No matter which camp you reside in, this book will not change your mind or sway you in any direction. I am a photographer and this is the only Paterno book I have ever read. I am not a writer or a book reviewer. I am a man that spent 25 seasons (somewhere north of 200+ games) covering Penn State football from as close as you could get.Of course, that is less than 100 games since the NCAA sanctions!
If you are looking for the Holy Grail answer as to why Joe did what he did or didn’t do, you will not find it here. The Book did one thing for me, and that was all I was looking for. It filled in some of the blanks. We all know the core story: Brooklyn, Brown, Engle, George, Sue, Coach, Bear, champions, players, education, age. This was the hit music we heard over and over and it became lore. The book feels like the Album to those greatest hits. The songs you didn’t hear when you were only listening to the hits.Too simple for the haters though. And to this day, I still can't understand how turning Sandusky in would have been bad publicity for the University, or the football program. On the contrary, they would have been heroes for bringing the monster to justice. Don't you think if Paterno/Curley/Schultz/Spanier knew what we all now know that they wouldn't have put forth the effort to stop him? Paterno and Spanier have said that in fact. Curley and Schultz will echo those sentiments during their trials probably. The motive for a cover up is highly suspect.
In all the years I covered Penn State football with all the people I knew, players, coaches, reporters, photographers, workers, fans, students, and everyone else you can think of after doing this for 25 years, I was as stunned as anyone when the Sandusky story broke. I didn’t hear a rumor, a whisper, a sentence, or a single word about Jerry Sandusky. Nothing. I was very close to the program and gained the trust that you only get from being there that long. I heard nothing.
After reading the Sandusky report and asking his kids about public opinion of him, and they were totally honest, he said: “How could they think that? They really think that if I knew someone was hurting kids, I wouldn’t stop it? Do they know me? Do they know [sic] know what my life was about?” Exactly. That is exactly how I feel. He never liked Sandusky, that was known, for a very long time, by people anywhere near the program. He would never protect anyone who did that to kids. He would walk to the police station and report it, in person, if he had any idea what was going on. That’s what I think. Read what you want, believe what you want. Many times, in this book, Joe speaks to you about this. If this man was acting all his life doing everything he could the right way, turning boys into great men, and working to improve everything around him. Why would he protect someone hurting children? He wouldn’t. It’s that simple.
Pat Little concludes with:
So, how do I feel about Joe Paterno?I miss him too.
That’s easy.
I miss him.
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4 comments:
Joe testified under oath before the Grand Jury that McQueary told him that Jerry had done something of a "sexual nature" to that little boy. Joe didn't walk down to the police station to report it. He didn't pick up a phone to call the police. He did absolutely nothing for the rest of the weekend. You don't have to be a "Joe hater" to read the transcript of Joe's Grand Jury testimony and be appalled.
Joe may have led an otherwise laudable life but when it came time to rescue that little boy and the other little boys, Joe failed catastrophically.
Dear anonymous: Does blaming Joe Paterno make you feel better? It would be a shame if all that hate is just wasted for no good.
Supporting the cause of abused children is the very opposite of hate. It's an act of compassion. If you consider taking to task people who fail to protect children to be an act of hatred, so be it. It won't stop me from standing up for children.
Blaming Joe Paterno ISN'T supporting the cause of abused children. HE REPORTED THE INCIDENT. Maybe he didn't report to whomever YOU think he should have reported, but he did so to those he was supposed to. Penalizing the football program doesn't support abused children. It hurts innocent students, fans, professors, alumni, and regional businesses. In fact, I would think the way Joe Paterno has been treated will cause other people in similar situations to ignore the reporting of suspected cases. This is probably doing the opposite of helping future victims. But "we" don't care about that. A heinous act was committed and "we're" going to punish people without due process just to make ourselves feel better--because it's about the kids. Our compassion overfloweth. I call bull shit. None of this is helping any of those kids one bit and you're delusional if you think it is. Two wrongs don't make a right no matter how bad one of the wrongs may be.
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