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Joe Paterno's Legacy

Predictions

  • Total voters
    131
  • Poll closed .
KanhojiAngre said:
Details fade, the record books and the House that Joe built will endure.

The headline will be the program he built and the university he helped build to what it is today, and he has had a lot to do with it.

The subhead will be the Sandusky thing.

Obviously, if he goes to prison, things change. But I don't expect that.
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That didn't happen for OJ or Shoeless Joe. This will be the headline.
 
This is bullshit. Paterno is a fine man - listen to the people who have known him over the years. Listen!

He stupidly put his faith in the chain of command, and the chain turned around and slit his throat once the searchlights turned on. A damn sacrificial lamb, after all he's done for that school. Disgusting and cowardly.

Out.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
That didn't happen for OJ or Shoeless Joe. This will be the headline.
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How about Adolph Rupp?

How about Bob Knight?

How about Woody Hayes?

How about comparing to an actual coach?

Paterno may not have done all he could, but he wasn't the one molesting people. The record books won't give details.

The cable/Internet era might change things, but a lot of things get lost over time.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
How about Adolph Rupp?

How about Bob Knight?

How about Woody Hayes?

How about comparing to an actual coach?

Paterno may not have done all he could, but he wasn't the one molesting people. The record books won't give details.

The cable/Internet era might change things, but a lot of things get lost over time.
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When kids Wikipedia him in 30 years, this will be in the opening page, and the first link people chase. This is the single greatest scandal in the history of sports. The only comparisons seem close are OJ and Shoeless Joe. None of the other coaches come close.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
When kids Wikipedia him in 30 years, this will be in the opening page, and the first link people chase. This is the single greatest scandal in the history of sports. The only comparisons seem close are OJ and Shoeless Joe. None of the other coaches come close.
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But is it a Penn State scandal or a JoePa scandal? I would submit it is more the former. He was part of it, but it wasn't all or even mostly him. A lot of people at Penn State failed.

But he'll still be "great Penn State football coach and all time wins leader whose career ended abruptly amid a scandal that sent his longtime assistant to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison"...not the other way around.

I think they were right to terminate him and think he made some terrible mistakes, but not for a second do I think it completely overshadows everything he ever did.

Eventually, sometime, not sure when but sometime, Nike and ESPN will lead a movement to remember all the "good" Paterno did, halftime retrospectives, etc. There will always be that tarnish, though.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
But is it a Penn State scandal or a JoePa scandal? I would submit it is more the former. He was part of it, but it wasn't all or even mostly him. A lot of people at Penn State failed.

But he'll still be "great Penn State football coach and all time wins leader whose career ended abruptly amid a scandal that sent his longtime assistant to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison"...not the other way around.

I think they were right to terminate him and think he made some terrible mistakes, but not for a second do I think it completely overshadows everything he ever did.

Eventually, sometime, not sure when but sometime, Nike and ESPN will lead a movement to remember all the "good" Paterno did, halftime retrospectives, etc. There will always be that tarnish, though.
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I'm really not so sure. As this goes forward, people will look at the bigger picture than the 2002 incident and realize that it was a huge cultural problem which allowed this to happen and continue. That was his program.

It also would not surprise me in the least if he deliberately led the cover up.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
But is it a Penn State scandal or a JoePa scandal? I would submit it is more the former. He was part of it, but it wasn't all or even mostly him. A lot of people at Penn State failed.

But he'll still be "great Penn State football coach and all time wins leader whose career ended abruptly amid a scandal that sent his longtime assistant to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison"...not the other way around.

I think they were right to terminate him and think he made some terrible mistakes, but not for a second do I think it completely overshadows everything he ever did.

Eventually, sometime, not sure when but sometime, Nike and ESPN will lead a movement to remember all the "good" Paterno did, halftime retrospectives, etc. There will always be that tarnish, though.
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Penn State is JoePa and JoePa is Penn State.

For all the "WE ARE PENN STATE", those "We" gave up their ownership of Penn State to JoePa a long time ago.

The Second Mile was started in 1977. We don't know how long Paterno ignored this under his watch. We may never know. But either Paterno was a horrible man who allowed the unthinkable or a clueless dolt who didn't see these things happening.
 
michael jackson's legacy/popularity is not so bad these days.

time heals a lot of wounds.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I'm really not so sure. As this goes forward, people will look at the bigger picture than the 2002 incident and realize that it was a huge cultural problem which allowed this to happen and continue. That was his program.

It also would not surprise me in the least if he deliberately led the cover up.
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This is an important caveat...what does come out in this regard. If you turn out to be correct and this is a "Paterno scandal" more than a PSU one, you'll certainly be correct.
 
PhDeac said:
Penn State is JoePa and JoePa is Penn State.

For all the "WE ARE PENN STATE", those "We" gave up their ownership of Penn State to JoePa a long time ago.
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PSU football, yes. PSU, no not quite. A very powerful and important character, but not bigger than the university itself.

Obviously this was bigger than Paterno, because there are people above him in the organizational chain that have been implicated.

But the point about just what role Paterno had will be an important one to ultimately answering that question.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
Jackson is still remembered for being a disturbed dude.
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yeah - but the stuff he did himself was way worse than what joepa did.

there is an argument that what joepa didn't do pretty much levels that field, but that will fade away. just will take a while. and he is going to do a bunch of charity work once the criminal charges possibility goes away. at least that is what i expect.
 
isledeac said:
yeah - but the stuff he did himself was way worse than what joepa did.

there is an argument that what joepa didn't do pretty much levels that field, but that will fade away. just will take a while. and he is going to do a bunch of charity work once the criminal charges possibility goes away. at least that is what i expect.
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The question isn't whether or not JoePa was/is a bad dude, the question is what his legacy will be, and you are lying to yourself if you don't think that this will be in the first sentence.
 
I'm not trying to decide whether or not that is fair until the facts come out (I have my ideas), but that is the reality.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I'm not trying to decide whether or not that is fair until the facts come out (I have my ideas), but that is the reality.
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I agree with you. The question seems to hinge on whether the facts, as they emerge, clarify who knew what when and the role that each participant played in covering things up.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
PSU football, yes. PSU, no not quite. A very powerful and important character, but not bigger than the university itself.

Obviously this was bigger than Paterno, because there are people above him in the organizational chain that have been implicated.

But the point about just what role Paterno had will be an important one to ultimately answering that question.
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What does the average person know about Penn State besides JoePa?
 
It is too early to determine the ultimate impact or damage.

Under any circumstances, it will be a permanent stain; but it may not utterly ruin his legacy...I think it depends on how ugly it is when all the facts are known.
 
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