Football gods

I do not get vocal about many public issues. I tend to keep my views to myself unless asked. But when it comes to innocent children I can't keep quiet. Someone has got to fight for them! This whole Penn State thing has me stirred up. I get angry in 0-60 just thinking about it. As you probably already know, Joe Paterno (the football coach) and the Penn State President were fired by the Board of Trustees because they failed to take proper action against alleged sexual abuse that they were fully aware of. That's the only part of this story that makes me happy.
People are screaming and protesting, saying Paterno "followed protocol". REALLY???? He never followed through beyond "following protocol" and telling the athletic director, yet he has become the victim because he's revered as a football god. People put WAY too much stock in football. Actions are overlooked if it involves a good football player or coach. (Think back to Brett Favre)
What happened to morals? It was his moral obligation to take action beyond protocol! He has 16 grandkids and I'm sure that if one of his grandsons was raped in a locker room he'd be raising cane over it. I know I would! If I was a parent of one of these kids I'd be suing Penn State, Paterno, the Athletic Director AND the Assistant Coach. Because proper action wasn't taken and no one "manned up" to follow through several more boys were sexually abused, molested and raped throughout the years. Innocent boys could've remained innocent if one man had stepped up to the plate to follow an unwritten moral code in society.
I'm getting hot just typing this and I'm trying to be as nice as I can, while still getting my point across. But, heaven forbid, if this ever involved P. That's the way I look at it. I don't care about how many years the guy's coached or how many games he's won. What I see is that because he withheld information when questioned and didn't act more aggressively poor, innocent boys were sexually molested and raped. That, to me, is more important than any football god could ever be!
In closing here is a snip-it from the LA Times that I liked (This was published Wednesday before Paterno was fired).....

"This is not about Joe Paterno. This is about the eight boys allegedly molested during a 15-year period by longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

This is not about the legacy of an 84-year-old football coach. This is about the legacy of violated preteen children, including one whose alleged rape in a football locker room was witnessed by a graduate assistant who informed Paterno of the incident."


Sad situation all the way around, for everyone involved, especially the football god!