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Joe Paterno's Legacy

Predictions

  • Total voters
    131
  • Poll closed .
TBR said:
What do you think of when you hear "SMU"?
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Because there's been nothing since then to eclipse it.

What do you think of when you think of Baylor? Probably not Patrick Dennehy, or at least most don't.

That's why I say whoever takes over the PSU job is going to have a boatload of resources. Winning is the best rehabilitation.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
Because there's been nothing since then to eclipse it.

What do you think of when you think of Baylor? Probably not Patrick Dennehy, or at least most don't.

That's why I say whoever takes over the PSU job is going to have a boatload of resources. Winning is the best rehabilitation.
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Fair enough.

Though, tbh, when I think of Baylor I think of general sleaze, if not the Dennehy scandal specifically.
 
TBR said:
Fair enough.

Though, tbh, when I think of Baylor I think of general sleaze, if not the Dennehy scandal specifically.
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Most people probably would think of Robert Griffin. Maybe Ekpe Udoh. If anything. But they've gotten past the Dennehy thing pretty much as well or better than could have been imagined.

But because SMU has been unable to recapture anything resembling its glory, that's the only thing people have to latch onto with them...the death penalty.
 
KanhojiAngre said:
Most people probably would think of Robert Griffin. Maybe Ekpe Udoh. If anything. But they've gotten past the Dennehy thing pretty much as well or better than could have been imagined.

But because SMU has been unable to recapture anything resembling its glory, that's the only thing people have to latch onto with them...the death penalty.
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Well I am from Texas and a casual Aggie fan so I am a bit biased when it comes to Baylor.
 
PhDeac said:
What does the average person know about Penn State besides JoePa?
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Average people are pretty dumb, especially when they don't try.

Right now it seems people generally put less blame on Paterno than it seems the board consensus here suggests he deserves -- a view with which I probably wouldn't disagree.

Most of the non-sports fan friends and family that have asked me about it seem to think he's being scapegoated and that he did what he was supposed to, even if it was not as much as he could have. I understand that, but I also understand that Paterno could have fired Sandusky in the amount of time it took to dial the AD's office. Running it up the chain was certainly not his only option even discounting the option of going to the police.

But this thing was a lot bigger than Paterno, I suspect. The state police was covering up for Sandusky, the PSU administration, certainly some other local luminaries.

But the specific role Paterno had and the extent to which it becomes public knowledge will certainly impact the way the scandal ultimately colors his legacy.
 
I understand that perspective. I also understand that Paterno is the chain. The idea that there's someone who is in reality "over" JoePa is comical. If he wanted Sandusky investigated, it would have happened.
 
Yeah. None of those have outlived them. Older fans may know them by their careers, but younger fans remember the history or controversy at the end. Can imagine a 20 something is going to see JoePa as primarily a great coach. Younger posters can tell me more about that. Seems like they'd view him as an old guy who didn't retire and then was found to not see an insane level of corruption and amorality going on around him.
 
MBDeac08 said:
Went with other. This will never go away, but Paterno will likely be remembered as a coach who cared about his players and did things the right way, BUT in his later years made some grievous errors in judgment that led to a justified termination of employment.

In other words, anytime someone talks about Paterno, they will have to include the good and the bad.
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Wow, I bet you got burned for this from certain posters. Pretty much sums up what I think.
 
Paterno's reputation was a creation of the media. In reality, he's always been a horse's ass who, away from the spotlight, treated people like crap.

It reminds me of the media slobberfest when Seve Ballesteros passed. When on tour, you couldn't find a player more hated by fellow players. He was an arrogant jerk who whined about everything, and thought he could do no wrong. Some of his lunacy was documented during Ryder Cups when he argued with competitors and rules officials about any and everything. I saw this first hand myself during a GGO one year when my player was paired with him three of the four days. He whined and bitched about anything that didn't go his way.

But when Seve passed, the memorials were glowing, the media couldn't find enough good things to say about him.

Paterno embarrassed himself by coaching this long and I'm glad he was finally exposed for the jerk that he really is.
 
PhDeac said:
Yeah. None of those have outlived them. Older fans may know them by their careers, but younger fans remember the history or controversy at the end. Can imagine a 20 something is going to see JoePa as primarily a great coach. Younger posters can tell me more about that. Seems like they'd view him as an old guy who didn't retire and then was found to not see an insane level of corruption and amorality going on around him.
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I am 27, and before this I only thought of JoePa in terms of longevity and hanging on despite not apparently coaching just to beat Bowden.

Folks on this thread are really underestimating a few things with this case:

1) This scandal is bigger than any other sports scandal ever.
2) This scandal, and JoePa involvement or blind eye is much bigger than one night in 2002.
3) PSU is bigger than Baylor, most fans probably think of Baylor by thinking "Where is that?"
4) This story will get MSM media exposure all along just like OJ. No one has another first thought for OJ.
5) We live in an information rich time. The Internet will ensure that this is an unmistakable stain on Joepa's legacy.

Right now everyone's focus and conversation seems to be about the 2002 incident when evaluating his legacy. As this story slogs through the courts, it will settle in that this was a decades long culture of corruption that ruined the lives of dozens of children.

Also, if folks are having a hard time admitting that this will define his legacy, if it comes out that he intentionally led the cover up, some PSU fans may kill themselves.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I am 27, and before this I only thought of JoePa in terms of longevity and hanging on despite not apparently coaching just to beat Bowden.

Folks on this thread are really underestimating a few things with this case:

1) This scandal is bigger than any other sports scandal ever.
2) This scandal, and JoePa involvement or blind eye is much bigger than one night in 2002.
3) PSU is bigger than Baylor, most fans probably think of Baylor by thinking "Where is that?"
4) This story will get MSM media exposure all along just like OJ. No one has another first thought for OJ.
5) We live in an information rich time. The Internet will ensure that this is an unmistakable stain on Joepa's legacy.

Right now everyone's focus and conversation seems to be about the 2002 incident when evaluating his legacy. As this story slogs through the courts, it will settle in that this was a decades long culture of corruption that ruined the lives of dozens of children.

Also, if folks are having a hard time admitting that this will define his legacy, if it comes out that he intentionally led the cover up, some PSU fans may kill themselves.
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If this ever comes (which I doubt) Penn State fans will never believe it. They'll rationalize that the media hates Penn State and this is some elaborate plot by the media to ruin PSU football.
 
OJ is a good comparison IMO. Regardless of how you view Paterno's obligation and whether or not he did enough, he will always be the face of this scandal because he was Penn State football. Baylor is a wtf bad example.
 
You guys are missing the real story. Paterno did nothing himself. Nor did he coverup what Sandusky did.

He should have done more, but it wasn't his crime.

This will be a very sad footnote but will not destroy over fifty years of coaching.
 
RJKarl said:
You guys are missing the real story. Paterno did nothing himself. Nor did he coverup what Sandusky did.

He should have done more, but it wasn't his crime.

This will be a very sad footnote but will not destroy over fifty years of coaching.
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No one is missing that, because he is still the face of the scandal.
 
SkinsNDeacs said:
Bullshit. He knew that his defensive coordinator was having anal sex with 10 year old boys in his locker room. He knew that he had not been arrested for it and was still around his program. That is turning a blind eye.
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Exactly. The phrase "turned a blind eye" was built for this type of situation. He never made any attempt to learn or do anything at all about the incident.
 
wake20 said:
OJ is a good comparison IMO. Regardless of how you view Paterno's obligation and whether or not he did enough, he will always be the face of this scandal because he was Penn State football. Baylor is a wtf bad example.
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OJ was also found "innocent" once "all the facts came out"
 
Winkathomelygirl said:
I'll take the under on his life expectancy after this. However, twenty years from now he will be on the top ten list of all time college coaches. The hardest part for me is reconciling his immense moral breakdown as a man and leader against how he developed and ran his football program.
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How you gonna steal my avatar, trick.
 
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