Penn State horror story

[farmteam]

So which is worse?

 

Tressel finds out he has players selling things to a shady tattoo shop and gets fired for not notifying the proper people on what was going down.

 

or

 

Paterno finding out a former coach of his just sexually assualted a young boy and instead of calling law enforcement, he calls his AD.

 

You could definitely make an argument Paterno should have called the police or something when he realized the AD wasn't going to, but the AD is absolutely the first person he should have notified. No question.

[Heads22]

Actually I believe thats what Tressel did.

 

As for the PSU thing, I dont see what an AD has to do with a grown man f***ing an 11 year old boy in the shower at the university. The Grad assistant should have called the cops, the janitor that saw him blowing a kid should have called the cops, and JoPa and Curley etc. Everyone needs to ignore the chain of command and do whats right IMO.

 

It's a big, long list of people that f***ed up there.

[clyons]

As for the PSU thing, I dont see what an AD has to do with a grown man f***ing an 11 year old boy in the shower at the university. The Grad assistant should have called the cops, the janitor that saw him blowing a kid should have called the cops, and JoPa and Curley etc. Everyone needs to ignore the chain of command and do whats right IMO.

 

No question. Since when is it appropriate to report serious, abusive criminal behavior only to your boss? And this involved kids.

[Kyyle23]

after reading the Deadspin breakdown of what happened, there should be a lot of jobs lost and a lot of charges pressed against the PSU chain of command from JoePa all the way to the AD. They knew what happened as early as 98 and the university continued to associate themselves with Sandusky up until 2007. so f***ed up.

 

I cannot believe the grad assistant didnt do anything when he realized JoePa and Curley were doing nothing. Especially after what he saw

[zenryan]

You could definitely make an argument Paterno should have called the police or something when he realized the AD wasn't going to, but the AD is absolutely the first person he should have notified. No question.

 

 

 

This isnt a case of someone stealing some supplies from the office filing cabinet.

 

 

 

In the very least, there should have been some cops called because some janitor was beating the crap out of some old man.

[cabiness42]

You could definitely make an argument Paterno should have called the police or something when he realized the AD wasn't going to, but the AD is absolutely the first person he should have notified. No question.

 

Yeah, unless you think somebody is in immediate danger, you notify your first-line supervisor first and give him a chance to deal with it, but at some point there needed to be a follow-up conversation where Joe told his boss either you get the cops involved or I will, and that clearly didn't happen.

 

[The Sir]

after reading the Deadspin breakdown of what happened, there should be a lot of jobs lost and a lot of charges pressed against the PSU chain of command from JoePa all the way to the AD. They knew what happened as early as 98 and the university continued to associate themselves with Sandusky up until 2007. so f***ed up.

 

I cannot believe the grad assistant didnt do anything when he realized JoePa and Curley were doing nothing. Especially after what he saw

 

As a Penn State grad, this whole thing saddens me. We built a reputation not only on having a pretty damn good football team, but on playing with honor and dignity as well. And now this whole thing comes out? I don't know what to think.

 

We still need to live by "innocent until proven guilty", but it doesn't look good. This is disgraceful.

[southsider2k5]

Yikes...

AP Link

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Paterno was told something was going on and turned it over to the AD? You'd think the first person you'd notify after hearing about this would be some sort of law agency, not your AD.

 

I'm pretty sure that would actually be the person he would be legally obligated to turn the info over to. He could go the police, but I know the laws in Indiana specify that you have to contact your supervisor at least. The people in charge are the people who legally obligated to contact the authorities are the highest levels of the educational institution,.

[southsider2k5]

No question. Since when is it appropriate to report serious, abusive criminal behavior only to your boss? And this involved kids.

 

In the educational system, that is usually how it is supposed to go.

[farmteam]

Yeah, unless you think somebody is in immediate danger, you notify your first-line supervisor first and give him a chance to deal with it, but at some point there needed to be a follow-up conversation where Joe told his boss either you get the cops involved or I will, and that clearly didn't happen.

 

Right, that's what I'm saying. You have to notify your supervisor and you all figure out what to do (which should start with "Call the cops"). The problem arises when the supervisor (or the AD's supervisor, etc.) doesn't call the police. Is the onus back on Paterno? Everyone? I'd say everyone (which obviously includes Paterno).

[southsider2k5]

Right, that's what I'm saying. You have to notify your supervisor and you all figure out what to do (which should start with "Call the cops"). The problem arises when the supervisor (or the AD's supervisor, etc.) doesn't call the police. Is the onus back on Paterno? Everyone? I'd say everyone (which obviously includes Paterno).

 

School leadership doesn't usually include the staff in the decision making process for legal reasons.

[Balta1701]

Actually I believe thats what Tressel did.

 

As for the PSU thing, I dont see what an AD has to do with a grown man f***ing an 11 year old boy in the shower at the university. The Grad assistant should have called the cops, the janitor that saw him blowing a kid should have called the cops, and JoPa and Curley etc. Everyone needs to ignore the chain of command and do whats right IMO.

The one thing that I would say is that a graduate assistant and a janitor would in most cases be scared about going outside the "Chain of command", in the sense that their jobs could be at risk if they went to the police without approval of their supervisors. Not necessarily right, but certainly could be the case.

[zenryan]

In the educational system, that is usually how it is supposed to go.

 

 

 

The coach wasnt associated with the university anymore.

 

Would the same process need to be followed then?

[Balta1701]

The coach wasnt associated with the university anymore.

 

Would the same process need to be followed then?

There is probably some level of non-disclosure or privacy agreement signed by every one of these employees when they take the position, if for no other reason than the fact that they have access to personal and professional information anyway.

[southsider2k5]

The coach wasnt associated with the university anymore.

 

Would the same process need to be followed then?

 

Usually. These things are usually decided at the administrator level. They are the ones with the reporting obligation to the property authorities.

[RockRaines]

The coach wasnt associated with the university anymore.

 

Would the same process need to be followed then?

Yes he was, he was a professor emeritus and had access to all of the facilities at PSU. Regardless anyone who saw something should have called the cops immediately. If I walk into a conference room at work and see an old man RAPING an 11 year old boy, I dont even think about calling my boss, I call the cops and then beat the s*** out that guy.

[The Sir]

In regards to the Penn State scandal, anybody think this has USC like repercussions for us? Say, no postseason for two years? Yes, but not as severe? More severe?

[Balta1701]

In regards to the Penn State scandal, anybody think this has USC like repercussions for us? Say, no postseason for two years? Yes, but not as severe? More severe?

Frankly, I don't see how anyone can have an idea about the repercussions. If the reports are accurate, this is pretty much unprecedented for the NCAA. There could be punishment rules coming into play that have never been seen before.

[The Sir]

Frankly, I don't see how anyone can have an idea about the repercussions. If the reports are accurate, this is pretty much unprecedented for the NCAA. There could be punishment rules coming into play that have never been seen before.

 

f***.

 

Think we get some leniency if we offer to feed Jerry Sandusky to wild dogs?

[zenryan]

I dont see how the NCAA can punish Penn State on the field of play. Maybe a loss of scholarships because of lack of institutional control but it's not the current player's fault and future players shouldnt be punished because it didnt involve any players.

 

Get rid of Paterno, the AD and whoever else that knew of what this guy did and maybe some loss of scholarships.

[The Sir]

I dont see how the NCAA can punish Penn State on the field of play. Maybe a loss of scholarships because of lack of institutional control but it's not the current player's fault and future players shouldnt be punished because it didnt involve any players.

 

Get rid of Paterno, the AD and whoever else that knew of what this guy did and maybe some loss of scholarships.

 

Well, maybe my understanding of the USC situation is lacking, but didn't it mostly involve inappropriate rewards being given to players such as Reggie Bush? That doesn't really involve any of USC's current players, but they took the brunt of the punishment.

 

I'm just saying it wouldn't be unprecedented (and again I may be uninformed about the full extent of USC's scandals) for NCAA to do something of that sort. AKA punishing Matt McGloin and Silas Redd and company for something Jerry Sandusky did years ago, however horrible it may have been.

[Kyyle23]

Well, maybe my understanding of the USC situation is lacking, but didn't it mostly involve inappropriate rewards being given to players such as Reggie Bush? That doesn't really involve any of USC's current players, but they took the brunt of the punishment.

 

I'm just saying it wouldn't be unprecedented (and again I may be uninformed about the full extent of USC's scandals) for NCAA to do something of that sort. AKA punishing Matt McGloin and Silas Redd and company for something Jerry Sandusky did years ago, however horrible it may have been.

 

The huge difference here is that USC attempted to pay players in order to gain a competetive advantage. Penn St covered up a horrific crime that had nothing to do with winning games.

 

There should be loss of jobs, prison time for certain individuals, but it would be a shame if any player was punished by what happened here.

[Balta1701]

The huge difference here is that USC attempted to pay players in order to gain a competetive advantage. Penn St covered up a horrific crime that had nothing to do with winning games.

 

There should be loss of jobs, prison time for certain individuals, but it would be a shame if any player was punished by what happened here.

If the person being protected was a coach...wasn't part of the motivation....keeping that guy around as a coach?

[Kyyle23]

If the person being protected was a coach...wasn't part of the motivation....keeping that guy around as a coach?

 

I believe the party that was being protected in this case was Penn St, not Sandusky. I think this was one of those "bury this and hope it disappears" situations, because no matter what happened Penn St was going to look horrible.

[Rex Hudler]

I dont see how the NCAA can punish Penn State on the field of play. Maybe a loss of scholarships because of lack of institutional control but it's not the current player's fault and future players shouldnt be punished because it didnt involve any players.

 

Get rid of Paterno, the AD and whoever else that knew of what this guy did and maybe some loss of scholarships.

 

I don't see this being an NCAA issue at all. It's not a football issue. It's a personnel issue.