Badger Believes Paterno Smeared

I came across a blog by an inveterate Wisconsin Badger fan that was so well conceived and written that I thought I should share it.

“The one group in this that comes out fairly clean is the Board of Trustees.” —Dan Flaherty

Dan Flaherty wrote the piece, entitled “An Alternative To The Standard Media Narrative on Joe Paterno”, for TheSportsNotebook.com. He opines: “To say anything remotely kind about Joe Paterno and his legacy, it is said by the mainstream media, is to be virtually synonymous with a defense of child abuse. Harsh to say the least, and after reading the Freeh Report, I don’t believe it’s accurate or fair.”

He goes on to make some compelling arguments that fall short of exonerating the late head coach, but nevertheless leave room for doubt.  His primary assertion is that the media found it convenient to use the Freeh Report as a justification for a complete hatchet job on Paterno, and public sentiment was turned accordingly, when the vitriol should have perhaps been directed a bit higher on the Penn State organization chart.

“The one group in this that comes out fairly clean is the Board of Trustees. They are certainly not exempt from criticism, but the tone of criticism against the board is that of good-willed people who were just not vigorous enough in investigating and perhaps to naïve in trusting those around them. Paterno, Curley and Spanier are lynched. When you consider that it was the Board who commissioned this investigation and bankrolled Louis Freeh’s law firm, I find that more than a little suspicious.”

Flaherty admits bias toward Wisconsin, but this Turkey thinks his piece was fairer than fair.