The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Paterno’s Name Erased from Trophy

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Big Ten apparatchik Jim Delany announced that former Nittany Lion head coach Joe Paterno’s name would be expunged from the Big Ten Championship trophy today. What was to have been the Stagg-Paterno Trophy will now be just the Stagg Trophy.

Just what old Joe needed: A kick in the nuts from the conference when he’s down.

“The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial.” —Jim Delany

“We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno’s name on the trophy at this time,” stated Delany. “The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial. We believe that it’s important to keep the focus on the players and the teams that will be competing in the inaugural championship game.”

I suppose Delany has a point, but I’m sorry to see the accolades being slowly stripped away from Paterno, one at a time. His coaching achievements are legendary, even if he screwed up big time with his silence in the Sandusky caper.

What’s the next remedy? Vacating victories because they occurred during the time Sandusky was an assistant professor emeritus at Penn State?

Fight on State!

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This was posted by reader Ron Amar as a comment to another post. I thought it deserved better visibility than being buried in a comment thread.

Submitted on 2011/11/11 at 1:04 am:

Ok, I have many mixed emotion about what’s happening at Penn State Right now. So, here’s what I think…..for whatever it’s worth.

The actions of our beloved president, coach, and athletic director have shaken our program to the core and have threatened our faith in humanity.

We’re shocked that someone we idolized could have done something so stupid, so selfish, so infuriatingly contradictory to the values he spent decades promoting. To watch someone you admire, who did more good in a week than most of us do in our entire lifetimes get publicly shamed, and forced out under the cover of darkness is hard to take. To see a legacy irrevocably stained and treasured accomplishments tarnished. To have one person’s mistakes drag our university’s good name through the mud. To be labeled an accomplice to the crime by virtue of our fan allegiances, is horrible.

As I was driving to work this morning, I heard one of our own call in to a radio show and explain that he didn’t know how he was going to unapologetically put on the Blue and White and sing “Fight On, State” this Saturday. He’s not the only one to express that sentiment.

This is what I want to say to you. We are not Joe Paterno. We are not Tim Curley. We are not Gary Schultz. We are not Graham Spanier, and We are sure as hell not Jerry Sandusky.

We are…….PENN STATE!

Their alleged sins are not our own. They may be the most recognizable faces of our beloved program, but they are not Penn State. They are not a 156 year old center of higher learning. ????? ?????? ????????? They are not a century of football tradition. Their flaws cannot eclipse the innumerable scientific, artistic, and humanitarian contributions our university, and its 44,000 students and 570,000 living alumni have made and will continue to make to the world at large.

The spirit of a program, of a university, and of a state is so much bigger than any one person.

So do yourself a favor, and stop thinking about Joe Paterno. No amount of discussion can change what happened, and his bed is made for better or worse. ????? ?????? ??? ???????? Recognize that only time can tell how he will be remembered. (For what it’s worth, I hope beyond hope that the facts turn out favorably for him.) Say a prayer for the children, and on Saturday, put on your Silas Redd jersey, brave the cold, and cheer your ass off for our team.

Not because you support the coaches, because you support the men on the field. Not because you endorse the administration, because you believe in the University as a collective whole.

Penn State University has always been (and will always be) about one thing and one thing only: making life better.

It’s not just a motto, it’s a mission. And we’re still a part of that. ????? ???? ?????

Fight on State!

Goodbye, Joe

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Joe Paterno was fired by telephone last night by the Penn State Board of Trustees. His unprecedented career at Penn State spanned over 60 years, 46 as head coach.

Earlier yesterday, Paterno had announced his retirement, effective at the end of the current season. I was relieved that he would be able to make a dignified exit.

“I am disappointed with the Board of Trustees’ decision, but I have to accept it.” —Joe Paterno

What I didn’t realize at that time was that Paterno had made his retirement decision unilaterally, without even consulting with the president or the Board of Trustees, even though the BOT had announced earlier that it would be deciding on Paterno and Spanier’s fate at a meeting that same evening. Paterno hired a PR agency to couch his retirement statement, which was intended as a pre-emptive strike designed to obviate the need for BOT action on his case. As usual, he was making it clear that he would decide when it was time to go — he and no one else. In his statement, he even asserted that the board did not have to waste time deliberating on their decision about him as planned; their time would be better applied to more important matters.

If ever there was a way to sway trustees who were teetering on the brink of letting Paterno play out the season, this was it! His long history of defiance is well known in connection with the 2004 attempted firing fiasco. Spanier and Curley showed up at his door to dump him, and he sent them home with their tail between their legs. In Joe’s mind, it is his football program.

My first reaction to the immediate firing was anger. Why not let him finish as he wants to? With dignity?

That turned to sadness. Something that had been a big part of my life for the past 47 years was going away abruptly, and I wouldn’t even have time to adjust to it. I felt for Joe and Sue. I couldn’t fathom the hard-ass posture of the BOT.

Then, I thought of the victims of Sandusky’s alleged perverted activities and Joe’s inaction. I had always felt that Joe’s humanitarianism was above reproach. However, even he admitted that in retrospect, he should have handled things differently. Damn straight he should have! I felt that it was appropriate for others to be sent a message that no one is immune from being punished for making awful mistakes. General Patton, perhaps the greatest field commander ever, lost his command for having slapped one lowly GI. ??? ???? ????? The court of public opinion did in both Paterno and Patton.

At last, I reluctantly accepted the BOT’s action. No matter whose idea the cover-up was, Paterno had gone along with it. People who rationalize that he was just following orders aren’t thinking straight. Joe, as demonstrated by his pre-emptive strike on the BOT, is his own man. Anyone who can defy the president and the BOT with respect to deciding the terms of his departure could have surely done the same with the victims in mind. Instead, he allowed Sandusky, who he knew to be a pervert, to continue with business as usual. That sort of benign neglect demands punishment.

I was content to know that Joe was not alone in being fired for inaction on the Sandusky case. President Graham Spanier was fired, too, or to couch it in the official language of the day, his resignation was accepted. I won’t dwell on that here, because this is a football blog. All I have to say is that the buck did indeed stop there.

I still can’t fathom why Paterno would leave a situation like this alone. But that is juice for him to stew in for the rest of his life. Perhaps, he will write a “tell all” book or appear in a “60 Minutes” interview some day and will let  us all know what happened. Until then, or until ongoing investigations dig up all of the facts, we’re left to guess about what happened, filling in the details in our minds. ??? ?????? Unfortunately, our minds can be lazy from time to time, so we allow those unknown details to be filled in by the national media. That ain’t good. They know as much as we know.

Joe Paterno was an accomplished hero not only on the football field but also in the arena of life. It is a shame that such a distinguished career has to end this way. I’m back to being sad, but I acknowledge the need for the change.

Joe was a part of me. This whole affair has sickened me. Joe’s legacy is tainted indelibly.

I think that I’ll close with an open letter written to Joe Paterno from former Nittany Lion lineman A.Q. Shipley, which captures how many of Joe’s present and former players feel about him:

 Dear Coach Paterno,

It was an absolute honor when you gave me the opportunity, and it was just that, an opportunity to play for you at Penn State. You did not guarantee anything when you presented me with a scholarship except that you would be a teacher and a mentor and give me a chance to succeed athletically and academically! It was more than an honor to have been a captain on your 2008 Big Ten championship team and be a part of your program for 5 years. I came to PSU a boy and left a man due to the values you instilled in all of us. I learned so much from you in my years at Penn State that go so far beyond playing football. ????? ????? ???? You have been a leader in the community for so many years and have touched the lives of so many people. I am proud to have played for you and to have received my degree from Penn State University and that is all because you gave me an opportunity. You are an amazing father, mentor, teacher, educator, coach and most importantly man. I guess the two most important words i need to say to you are Thank You.

Yours Truly,
AQ