Penn State, more excrement hitting the wind generator

by blenheim bard on Nov 22, 2011 1:18 PM EST

Interesting tidbit over at The Curious Index, citing a WSJ article about Paterno's historic fight to control the disciplining of football players for infractions of the student code (and legal code) off the football field. One sentence jumped off the page at me, wondering now who could the retired assistant coach be?
"That same fall, Dr. Triponey's office suspended Dan Connor, a Penn State linebacker, who had been accused of making harassing calls to a retired assistant coach."

read the whole article here

A Discipline Problem Paterno Fought Penn State Official Over Punishment of Players

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“Coach Paterno would rather we NOT inform the public when a football player is found responsible for committing a serious violation of the law and/or our student code,” she wrote, “despite any moral or legal obligation to do so.”

it does not look good for the way Paterno responded to the Sandusky situation.

I woke up feeling BLUE this morning. It's gonna be a great day.

by kywineman on Nov 22, 2011 2:38 PM EST reply actions

What part of oversight did JoePa not undertstand?

All of it, according to this report. and how much did he accept… none of it.

Yes, it is hard to believe he didn’t know every detail with this attitude, unless it was a deliberate “don’t tell me, so I can say I didn’t know.” And that doesn’t wash, not at all. And yes it is moving further and further away from naive case of simple bad judgment on JoePa’s part.

It does sound like a clear case of the “tail wagging the dog” doesn’t it?

The other shoe dropping could be Dan Connor naming who he was ‘harassing’ from the retired assistant coaching ranks. there is a Dan Connor who posts at Black Shoes Diary I wonder if he is the one cited here.

Over at BSD they are all a dither over why this woman is saying these ‘nasty things’ about St. JoePa
href=“http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/11/22/2580048/paterno-clashed-with-administration”

by blenheim bard on Nov 22, 2011 11:44 PM EST reply actions

When a person stays at an institution for a long period of time and becomes successful

Their perceived worth, in their mind, is many times escalated over their true value – they become control freaks and in the end become detrimental to the organization they treasure.

A man is nothing more than a summation of his scars!

by KansasUKCat on Nov 23, 2011 4:03 AM EST reply actions

Very interesting.

I think the code of conduct bar for any student athlete should be higher, not lower.

I also think this refers a lot to “SHE”

Vicky Triponey, the university’s standards and conduct officer, complained that Mr. Paterno believed she should have "no interest, (or business) holding our football players accountable to our community standards.

As good as JoePa was at winning, I couldn’t buy into him being “great” for some reason. Just a feeling I had.

And, clever title blenheim bard.

Blue... there is no other color to Bleed !!!

by a2d2 on Nov 23, 2011 8:28 AM EST reply actions

Sooner or later.......when someone finally reads enough of their own press clippings

they start to believe that they actually are what everyone wants to believe they are.

Look at all of the guys who “stayed too long” in an effort to build a legacy.

This sounds like another version of the same. And I am afraid when all is said and done, it will possibly be the worst one of all.

I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 23, 2011 10:03 AM EST reply actions

Sad, but true

Good article over at Black Shoes Diary on the perception of events href=“http://www.blackshoediaries.com/2011/11/21/2579494/a-gorilla-walks-onto-a-basketball-court-and-nobody-notices-or-what” and how we can be so concentrated on one thing and fail to notice the extraordinary things happening.

Yes, Greg, and the word is hubris, and one that we have all seen too many times.

Like many UK fans (whether they admit it or not) I have another school that I have followed and cheered for in football. Otherwise post season play would have been meaningless for most of my life. A friend who was a Penn State alum got me following his team and I have for years rooting them on. So I occasionally post over there. Over there I posted (in part):

The hardest one for fans of Penn State football is becoming rather obvious that JoePa was not a saint, and despite his motivations and intentions, his belief in his ability to control the situation he at the minimum enabled unforgivably evil actions to take place on the campus. We can only hope that his guilt is at that minimum, horrendous as that is.

It is not being well accepted.

by blenheim bard on Nov 23, 2011 11:33 AM EST up reply actions

I know what sentiment was like when the SI article hit and Jerry Tipton's

unheralded thrashing of the Cats’ program was made public. Those were truly dark days. I cannot fathom what it would have been like in today’s internet capable age where fans can commiserate their emotions and feelings together.

Our pounding by the media and the NCAA was well warranted, in spite of what Eddie Sutton and some others have said. The fact that the Cats have done so well with NCAA violations since only reinforces that. Had there of been illegal and immoral activities going on as well, it would have surely resulted in things being much worse for us then.

I understand the Penn State folks trying to rush to the aid of their fallen coach. I cannot in good conscience support it, but I understand it. One of the hardest things to do in situations where activities occur that are so “out of character” in the minds of the students, faculty, administrators and fans, is to look at a situation objectively.

I fear for them when Mr. Freeh gets done with his work. Assuming he is allowed to conduct his investigation completely independently of the school and it’s personnel.

I am now and shall forever be the Cat in The Hat, The Artist Formerly Known As ABC!!!

by Greg Alan Edwards on Nov 23, 2011 1:23 PM EST up reply actions

I feel for them too, and I have been there...

Many years ago I was the president of an Optimists Club. The Optimists’ area of dedication is local youth programs. They run programs, they seed programs, and they help fund programs run by others, with the common denominator being “local youth.”

One of my VPs was a cherubic 70 year old man who was a ready volunteer, and as a semi-retired psychologist, specializing in troubled youth, was a great public face for the club. If a project required someone for a tv interview and we had to be at work, well this man would be there, and he spoke and looked good. He also worked for one of the political parties as an organizer and fund raiser, was a church board member, and did pro bono work as a councilor/psychologist at a local orphanage.
He chaired our in-school anti-drug, anti-bullying, anti-abuse program, run jointly with the local police youth services.

When it came out that he was also a pedophile, everyone that knew him was shocked and devastated. No one could believe it. And it turned out he had been found out before in another community, and through political influence had been let off, by “losing the charges”, to go and “sin no more”. Luckily he plead guilty, there was no trial to parade broken kids before gawking public, and with his sentence and age he will never breathe free air again.

I understand how your world perception can change in a heart beat, and a person you thought you knew can become a stranger.

by blenheim bard on Nov 23, 2011 3:38 PM EST up reply actions