Thread for Hippos to mock Penn State

[Eagles_Legendz]

There's still no evidence that JoePa knew anything more then that there was "inappropriate conduct" going on. And anything he did know was just word of mouth. You can't run to the cops with that and take the chance is a false allegation.. You can't conduct your own investigation. You have to report it to your superiors and hope they do the right thing. they didn't.

give me a farging break:

"Joseph V. Paterno testified to receiving the graduate assistant's report at his home on a Saturday morning. Paterno testified that the graduate assistant was very upset. Paterno called Tim Curley ("Curley"), Penn State Athletic Director and Paterno's immediate superior, to his home the very next day, a Sunday, and reported to him that the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy."

You go to the police with that if nothing happens.  You don't sit on your hands and then let the dude continue to come to the school etc after this.  Sandusky delivered the commencement address in 2007 for christ's sake. 

You can't go to the police?  Of course you can, and SHOULD.  You tell the police what was reported (especially in light of the stuff in 98 which Paterno was obviously aware of), and let them decide what to do. 

[Seabiscuit36]

They swept it under the rug, which is just the saddest part for the kids involved. They reap what they sow, but its just difficult to see this happen.  I'd have love to have been a fly on the wall for the call to the paterno house tonight. 

[Eagles_Legendz]

For the record, anyone saying that what Paterno did is comparable to Sandusky is going way too far, but at the same time, saying there is no way he should have gone to the police with this is also crazy and ridiculous to me.  Read the grand jury testimony.  You don't even need to believe the stories that have been leaked that McQueary went into great detail with Paterno.  It is clear that Paterno knew enough, and coupled with what happened in 98, you have a duty to other kids who could be molested to present this to the police. 

[MDS]

He's covering a girls JV field hockey game in Laredo.  He'll be fine.

laredo is like 3 hours from me...the only time one my teams could play a team from laredo is in the 2nd round of the playoffs, and generally they meet in the middle. which will be the case next saturday (in corpus) if both sides win this week. and on top of that, i need travel approval to go which of course is a whole different issue with these cheap funholes i work for.

anyway, back to the child rapist protectors: the psu students are idiots.

[Munson]

If I remember reading, he gave that to his athletic director, and the ensuing investigation that occurred found no evidence. Why would Paterno have any reason to believe they were lying to him?

It was their resposnibility to conduct a complete investigation and go to the police with it. They didn't, and all they had to say to Paterno was "well we found no evidence of any wrong doing". It's a shame that he's bearing the brunt of this when he's like 8-10 names down on the list of people to blame.

[Eagles_Legendz]

If I remember reading, he gave that to his athletic director, and the ensuing investigation that occurred found no evidence. Why would Paterno have any reason to believe they were lying to him?

It was their resposnibility to conduct a complete investigation and go to the police with it. They didn't, and all they had to say to Paterno was "well we found no evidence of any wrong doing". It's a shame that he's bearing the brunt of this when he's like 8-10 names down on the list of people to blame.

Dude, nothing that you're saying makes any sense to me.  If they all decided McQueary was lying, does he magically get promoted from being a graduate assistant that same year after slandering a longstanding member of PSU's coaching staff?  He was informed that "Sandusky's keys to the locker room were taken away and that the incident had been reported to The Second Mile".  So OBVIOUSLY there was some veracity to the report, especially taken in tandem with what happened in 98.

If I know someone who has previously been accused of "inappropriate conduct" with a child in a shower, and now a second person comes to me obviously distraught about witnessing an incident where, quoting the grand jury that I was told, "the graduate assistant had seen Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy", you obviously go to the police.  I'm not even considering the fact that Paterno is the most powerful person there, so farg his "superiors".  That isn't a lets just pass it up the chain sort of thing. 

He deserves everything he's "bearing" and more.  The fact that people are trying to paint him as a victim is sickening to me.

[Eagles_Legendz]

and its just a matter of time until Second Mile goes down in flames.  Per the GJ report, they knew in 02 and did nothing about it and let Sandusky continue to operate alone with at risk kids.  There is some seriously corrupt and sick shtein going on somewhere within that organization too.

[Munson]

lol he was like a 74 year old dude who's mushy old brain can barely make a sentence. He has no evidence to go to the police with other then a story. If he goes to the police with nothing more then a story on his own accord, it could backfire so hard and destroy everything he cares about if it turns out false. Or if it is true but they can't find any evidence of it happening and the kids won't step forward? The irony being that if it turns out true, the same thing happens years later. Benefit of hindsight.

I don't care who you are or what profession you are at, you don't go straight to the police when someone tells you a story. You tell the people you work for who are responsible for investigating these things and deciding proper course of action. Joe Paterno isn't that person in the Penn State University world. The parents of these kids called the cops, and the cops dismissed the case. What else is Paterno supposed to do here?

[Eagles_Legendz]

There is no hindsight when you're told for a second time some dude who worked for you is molesting kids.

This is the entire problem.  JoePa, the AD, President etc were too worried about Penn State's "reputation" than they were about doing the right thing. It is a CRIMINAL issue.  You go to the police if your superiors do nothing. 

If someone says they're going to murder someone, you go to the police.  Let them figure out if its true.  I am really shocked people see a debatable point here.

[PhillyPhreak54]

So Joe gets handed an envelope at his door and inside there is a note that says call the Board. He calls and is fired over the phone.

I can't fathom how McQuery still has a job.

[Munson]

Right, then it turns out not to be true, and you've accused someone of being a murder/rapist/child molester/etc when they weren't, and effectively ruined their life. Good luck trying to get a job after a high profile investigation into child molestation charges turns up nothing and you're acquitted of all charges.

Would I go to the police if the consequences for being wrong only fell on ME? Of course I would. But when the consequences effect literally hundreds, if not thousands of other people as this case would have, you have to go through the process. Unfortunately, the higher ups at Penn State thought covering this up was more important then seeing that process to completion, with a full and fair investigation where they took what they found and showed to the police. Why THAT somehow falls on Joe Paterno is ridiculous to me.


The police had complaints from the parents, had a recording of Sandusky admitting to wrong doing, and STILL dismissed the case. So what is Joe Paterno going to do to change all that?

[Eagles_Legendz]

Right, then it turns out not to be true, and you've accused someone of being a murder/rapist/child molester/etc when they weren't, and effectively ruined their life. Good luck trying to get a job after a high profile investigation into child molestation charges turns up nothing and you're acquitted of all charges.

Would I go to the police if the consequences for being wrong only fell on ME? Of course I would. But when the consequences effect literally hundreds, if not thousands of other people as this case would have, you have to go through the process. Unfortunately, the higher ups at Penn State thought covering this up was more important then seeing that process to completion, with a full and fair investigation where they took what they found and showed to the police. Why THAT somehow falls on Joe Paterno is ridiculous to me.


The police had complaints from the parents, had a recording of Sandusky admitting to wrong doing, and STILL dismissed the case. So what is Joe Paterno going to do to change all that?

lol @ the idea of not going to the police in case you're wrong when the allegations are this serious, and then after that, still allowing this monster to come to the school for the next 9 years, give the commencement address etc.  And there's a difference between going to the police and holding a press conference about the issue.  Oh and "good luck getting a high profile job" if you don't report this and its true.  Put it in the court of the people who are designed to handle these things (and no, that is not the athletic department).

It falls on EVERYONE's shoulders.  Obviously Paterno is the face of this on ESPN because he was the biggest sports figure associated with the scandal.  They are all at fault.  Paterno, the president, the AD, the GA.  There was a systemic failure across the board which may very well border on complicity.

Penn State's reputation is not worth the children who were molested due to inaction.  Paterno is not the only person at fault.  But he was AT FAULT here, not a victim in any way shape or form.  Tell the parent of a victim that he shouldn't have gone to the police, and don't give me any of this he didn't know shtein, when his own testimony refutes that. 

we're going in circles and my opinion on this issue will never change and apparently neither will yours.

[Munson]

I agree that we're going in circles. I will only say that the only thing the police report confirms is that Joe Paterno was told a story by somebody. He then took that story to the people he was supposed to take it to, the people who were supposed to handle it, and they didn't. Hell, the police didn't even handle it when the mothers brought it to them.

Meh.

[Hawk]

After Sandusky, McGeary should be the one being blasted by ESPN/media.  Like Munson and I said earlier, Joepa is like 8-9-or 10 people down the list, and he's taking the prunt.

[Munson]

Exactly. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve at least SOME blow back, or some blame....but there's a good number of people between Sandusky, who's number 1 on the list of blame, and Joe Paterno, and i was just expressing that I feel bad that he is bearing the brunt of it because he's the biggest and most recognizable name. You can tell he is a good man with a good heart and you know he's absolutely heartbroken over all this, and right now is getting absolutely killed by some people like he did the molesting himself.