Graham Spanier, The Cowardly Lion

Penn State University continues to get it very wrong in their handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

Head football coach Joe Paterno was scheduled to have his weekly press conference today in State College.  Penn State sent out a memo yesterday saying that the only questions that would be taken would center on the current football season. 

Nice to know the priority at PSU at this time remains football.

PSU President Graham Spanier
a.k.a. The Cowardly Lion

Twenty minutes before today's press conference was to occur, Jeff Nelson (Assistant Athletic Director of Communications) announced that the press conference had been cancelled and would not be rescheduled.

The silence from Penn State at this point is deafening and, to be honest, quite infuriating.  They have completely failed to handle an already volatile situation.  Talk about "Fail To The Lion"

The only official statement the school has made to this point are the release from University President Graham Spanier in which he tastelessly referred to the allegations as "troubling."  He also pledged unconditional support to AD Tim Curley and Vice President Gary Schultz, the two administrators facing perjury charges.

No mention of the victims.  No mention of the University fully cooperating with law enforcement.  None of the usual PR buzzwords that you expect from leadership.  In fact, President Spanier has been completely invisible as the face of PSU.  Multiple sources report it was HIS decision to cancel the press conference today.

Why does Penn State have a PR department?  Where did they learn how to do their jobs?  Surely someone must think it's a good idea to try and get SOME information to the media camped out all over campus.  Why are the only ones talking the students and former players being interviewed by outlets like ESPN?

Spanier is the epitome of a coward.  A cowardly lion...  He may be king of the forest, but the forest is burning.  In the past he has never seemed to turn down an opportunity to get interviewed by the media.  He's the chairman of the BCS for god's sakes.  Talk about a prominent role in college athletics. 

Yet now, when the school needs leadership in the worst way possible, Spanier is nowhere to be found. 

Ignoring this won't make it go away.  More and more details emerge almost every passing moment on Twitter.  The only one who seems to be willing to talk is Joe Paterno and he was silenced by Spanier today.

What is the administration afraid of?  What could Joe possibly say to make this mess any worse?

There is no doubt anymore this is Paterno's last season.  Even if he somehow manages to remain the coach for the rest of the season (which he shouldn't) his contract is up.  Seeing as he did play a role in this mess there's no reason any PSU administrator could give for rewarding Paterno with a contract extension.  NONE.

Reports are already starting to swirl that Paterno's support with the board of trustees has eroded.  One report says he was asked to resign but refused.  Paterno's son has repeatedly said no such request was made.

Penn State can't even get their own stories straight.  Total lack of "institutional control" right now. 

What kind of message does this send to alumni?  What kind of message does this send to current students?  When the crap hits the fan -- hide?

The only thing I can take pride from in this entire mess is that just about anyone you talk to who went to Penn State is sickened by the ordeal.  We all want to see justice served.  We all want those responsible for helping to cover up this terrible tragedy to be removed from power and, if appropriate, face the full wrath of the law.

That to me is the definition of Penn State Pride, even if our pride is wounded today.

We obviously didn't learn it from our cowardly leader.




 

Continuing Coverage of the PSU Sex scandal

More and more details emerge by the hour in the indictment of former PSU defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.  It seems with every passing moment the administration of Penn State finds ways to make themselves look even dumber.

Graham Spanier, President of Pennsylvania State University, seems to think these accusations are merely troubling.  “The allegations about a former coach are troubling, and it is appropriate that they be investigated thoroughly,” the statement read. “Protecting children requires the utmost vigilance … I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support.”

Did he read the grand jury statement?  Plain as day it is spelled out all of the crap these guys have covered up, and yet he unconditionally supports them?

A suspected pedophile continued to get access to Penn State for years after he was caught in the act.  We now know the graduate assistant in the report is Mike McQueary.  McQueary reported the issue to Joe Paterno, who immediately notified Tim Curley of the problem.

That's all well and good on Paterno's part, but you have to wonder if Paterno bothered to followup on his reporting of the situation.  From all of the reports it seems like University Police didn't bother to fully investigate the claims. 

No one seemed to go and search for the victim...
No one seemed to care...

Paterno fulfilled his legal responsibility by reporting the matter, but I think he fell a bit short on the moral front.  That is why he is drawing a lot of criticism today from the national media and the public.

Joe Paterno was the king of campus during this time.  He wielded more power than Curley, and many are saying he should have been the one to report the issue to the police, particularly years after the fact when Sandusky still had access to the campus.

Curley and Schultz are in deep over this, and rightfully so.  Why lie about it to a grand jury?  Surely these well educated men had to see there was no saving their jobs once the truth came out. 

Although with stupidity running about on campus in the name of Spanier, who has given them unconditional support, maybe they need not have worried about job security.

At this point anything less than the resignations of Spanier, Curley and Schultz would be an outrage.  Curley and Schultz (allegedly) swept this entire thing under the rug, and Spanier is responsible for them all.

This also pains me to say it but Joe Paterno also has to resign in the wake of all of this.  While he didn't do anything wrong by reporting to Curley, I'm not entirely sure he made sure the authorities were aware of the problem either. 

Nothing stopped him from going outside the chain of command, no matter how painful it might have been to turn in an old friend.  In fact, I'm pretty sure when other head coaching jobs were a possibility for Sandusky, didn't Paterno offer up recommendations for the jobs?  I'm not sure I could recommend a co-worker for a job if I knew they were a pedophile. 

Paterno may not have a choice in the matter.  If Curley resigns or is removed from office, Penn State will have a new athletic director.  A new AD would deserve the opportunity to bring in his own head coach.  It's not like Paterno is the future of Penn State.  He's clearly the past. 

The only way to start the healing process in this whole matter is to remove all traces of the cancer from the body.  In this case those responsible, directly or indirectly, have to be shown the door. 

Anything less will only add to this travesty.

PSU AD Tim Curley and VP of Business Gary Schultz Charged With Perjury

Maybe Pitt fans have it right. Perhaps the school will HAVE to change it's name to State Penn University.

Updating my article from yesterday. the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal just got bigger and who knows where the final axe will fall.

Athletic Director Tim Curley and Vice President of Finance and Business Gary Schultz were charged on Saturday with perjury and failure to report in an investigation. Schultz's responsibilities include overseeing the University Police department.

A good description of the mess involving Curley can be found at this ESPN Blog.

This is definitely not a good sign for the Penn State administration as it now seems very likely that some sort of massive cover up occurred at the school. You have to wonder how many other high ranking officials and coaches in the program knew what was going on.

It sounds like Paterno knew about the situation and reported it to his superiors. That's why he was not named in the perjury charges. I know some biased people will want to tear down Paterno's legacy but if he reported the situation to his athletic director, he's done his job. Had he not told Curley and tried to cover it up, then perhaps you could fault Paterno.

Why would Curley lie about it? If Sandusky did it, then deal with it by letting him go and don't lie to the authorities when asked about it. Nothing this big ever goes away. Hiding the truth only hurts the program more.

Curley and Schultz deserve jail time if we find out they did lie to protect a sexual predator. What kind of leadership does that show?

I am absolutely disgusted by this whole story right now and it looks like it's going to get a lot worse.

At least the state penitentiary isn't too far from campus.

Former PSU Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky Facing Felony Sex Crime Charges.

Penn State has a long standing reputation of being a moral compass in college athletics.  Head coach Joe Paterno has always focused on trying to recruit kids who will go to class and get an education on top of being pretty good athletes. 

It's what has made Penn State stand out over quite a few other noteworthy programs during his 46 year tenure.

I imagine I'm not the only Penn State alumni who is completely shocked to hear the news that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was indicted on felony sex crime charges. 

According to the Patriot-News, Sandusky is facing 40 counts of various crimes.  A two year grand jury investigation resulted in the indictment.  The alleged charges range from 1996-2005.  Makes you wonder if Sandusky's autobiography, "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story", had more of a hidden meaning to the title. 

The actually name of Sandusky's autobiography.
You can't make this up...

Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1998, so going off the charges listed, some of this allegedly took place during his Penn State tenure.

Sandusky is the founder of The Second Mile, a statewide non-profit organization that plans, organizes, and offers activities and programs for children - and adults who work with them - to promote self-confidence as well as physical, academic, and personal success.

I am always in the camp of "innocent until proven guilty" but it's hard to look at all these charges that took over two years to be filed, and not think SOMETHING happened. 

The big thing one has to know, is who knew what and when in the Penn State administration.  Joe Paterno and athletic director Tim Curley both testified before the grand jury during their investigation.

Sandusky was often rumored to be the next head coach at Penn State after Paterno retired, and yet at the age of 55 he suddenly retired and disappeared from the limelight.  Makes you wonder doesn't it?

Several media entities around Pittsburgh (Chris Mueller and Mark Madden) are asking the same questions I am. 

What if Paterno and Penn State knew about this and covered it up?

How did no one in the Central Pennsylvania media hear about this before now?

What happens if we find out PSU DID know about all of this?  Surely some heads would roll.

It remains alleged of course, so I will wait and see what happens in the trial. Regardless, the whole situation disgusts me and I am sure many of you out there as well.

Another Overhyped Quarterback...Ho Hum....

Excuse me if I refuse to buy into the hype ESPN tries to force down my throat every week.   It's always some up and coming quarterback ready to take their slot in the upper echelon of the NFL.

Last year it was Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, and Josh Freeman.  This year we have Tim Tebow, who gets more hype than guys who have proven it time and time again. 

I get the fact he's a "good character" who loves God and all, and loves to do his Tebowing on the field to show God praise, but as a quarterback he flat out sucks.   He should be praying to God every night for some quarterback ability.  I know God works miracles, but even that one might be out of his reach.

Tebow has played 14 games now as a quarterback and has a completion percentage of 48.1%  He got a ton of praise for beating Miami, who last I checked was an awful football team (0-7).  Why?  He completed less than half of his passes.  161 yards isn't exactly awe-inspiring

I know he's a solid threat running the ball, but he's a joke as a passer.  Still not sure why the Denver Broncos thought it was a good idea to blow a first round pick on him.  I remember laughing hysterically when they announced the pick, and I'm still laughing today.

Why don't the genuinely great passers in the league get more recognition?  Philip Rivers blew another game for the Chargers last night, and you keep reading articles about how Tony Romo can turn it around because he's great. 

You don't see much about Ben Roethlisberger except a bunch of haters commenting about his legal issues.  Is that the real reason ESPN and the other sports media outlets cling so tightly to Tebow?  In the hopes he magically becomes a great quarterback with strong morals that won't let them down?

I don't care about morals on a sports team, give me a winner with talent.  These guys aren't my role models in life.  In fact people who worship these guys and put them on a pedestal need to get their priorities straight.  These athletes care about themselves first and the only reason they acknowledge any of us is because the teams that pay their salaries MAKE them do it. 

I wonder who the Bronco fans would rather have leading their team right now.  Ben Roethlisberger or Tim Tebow.  I know who my choice is.