I'm going to drive over to State College in a bit to meet up with my brother and take in some of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Maybe I can remind myself of some of the good that is Penn State. Against my better judgement I decided to write down some of my random thoughts on the never ending Sandusky scandal. Take a deep breath and read on.
Honestly i don't think we will ever know the truth, if the Freeh report is to be believed the knowledge of Sandusky's evil just has to have been that widespread. In my current cynical mood I have to ask a question. Sandusky's abuse went on for at least 15 years and was apparently widely known in some circles yet those closest to him seem to have had no clue. His wife, friends, neighbors, and coworkers had no clue? Really? I don't think I'm that naive. No, we will never know the full truth because it's all to easy to blame Joe. After all its not like you can defend yourself from the grave.
A have special spot for Mike McQueary in my thoughts of the scandal. McQueary says he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the shower of the athletic center. If my memory is correct the center is full of baseball bats and golf clubs. Personally. I don't care who he was, I would have grabbed one and beaten Sandusky senseless. Doesn't seem that thought ever crossed McQueary's mind at that moment or when he played in Sandusky's golf tournament the following week.
How supposedly intelligent men could allow this to happen to our school is totally beyond me. Did they learn nothing from Dick Nixon?
Even though I haven't read any of it I will mention the Freeh Report here. I was talking to my dad who told me of a conversation he had with a friend who has read the report and had some interesting thoughts. For a supposedly conclusive report Freeh didn't interview Paterno, Sandusky, McQueary, Curley, or Schultz. One would think those would have been important people to talk to. The current damnation of Paterno stems from Freeh's conclusion that he knew of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, something Paterno denied to his grave. Freeh's monumental evidence comes down to just two emails, neither of which are from or to Paterno.
The first email is from Athletic Director Curley to University President Spaingler with the subject line "Joe Paterno" in which he says he has touched base with the coach and the coach wants to be kept informed. We are to assume the coach is Paterno and he wants to be informed of the investigation. Freeh never talked to Curley and Spaingler says he doesn't even remember the email.
The second email is even more vague yet is supposedly the smoking gun. The email is again from Curley but this time to head of the campus police Schultz which simply says "Anything new? Coach is anxious to know where it stands." Freeh assumes the coach is Paterno and he also assumes the 'it' to be the Sandusky investigation, but remember Freeh talked to none of them. At the time of the email Sandusky himself was still employed as a Penn State coach and was negotiating his retirement. Why is that important? Because Gary Schultz was also University Vice President for Business and Finance.
For these two emails JoePa shall be damned for eternity.
One final thought. Let us not forget the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office ignored the Sandusky case for at least three years. The Attorney General for those years none other than current Pennsylvania Governor and member of the Penn State Board of Trustees Tom Corbett.
I guess Freeh didn't talk to Corbett either.
Honestly i don't think we will ever know the truth, if the Freeh report is to be believed the knowledge of Sandusky's evil just has to have been that widespread. In my current cynical mood I have to ask a question. Sandusky's abuse went on for at least 15 years and was apparently widely known in some circles yet those closest to him seem to have had no clue. His wife, friends, neighbors, and coworkers had no clue? Really? I don't think I'm that naive. No, we will never know the full truth because it's all to easy to blame Joe. After all its not like you can defend yourself from the grave.
A have special spot for Mike McQueary in my thoughts of the scandal. McQueary says he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the shower of the athletic center. If my memory is correct the center is full of baseball bats and golf clubs. Personally. I don't care who he was, I would have grabbed one and beaten Sandusky senseless. Doesn't seem that thought ever crossed McQueary's mind at that moment or when he played in Sandusky's golf tournament the following week.
How supposedly intelligent men could allow this to happen to our school is totally beyond me. Did they learn nothing from Dick Nixon?
Even though I haven't read any of it I will mention the Freeh Report here. I was talking to my dad who told me of a conversation he had with a friend who has read the report and had some interesting thoughts. For a supposedly conclusive report Freeh didn't interview Paterno, Sandusky, McQueary, Curley, or Schultz. One would think those would have been important people to talk to. The current damnation of Paterno stems from Freeh's conclusion that he knew of the 1998 investigation of Sandusky, something Paterno denied to his grave. Freeh's monumental evidence comes down to just two emails, neither of which are from or to Paterno.
The first email is from Athletic Director Curley to University President Spaingler with the subject line "Joe Paterno" in which he says he has touched base with the coach and the coach wants to be kept informed. We are to assume the coach is Paterno and he wants to be informed of the investigation. Freeh never talked to Curley and Spaingler says he doesn't even remember the email.
The second email is even more vague yet is supposedly the smoking gun. The email is again from Curley but this time to head of the campus police Schultz which simply says "Anything new? Coach is anxious to know where it stands." Freeh assumes the coach is Paterno and he also assumes the 'it' to be the Sandusky investigation, but remember Freeh talked to none of them. At the time of the email Sandusky himself was still employed as a Penn State coach and was negotiating his retirement. Why is that important? Because Gary Schultz was also University Vice President for Business and Finance.
For these two emails JoePa shall be damned for eternity.
One final thought. Let us not forget the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office ignored the Sandusky case for at least three years. The Attorney General for those years none other than current Pennsylvania Governor and member of the Penn State Board of Trustees Tom Corbett.
I guess Freeh didn't talk to Corbett either.
