Joe Paterno in grave condition

[CF DolFan]

I think it was appropriate to vacate the wins.

A fair argument can be made that (at least part of) Paterno's motivation for protecting Sandusky was Sandusky's impact as a coach on the football program, and later (following Sandusky's retirement) the impact that such a scandal would have on the program's ability to compete (as seen after the sanctions came down).  If that is true, then some of Paterno's wins can reasonably be considered an extension of his complicity in the coverup.

Bingo ... this sums it up. It isn''t like he, or the AD, just didn't realize he needs to report it. The motivation was wins and losses to the program.

[ArtieChokePhin]

I have to wonder why Paterno didn't encourage McQueary to go to the police when Mcqueary came to him with the news.

I also think McQueary is a real pansy ass because he didn't do anything to stop what he was seeing.  If I had been there,  Sandusky would've been spitting out his teeth.

[Fau Teixeira]

i don't think the 112 vacated wins or whatever it was went far enough .. that program clearly demonstrated that football was more important than child rape.  I think disbanding the football program would have been appropriate.

[masterfins]

^^^ Since this was clearly on the AD and President, I guess they should have vacated the wins by the men's & Women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, cheerleading teams, etc, etc.

[Phishfan]

I have to wonder why Paterno didn't encourage McQueary to go to the police when Mcqueary came to him with the news.

I also think McQueary is a real pansy ass because he didn't do anything to stop what he was seeing.  If I had been there,  Sandusky would've been spitting out his teeth.

Both of these are serious questions in my mind. If anything, this is the guy that needed to be run through the ringer.

[Spider-Dan]

I have to wonder why Paterno didn't encourage McQueary to go to the police when Mcqueary came to him with the news.

I also think McQueary is a real pansy ass because he didn't do anything to stop what he was seeing.  If I had been there,  Sandusky would've been spitting out his teeth.

Everyone's a tough guy in hindsight.

[ArtieChokePhin]

Everyone's a tough guy in hindsight.

And what would you do if you ever came across a man molesting a child?

[Spider-Dan]

Well, that depends on many factors.  If it was my (hypothetical) child, then I would probably be less inclined to accept explanations.  But in McQueary's case, he said that he heard potentially incriminating sounds ("rhythmic slapping") but didn't see anything happening.  And given that Sandusky already beat a case a few years earlier and clearly had the weight of the higher-ups behind him (to the extent that nothing would happen for another decade), I can't exactly fault McQueary for not going all Charles Bronson in the situation.

McQueary probably should have went to the police too, although I'm almost certain that Paterno would have had that swept under the rug (as he did before).  But punching Sandusky out wouldn't have actually accomplished anything except making McQueary unemployable and taking food off the table of his own children.

[miamid45]

And what would you do if you ever came across a man molesting a child?

Castrate him on the spot.  Trust me , he'd never walk again....not tough talk, just know what I  am capable of doing....scary but true.

[Phishfan]

  But punching Sandusky out wouldn't have actually accomplished anything except making McQueary unemployable and taking food off the table of his own children.

Maybe in the short term around that campus but as it stands, the guy in unemployable currently and definitely would have been able to get a job in the long term if he had done something.

[Spider-Dan]

I'm not sure how "the guy who was blacklisted from football for a decade after assaulting a respected pillar-of-the-community senior citizen and 'falsely' accusing him of a horrible crime" would have people banging down his door today.  Do you think the women who accused Cosby of rape 20 years ago currently have their mailboxes full of acting job offers?

As long as Paterno was shielding Sandusky, McQueary going to local police would have accomplished nothing (as it did in '98).  The only way to really get something done would have been to go to (non-local) media, which is fraught with its own problems.

[Phishfan]

I'm not sure how "the guy who was blacklisted from football for a decade after assaulting a respected pillar-of-the-community senior citizen and 'falsely' accusing him of a horrible crime" would have people banging down his door today. 

You are going to alter history to make your argument? Hell, if that is the case I'll go ahead and concede because your argument is now that Sandusky was getting falsely accused. I'll never win the argument of historically inaccurate alterations.

[Spider-Dan]

No, my argument is that in 2001, McQueary punching Sandusky out and going to the police would likely have resulted in Paterno throwing McQueary under the bus, with the resulting narrative (in 2001) that McQueary falsely accused Sandusky of a horrible crime.  (i.e. exactly what happened in 1998, which is why 'falsely' was in quotes)  There is no reason to believe that the local police would have been any more interested or competent in 2001 than they were 3 years earlier, unless it was Paterno/Penn State pushing the issue.

Would McQueary's name have been cleared a decade later?  Sure.  But who wants to hire a college position coach that's been out of football (via blacklist) for a decade?

[Phishfan]

That could hold more water if in fact it had been Paterno & Penn State that actually pushed the investigation once it happened. The investigation was solely because of the accusers. Had there been an actual instance of being caught in the act with a child present things would be hard to ignore. I won't pretend to know that child's mindset but I don't think he would have left his savior out there in the wind looking like he was the one in the wrong. That could be wrong but I don't see it playing out the way you do.

[Spider-Dan]

But McQueary never said that he actually saw the assault, only that he thought he heard something suspicious (and he repeatedly stuck to that point).  This is why the guy he called for legal advice told him to go to Paterno instead of the police.

I think the reason why it went somewhere in 2011 is because it got to the level of the PA state attorney's office.  If it had stayed local, King Paterno would have buried it forever.