Need an adventure to dig into? How about the 892-page FBI record of disgraced Penn State football coach Joe Paterno? His records have been released following a FOIA request. (The direct URL is here.) Paterno died earlier this year. (ht @MuckRockNews)
At first I was stunned. But I can tell you this: There is no celebrating in the Bowden household today. This is a very tough day for college football.Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden • Upon learning that fellow college football legend Joe Paterno had been stripped of 111 victories — making Bowden the winningest coach in NCAA history, by default. Bowden spent his entire career trying to fight Paterno for the mark, but Paterno finally prevailed after Bowden was forced out following a weak 2009 season. Bowden, by the way, supported the taking down of the Paterno statue, as a way to take away a constant reminder of Sandusky.
» No longer the winningest: As a result of the vacated seasons, Paterno will no longer be the NCAA’s winningest football coach, which means that Florida State’s Bobby Bowden is now the winningest coach in NCAA history — and a statistic that once meant everything means nothing.
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Joe Paterno’s statue at Penn State is gone, taken down after months of anger that only rose in recent weeks over Louis Freeh’s report, which appeared to implicate the legendary coach in the Jerry Sandusky affair. There it is. It’s gone. (photo by Christopher Weddle/Centre Daily Times)
![thedailywhat:
Ultimatum of the Day: Debate has raged for months over whether the Joe Paterno statue outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium should remain in the wake of increasingly damning revelations in the Sandusky abuse scandal.
Now, just days after an independent report implicated Paterno in a high-level cover-up, a plane is flying above the university trailing a banner that threatens “TAKE THE STATUE DOWN OR WE WILL.”
No word on who “We” might be, or how soon the statue must be removed before “We” return with an excavator.
However, this has the potential to get interesting: The Penn State Board of Trustees issued a statement Sunday claiming that no decision had been made on whether the statue would be removed, and that a decision shouldn’t be expected anytime soon.
[deadspin]
Do you guys think the statue should go?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7bfvmRwNL1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Ultimatum of the Day: Debate has raged for months over whether the Joe Paterno statue outside Penn State’s Beaver Stadium should remain in the wake of increasingly damning revelations in the Sandusky abuse scandal.
Now, just days after an independent report implicated Paterno in a high-level cover-up, a plane is flying above the university trailing a banner that threatens “TAKE THE STATUE DOWN OR WE WILL.”
No word on who “We” might be, or how soon the statue must be removed before “We” return with an excavator.
However, this has the potential to get interesting: The Penn State Board of Trustees issued a statement Sunday claiming that no decision had been made on whether the statue would be removed, and that a decision shouldn’t be expected anytime soon.
[deadspin]
Do you guys think the statue should go?
To those who are convinced that the Freeh report is the last word on this matter, that is absolutely not the case. Since various investigations and legal cases are still pending, it is highly likely that additional critical information will emerge. With that said, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate that Joe Paterno did not shield Jerry Sandusky from any investigation or review. The 1998 incident was fully and independently investigated by law enforcement officials. The Freeh report confirms this. It is also a matter of record that Joe Paterno promptly and fully reported the 2001 incident to his superiors. It can certainly be asserted that Joe Paterno could have done more. He acknowledged this himself last fall. But to claim that he knowingly, intentionally protected a pedophile is false.A Paterno family statement regarding the Freeh report, which implicated Joe Paterno, the former Penn State coach, in a cover-up of the Jerry Sandusky case. “Mr. Freeh presented his opinions and interpretations as if they were absolute facts,” the family also said. “We believe numerous issues in the report, and his commentary, bear further review.” The full statement is over here.
I think Joe Paterno is an amazing human being. I think he made a major bad decision in his life.Artist Michael Pilato • Discussing why, in the wake of last week’s Freeh Report, he removed a halo from a Penn State mural that depicts Joe Paterno, replacing it with a blue ribbon to reflect awareness for child abuse. Pilato previously removed Jerry Sandusky from the mural entirely, also replacing him with a blue ribbon — as well as an empty chair.
Sobering. In related news, The New York Times reports that Joe Paterno negotiated a deal for his retirement in early 2011, at a time when the Sandusky saga was starting to bubble over. The $5.5 million deal, which would have made 2011 Paterno’s last season, also included perks, such as the use of a private jet for him and his family, which would remain in effect for decades after Paterno died. In the end, the university gave the family virtually everything they planned to offer Paterno. This deal, however, was not public at the time.
According to the investigation, it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences. I missed that Joe missed it, and I am extremely saddened on this day. My love for Joe and his family remains.Nike founder Phil Knight • In a statement regarding the removal of Joe Paterno’s name from a child care center at Nike’s corporate headquarters. The decision to remove the coach’s name from the facility was made after the results of Louis Freeh’s investigation into the Sandusky allegations were released to the public this morning. Nike chief executive Mark Parker took credit for the decision in a separate statement, telling reporters that “It is a terrible tragedy that children were unprotected from such abhorrent crimes. With the findings released today, I have decided to change the name of our child care center at our World Headquarters. ” source (via • follow)
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The Louis Freeh Report on Jerry Sandusky includes a detailed timeline of events in the case. Here is the section from just after Mike McQueary told Joe Paterno what he witnessed, and he told Penn State leadership about Sandusky.
The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.Former FBI director Louis Freeh • In a statement accompanying his report on the Jerry Sandusky case. The report, which is 200 pages long, is over here, but based on the tone of this statement, it implicates, Joe Paterno, the former Penn State head football coach who died earlier this year, for not reporting Sandusky’s conduct.
BREAKING: Jerry Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse
Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky found guilty of 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse, NBC News reports.
More updates and live video of reaction outside the courthouse on breakingnews.com: http://bit.ly/zCOSsx
Photo: Jerry Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, arrive Friday night at Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (NBC News)XxMore updates and live video of reaction outside the courthouse on breakingnews.com.
Photo: Jerry Sandusky and his wife, Dottie, arrive Friday night at Centre County Court in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. (NBC News)
remeanie asks: I want to thank you for the manner in which you have covered the Sandusky scandal. I'm a PSU student, and I've felt harassed by the way most of the mainstream media has done it. We are all portrayed as either sexual abuse/cover up apologists or essentially told that the whole place should be burned to the ground. I came to PSU because of their animal science/horse breeding program with no connection to the football program, and I appreciate not being lumped in with the guilty administrators.
» SFB says: Thank you, we appreciate that. Ultimately, in cases like this, it’s tough to balance the emotions that crop up with the story, because let’s face it, it’s the kind of thing that is on-its-face indefensible. We tend to play a little fast-and-loose with our opinions on certain topics, but this is one of those stories where you just have to let the information speak for itself. If we lived/worked/studied at an organization in a similar place, we’d hope for the same. Jerry Sandusky is accused of a lot of crazy things. A lot of other people have the emotional reactions covered; our role is better served by handling it calmly. — Ernie @ SFB
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