hey jackdainel

[WPIAL~Titan]

I'm sure when you say 'Get a Life", you HAVE to be talking about these folks...

[jack daniel]

No, no. I was talking about you actually.

[abpk2903]

Seriously Titan why do you care? I'm trying to have an honest discussion with you here on why you have such a problem with people liking Paterno, appreciating his contributions to a community, football, and a university, and most of all mourning his death. Why does it bother you to see this? For all you know this could have been someone really blessed by something Paterno did for them. They could be mourning the passing of someone that had a positive impact on their life. I don't let what others do effect my day or my life.

[WPIAL~Titan]

Paterno did do good things for PSU, BUT ONLY IF they brought HIM the glory and accolades. That was the string that was ALWAYS attached. The cameras were rolling for every good deed and every library donation. He controlled the PSU public relations and spin machine. He controlled the discipline of his players ("Police, just bring any offenders to my house so they can sleep there and I will run their tails off in the morning"). He was involved DEEPLY in multi-million dollar business deals with members of the Board of Trustees and the Second Mile. The collapse of the program through revealing the deep dark secret of Sandusky would mean that Paterno would lose EVERYTHING, including all of his money. Why do you think he sold the family house to Sue last sumer??? BECAUSE HE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND WANTED TO PROTECT THE MONEY.

Sure, Paterno's "published" salary was one of the lowest in the B10, but the business deals (Aqua Penn, real estate development, etc.) and perks which he received off the record made him wealthy enough to donate boatloads of money back to the university, money that was earned by covering up the secret the program and defending the myths. I can link the investigative report done on Paterno's fortune if you'd like.

The positive impact that he had on the lives of others was artificial and contrived, borne only from Paterno's thirst for glory in his quest to fulfill the fictitious images created by him such as The Grand Experiment, Success With Honor, and the Penn State/Paterno Way.

Tragically, it's also become apparent that Paterno controlled how a serial child molseter should be handled. He was at least a participant in enabling a now convicted serial felon to continue to commit unspeakable crimes on campus and throughout all of central PA, so long as the football program's contrived pristine image, "a model for all of college athletics to follow", wasn't compromised.

The astonishing part is that the PSU PR machine, with Paterno as the Wizard behind the curtain, was able to bamboozle and brainwash generations of cultists in central PA. Some cult members are still justifying Paterno's icon/God status, blaming the entire scandal on everyone and everything else such as: the board of trustees, the 2nd mile, Spanier, Curley, Shultz, the media, and worse, some are blaming the victims. Blame is being disbursed from the cult to everyone else but their cult icon, THE MAN WHO CONTROLLED AND KNEW ABOUT EVERYTHING AT PENN STATE, the most powerful man in the Commonwealth of PA. Think about that for a second.

Are people mourning Paterno's death, or mourning the fact that he was caught and his myths exposed?

Please. Take down the statue. Now.

[abpk2903]

I'll give you credit. You brought up some good points in that last post. The thing is WPIAL, I feel like you have to just take things a little further than they need to be taken. I agree he was the most powerful man in PA over the past 3 decades.