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Has PSU outrage jumped the shark?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!, Nov 18, 2011.

  1. In my opinion it has ...

    Mike Bianchi suggest all of Paterno's post-2002 wins be vacated.
    Big Ten removes Paterno's name from trophy.
    Franco Harris is taken to task by Pittsburgh mayor and asked to step down as Promise Chairman for standing by Paterno.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11322/1190817-455.stm


    Mr. Harris, who played football under Mr. Paterno decades ago, said university trustees were wrong to fire the famed coach last week because Mr. Paterno did what he was legally required to do in 2002 by informing a superior about allegations that assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had sexually assaulted a boy in a campus shower.
    Mr. Ravenstahl apparently chafed at that opinion.
    "I had to re-read it several times to fully comprehend the callous disregard and indifference for the victims of sexual abuse at Penn State," he stated in the email sent Wednesday evening to the Promise board.
    "To so adamantly and vocally defend one man while maintaining silence for those powerless to defend themselves, shows me that you are the wrong man to represent the Pittsburgh Promise and the ideals it embodies.
    "When I personally asked you to join the Board of the Pittsburgh Promise, I had every confidence that you would exercise sound judgment in your public life. Sadly, these statements show no regard whatsoever for the well-being of the young victims of sexual abuse and have led me to question your position of trust with the Pittsburgh Promise as Board Chairman.
    "It is my ethical and moral responsibility to recognize that you are no longer a suitable representative for any organization, let alone ours."



    Harris' stance shouldn't be mistaken as disregard or indifference to the real victims in this. He was offering support for Paterno.
    I think the mayor is grandstanding here, plain and simple.
     
  2. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Mayor Steelerstahl does have a real fondness for meaningless grandstanding, doesn't he?
     
  3. Steak Snabler

    Steak Snabler Well-Known Member

    I dunno, but the number of Penn State threads on this board certainly have ...
     
  4. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member

    You weren't exactly on board with the outrage from the beginning.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Onward State! Onward State!

    I don't agree with Bianchi at all on that one...
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    In these kinds of things there is always some twisted competition to show the most outrage . . . and/or to proclaim how much "worse and worse and worse" the story inevitably will get.
     
  7. Gator

    Gator Well-Known Member

    Not until Joe Paterno is given the death penalty and Mike McQueary is forcibly castrated.
     
  8. Yeah... Not waiting to break out the pitchforks and Paterno dolls to hang in effigy just yet.
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I think that there is something else that should be explored. I think that, on some level, Penn State's love of Paterno is condescending to the man. Particularly the love from current undergraduates. I think he's a mascot for them at this point. A harmless, lovable, doddering old man that they can squeeze and play with.
     
  10. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    In other words, not unlike a grandparent. Students will back him blindly today, then when they're older perhaps learn that he was really a very flawed man. Like some of us with our own family.

    I'm a supporter of the death penalty (as in two-year suspension of the program) if the widespread cover-up is brought to light. But I completely disagree with vacating wins.
     
  11. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Were you ever outraged?
     
  12. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Very apt comparison.

    At some point, it seems, we decide that our elderly are not really people any more, but mascots for us to rally around for the fun of it. One transition that always particularly strikes me is that of Keith Richards. Today, he is the lovable, grandfatherly, wonderfully eccentric guitarist for the Rolling Stones, that band our parents listened to. You look at any picture of him before about 1980 or so, he looks scary as hell. Dangerous. I don't think he learned how to smile until about age 40. Now we just want to hug him.
     
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