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Paterno Dead at Age 85

tsywake said:
Below is a copy from a FB page of a huge PSU fan I am friends with. I'm not sure the validity of it, but if true thats pretty awesome.

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I debated whether or not to share this, but as everyone has been sharing their "JoePa stories" lately, I thought it'd be appropriate to share mine.

Despite attending Penn State University Park for 4.5 years, I never had the opportunity to meet JoePa. I heard stories of friends that had - most memorably two friends who, while out riding their bikes, saw him driving home from practice on the eve of the 2005 Ohio State game. They decided to follow him all the way into his garage so that they could shake his hand and wish him luck. Instead of being weirded out (which would have been pretty understandable) he was very gracious and thanked them for the support.

The first weekend in this past December, I was visiting Penn State for a number of different reasons. While I was there, I wanted to show my support for Joe in light of his cancer diagnosis and how he had been mistreated by the University and the press (based on incomplete information and misinformation) in the last month. I decided to leave him a note expressing my support along with a blue & white bouquet of flowers. I felt awkward approaching the Paternos' home. I had heard stories of students and alumni that had walked right up, rung the doorbell, and been welcomed in by Joe and Sue - in some cases, even being fed by Sue - but having never met the Paternos, I didn't have the nerve. I left the note and bouquet on their doorstep and walked away. That was the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 4.

On Wednesday, Dec. 7, I received a text from my Mom:

"Does Joe Pa live on McKee St? If so, you got a card from him."

I think my jaw must have dropped about five feet. I was absolutely stunned that Joe and Sue would take the time to send me a card. Later, when I read the card, I was even more humbled by what it contained. Joe and Sue thanked me for the flowers and the note, and said that Joe was drawing strength in his battle with cancer from all the support he had received from Penn Staters. They said that it was "good to be reminded of what we were trying to accomplish at Penn State." They said that after they finished "getting Joe healthy," they would work to remind people of the values that Joe had tried to impart during his time at Penn State. The card was signed, "Very fondly, Joe and Sue Paterno"

But here is the most amazing thing about all of this and what shocks me even to this day: I DIDN'T LEAVE ANY CONTACT INFORMATION WITH MY NOTE. I had signed the note with my name, and mentioned my graduation year, but had been very intentional about not leaving an address, email address, phone number, anything. This means that Sue (I have to think it was her, given Joe's health at the time), despite receiving hundreds of letters from alumni per day, took the time to look me up in the alumni directory (which still contained my parents' address at the time) and send me a card. The Paternos had never met me before; I'm not a huge donor to the school; I'm not someone important who can do anything for them; I'm just another alum. And they went way out of their way to send me a thank you card THE VERY NEXT DAY.

Recently, Penn Staters have been characterized as football-crazed idiots for supporting JoePa despite the allegations made against him in the press. I can tell you that Penn Staters' love for JoePa has almost nothing to do with football. Chris Grovich of Black Shoe Diaries may have put it best when he wrote, "[JoePa] believed in all of us [Penn Staters], whether we knew it or not." Penn Staters are the Paternos' life work and legacy. Joe never missed an opportunity to remind us that success is only valuable when it comes with honor, and that all of us - football players or not - were at college primarily to gain an education, broaden our horizons, and become better people. It is not an overstatement to say that a part of who I am today is directly because of Joe Paterno and his love for Penn State.

Simply put, Joe loved Penn State. That's the only kind of thing that could keep him at Penn State, where he was paid a salary 1/8 the size of other college coaches with half his wins and rejected multimillion dollar offers from NFL teams. That's the only kind of thing that could cause him to donate $100,000 to Penn State a month after the administration fired him over the phone. That's the only kind of thing that could make someone of Joe's stature take the time to send a thank you card to an anonymous alum despite dealing with immense personal trials himself. Joe loved Penn State.

And Penn State loves him back. Thank you, Coach.
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I'm glad they took the time out to look up this dude's address so they can send him a thank you card.

Let's me know they have the capability of looking up addresses and phone numbers rather easily. For example, if they wanted to look up the address and phone number of the local police in case they heard about a 10 year old being raped, they can do that.
 
The public memorial is a living and breathing example of cult of personality. You would have thought that football coach was Mother Teresa. I just hope all those people that have pledged to live out his legacy are not responsible for making hard choices.
 
Funny. Some of my co-workers are PSU grads. They were talking about making the trek to State College for this funeral.
 
When you say cult, are you still talking about Penn Staters? because there have been tons of people, not directly related to Penn State, that have spoken out for Joepa.... Is EVERYONE wrong?
 
PhillyDeac said:
When you say cult, are you still talking about Penn Staters? because there have been tons of people, not directly related to Penn State, that have spoken out for Joepa.... Is EVERYONE wrong?
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There has? I have seen / heard very few people not somehow connected with PSU that are defending Jopa
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
The public memorial is a living and breathing example of cult of personality. You would have thought that football coach was Mother Teresa. I just hope all those people that have pledged to live out his legacy are not responsible for making hard choices.
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Oh, and to further discect your deuschbaggery... Joe pushed students to become; politicians, lawyers, teachers, firefighters, police officers, business owners.

So, sorry bud, but yea, there are people who are making decisions coming from under his wing.

Just accept the fact that Joe did far more great in this world then bad. He made mistakes, and misjudged a terrible situation, to act like he kept his mouth shut and did nothing at all times is wrong, and there are many many many people NOT a former player or student of Penn State that disagree with you and the others on this board.
 
TWDeac said:
Funny. Some of my co-workers are PSU grads. They were talking about making the trek to State College for this funeral.
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One of my brothers (PSU '82) made the trek from Atlanta.
 
PhillyDeac said:
Well then you need to close out your hatred and open your eyes/ears.

Do you respect Mike Ditka?
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Don't know him to say weather I respect him or not...I do know he is from Western PA and I would bet he has some sort of connection to JoPa
 
Ok, you are going to spew hatred no matter what. that's cool. When Ryan Dunn died, who was a friend of mine, again, you were the very FIRST person to spread hatred about a guy that made a terrible mistake. You have some deep issues that you need to address. As a fellow deac fan, I really hope you find it bro. Good luck.
 
PhillyDeac said:
Ok, you are going to spew hatred no matter what. that's cool. When Ryan Dunn died, who was a friend of mine, again, you were the very FIRST person to spread hatred about a guy that made a terrible mistake. You have some deep issues that you need to address. As a fellow deac fan, I really hope you find it bro. Good luck.
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???? I don't know who Ryan Dunn is
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
Don't know him to say weather I respect him or not...I do know he is from Western PA and I would bet he has some sort of connection to JoPa
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Oh, and by the way, you don't know the millions of people that are supporting JoePa but you have no problem trashing them. However, once it comes time to talk about a legendary sports mind (ditka) who gave praise to Paterno, all of the sudden you don't know him well enough to pass judgement. Well done.
 
how many times do we have to say "he did the bare minimum when he could have done a lot more" to you?
 
PhillyDeac said:
Oh, and by the way, you don't know the millions of people that are supporting JoePa but you have no problem trashing them. However, once it comes time to talk about a legendary sports mind (ditka) who gave praise to Paterno, all of the sudden you don't know him well enough to pass judgement. Well done.
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I said I don't know him enough to respect him. I never said I respect / disrespect any of the JoePa worshipers.

Keep trying...
 
Ryan Dunn made the conscious decision to drive drunk and ended up killing himself, his friend and very well could have killed others. I have no sympathy for him.
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
I will wait for an apology.
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