www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7205085/growing-penn-state The article above does as good a job as anything I have read at explaining the inexplicable -- namely, how does a former player not intervene in an ongoing assault, or at least insist that the subsequent investigation result in a formal report to the police? And how does one of the most respected and admited men in America report the matter to a Vice President of the school (who had authority over the campus police), but not follow up to make sure that the police were actually on the case, and eventually allow Sandusky's ban from campus to fade away over the years, without ever confirming that the authorities had actually exonerated him? This article does not really explain that, but it gives you a window into the soul of a small town that worshipped its team and its coach. It is also a heart wrenching story of what happens when that faith is torn asunder, and a lifetime of bedrock and foundational certainties about what is good is despoiled. Here is the key paragraph: "In the second grade, my Little League coach was an enormous neighbor of ours named Mr. McQueary, and his son Mike was the best player on our team. We went to school at Park Forest Junior High, and then we went to State College High School, where we learned how to drive and how to date and how to do quadratic equations. We were the sons of farmers and college professors and football coaches. One of my brother's classmates was named Sandusky; one of my classmates was named Sandusky, too. I goofed off in the back of Latin class with a kid named Scott Paterno. We knew who their fathers were; their fathers were royalty to us, even if we acted like it was no big deal." The "Mike McQueary" named above is the graduate assistant that witnessed the crime, reported it first to Paterno and then to the AD and VP, and apparently trusted them to do the right thing. And then, when it became clear over the following months and years that the AD and VP must not have done the right thing, but instead covered up a despicable crime, he did not have the courage to go to the cops himself, but apparently accepted Sandusky's eventual re-emergence on campus with silence.
Thanks for posting this. What an incredibly sad thing. It is amazing how much can be destroyed by this crime. I just hope that all actions from here forward are done in only the best interest of the people who were victimized, no matter the cost to institutions, reputations, legacies and football games. The cost of those actions to the writer of that piece and to all of those he represents is a real shame. It is encouraging though to see that he (along with others he's polled) is prepared to accept that fate in the name of justice for those who've been truly damaged. What a sad, sad state of things. What must've been a tiny seed of immorality in the mind of Sandusky at one point in history has grown to a towering mushroom cloud because it was never stopped by he or anyone else who had the chance. Now, so many more suffer than ever needed. Just makes me sad.
A term I only leaned this week: gerontocracy Several good blogs/articles written the past 48 hours on power, failure of power, abuse of power. Plus comments about power in small towns, rural areas. Often a family, or a family name, is greater than the local Sheriff or any legality. There are many variations of fiefdoms with their respective rulers (ruling family). A mafia in a city is a fiefdom. Godfather? The 'family.' It appears from one view of it, the Paterno family and its extending family in the coaching circles seems very much like that. Gerontocracy (wiki)
I read that story yesterday and passed it on to some other buddies. We all agreed that it was a good read with true insight on how things operate in that place. I hesitate to say it seems cultish, but that is the only word I could think of.
Not cultish just small city rural America. If you have never lived in a small town/city, you have a hard time understanding the culture that forms in these communities. The scandal at Penn St. is tragic for the victims.
Maybe it's been posted somewhere already... I'm literally speechless. This is real: Sandusky's autobiography is titled "Touched: The Jerry Sandusky Story"The Link Un-*******-believable.
Growing up Penn State.... Growing up German Nazi.... It's not all that uncommon for a group to follow, engage, ignore, rationalize, overlook very bad things going on. It's happened before, it'll happen again. I hope to god it never happens to UT.
