Saturday, January 7

Anatomy of a Media Frenzy

LINK to post on BSD with Comments 

The sheer number of 'news and sports' stories that flooded the airwaves, internet, and news stands was epic. And the vast majority used the Grand Jury Presentment - a summary of allegations designed to justify an indictment - as if it were the unassailable truth. Few if any chose to point out this document contained no quotes, Q&A, exculpatory evidence, or cross examination and was strictly the prosecutions carefully crafted theory of the case.
The Presentment buried a victim 2 section with no identifiable victim in a raft of testimony by six brave young men who had come forward to launch the investigation of Jerry Sandusky. There was little to indicate that victim 2 of the Mar 1, 2002 incident that claimed a graduate assistant coach later identified as Mike McQueary "SAW a young boy BEING SUBJECTED TO ANAL INTERCOURSE", was not among those who were known to prosecutors.

It was thus the Penn State Scandal was born instead of the Sandusky Scandal or the Second Mile Scandal and Head Coach Joe Paterno, AD Tim Curley, Senior VP Gary Schultz, and PSU President Graham Spanier became the villains raked over the coals by frothing talking heads and writers attempting to out holy each other on national TV or fill the internet and printed media with ever bolder muck-raking.

If you care or dare - below the jump is a sample of the hysterical preaching that has attempted to rob Penn State students and alumni of their justified pride in their university and it's honorable football program run by a good and decent man who spent 61 years building a fine reputation only to see it in ruins as the result of that bold lie in the presentment.


As much as we might wish this over and done with, this harm done to Penn State and the public perception by our National Media and it's thirst for victims should not be forgotten or forgiven. As an outsider I am repelled by this mass of misinformation and it pains me to know there were far too few outside of Penn State people who even attempt to see past this flood of crap.


This sample of press and internet accounts is archived here for reference. Anyone who has more odious articles is encouraged to link them in the comments so they too can be archived for future repudiation when the full truth comes out. We should remember the names of the writers and be certain they know of our contempt for their failure to seek the truth before embarrassing themselves.

BIRD CAGE LINER & FISH GUT WRAPPINGS - on the Rhythm of three slaps

 HOW A SCANDAL BROUGHT DOWN JOE PATERNO  by APs Genaro C. Armas & Marc Levy  (LINK BROKEN) 
The tipping point came when the state's top cop said what everyone was thinking: Why didn't Joe Paterno do more? Why didn't anyone at Penn State? ...... accused of covering up a 2002 incident in which a witness claimed he saw Sandusky sodomizing a boy of about 10 in a shower at the Nittany Lions' practice center.
McQueary did not testify that he saw Sandusky sodomizing

 In wake of Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State coach Joe Paterno must go By Ryan Cooper
I am in no way calling Paterno a victim. According to that grand jury report linked above, there was an incident involving Sandusky and a young boy in 1998, which went unpunished, followed by another incident in 2002, which was also swept under the rug
Hey Numbskull - the 98 incident was thoroughly investigated by police & child services - not "swept under the rug"

 The Post’s View --- Penn State’s abdication of legal and moral obligations
Most egregious was the 2002 incident in which a 28-year-old graduate assistant returning to the football facility was surprised to see the lights and shower on at 9:30 p.m. According to the grand jury, "he saw a naked boy . . . whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky."
of course we now know that the grad asst. saw no such thing and the victim 2 incident was far from the "most egregious".

In Penn State’s scandal, where was the leadership?

Edward Robinson Washington Post
In 2002, after Sandusky had retired — although he still had an office and enjoyed the run of the Penn State athletic facilities — a football team "graduate assistant" saw Sandusky raping a young boy in the showers, according to the grand jury report.
Once again the lie in the Grand Jury Presentment leads the piece.

 Joe Paterno must leave now: a religious argument By Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
According to the grand jury indictment, a graduate assistant told Joe Paterno that he saw what appeared to be an anal sexual assault by Sandusky on a boy he estimated to be ten years old in the Penn State showers and that he reported this incident to Paterno.
another example of the effect of the lie in the presentment

 Penn State and Joe Paterno deserve part of the blame Mike Wise
They would all be party to a worse crime than any crooked, pay-for-play booster at Miami, Ohio State or even SMU ever committed: guilty of protecting a program before a child.
You can’t read the 23-page grand jury report and come to any other conclusion; Penn State football and its pristine reputation apparently superseded the alleged sexual assault of a young boy — perhaps as many as eight young boys — over 15 years by Sandusky.
The 23 page Presentment is cause for their blame? The only part ever reported to Paterno was the 2002 ambiguous report by McQuery - Mr Wise.

 Joe Paterno ignored his moral responsibility by Tracee Hamilton
complete with inflammatory picture of Joe with Sandusky
11082011-41v_medium
from way back when
After reading the grand jury report, what I can’t get out of my head is, well, all of it. But particularly disturbing is the account of that poor child in the football facility showers in 2002
Yes when buried in the pile of 40 counts the victim 2 account absorbs the weight of the rest

 Penn State’s abdication of legal and moral obligations WaPo Editorial
Most egregious was the 2002 incident in which a 28-year-old graduate assistant returning to the football facility was surprised to see the lights and shower on at 9:30 p.m. According to the grand jury, "he saw a naked boy . . . whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky."
another example of the impact of the false Grand Jury Presentment taken as "most egregious" fact.
ESPN took great delight in publishing daily pieces to go along with an onslaught of talking heads waxing serious about the dearth of moral values in Happy Valley.


The tragedy of Joe Paterno By Gene Wojciechowski
The descriptions from one administrator: "Fabulous and horrendous" … "Surreptitious" … "Self-absorbed" … "Calculating" … "Protective of everything he's done."
JoePa is three-dimensional, capable of extraordinary acts of kindness and charity, as well as extraordinary acts of backroom politics. But he isn't who we thought he was. If he were, he would have called the police nine years ago when first alerted to the alleged misconduct of former Nittany Lions assistant coach and friend Jerry Sandusky.
Too much disinformation to quote in this hit piece

 Why Penn State Needs to Change Its Name...Now! By John Tantillo
With legendary former football coach Joe Paterno’s grand jury admission on December 16 that he knew of Jerry Sandusky’s "inappropriate" behavior with a minor as far back as 2002, it is clear that the rot goes deep at Penn State.
Radical measures are needed to restore this once great institution. They must be taken now.Bottom line? Penn State needs to change its name.
The insanity of this FOX NEWS Opinion piece is self-explanatory

 Scandal sullies Joe Paterno's legacy by Ivan Maisel
Since Pennsylvania attorney general Linda Kelly released the grand jury's findings in the Sandusky case on Nov. 5, the sort of feeding frenzy that has developed is typically reserved for Hollywood or Washington.
The public is outraged. The public wants blood. The cries of moral superiority have been loud and visceral and long. How could Paterno have not done something?
The public is outraged because you outraged them!!!

 Joe Paterno's name off Big Ten trophy
"We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno's name on the trophy at this time," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a statment. "The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial.
Penn State story's expanding horizons by Lester Munson

Was everybody in on it?

It's already arguably the worst scandal in the history of sports, and it might be even worse than we think. How can that be?
The view from our Courtside Seat doesn't naturally lend itself to conspiracy theories. Our long life in sports and the law has taught us the value of cold, sober consideration over feverish, hand-wringing speculation, and the better part of valor might suggest we ignore the cumulative effect of the series of developments being reported out of Penn State this week. Then again, it is, as they say, what it is. So while it pains us to jump off this cliff, we're going to take the plunge in this case.
Here, then, are some elements to the story suggesting the possibility that the Jerry Sandusky-Joe Paterno-Mike McQueary saga and its alleged cover-up could be deeper and wider than we know.
The worst scandal in sports history and everybody at Penn State was in on it?

 No easy answers for Mike McQueary
So who should we believe? And how did Mike McQueary get here?
But now, in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal and McQueary's role in it, it seems everyone from South Beach to Seattle is evaluating his moral compass. There are questions about why he supposedly didn't intervene when, on March 1, 2002, according to the grand jury report, he said he saw Sandusky raping a boy in a shower at the Nittany Lions' practice center. Why didn't he stop it? Why didn't he call police immediately?
Joe Paterno will have to live with choice by Ian O'Conner
The legendary coach's ultimate punishment will be looking in the mirror each morning
Paterno will have to live with his inaction in the Jerry Sandusky case. He'll have to live with the graphic details of young boys allegedly being raped, of young lives being destroyed. He'll have to live with the fact that some victims might've been spared if the great grandfather of college athletics -- a beloved do-gooder in a sport often lacking in redeeming social value -- hadn't spent less time & energy on trying to stop an alleged predator than he spends on his average game plan.
GOOD GRIEF!!! Can you be more hyperbolic?

 Penn State's long road to recovery By Mark Schlabach
As the shock of the news that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have abused eight boys over 15 years -- and that Penn State officials knew about the allegations and did nothing -- begins to subside, Penn State's faculty, students, alumni and fans must begin to pick up the pieces.
Obviously PSU officials only knew about one allegation.

 Joe Paterno failed his biggest decision By Mark Schlabach
Paterno was fired because he failed miserably while making the biggest decision of his life.
Told by a graduate assistant in 2002 that former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted a boy, believed to be 10 years old, in the showers of Penn State's football complex, Paterno did nothing more than inform athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz of the allegation.
and the beat goes on and on about the PENN STATE Scandal

Penn State Nittany Lions again deficient in leadership Mechelle Voepel

Penn State sexual abuse scandal puts faith in all college sports ...Scoop Jackson

Penn State Scandal -- TV van gets flipped as Joe Paterno riots .

Penn State and Syracuse scandals have exposed college coaches as ...Howard Bryant

In ESPN The Magazine, Howard Bryant writes that college coaches have become so focused on winning that they're in danger of losing their moral authority.

Penn State, scorched by scandal, struggles to define its itself Wright Thompson

Penn State was a place from another time, in a self-proclaimed happy valley. Now, scorched by scandal, the town that Joe Paterno built struggles to define its icon and itself.

In the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal, there are no easy answers Wayne Drehs

 ---In the wake of the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, and assistant coach Mike McQueary's reported role in reporting it, it seems everyone from South Beach to Seattle is evaluating his moral compass.
Then we got the piece that deserved it's own fanpost on BSD by the heel
Bernstein Shreds The Penn State Letter by Dasshole Bernstein

 and this insanity
Penn State football should be retired, permanently By Jennifer Rubin

AP IMPACT: PSU culture explained away Sandusky

In this article published this morning Sports Illustrated repackages the common knowledge of what has been known for a month and builds it into an indictment of Penn State building thin and circumstantial bits of data into the worst case scenario.
PSU ABUSE SCANDAL CHILLING DETAILS USA Today By Steve Wieberg  Jack Carey
Paterno, who a week earlier collected the 409th victory of his 46-year Hall of Fame tenure, breaking the NCAA Division Irecord, has not been implicated in the scandal. The 23-page grand jury report, in fact, credits him with going to Curley with one of the most serious charges against Sandusky — brought by a graduate assistant coach who in March 2002 told Paterno he'd seen the older assistant sexually assaulting a naked boy who appeared to be about 10 years old in the shower in Penn State's Lasch Football Building.
PSU SCANDAL THE STORY SO FAR - by Michael Solomon   The Guardian 
By his own account, Paterno did what was legally required of him at the time: he reported news of Sandusky's behavior to his superiors in 2002. But his official statement to the media has only angered those who held JoePa to the higher standard he holds himself:

 We cannot forget or forgive the inimitable Gregg Doyel and his one man crusade

Gricar's 2005 disappearance only one of many mysteries in PSU scandal

Jerry Sandusky was investigated before he allegedly was caught in the act in 2009. Why the former PSU defensive coordinator wasn't charged is a mystery. Gregg Doyel says another mystery is why the prosecutor in the case later disappeared.

The real Penn State? In Room 206, plenty of heart to be found

In State College, Pa., since Tuesday, the horrific, jaw-dropping developments there wore him down. But Gregg Doyel gets a better view of Penn State from the students at the Carnegie Building, Room 206.

McQueary to coach Saturday? Reasoning difficult to comprehend

Mike McQueary will coach for Penn State vs. Nebraska despite not doing the same things Joe Paterno didn't in 2002. Gregg Doyel doesn't understand and hopes there's more to it than concern for the Nittany Lions receiving corps.

PSU students flood campus with misplaced Paterno adoration

Penn State students take to the streets to vent after the firing of Joe Paterno. Gregg Doyel witnesses the scene and hopes one day these kids will understand that the school they profess to love had no choice.

Untouchable no more: Paterno out at Penn State

Joe Paterno called the shots at Penn State for years. When he tried to retire on his terms after the scandal, the Board of Trustees called his bluff. Call it a retirement. Call it a firing. Gregg Doyel calls it over.

Want to find JoePa supporters? Get on his lawn

Joe Paterno's career at Penn State could be nearing its end as the sexual abuse scandal rages on. Gregg Doyel visits an impromptu rally outside of JoePa's house to find fans lauding their legendary coach, no matter what the facts say.

Calling off Paterno conference shows Penn State's cowardice

There have been many missteps since the Sandusky allegations started at Penn State, some by Joe Paterno. Gregg Doyel says not allowing Paterno to address the issue, or at least hear questions, was dead wrong.
Penn State may be trying diligently to fix the Jerry Sandusky/Joe Paterno fiasco, but to some protestors, the damage is evidently permanent and beyond redemption. How else to explain this picture tweeted by Philadelphia news anchor Jim Gardner?



According to Gardner, that's a 1975 graduate of the university burning his diploma, and others have described the situation as multiple protestors doing the same.
Joe Paterno 'delayed forwarding report of Sandusky sex abuse because he didn't want to ruin the weekend'
Even the British Press got it wrong after the Perjury hearing.

McQueary on stand: 'I was shocked, horrifed' article post only most damaging parts of McQueary testimony

NY TIMES interview with Sandusky - interesting to hear

WHAT ABOUT THE BOYS? Andrew Rosenthal is horrified
He then explained that he went to see Mr. Paterno, but that he did not tell Mr. Paterno the details of what he witnessed in the shower, out of respect for the coach.
When I read that, I shouted something I can’t print here. He didn’t tell what he saw out of respect for Mr. Paterno? 

The Devil and Joe Paterno by Russ Dothat 

No higher cause can trump that obligation — not a church, and certainly not a football program. And not even a lifetime of heroism can make up for leaving a single child alone, abandoned to evil, weeping in the dark.

 I won't even get into the plethora of similar stuff that filled The Patriot News or other Pennsylvanian papers. This should be quite sufficient to prove the point we already know. The public opinion was shaped and fed by this media frenzy and convicted Penn State and Joe Paterno in the court of public opinion without hope of a defense. And it all was thanks to AG Linda Kelley and her Grand Jury Presentment that launched a lie into a tsunami that swept away all reason and any presumption of innocence.

 CNN TIMELINE 

NPR TIMELINE 

LINKS BELOW ARE BROKEN some can be recoverd with GOOGLE search. 

The End of Paterno Joe Posnanski

1. I think Joe Paterno had the responsibility as a leader and a man to stop the horrific rapes allegedly committed by Jerry Sandusky, and I believe he will have regrets about this for the rest of his life.
2. Because of this, Joe Paterno could no longer coach at Penn State University.
Beyond these two points, though, I said I wasn’t going to write about this because I feel like there’s still a lot of darkness around. I don’t know what Joe Paterno knew. I don’t know how he handled it. I don’t know if he followed up. I don’t know anything about Paterno’s role in this except for what little was said about that in the horrifying and stomach-turning grand jury findings. People have jumped to many conclusions about Paterno’s role and his negligence, and they might be right. I’ll say it again: They might be right. But they might be wrong, too. And I’m writing a book about the man. I can’t live in that world of maybes.
In 2000, the late Myles Brand made the controversial decision to oust revered Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight. Brand, then Indiana Univ president, drew the scorn of students and alumni but the admiration of his peers, who named him NCAA president two years later
  • JoePa: Shocked, saddened by sex abuse charges (11.06.2011)
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State coach Joe Paterno said he was shocked, saddened and as surprised as everyone else to learn longtime assistant Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period, including four years when Sandusky still was a member of the Nittany Lions' staff.
  • Accusations of child sex, cover-up rock Penn St.(11.06.2011)
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- An explosive sex abuse scandal and allegations of a cover-up rocked Happy Valley after former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, once considered Joe Paterno's heir apparent, was charged with sexually assaulting eight boys over 15 years. Among the allegations was that a graduate assistant saw Sandusky assault a boy in the shower at the team's practice center in 2002.
  • Michael McCann: Did Joe Paterno break the law?(11.09.2011)
    • While Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly says that her office won't file charges against Joe Paterno for not reporting the alleged child sexual abuse by former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the 84-year-old coach could eventually face criminal charges for perjury, obstruction of justice and violating the state's Child Protective Services Law. Paterno could also become a defendant in civil lawsuits filed by Sandusky's alleged victims
  • Penn State trustees fire Paterno, Spanier amid scandal(11.09.2011)
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Joe Paterno was fired by the Penn State board of trustees Wednesday night despite saying he would retire as coach after the football season ended, brought down by the growing furor over the handling of child sex abuse allegations against an assistant coach.
  • Richard Deitsch: Big Ten Network responds to charges of soft-pedaling Penn State story
    • On Tuesday, USA Today offered an aggressive takedown of the Big Ten Network's coverage of the Penn State child abuse scandal, writing that the network (which is owned by The Big Ten Conference along with Fox Networks) "seems to be tiptoeing around the scandal." It further stated the Big Ten Network had provided "no coverage of the young boys allegedly victimized, no debates about what should happen next, no analysis of the impact on PSU and the surrounding community." .
  • Andy Staples: Joe Paterno's Penn State legacy forever marred by scandal
    • First things first. Penn State coach Joe Paterno is not a monster, and he is not evil. A lot of people who read what I wrote about Paterno on Tuesday seem to think I painted him that way. If the charges against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky are true, Sandusky is an unspeakably evil monster. Paterno, on the other hand, is an otherwise decent person who made a mistake
  • Lawyer: Sandusky victims could become scapegoats
    • HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- A lawyer who is advising some of those who reported being sexually abused by a former Penn State assistant football coach said he is worried that people angry about Joe Paterno's firing could turn them into scapegoats for the longtime coach's sudden departure
  • Stewart Mandel: Horrific closing chapter shouldn't overshadow Paterno's entire career(11.10.2011)
    • It seems the longer a legendary coach stays on the job, the slimmer his chances become to exit on his own terms. Woody Hayes won 13 Big Ten titles at Ohio State, but his tenure ended overnight after he punched a Clemson player on national television. Bob Knight won three NCAA titles at Indiana, but he was eventually fired for choking a player in practice, then violating a zero-tolerance policy by grabbing a student's arm. Bobby Bowden single-handedly built Florida State into ..
  • Governor: I'd lost confidence in Paterno, Spanier
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- (AP) Gov. Tom Corbett said Thursday that he supported moves by Penn State's board of trustees to force out famed football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier, saying he'd lost confidence in their leadership capacity.
  • Penn State board member Joyner named acting AD
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State is turning to a member of its board of trustees who played football and wrestled for the school to serve as its acting athletic director in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.
  • Jon Wertheim: Penn State alum John Amaechi wants to help school heal
    • On the other side of the Atlantic, 3,500 miles from State College, Pa., a very tall Penn State alum tries to make some sense of this contemporary Greek tragedy. Like so many, his emotions whipsaw. He is devastated for the alleged victims. He is disappointed by how his school handled this from the outset -- whenever that may have been.
  • Police: McQueary didn't report incident to us
    • STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) -- Penn State police and their counterparts in State College said they had no record of a former graduate assistant reporting a sexual assault by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky on a 10-year-old boy in a campus shower, a detail that runs counter to claims made in an email to former teammates.
Jerry Sandusky's interview Monday night with Bob Costas on NBC's Rock Center raises more questions as to what legal issues may emerge as this story unfolds. SI.com legal expert Michael McCann answers five key questions
  • Report: Ex-PSU officer questioned player treatment
    • CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- A former Penn State official charged with enforcing discipline at the school said Tuesday that Joe Paterno's players got in trouble more often than other students, and got special treatment compared to non-athletes.
  • THIS IS PENN STATE
    • "HAD SANDUSKY NOT BEEN SO BRAZEN, HAD HE SIMPLY RESTRICTED HIMSELF TO THE FOOTBALL FACILITIES, THERE IS LITTLE TO SUGGEST HE WOULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT. FOR SANDUSKY—IF NOT FOR THE BOYS—PENN STATE FOOTBALL WAS A SAFE HAVEN."
Paterno's place in the record book is assured, but SI special contributor Jack McCallum says the dark final chapter ruined the story
College Football NCAA Penn State scandal Penn State and Joe Paterno and Heinz Kluetmeier and Jon Wertheim and SI 2011
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