TOM MAGAZZU Editor In A Few Words

Just as the state of Alabama was rocked by the death of Bear Bryant 29 years ago, fans in the Northeast mourned the death last week of long-time Penn State coach, Joe Paterno. I was never a fan of Paterno, but as a fan of the game, I respected him greatly.

And contrary to what most in the press are orchestrating, my feelings haven’t changed.

As the life of major college football’s all-time winningest coach was imploding in scandal and then deteriorating from lung cancer, most were quick to vilify him. His purported inaction regarding former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky’s alleged association with an underage boy in 2002 is now household news across America. It is even known by those who hate football and wouldn’t recognize a picture of Paterno.

Accusers imply that because Paterno did not go directly to police when graduate assistant coach, Mike McQueary, told him about seeing inappropriate activity with a young male in the athletic showers, that Sandusky was free to search out more victims. PSU trustees, bowing to pressure, fired Paterno, even though he was resigning at season’s end.

Paterno reported the 2002 accusation to his superior, Penn State’s athletic director, Tim Curley, in person on a Sunday, the morning after he heard about it. All indications are that the university’s police chief was informed, as were PSU senior vice president, Gary Schultz, and president, Graham Spanier. It is they who punted responsibility.

To make matters worse, the university’s police chief, Thomas Harmon, ordered a similar case against Sandusky closed in 1998. That was the result of the local DA deciding not to file criminal charges in a case involving two 11 yearold boys - also allegedly abused in a campus shower. As it turns out, Harmon and Sandusky had lived only three houses apart.

McQueary saw the 2002 incident first hand. He too could have gone to the police. He told a friend that he did talk to the police about it. However, that has yet to be corroborated. He also said he spoke to his father and then to Paterno before speaking to athletic director Tim Curley and senior vice president, Gary Schultz.

Paterno didn’t actually see the crime. Anything anyone else had to say at that point was hearsay. With the litigious nature of our society in this century and no other charges against Sandusky forthcoming, one could say Paterno was actually using good judgment in not taking it further. It is entirely possible that he (and the university) could have been hit with a slander suit for doing anything more than reporting it to his superior as he was required. That may sound selfish, but in reality, it’s plausible.

The conversation with Gurley must have been difficult for Paterno anyway. He came from the WWII era where right and wrong weren’t blurred by political correctness and tolerance for the unacceptable. Such actions by an adult male in his day would have been handled in a more effective manner - with the perpetrator possibly never being seen again.

These days we have psychobabblers who use federal funding to organize therapy sessions where these pedophiles can talk things out and get in touch with their feelings. The North American Man/ Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a pedophile advocacy organization, can openly work toward abolishing age of consent laws which criminalize adult male sexual involvement with minor boys. They are also for the release of all men who have been jailed for sexual contact with minors that did not involve coercion.

We tolerate that in America and at the same time a hoard of relentless media whores drive Paterno to a premature grave for what he supposedly did not do? Let’s get real.

In a statement released only days after the story exploded in the press placing a defacto label of guilt on Paterno, he said, “This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.” He’s not guilty of anything except being a high-profile target, but soon his estate may have a dozen civil suits against it because of that statement alone.

Pundits say the truth will come out in the trial. I wouldn’t be so sure. Now that Paterno has passed away and cannot take the stand and defend himself, there are too many opportunities to cast subtle aspersions in his direction.

On the surface, blaming Paterno for any of the aftermath is a gross injustice. We should blame Sandusky, himself. And we should blame ourselves for allowing, even facilitating, oversexed predatory dirt bags the opportunity to walk the streets and lurk around the playgrounds of America.