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January 22, 2012

JOE PATERNO DEAD AT 85

Filed under: Uncategorized — Reed @ 11:55 am

Say what you will about the PSU-PITT rivalry or the Sandusky scandal, his death is big news for college football.

Personally, I’ve looked at Joe Paterno as a positive influence on college athletics overall. More so during the 1960s through the 1980s. PSU hasn’t been the same since Paterno became so old he was mostly a figurehead at the helm.

He’ll be missed, by some more than others, and we had to know this wasn’t completely unexpected given his age and the events of the past two months.  First Bear Bryant now Joe Paterno.

Their lives were consumed by their professions and they had nothing to live for after it went away.





Joe was a lgend! RIP Joe. Im not even a Penn State fan but respect all he did on the field!

Comment by QuipScript 01.22.12 @ 12:02 pm

…What a shame the way it all went down… not much more to say than that.

Comment by Mike 01.22.12 @ 12:29 pm

Never thought I’d say it, but agree with comments above.

Comment by Neil 01.22.12 @ 12:36 pm

Particularly with Mike’s sentiment.

Comment by Neil 01.22.12 @ 12:38 pm

You either go out as a hero or stick around long enough to watch yourself become the villian…

Comment by Harvey Dent 01.22.12 @ 12:49 pm

no disrespect, but the guy was old and sick. he probably stayed coaching longer than he should and was sicker than either he knew or let on for a while now. as for him staying coaching for as long as he did, unlike the many psu fans that wanted him to retire earlier, i thought he had done enough for the university to decide when he should step down. as for these reports of what a great humanitarian he is, well the verdict is out on that till we know the whole extent of his knowledge of the sandusky case. seems kinda peculiar how he handled his houses earlier in the year, was that because he knew the sandusky stuff was coming down or was it because of his situation regarding his health. sad to see an icon go, but we all die sometime.

Comment by henryhudson 01.22.12 @ 1:08 pm

Reed, totally agree. More wins than anyone, great bowl record, graduated his players and not one recruiting sanction in 46 years.

Comment by wbb 01.22.12 @ 1:16 pm

maybe bobby bowden will come back and get a few more W’s

Comment by Pitt it Is 01.22.12 @ 1:29 pm

I know all the ridicule about what went down with Joe and Sandusky scandal. The problem I have is that he allowed this guy to come around his greatest love, THE institution!!! If my friend was accused of this stuff perhaps I would still be his friend(we all disserve a friend until proven otherwise). However, I would not allow this “friend” around my “kids” or my work place. Goto lunch with him or dinner or whatever, just keep him away from the institution in which you love so much!!!
Other than that he was a great head coach and when discussing football he should be held high. When talking about making the right choices off the field perhaps he has a blemish or two.

All past players have put him on a great pedistal,even the ones that didnt play much. He worked for them even when playing days were done. He did great for those players.

Just my opinion by the way!

Comment by QuipScript 01.22.12 @ 1:34 pm

@henryhudson considering inheritance laws and what not, it’s actually not. It’s not a superduper ‘normal’ practice, but it’s more common than you think.

It’s also important to remember that he did the thing with his house in july, long before the sandusky stuff.

Comment by Lou Gagliardi 01.22.12 @ 1:41 pm

I don’t wish death on anyone, but I’m not exactly shedding tears on this one either.

Comment by Kenny Powers 01.22.12 @ 2:18 pm

Even the “immortal” are mortal, afterall. I remember Coach Joe when he was on Rip Engle;s staff and I was a Pitt frosh in 1949. He wore white sox and his trouser legs were raised. He plagued the Panthers and others for decades. He was the consumate competitor. From across the sidelines I never liked him. Now he has passed and I must honor and respect him. Yes, he was human. Yes, he made mistakes, but “Papa Joe” had more ingratiating qualities than he had flaws. So, Coach Joe on to the super grandson in the sky. After six decades of rooting against you, now I salute you. Rev. George from Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 01.22.12 @ 2:48 pm

sad that it ended the way it did my he rest in peace
he like all of is a mix of good decisions and
bad decisions i have all ways thought that
the bad decisions are like ghost that haunt us.

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.22.12 @ 2:53 pm

KP
agree totally…this man ran a cult in st. college, was arragont, and took away the best rivaly in the northeast…I don’t wish death on anyone….i’m just glad that this era is over..maybe psu can get some credablity back with a coach instead of a guy who didn’t let anyone do their job

Comment by pitt-for-life 01.22.12 @ 3:00 pm

When JoePa gets to heaven, he’ll find out that God’s a self loathing Pitt fan and he’ll ask to be sent straight to Hell. God will say sorry Joe but that place is reserved for Sandusky. If you come over to my house, the Pitt game will be on TV but if you’d like to watch the Penn State game, only Hell has the Big Ten network.

Comment by TX Panther 01.22.12 @ 3:17 pm

So many parallels in the film The Debt, it’s scary.

Comment by steve 01.22.12 @ 3:19 pm

First my condolences to the Paterno family which does not include penn state alumni, students or administration. Mr. Paterno is in a much better place regardless of which direction he went post mortem. Death spared this man years of shame and embarrasment as he would be called to testify in case after abuse case. At the end of the day, do any of us really know this guy? We primarily know him as a guy that coached football and led a team to many wins on the field. That’s it. We don’t know Joe Paterno and you won’t find many that did, except for people like Jerry Sandusky.

The last two months was a culmination of a sick cover-up that permeated that culture for over 20 years. Was their a quid pro quo in effect between Sandusky, Paterno and PSU that went awry? In death, Joe Paterno, gives a multi, multi million dollar contribution in the form of his silence as to what occurred at PSU. Sadly, PSU Board of Trustee members are silently dancing the jig because they know that liability and financial exposure on these cases has diminished by millions. In typical fashion however, PSU will look at this as an indictment and can now move forward with an aggressive defense of the claims instead of paying hundreds of millions.

The problem is that it won’t help their culture. PSU is damaged goods. They are still trying to recruit kids to go shower in the same stalls where rapes occurred. They have no class or concern for these new recruits. That behavior disgusts me and as a parent, I would never allow my son or daughter to matriculate to that campus because of the activities that occurred there. Disgusting and vile.

People will never forget what happened in the sports facilities at the PSU campus and each recruit should take the opportunity to run away from the filth and disgust as quickly as possible. It is just to creepy!

Comment by dhuffdaddy 01.22.12 @ 3:23 pm

If I would have told my 77 yr old father, the neighbor guy is having sex with a little boy, he wouldn’t have even know what I was talking about, the concept wasn’t even in his mind, or most other peoples minds of that generation, except the perpertrators (sp).

You done got railroaded by the news media and board of trustees. They’d been gunnin’ for you for awhile, they got their wish, badgered an old man to death. Hope they’re happy!!!

Funny how you don’t even hear about the gay pervert who attacked the little boy anymore, or hardly at all after day 3 or 4, wasn’t politically correct, and wasn’t the story, huh???

Hated you when we played you, but God rest your soul and God bless your family.

Anyone can certainly respond to me, but, I won’t be debating this, so don’t look for a reply, I’ll be watching the games, I’ve said my peace on the issue.

Hail to Pitt

Comment by Dan 01.22.12 @ 3:30 pm

Let’s stay classy Pitt! RIP Joe Pa

Comment by winedogs 01.22.12 @ 3:33 pm

The post was to pay respects to the man and the comments should follow that lead. There are other forums to vent your dislike of him and/or his actions.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 01.22.12 @ 3:38 pm

Must have missed the original post where it read that we were only supposed to pay respects and jump off. Maybe Zeise can tell us to be respectful as he forgets again to provide updates on recruiting this weekend. I do think you can pay respects and also be respectful in your disagreement with ones actions. I do not think anyone has berated the fella.

When all is said and done, his inactions and cover-up over the past 20 years off the field, trumps his victories on it. Sins versus Wins. I know that I am not perfect, but I also know that if confronted with the facts as we know them , my moral compass would have taken over and Sandusky would have been gone. Again, sounds like a quid pro quo situation.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 01.22.12 @ 4:21 pm

John 8:7 “he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone”

Rest in peace JoPa….Hail to the Lion one last time..

Comment by Dan 72 01.22.12 @ 4:43 pm

Dan,
If you don’t think that JoPa, a Roman Catholic, understood the concept of child rape, then you are more naive than the PSU faithful.
The Catholic Church has been embroiled in this nasty quagmire for decades, and JoPa was incredulous?

Comment by Gas 01.22.12 @ 4:45 pm

My wife (no sports fan) just commented to me that is was a shame how his life ended. I responded that, true it is sad for his family that he has passed, but the circumstances are totally on him. Had he retired when he should have, nodoby would be talking about anything today but the positives of the man’s life. He did not retire when he should have so there is nobody to blame but him. Sad. RIP

Comment by wally 01.22.12 @ 5:04 pm

And we wonder why Pitt sports have such bad karma!

Comment by Dan 72 01.22.12 @ 6:34 pm

Rmt, well technically your grammar is off. You never start a sentence with “and” so if youre going to be a smartass and talk about writing well, do yourself a favor and use correct grammar. Youll avoid making yourself look like even more of a dumbass.

Comment by Pk 01.22.12 @ 6:47 pm

We could have used Andy Lee this past season.

Comment by steve 01.22.12 @ 6:49 pm

Back to the topic, certainly out of respect to family and friends it is sad to have joe’s life end the way it did. Regardless of opinions on what had been discovered this past fall, he deserves to be remembered as a great family man and father figure to generations of players.

Comment by John 01.22.12 @ 7:05 pm

Corey Jones to freikin Toledo!

Comment by tony 01.22.12 @ 7:36 pm

Tony, it doesnt matter. Pitts got plenty of slot recievers. Cam saddler, ronald jobes, and the davis twins.

Comment by Pk 01.22.12 @ 7:47 pm

Jones

Comment by Pk 01.22.12 @ 7:48 pm

Reed, good post. Rev George, you’ve got it nailed.

Comment by Velvil 01.22.12 @ 7:58 pm

Wojciechowski writes eloquently about what happens when a leader is feared as much as respected:

link to espn.go.com

Comment by steve 01.22.12 @ 8:20 pm

Respects to the Paterno family and regards to Joe himself, there will never be another like him in this day and age of college football.

I mean no disrespect by this comment but I wish he would have died 3 or 4 months ago before all of this hit the fan. It was just a shame that Paterno’s long storied career was tainted at the end by such scandel.

RIP Joe.

Comment by Dr. Tom 01.22.12 @ 8:22 pm

Joe Paterno did a lot of good things for Penn State. In the early years, other then when they played Pitt, I wished them well. Of course over time that changed. When he ended the Pitt-Penn State series, I thought that was petty and unfair to the fans of both schools to end a 100 year old rivalry. I wouldn’t have wished the scandle on anyone. It’s unfortunate that a great career ended that way.

Comment by Justinian 01.22.12 @ 8:23 pm

Prayers to the Paterno family. Sad to see a lifetimes worth of achievements tarnished by a series of events such as this. Do not allow your dislike for the mans career or how he handled this situation to affect your feelings toward a grieving family. If you feel he didn’t do enough in this case, that is perfectly understandable. I choose to let the justice system sort all of it out and grieve for the people who cared for him dearly. Each of our families would ask the same.
H2P.

Comment by Outlaw 01.22.12 @ 8:32 pm

My late father was a major Joe Paterno fan and had the highest respect for Joe Paterno. Dad died in 1994, after the Nits’ first season in the Big 10.

I wish I had the same respect for Paterno, but I do not and did not. Paterno ended the Pitt – Penn State rivalry and he did it out of spite, to get back at Pitt administrators who were long gone when Paterno ended the series. The miserable Sandusky trauma was not directly the fault of Paterno – Sandusky knew what he was doing and he did it – but Paterno should have not let Sandusky on or near the campus, let alone the football program.

It is Joe Paternos’ fault that he did not realize his time had passed. Paterno should have retired 15 to 20 years ago and learned to enjoy retirement with his wife, his kids and his grandchildren and his friends. He cheated them because coaching Penn State football was something he could not walk away from.

Coaching any sport, college or pro, is primarily a young man’s game. Bruce Arians recently quit as Steelers’ OC and he is 57. he had been considering leaving for the last few years. Now, Paterno’s family must go on without him. That much is a certainity to everyone, but no job is with staying into your 80s, especially when someone has achieved what Paterno did.

Comment by Penguins Fan 01.22.12 @ 9:09 pm

Another topic, if I may. It was pleasing to watch Henry Hynoski and Andy Lee in the Giants-40ers game tonight. Both were very good players for Pitt not long ago. Coach Wannstedt did send some excellent gridders to the NFL. I sincerely wish that Mr. Cook and Mr. Smizek would get off their ranting about the Panthers’ coaching miseries of late. I was sorry to see Wannstedt leave. He IS a true Pittsburgher and bled for the Pitt football program many years. Haywood certainlt was not hired for his domestic diplomacy. What else could the Pitt Athletic do, but cut him loose. As for Mr. Graham, the less said, the better. Most seem to agree that Paul Chryst is a breath of fresh air. We will lose some recruits, even to the likes of Toledo, but in several years, I firmly believe, the Steel City will again have a college team of which to be proud. Rev. George from Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 01.22.12 @ 11:31 pm

R.I.P. J.V.P.

A worthy adversary… even after he chose to no longer be an adversary.

From the Sandusky scandal, to the firing, and now this, it all happened so fast the last couple of months.

Comment by Jimbo Covert's My Dad 01.23.12 @ 12:14 am

Note: I’ve removed all the posts in that clearly off topic string. This blog is too good to be bogged down with in-fighting and I’ll apologize now for allowing my comments to feed the beast.

Comment by Reed 01.23.12 @ 7:06 am

Sad, he must have had a very superficial relationship with his wife, for it sure seemed his whole life revolved around football since what..1950 or something. And of course it revolved around Happy-less Valley. Didn’t Bear Bryant also die like right after he retired?

End of an era in College Football. There will be no more Joe Paterno’s. Whether that’s good or bad is subject to debate. It’s hard to forgive the person most responsible for ending the PITT-Penn State series for 15 years. But he does need all the good blessings he can get now. So I offer them and may God have mercy on his soul.

Comment by EMel 01.23.12 @ 8:34 am

May JoePa rest in peace.

Comment by MariettaMike 01.23.12 @ 8:44 am

Joe had a life outside of football. He and his wife were devoted parents and grandparents and involved in Penn State outside of football. Imo, the way Penn State made almost every effort to kill his carrer…firing him (with 2 games left in the season after which he said he would retire), removing his name as a nominee for the Presidential Award and doing everything to disassociate themselves from the man who built Penn State football… amounted to the final blow.

Not one of the Penn State Trustees expressed any sentiment of sorrow or even ambiguity…until Joe Paterno’s death. Now they try to ride the coattails of the carrer of the man they only a day before could care less about.

Comment by Bear 01.23.12 @ 11:50 am

Bear – to put a fine line on it, PSU had nothing to do with the Presidential Award. He was nominated by US Senators Toomey and Casey – who also withdrew their nominations after the scandal broke.

Your point is well made though, that added to the additional depressing things he had to deal with in the last three months.

Comment by Reed 01.23.12 @ 5:47 pm

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