. Paterno didn’t know how to respond to that and he just took it as it is and put it behind him, only telling his boss.This probably wasn’t the best choice. As seen in other college football scandals, such as the Ohio State’s scandal, as soon as the head coach knows of illicit behavior, he needs to pass the message on to the proper authorities, in this case the police.
Don’t get me wrong, what Sandusky did is horrendous and disgusting. If he is indeed found guilty, he should get the absolute worst that the judicial system can give him.
It was stated before and it will be stated now, the lack of support that Penn State showed for a coach who brought in over 400 wins for their football program, who gave kids a leader, did so much charity work and put Penn State on the map is absolutely enraging. For a Michigan fan to get enraged about a Penn State coach getting fired, it must have been pretty bad. To make it worse, JoePa said earlier in the day that he was going to retire at the end of the season. That would have kept his legacy intact, but now there will always be this nasty blemish on his extraordinary career.
