Tuesday, October 19

After nearly 10 years, it's time to do the right thing

"There's never a wrong time to do the right thing."  (Charles M. Blow)

In late summer 2021,  Penn State University honored Sue Paterno, placing her on the cover of the Penn Stater magazine while writing about her life.  Of course, much of the story revolved around Sue's life spent as the wife of legendary football coach and mother of five, as well as her well known efforts as a volunteer for the University and the community.

The column was long overdue and a step in the right direction.



It is said that time heals all wounds.  

However, I believe that it is not just the passing of time that caused the Penn Stater to honor Sue Paterno.

I believe that they -- and WE -- have all learned a lot since November 2011.   

I believe that WE is not specific to just Penn Staters, but the entire country, including the media, the NCAA, and the majority of the public.

About ten years ago, WE didn't know much about serial sex offenders.

In November 2011 and then following in July 2012, WE were told that the Jerry Sandusky scandal alleged to be a product of the "football culture" at Penn State.   The majority of people bought into this narrative after spurious facts were twisted by the the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and former FBI Director Louis Freeh to fit the "football culture" narrative.

Since that time, sex scandals involving scores of athletes over many years have emerged at Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State involving medical doctors molesting student athletes.   Wrestlers, football players, and gymnasts were among those who were abused.

Unless I missed a clipping, these incidents were not blamed on the "wrestling culture" at Ohio State, the "football culture" at Michigan, or the "gymnastics culture" at Michigan State.   

The NCAA didn't publicly shame OSU, UM, and MSU and burden them with fines and sanctions.

Why?

The NCAA learned that its unprecedented "experiment" of sanctioning Penn State Athletics for a crime not dealing with student athletes was an abject failure.

The NCAA restored 111 wins to Joe Paterno's record, rightfully placing him at the top of Division I college football with 409 wins. 

Now it's time for Penn State University to do the rest and show the world what WE have learned.

After nearly 10 years, it's time to do the right thing. 





















-- Ray Blehar, October 19, 2021, 9:40 AM EDT








5 comments:

  1. I agree 100%. At least put Joe's statue back up next to the stadium where it belongs. People should listen to John Ziegler's in depth podcasts that researched the allegations and concluded Joe was railroaded by the media and people too quick to judge. Joe did nothing wrong and his reputation should be restored to a position of honor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John,
      Thanks for reading the blog.

      No doubt, Penn State officials were railroaded -- but we knew that all the way back in 2012 as the so-called evidence in the Freeh Report didn't hold up under scrutiny.

      The problem was that the University was in on the railroading....as I wrote here:

      https://notpsu.blogspot.com/2012/08/altered-e-mail-found-in-freeh-report.html

      Delete
  2. Well overdue. Unfortunately, the "witch hunters" will never be held accountable. And the pitchfork wielding mob will never accept that they were wrong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It needs to start with the hypocrites at ESPN

      Delete
    2. There's a lot of retribution to go around....I'll write about that soon.

      Delete