Well, greetings once again...I'm sitting in the Office for the first time in several days, and I'm in one of those contemplative moods. This could be trouble...for a lot of folks other than me.
Here's a link to the new job:
http://widget.geotraffic.com/
You can install this useful little widget onto your own website, please do. I have yet to figure out how to incorporate the damn thing into this blog, but oh well...
Geo has given me lots of fill-in work, and I apparently am doing a decent job. I am thankful! Nice to work with old friends again, and to meet new ones. We've got a future, and it's nice to be part of it.
OK...company blather outta the way...yes, I'm feeling positive. It is a long drive on Route 30 to Paoli, and then the short drag down 252 to Newtown Square, but it's all good. Time to think, listen to obscure music on my iPod, and find out what else is happening.
I tend to listen to NPR (except when they are on yet another beg for money drive...a certain station seems to be doing it all day, all night, all the time), but I also listen to other stuff on occasion. This leads me to my first observation of things that make me want to do an obscenity-laden rip job on people who seem to think they know what's what in the news.
The vaunted KYW Newsradio 1060 (my friend David Payne went off about this on Facebook) last night, led with the Earth-shattering, End-of-the-World-As-We-Know-It headline...wait for it...
...DESEAN JACKSON WAS CUT BY THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES! HOLY MOTHER(FUCKER) OF GOD & GODDESS! HOW WILL WE EVER RECOVER?????!!!!!?????
Yeah...WORLD WAR FUCKING 3 could be ready to break out in Europe (if certain politicians and the military-industrial complex have their way)...the futility of declaring war on Russia could come, 100 years after Germany proved its utter idiocy...we STILL don't know where that Malaysian airliner went down, and WTF happened there...the Taliban (read radical Islam's answer to fundamentalist Christianity) are again operating with impunity in Afghanistan...BUT OH MY GOD D-JAX GOT CUT FROM THE EAGLES!!!!!!
I never cared for the Eagles, never...the Andy Reid follies were amusing, and the Chip Kelly saga was good for a chuckle...but back to the news thing, and it's here that Jackson could have ground for a major fucking libel suit.
Basic points: Jackson came off a career year...true, a prickly personality, moments where he didn't seem to give a shit, then suddenly making an impact. Supposedly the Eagles tried to trade him, but couldn't.
Price tag? Yeah, he makes damned good money...and the Eagles are notorious for pinching millions. Thing is, there have been rumblings and mostly rumors and innuendo spread about the Philly area and beyond that Jackson was acquainted with LA gangs.
No one has accused him of being affiliated or a member, and Jackson flatly denies that. But the bigots around these parts and elsewhere have pushed that rumor without any proof for a long time. Now a New Jersey website is claiming it.
Jackson has not been accused of any crimes. Did the Eagles dump him because of the money? Or did the NFL tip them to something?
Either way, it's a smelly story...but does it rate being the top story on a supposed news leader? NO.
But then, I guess I'm an old guy who doesn't know much about today's media. Hell, I'm working in a company that's entered a new realm, so I'd like to think I'm seeing some new things.
###
Okay, I had to get that one off my chest.
Now...next up:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494401975/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1494401975&linkCode=as2&tag=coverscroll-20
Yes, a shameless plug for "Parasite Girls!" Getting ready to hopefully move on some more promotional readings, but that thing called work has been a matter I've had to take in hand.
Meanwhile, I'm sorting out ideas, and getting a plan in place for the future. I believe that a next step for my follow-up is a story I recently wrote, that is adult fiction with a serious crossover to the young adult world. Half-step, but a good one:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/A-Moment-in-the-Sun-Chapter-1-Rough-Draft/13569033
"A Moment in the Sun" I really feel is that step. This turned out to be a good story; it carries on with my ideas of handling certain concepts, and might work as the next step.
Then, we might be able to make a full step into the YA world with "The Drifters."
https://www.behance.net/torygates
See everything and more here.
So I have to try and focus what brain cells I have left to decide how to proceed with this. My thoughts are to release these next two into the wild over the next 12-18 months. I have to see if this will work.
Getting "Parasite Girls" in motion was a year-long operation. I have more to do with it. So much to think about, but then actually move on.
I really do need to get going...work, my brain, various thoughts on different stuff. For once, I've felt in a state of mind where I'm calm enough to actually sit here and write this, and get it into a form where I can look back at it.
This is what I do, folks...the writer writes, always. I did not like that movie, but a true thing. As someone else noted, even if you are just thinking about it in your head, that's writing. It counts.
See ya.
Showing posts with label WITF/KYW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WITF/KYW. Show all posts
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Monday, April 30, 2012
Just in time for Beltane...a new blog!
I never really know what colors are going to work on this thing, and my immediate thought was, "Look what they dun to my blog."
I am not sure I am liking this new configuration. Just as well...been slowly planning to get things moved over to my new website, once Alice has time to think about it.
Back at the Office after a busy midday..."Woke Up With Wood" by ZZ Top is finishing on the iTunes, and..."Say What!" by SRV follows. Nice.
Some mid 80's blues/rock, very nice.
I have been sick for the first time in nearly three years. Caught a bad-ass virus of some sort, and it thrashed every part of me for about 10 days. On and off feeling like shit, and whatever it was must have been fucking bad. Alice tells me that she teched for "Memphis," some stage show and everyone was down with something.
Lots of lovely herbs and thingies...they're working, better than anything I can think of. Antibiotics are useless to me; I've only had them like three times in my life and I am allergic to one, but I can't remember which one.
Anyway, today is the first day in a while that I feel more awake. My workouts have suffered, and I was down to every couple days because I just could not get myself up for them.
Got an hour in today, though; bike, sauna, pool and the spa...hit for the cycle I guess.
Okay, where are we going here? Yes, it's April 30, and Beltane is tomorrow. Snuck up on me there...I must do something for it, and I think Jethro Tull's "Beltane" might go along well with that. It is a great song, bonus track on "Songs from the Wood," I suggest you check it.
Faerie Fest...well, the Dharma Fools were left off the bill once again, but I am not surprised. They got a very good lineup this year; Wendy Rule, Telesma (despite one of their bandmates suffering a heart attack), and a bunch of other names. Good for them.
Sorry to say as much fun as the FF is, I have no interest in going this year. It is not because I am not performing there, either; it's gone by the way for me to some extent. I also have to work, and that is unavoidable.
Work is the same...I'm job hunting, but would rather stay here.
"Lupita," by Dave Grusin. A short, but interesting piece. I snatched this from the prod studios at Clear Channel HBG.
Weekend Warrior work is the same, WITF/KYW on the weekends, plus some Radio PA Network stuff here and there, and 89.5 gives me the call now and again. CCH the same. Jobbing about.
"Don't Pass Me By," by the late Sean Costello. Interesting...sad loss, this man. Far too young, and his health issues caught up.
Speaking of which...Alice and I had a long talk recently about my meds. I recently did a double of the Zoloft on the suggestion of my primary care doc. In the short-term, it worked out, because it calmed me down from a manic period that began to get a little weird. Losing the plot is not fun.
But there were drawbacks. Too calm...at times. My workout energy dropped, and I figured within a month I'd be more attuned to it. I was, but something's missing.
I then proceeded to literally forget to take it for a couple days over the weekend. Going off can be dangerous for some people, but I've been able to for a few at a stretch, and I'm okay. I could feel the mania again a little bit, but not seriously.
I'm trying to go back to the regular dosage right now, and see if that works. Perhaps I can get to where I don't need it anymore.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering how Alice is figuring in on this. Alice is bipolar, and I've seen her in some of her problem areas. I have an in-law, an old friend in fact with it, and it's crippling to her at times. I am not bipolar, but I share some of the symptoms and actions of it.
Alice wondered if getting off it might be better now, because I am older, and my body has changed a lot since then. She wonders if my guitar playing might become better as a result.
Recently played a little on my own, and could feel some smoothness coming back that I'd not had. Might be temp., but who knows? I'll see.
As for the DF's, Dan and I are searching for band members. No one's been fired, but no one's showing up anymore. We need the sound and the punch of a band again, and I wish to play more electric. It's time to push it that way.
Now, here's another thing. I am considering a move to Harrisburg. It would mean saying goodbye to my lovely patch of rented land in York, but that house is gonna fall down before long. I don't have the money to buy it, but I have to talk to the landlady anyways about all that.
"Changes," by Santana...ah, the "Zebop" album. Good stuff.
Alice and I feel this relationship of ours, strange and dysfunctional as it sometimes is, could work. I believe it will. She needs to clear time to get her house worked on...actually, it's her father's, and that is an issue in itself. But she needs to get rid of the "Hoarders's" candidate material outta there, and do some fixing.
I'm not Bob Vila, I freely admit it, but her ideas are good ones and I think they are the right ones.
We can cut expenses, I'd be spitting distance to WITF and to CC; and I like Harrisburg. We spent some time at the Reader's Cafe recently, and Alice showed me around the city a little. Funny, how I've worked there for years and know absolutely nothing about it!
Access to musicians, oh yes...even better.
Oh, now how about the book thing?
Okay...I finished "Time the Healer" on Sunday. The rough draft is 605 pages long. Yes. I have no idea how it got so fucking long.
It must be cut down, a lot. I have a lot to do with that.
Now...I am also putting the boot in, regarding a possible effort to get an extract of "Sweet Dreams: Searching for Roy Buchanan" into print. Jen, Riz, Alice and whomever else are going to keep hearing from me until we get something down so we can do this!
"My Skin," Natalie Merchant...um...such a beautiful voice and a great lyricist...but I do not need to hear this right now. Sorry, Natalie...
"Southern Streamline" by John Fogerty. Better. I still think he is a dick for the way he's treated his old CCR mates, but that's his problem.
So yeah, a chance at a monthly website, called Front Row Lit or something of the sort...if we can get in there, then we'd be considered for the print version.
Exciting. We'll see.
Meanwhile I need to get ready to consider "Time..." and an edit. I'll get to it eventually.
So yeah, it's been a busy past month or two. Not exactly making any money, but whatever. I cannot complain, and the future is feeling like a bright one. How can it not be?
Too much time is wasted worrying about shit we can't change, WTF is going on with too many other things...I don't have time to listen to people's bitching anymore about things they can't change. Change yourself for fuck's sake.
That's it...I'm the fuck out.
I am not sure I am liking this new configuration. Just as well...been slowly planning to get things moved over to my new website, once Alice has time to think about it.
Back at the Office after a busy midday..."Woke Up With Wood" by ZZ Top is finishing on the iTunes, and..."Say What!" by SRV follows. Nice.
Some mid 80's blues/rock, very nice.
I have been sick for the first time in nearly three years. Caught a bad-ass virus of some sort, and it thrashed every part of me for about 10 days. On and off feeling like shit, and whatever it was must have been fucking bad. Alice tells me that she teched for "Memphis," some stage show and everyone was down with something.
Lots of lovely herbs and thingies...they're working, better than anything I can think of. Antibiotics are useless to me; I've only had them like three times in my life and I am allergic to one, but I can't remember which one.
Anyway, today is the first day in a while that I feel more awake. My workouts have suffered, and I was down to every couple days because I just could not get myself up for them.
Got an hour in today, though; bike, sauna, pool and the spa...hit for the cycle I guess.
Okay, where are we going here? Yes, it's April 30, and Beltane is tomorrow. Snuck up on me there...I must do something for it, and I think Jethro Tull's "Beltane" might go along well with that. It is a great song, bonus track on "Songs from the Wood," I suggest you check it.
Faerie Fest...well, the Dharma Fools were left off the bill once again, but I am not surprised. They got a very good lineup this year; Wendy Rule, Telesma (despite one of their bandmates suffering a heart attack), and a bunch of other names. Good for them.
Sorry to say as much fun as the FF is, I have no interest in going this year. It is not because I am not performing there, either; it's gone by the way for me to some extent. I also have to work, and that is unavoidable.
Work is the same...I'm job hunting, but would rather stay here.
"Lupita," by Dave Grusin. A short, but interesting piece. I snatched this from the prod studios at Clear Channel HBG.
Weekend Warrior work is the same, WITF/KYW on the weekends, plus some Radio PA Network stuff here and there, and 89.5 gives me the call now and again. CCH the same. Jobbing about.
"Don't Pass Me By," by the late Sean Costello. Interesting...sad loss, this man. Far too young, and his health issues caught up.
Speaking of which...Alice and I had a long talk recently about my meds. I recently did a double of the Zoloft on the suggestion of my primary care doc. In the short-term, it worked out, because it calmed me down from a manic period that began to get a little weird. Losing the plot is not fun.
But there were drawbacks. Too calm...at times. My workout energy dropped, and I figured within a month I'd be more attuned to it. I was, but something's missing.
I then proceeded to literally forget to take it for a couple days over the weekend. Going off can be dangerous for some people, but I've been able to for a few at a stretch, and I'm okay. I could feel the mania again a little bit, but not seriously.
I'm trying to go back to the regular dosage right now, and see if that works. Perhaps I can get to where I don't need it anymore.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering how Alice is figuring in on this. Alice is bipolar, and I've seen her in some of her problem areas. I have an in-law, an old friend in fact with it, and it's crippling to her at times. I am not bipolar, but I share some of the symptoms and actions of it.
Alice wondered if getting off it might be better now, because I am older, and my body has changed a lot since then. She wonders if my guitar playing might become better as a result.
Recently played a little on my own, and could feel some smoothness coming back that I'd not had. Might be temp., but who knows? I'll see.
As for the DF's, Dan and I are searching for band members. No one's been fired, but no one's showing up anymore. We need the sound and the punch of a band again, and I wish to play more electric. It's time to push it that way.
Now, here's another thing. I am considering a move to Harrisburg. It would mean saying goodbye to my lovely patch of rented land in York, but that house is gonna fall down before long. I don't have the money to buy it, but I have to talk to the landlady anyways about all that.
"Changes," by Santana...ah, the "Zebop" album. Good stuff.
Alice and I feel this relationship of ours, strange and dysfunctional as it sometimes is, could work. I believe it will. She needs to clear time to get her house worked on...actually, it's her father's, and that is an issue in itself. But she needs to get rid of the "Hoarders's" candidate material outta there, and do some fixing.
I'm not Bob Vila, I freely admit it, but her ideas are good ones and I think they are the right ones.
We can cut expenses, I'd be spitting distance to WITF and to CC; and I like Harrisburg. We spent some time at the Reader's Cafe recently, and Alice showed me around the city a little. Funny, how I've worked there for years and know absolutely nothing about it!
Access to musicians, oh yes...even better.
Oh, now how about the book thing?
Okay...I finished "Time the Healer" on Sunday. The rough draft is 605 pages long. Yes. I have no idea how it got so fucking long.
It must be cut down, a lot. I have a lot to do with that.
Now...I am also putting the boot in, regarding a possible effort to get an extract of "Sweet Dreams: Searching for Roy Buchanan" into print. Jen, Riz, Alice and whomever else are going to keep hearing from me until we get something down so we can do this!
"My Skin," Natalie Merchant...um...such a beautiful voice and a great lyricist...but I do not need to hear this right now. Sorry, Natalie...
"Southern Streamline" by John Fogerty. Better. I still think he is a dick for the way he's treated his old CCR mates, but that's his problem.
So yeah, a chance at a monthly website, called Front Row Lit or something of the sort...if we can get in there, then we'd be considered for the print version.
Exciting. We'll see.
Meanwhile I need to get ready to consider "Time..." and an edit. I'll get to it eventually.
So yeah, it's been a busy past month or two. Not exactly making any money, but whatever. I cannot complain, and the future is feeling like a bright one. How can it not be?
Too much time is wasted worrying about shit we can't change, WTF is going on with too many other things...I don't have time to listen to people's bitching anymore about things they can't change. Change yourself for fuck's sake.
That's it...I'm the fuck out.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday Night Musings & Other Bizarre Trains of Non-Thought
Well, it has been quite some time once again, and the reasons for that are many. I don't know how much longer I'll be blogging here; part of this has to do with how long it takes to get my website together.
My intrepid graphic designer friend "Edgar Alice Croe" (see her blog here in my favorites) is helping me with that, but it's been a slow process, because we both have, like everyone else...wait for it...REAL LIVES.
That does tend to knock down a whole bunch of the stuff that's a damned sight more important, but you do what you have to. Tonight...Alice is running spot at the Van Halen concert! So Dave's looking good is because of her talent and skill!
I have so much to go on about...
iTunes mania...sick and tired of the canned, overplayed stuff at the new Office, so back to it. After some John Cale live material, into Jimmy Nail's "What Might Have Been?" It's on the Still Crazy soundtrack...Nail was also the opera singer in "Evita." The Madonna one.
The wonders of Facebook...I am extremely happy to report that an old and dear friend has resurfaced. Sunny (not her real name) had been a Facebook friend 2 years, and didn't I know it was her? No.
Sunny has been a friend, a voice of reason, and the one who inspired me to get to writing a long, long time ago. Her own photo works are showing up on her site, and her eye is a gimlet one.
Let's see...writing...yes...I have been working like mad the past few weeks on a new story, "Time the Healer." It is another set in Japan deal, but this one, while a YA type of novel, could hit others hard, too. I'm going after yet another part of my personal life, which is still pretty difficult to deal with. Not myself, but seeing how others are being handled and mishandled.
"An Original Man," the Yardbirds next. A great song for Keith Relf.
Had a few weeks of heavy work, which is welcome. WITF got me in while Tim Lambert was off and about Italy with his Missus; he had a blast. My sister and bro-in-law went there a few years back, and they quite enjoyed themselves too.
So there has been a lot of bouncing around the radio dial, ITF, the Radio PA affiliates, KYW and the Ticket. The spring and summer are lookin' pretty grim, though.
Learned an old friend is headed back to Boston; I've been looking back that way for employment, but the radio business is a dying thing. Survivors like me must take what we can get and prove we can still make a difference. I'm certainly happy for what I'm doing.
Great to see another of my friends and colleagues today; David Payne dropped in to talk to the Radio PA boss...he looks great, and he is a man I love and admire. It is a small world as well, when I trained a new guy for KYW. Keith Rice is on 101 the Rose, and he's coming to help us now. Another native New Englandler (and Red Sox fan!)...he was trained for Top 40 radio back in the day by a dude named Ben Hamilton. The architect of 95XXX in Burlington, VT, Ben has worked quite a few people into shape. I knew him in 1984...another colleague and girlfriend knew him from VT in the mid to late 80's, and we're all still alive and well. Small world.
"Across the Line," Robert Cray Band...nice.
Okay...I've been doing my best to stay current in the pool, the gym and all that. My body is still not 100% geared to the additional meds, but I can at least maintain some schedule. I do feel much better, definitely lost weight and feel more as I should.
Oh yes...new Office. Well, I'd been waiting for this one for a while now...it is equidistant between my house and the gym. Go figure. Larger, more tables, more power points and less people who hang out and treat the place like a Royal Navy wardroom (anybody who remembers the old Office knows what I mean). No disrespect meant, just another world away.
Some old friends are here, which is nice, and I do find it comfy enough to write and get things done.
All the same...while I continue to try and find work, I realize that leaving may be what I'm forced to do. Change is inevitable, even though I don't want to think of it. My landlord passed on recently, a damned fine man, but again we all knew. The Mrs. is holding up well; she was faced with the reality and knows how to deal. But yes, change.
"Think for Yourself," the Beatles...ah, Yellow Submarine stuff. Neat.
There are not a lot of options for me. While we are working to put the Sweet Dreams Series out there, and trying a new plan of attack, I do have to consider some hookup in radio in order to make a living till this one works out. Which it will.
The climate of the world around me, especially in PA is becoming more heated as we carry on through the election cycle. It's getting difficult for me to remain on the middle ground, but I have to for my job and also for my sanity.
Ah wouldn't you know..."Enter Sandman," just as I wrote that!
The climate of fear, misinformation, clinging to old beliefs and outright hatred is toxic beyond measure. I am no longer amazed by anything politicians, so-called religious figures and media people say or do.
I have told more than one person who has views far out on the astral planes than there's no point in freaking out and trying to change things that cannot be changed. Some need to get over their own self-centeredness, that feeling that the bogeyman (who or whatever it is) is out to get them, personally.
Whatever. We need to deal with our own situations, day by day, moment by moment. It's not worth it to freak out anymore about every little thing.
Interesting topic on NPR this morning, while I was doing "Morning Edition." Facebook is not a good thing for those with low self-esteem...really? Not much for those who know people with low self-esteem, either.
They were going at the idea that some people get down when they put up a link or a view that is not shared or is disliked. Okay...and that should upset you how?
And why?
Or people put up photos and you're not in them? So?
Rather an immature take, isn't it? Then, some folks have a deal where it takes longer. I know it did for me...it gets better as you get older.
I was going to add more about the "Hatewar" as I call it toward certain folks, but I think I'll pass on it for later. Things are not too bad, not now and I do feel very optimistic.
"Since I've Been Loving You," Led Zep III. Hmmm...
Anyway, fellow blurkers, do enjoy...I'll have more eventually about this weird little part of the world I'm in, and maybe I'll know about other stuff as well.
My intrepid graphic designer friend "Edgar Alice Croe" (see her blog here in my favorites) is helping me with that, but it's been a slow process, because we both have, like everyone else...wait for it...REAL LIVES.
That does tend to knock down a whole bunch of the stuff that's a damned sight more important, but you do what you have to. Tonight...Alice is running spot at the Van Halen concert! So Dave's looking good is because of her talent and skill!
I have so much to go on about...
iTunes mania...sick and tired of the canned, overplayed stuff at the new Office, so back to it. After some John Cale live material, into Jimmy Nail's "What Might Have Been?" It's on the Still Crazy soundtrack...Nail was also the opera singer in "Evita." The Madonna one.
The wonders of Facebook...I am extremely happy to report that an old and dear friend has resurfaced. Sunny (not her real name) had been a Facebook friend 2 years, and didn't I know it was her? No.
Sunny has been a friend, a voice of reason, and the one who inspired me to get to writing a long, long time ago. Her own photo works are showing up on her site, and her eye is a gimlet one.
Let's see...writing...yes...I have been working like mad the past few weeks on a new story, "Time the Healer." It is another set in Japan deal, but this one, while a YA type of novel, could hit others hard, too. I'm going after yet another part of my personal life, which is still pretty difficult to deal with. Not myself, but seeing how others are being handled and mishandled.
"An Original Man," the Yardbirds next. A great song for Keith Relf.
Had a few weeks of heavy work, which is welcome. WITF got me in while Tim Lambert was off and about Italy with his Missus; he had a blast. My sister and bro-in-law went there a few years back, and they quite enjoyed themselves too.
So there has been a lot of bouncing around the radio dial, ITF, the Radio PA affiliates, KYW and the Ticket. The spring and summer are lookin' pretty grim, though.
Learned an old friend is headed back to Boston; I've been looking back that way for employment, but the radio business is a dying thing. Survivors like me must take what we can get and prove we can still make a difference. I'm certainly happy for what I'm doing.
Great to see another of my friends and colleagues today; David Payne dropped in to talk to the Radio PA boss...he looks great, and he is a man I love and admire. It is a small world as well, when I trained a new guy for KYW. Keith Rice is on 101 the Rose, and he's coming to help us now. Another native New Englandler (and Red Sox fan!)...he was trained for Top 40 radio back in the day by a dude named Ben Hamilton. The architect of 95XXX in Burlington, VT, Ben has worked quite a few people into shape. I knew him in 1984...another colleague and girlfriend knew him from VT in the mid to late 80's, and we're all still alive and well. Small world.
"Across the Line," Robert Cray Band...nice.
Okay...I've been doing my best to stay current in the pool, the gym and all that. My body is still not 100% geared to the additional meds, but I can at least maintain some schedule. I do feel much better, definitely lost weight and feel more as I should.
Oh yes...new Office. Well, I'd been waiting for this one for a while now...it is equidistant between my house and the gym. Go figure. Larger, more tables, more power points and less people who hang out and treat the place like a Royal Navy wardroom (anybody who remembers the old Office knows what I mean). No disrespect meant, just another world away.
Some old friends are here, which is nice, and I do find it comfy enough to write and get things done.
All the same...while I continue to try and find work, I realize that leaving may be what I'm forced to do. Change is inevitable, even though I don't want to think of it. My landlord passed on recently, a damned fine man, but again we all knew. The Mrs. is holding up well; she was faced with the reality and knows how to deal. But yes, change.
"Think for Yourself," the Beatles...ah, Yellow Submarine stuff. Neat.
There are not a lot of options for me. While we are working to put the Sweet Dreams Series out there, and trying a new plan of attack, I do have to consider some hookup in radio in order to make a living till this one works out. Which it will.
The climate of the world around me, especially in PA is becoming more heated as we carry on through the election cycle. It's getting difficult for me to remain on the middle ground, but I have to for my job and also for my sanity.
Ah wouldn't you know..."Enter Sandman," just as I wrote that!
The climate of fear, misinformation, clinging to old beliefs and outright hatred is toxic beyond measure. I am no longer amazed by anything politicians, so-called religious figures and media people say or do.
I have told more than one person who has views far out on the astral planes than there's no point in freaking out and trying to change things that cannot be changed. Some need to get over their own self-centeredness, that feeling that the bogeyman (who or whatever it is) is out to get them, personally.
Whatever. We need to deal with our own situations, day by day, moment by moment. It's not worth it to freak out anymore about every little thing.
Interesting topic on NPR this morning, while I was doing "Morning Edition." Facebook is not a good thing for those with low self-esteem...really? Not much for those who know people with low self-esteem, either.
They were going at the idea that some people get down when they put up a link or a view that is not shared or is disliked. Okay...and that should upset you how?
And why?
Or people put up photos and you're not in them? So?
Rather an immature take, isn't it? Then, some folks have a deal where it takes longer. I know it did for me...it gets better as you get older.
I was going to add more about the "Hatewar" as I call it toward certain folks, but I think I'll pass on it for later. Things are not too bad, not now and I do feel very optimistic.
"Since I've Been Loving You," Led Zep III. Hmmm...
Anyway, fellow blurkers, do enjoy...I'll have more eventually about this weird little part of the world I'm in, and maybe I'll know about other stuff as well.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Penn State, Part IV: the End
Well, hopefully it is my end to all this. I believe it is best from here on out to let the others examine the debacle, the mess that is Penn State University today.
But I must put forth a parting shot or two...because I can.
As I'd mentioned, I ended up spending the weekend working at WITF and doing updates for KYW, so the hard task to going to (Un)Happy Valley to cover the game was left to one of our stringers.
Turns out one of WITF's news people also went up there. Mary Wilson dropped in after she finally got out of there, none the worse for wear.
My main interest in going was to gauge the atmosphere, and how different it must have felt.
A little over a year ago, I made my first foray up there for the Temple game. It was without doubt a day for fun, tailgating, beer, food, and football. Penn State does know how to do it up right.
Considering the Sandusky scandal, the firing of Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno, and the outpouring of hero-worshipping for the latter, I had to wonder how it went.
Mary told me that for the most part, that atmosphere was the same. People were trying to treat it as if it were just another day of fun, and to get cranked up to do battle with Nebraska.
The difference was that for the first time in 46 years, JoePA would not be patrolling the sidelines or up in the press box. It would be the first time in 61 years that Paterno would not be involved. That was clearly a difference.
We watched the game...PSU as expected had its problems with the Cornhuskers, but they mounted a comeback with nearly 108-thousand faithful, all in blue and white urged their gladiators on.
They almost pulled it off, too; Nebraska held on for a 17-14 win. A good game, and I'm sure it was exciting as hell.
But the hurt hasn't gone away, and probably won't for a very long time.
In my view: good.
There is a very large population of people who need to gain a little maturity, and fast.
Mary reported that the hostility to the press was there, though nothing happened to her...apart from a few people who made it clear that anyone with a mic or a pad and pen were THE ENEMY.
There's a lot of Penn State faithful still drinking the blue and white Kool-Aid; they think it's all a farce, that JoePA is a martyr, and that THE ENEMY, that amorphous whateveritis they think it is, has conspired to bring down the Almighty JoePA, and destroying the myth of "We Are Penn State."
Too bad for you. You put your faith in a football coach and his concept; while that might be a good set of rules to largely live by, it cannot and must not be your religion.
Also, to model your own lives and way of being after someone not related to you, someone who does something as innocuous as being a coach of a football team, it's not good. You deny who you are to yourself.
Oh, but they sure tried, didn't they?
That big ol' prayer mosh pit at the 50 yard line...wonder who in the PR department dreamed that one up?
I don't mean to be cynical, but did they have to do that? I want to hope all the guys that went out and did that little kneel-down, meant it. I'm sure most of them did.
Then on Sunday, oh joy...(yeah, right)...one of the local TV stations ran a clip of some kind of hideous worship service, complete with karaoke screens of the faithful singing happy happy joy joy songs of praise and healing.
Sorry, but even if you were serious and meant it, it looks bad. It looks so staged and planned out.
Then...oh yes, the pilgrimage continued, streams of the faithful headed to JoePA's modest ranch house near the university. People leaving flowers, all kinds of stuff, etc.
They are paying respects to a man who lost his job, and a man I'm sure they all respect and admire...
...FOR WHAT?
Coaching a football team for a very long time, and doing admittedly a very good job of it?
I didn't see any more of those goobs praying to the front door, thankfully. That was pathetic, and shows that allegience to a higher power apparently means allegience to a human representative on Earth, in their genius.
And of course the grumping, harumphing and complaining will continue; Governor Tom Corbett (wait for it...SPACE CADET!), who was Atty. General when the Sandusky investigation began, had to hurl another two cents in there (like anyone really cares what he says, anyway) about the bail, the judge, the this, the that.
You sure didn't get the job done before you made that little run for the Gov's office, did you, sir? And by the way, why are YOU commenting on a case that hasn't even gone to trial? Isn't that a bit unfair?
Well, let's leave the wanking in public to the media pontificators, the ones who don't have to actually check sources and do any work for a living.
Now that all said: here is a very interesting story I found today...
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45283472/ns/sports-college_football/
Take a good read at that.
A former coach, with no specific ties to Penn State, who was on the inside and offering perspective from a number of legitimate angles he knows all about.
One little teaser, which this fellow makes very clear:
"JOE KNOWS EVERYTHING."
Paterno's grip on the football program, and every aspect of it, is the stuff of legend. No matter how old he is, Joe knows what is going on. Here now is a confirmation.
Even if Joe still didn't fully appreciate the seriousness of what Sandusky is alleged to have done, there is a right and wrong way to do stuff.
It so flies in the face of what Paterno normally would have, and anyone else, would have done.
I will have to, as part of my job, continue to watch out for all this. Not that I enjoy it; I don't suck all this up like a greedy creature of habit. It's become so fucking pathetic, and sad.
Whatever...I hope I don't need to write or do anymore of this. I hope for a few things:
--those alleged victims, that they get the help and support they need, and the redress they should have.
--their people also can find some way to heal.
--that PSU can right its ship, and show the world that they are indeed about academics, and that the sports programs can be put in perspective, where they belong.
--that the legions of blue and white can get over their shock, and realize that they have lives to lead, and that who they are is not necessarily completely defined by where they went to school. It's a part of them, sure; but before and after is a part of each person, and I hope that when they chant, "We Are Penn State," that they can do it with pride...but not foolish, fanatical pride.
There's a difference.
Get me outta here.
But I must put forth a parting shot or two...because I can.
As I'd mentioned, I ended up spending the weekend working at WITF and doing updates for KYW, so the hard task to going to (Un)Happy Valley to cover the game was left to one of our stringers.
Turns out one of WITF's news people also went up there. Mary Wilson dropped in after she finally got out of there, none the worse for wear.
My main interest in going was to gauge the atmosphere, and how different it must have felt.
A little over a year ago, I made my first foray up there for the Temple game. It was without doubt a day for fun, tailgating, beer, food, and football. Penn State does know how to do it up right.
Considering the Sandusky scandal, the firing of Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno, and the outpouring of hero-worshipping for the latter, I had to wonder how it went.
Mary told me that for the most part, that atmosphere was the same. People were trying to treat it as if it were just another day of fun, and to get cranked up to do battle with Nebraska.
The difference was that for the first time in 46 years, JoePA would not be patrolling the sidelines or up in the press box. It would be the first time in 61 years that Paterno would not be involved. That was clearly a difference.
We watched the game...PSU as expected had its problems with the Cornhuskers, but they mounted a comeback with nearly 108-thousand faithful, all in blue and white urged their gladiators on.
They almost pulled it off, too; Nebraska held on for a 17-14 win. A good game, and I'm sure it was exciting as hell.
But the hurt hasn't gone away, and probably won't for a very long time.
In my view: good.
There is a very large population of people who need to gain a little maturity, and fast.
Mary reported that the hostility to the press was there, though nothing happened to her...apart from a few people who made it clear that anyone with a mic or a pad and pen were THE ENEMY.
There's a lot of Penn State faithful still drinking the blue and white Kool-Aid; they think it's all a farce, that JoePA is a martyr, and that THE ENEMY, that amorphous whateveritis they think it is, has conspired to bring down the Almighty JoePA, and destroying the myth of "We Are Penn State."
Too bad for you. You put your faith in a football coach and his concept; while that might be a good set of rules to largely live by, it cannot and must not be your religion.
Also, to model your own lives and way of being after someone not related to you, someone who does something as innocuous as being a coach of a football team, it's not good. You deny who you are to yourself.
Oh, but they sure tried, didn't they?
That big ol' prayer mosh pit at the 50 yard line...wonder who in the PR department dreamed that one up?
I don't mean to be cynical, but did they have to do that? I want to hope all the guys that went out and did that little kneel-down, meant it. I'm sure most of them did.
Then on Sunday, oh joy...(yeah, right)...one of the local TV stations ran a clip of some kind of hideous worship service, complete with karaoke screens of the faithful singing happy happy joy joy songs of praise and healing.
Sorry, but even if you were serious and meant it, it looks bad. It looks so staged and planned out.
Then...oh yes, the pilgrimage continued, streams of the faithful headed to JoePA's modest ranch house near the university. People leaving flowers, all kinds of stuff, etc.
They are paying respects to a man who lost his job, and a man I'm sure they all respect and admire...
...FOR WHAT?
Coaching a football team for a very long time, and doing admittedly a very good job of it?
I didn't see any more of those goobs praying to the front door, thankfully. That was pathetic, and shows that allegience to a higher power apparently means allegience to a human representative on Earth, in their genius.
And of course the grumping, harumphing and complaining will continue; Governor Tom Corbett (wait for it...SPACE CADET!), who was Atty. General when the Sandusky investigation began, had to hurl another two cents in there (like anyone really cares what he says, anyway) about the bail, the judge, the this, the that.
You sure didn't get the job done before you made that little run for the Gov's office, did you, sir? And by the way, why are YOU commenting on a case that hasn't even gone to trial? Isn't that a bit unfair?
Well, let's leave the wanking in public to the media pontificators, the ones who don't have to actually check sources and do any work for a living.
Now that all said: here is a very interesting story I found today...
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45283472/ns/sports-college_football/
Take a good read at that.
A former coach, with no specific ties to Penn State, who was on the inside and offering perspective from a number of legitimate angles he knows all about.
One little teaser, which this fellow makes very clear:
"JOE KNOWS EVERYTHING."
Paterno's grip on the football program, and every aspect of it, is the stuff of legend. No matter how old he is, Joe knows what is going on. Here now is a confirmation.
Even if Joe still didn't fully appreciate the seriousness of what Sandusky is alleged to have done, there is a right and wrong way to do stuff.
It so flies in the face of what Paterno normally would have, and anyone else, would have done.
I will have to, as part of my job, continue to watch out for all this. Not that I enjoy it; I don't suck all this up like a greedy creature of habit. It's become so fucking pathetic, and sad.
Whatever...I hope I don't need to write or do anymore of this. I hope for a few things:
--those alleged victims, that they get the help and support they need, and the redress they should have.
--their people also can find some way to heal.
--that PSU can right its ship, and show the world that they are indeed about academics, and that the sports programs can be put in perspective, where they belong.
--that the legions of blue and white can get over their shock, and realize that they have lives to lead, and that who they are is not necessarily completely defined by where they went to school. It's a part of them, sure; but before and after is a part of each person, and I hope that when they chant, "We Are Penn State," that they can do it with pride...but not foolish, fanatical pride.
There's a difference.
Get me outta here.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Penn State, Part III: Watching the Bloodletting
Well, I did not end up going to the game after all. I am at the WITF studios, getting ready for my shift on KYW 1060 on this Saturday afternoon. Radio PA decided to send their #1 stringer to Happy Valley for the Nebraska game. His equipment is a little better than what we have, but he is also a Penn State alumnus, and so can go into places easier.
One of our WITF News people are up there as well. The situation is surreal, as an ESPN commentator noted. From a distance, it is indeed.
Bomb threats at Beaver Stadium, the removal of the coach who alleged saw Jerry Sandusky attacking a 10-year-old kid in the shower, the madness, the arrival of the Westboro Baptist Hate Machine (URRRR!) Church, and who knows what more.
The media, and I am a member of it has been playing a prominent role...we are hated for exposing the dirty laundry of Penn State, reviled for talking about it, accused of blowing it out of proportion.
We are also either doing a terrible job of reporting (over-reporting) it, speculating on it, and dissecting it. It's a no-win scenario; you can't ignore it and pretend it didn't happen (like a lot of people apparently, allegedly did). How do you deal with it? How do you walk such a fine line?
Well, for so many of my colleagues, there is no line.
I have watched all week with a certain dark satisfaction of seeing an entire cadre of my media colleagues go mad with the knowledge that Penn State's anointed one, Joe Paterno has been caught up in the insanity, by his apparent lack of action in the Sandusky matter. Their insides are gnashing themselves into little bits, as all they once knew as good, nice and wonderful is not so.
Same way Penn State Nation is going right now.
Faith has been shaken right to its foundations. There has been a great deal of comparison of this scandal to the Catholic Church sex scandal, and it does seem that there are some likenesses: something goes down, and the authorities keep it quiet, hush it up, shuttle the perpetrators about or ease them into retirement, because the truth would hurt too much.
But to conceal such things, does it not make the pain geometrically worse when it does finally come out?
I had a conversation with my friend and colleague Rob today, and he sheds a very interesting light on why the University Board of Trustees did what they did. I noted that earlier the board fucked up badly in cashiering Graham Spanier and Paterno as they did.
Rob made a good point about Paterno: as of this week, PSU had three more games to play, a possible Big Ten Championship game, and maybe even a bowl game.
Week after week, the presence of Paterno would keep this going, even worse than it already is.
I had not thought of that, but I still say the board could have done better.
Either way, Paterno is a martyr. We were both stunned by the behavior of two men who were shown on ESPN, coming to Paterno's ranch house near the stadium.
Here's what they did: they knelt and genuflected toward the house. It was like they were praying at an altar. They were not paying respects. They were praying to Paterno.
If that does not sum up what the fuck is wrong up there in Penn State land, I don't know what does.
As Rob also said, everyone turned Paterno into a God, and now they are shocked to find that he is not God, but a man...a football coach.
I think it's pretty clear now, that Paterno and quite a few others at Penn State failed to act when action was required. It is a sorry situation, that a highly regarded state university, in existance since 1855 has given over its values to a football coach and his minions.
It's not about the university, its highly regarded academic programs, its Law School, its welcoming and nurturing atmosphere. It's not about the students, who like any young person goes to college to learn all they can, and get that experience and life skill set you need to go out into the world and make it on your own.
No. It's about a damned football team, its revolving door of players, and its coach.
The cult of personality is in full effect, and has been for nearly 50 years. It's done now. Even if Sandusky is acquitted or exonerated of these heinous charges (I doubt it, but I am not a lawyer, nor will I try this case), look at the damage done.
What parents are going to send their kids to Penn State? Would you, if you are the parent of a high school student-athlete, knowing what you know now, send your kid into that?
What if your kids aren't athletes? Would you think twice before ponying up the cash or entering into financial aid agreement to send them there?
I am not a parent. I honestly don't know if I would. Then again, it is each set of parents (and the kid's) decision to say what is the best fit, what programs are the best for them, and so on.
I think though, enrollment is gonna drop for a time; I think a lot of kids are gonna look elsewhere to play sports. There is a cloud over that entire university, and they have a lot of work to do to clean it up.
In some ways, this is not fair to the wider student body. The kids are not responsible for what Sandusky allegedly did, nor are they responsible for allegations of a major cover-up.
If these were the actions of a professor in one of the non-sports departments, a colleague noted, this would not be a ripple. But it is, because of who is involved.
Back to Paterno: I find it vile that people continue to paint him as a victim and a martyr. I have pointed out that the Trustees did just that in how they dumped him. I understand they had to act, but writing him off with a phone call was not the correct way to do it. They needed to do it to his face, like men.
Paterno has to reconcile within himself what has happened, and just what he will do to make things right. Someone in the media noted that Paterno, being Italian and at his age, is a man who is called "Old School." Some still say he may not have understood how times have changed, and that the allegations of Sandusky's behavior may not have hit Paterno the way they should have.
Possibly. Still, someone had to get to him and say, "Joe, this is fucking serious."
I don't know what went through Paterno's mind, and only he can say. I am sure he'll be asked about it at Sandusky's trial.
How about the university as a whole? How do they deal with this? Time will tell. I think the first step is to deal with the matter of the victims, and make sure that the outreach is sincere, and proper. They need as a whole to apologize for this lapse of reason and sanity.
The next step is the program. I do not believe in the pontificating weanbags of the media who proclaim that the season should be cancelled, that Penn State even drop football entirely. Those people seek readers and column inches to fatten their wallets and pad their egos.
The Athletic Department needs to be wiped clean, and an entire new staff brought in. Whomever takes over as Head Coach needs to have the right to pick his own staff, and it must be free of Penn State holdovers.
I doubt this will be allowed to happen. Consider also that the "Special Committee" that will investigate this matter is led by a Penn State alumnus, and the committee is packed with ex-Penn Staters, that should tell you that the university will investigate itself.
One word: WHITEWASH.
The university population, and especially the alumni and fans have to go through a very painful process of their own.
It's called growing up.
You placed your allegiance, not to a university and its values, but to a football coach and his values. As good as his intentions were I'm sure, you made a God of a man. I don't think Paterno ever wanted that; but the power that comes with such things is a drug.
You enabled him, and you enabled his underlings to become the law. Look what happened.
This has happened before, elsewhere in the world. In religion, politics, society as a whole. When you set a man up, that man eventually falls. Sometimes it is his fault, sometimes it's not.
Either way, you lost your free will, your freedom to question, your freedom to doubt. You now have been slammed with the reality that is Penn State.
You are Penn State alright; welcome to it.
Stop making gods of coaches, players or even just regular people. If you believe in God, or Gods or some higher power, then fine. That's your business. Don't make Gods of men; it always comes back to bite you in the ass.
I'm not putting any links in today; there's no need. We're watching the Penn State-Nebraska game, and I don't know how it will end. Doesn't look good for the Nittany Lions at this point.
Anyway, this whole thing remains very sad. I hope that Penn State can regain its position as a university of higher education, and put THAT as its legacy and what they're all about.
The football team? Yeah, they're a good team, a very good one. But that is what they should be seen as, and the players should be seen as players, but also as people.
We love our sports so much, and our heroes so much, and we make them gods. We never grow up...we remain 12-year-olds at heart if we spend thousands of dollars on season tickets, jerseys, parking, over-priced stadium food and whatever.
The football stadium has become the cathedral and a place of worship, not a place to go and watch a game with family and friends, and have fun. The place to forget about real life for a few hours. No, it is now the religion.
Sad indeed. I enjoy sports as much as the next guy, but I couldn't tell you stats, I couldn't tell you even who half the players are anymore. I have to know certain things as part of my job, but that's it. It's a job, or it's a hobby. It's not my obsession. It's not my life. It's not my faith.
I'm no better than you, the reader. I'm just saying I didn't do what so many people have done, and not just at Penn State. Look all around, look where the fanaticism for a sports program takes hold. Look at Indiana, when Bobby Knight coached basketball there. Look at Duke right now, and the way Mike K(I can't begin to spell his name) runs the show there.
We've all gone a little bit mad, haven't we?
One of our WITF News people are up there as well. The situation is surreal, as an ESPN commentator noted. From a distance, it is indeed.
Bomb threats at Beaver Stadium, the removal of the coach who alleged saw Jerry Sandusky attacking a 10-year-old kid in the shower, the madness, the arrival of the Westboro Baptist Hate Machine (URRRR!) Church, and who knows what more.
The media, and I am a member of it has been playing a prominent role...we are hated for exposing the dirty laundry of Penn State, reviled for talking about it, accused of blowing it out of proportion.
We are also either doing a terrible job of reporting (over-reporting) it, speculating on it, and dissecting it. It's a no-win scenario; you can't ignore it and pretend it didn't happen (like a lot of people apparently, allegedly did). How do you deal with it? How do you walk such a fine line?
Well, for so many of my colleagues, there is no line.
I have watched all week with a certain dark satisfaction of seeing an entire cadre of my media colleagues go mad with the knowledge that Penn State's anointed one, Joe Paterno has been caught up in the insanity, by his apparent lack of action in the Sandusky matter. Their insides are gnashing themselves into little bits, as all they once knew as good, nice and wonderful is not so.
Same way Penn State Nation is going right now.
Faith has been shaken right to its foundations. There has been a great deal of comparison of this scandal to the Catholic Church sex scandal, and it does seem that there are some likenesses: something goes down, and the authorities keep it quiet, hush it up, shuttle the perpetrators about or ease them into retirement, because the truth would hurt too much.
But to conceal such things, does it not make the pain geometrically worse when it does finally come out?
I had a conversation with my friend and colleague Rob today, and he sheds a very interesting light on why the University Board of Trustees did what they did. I noted that earlier the board fucked up badly in cashiering Graham Spanier and Paterno as they did.
Rob made a good point about Paterno: as of this week, PSU had three more games to play, a possible Big Ten Championship game, and maybe even a bowl game.
Week after week, the presence of Paterno would keep this going, even worse than it already is.
I had not thought of that, but I still say the board could have done better.
Either way, Paterno is a martyr. We were both stunned by the behavior of two men who were shown on ESPN, coming to Paterno's ranch house near the stadium.
Here's what they did: they knelt and genuflected toward the house. It was like they were praying at an altar. They were not paying respects. They were praying to Paterno.
If that does not sum up what the fuck is wrong up there in Penn State land, I don't know what does.
As Rob also said, everyone turned Paterno into a God, and now they are shocked to find that he is not God, but a man...a football coach.
I think it's pretty clear now, that Paterno and quite a few others at Penn State failed to act when action was required. It is a sorry situation, that a highly regarded state university, in existance since 1855 has given over its values to a football coach and his minions.
It's not about the university, its highly regarded academic programs, its Law School, its welcoming and nurturing atmosphere. It's not about the students, who like any young person goes to college to learn all they can, and get that experience and life skill set you need to go out into the world and make it on your own.
No. It's about a damned football team, its revolving door of players, and its coach.
The cult of personality is in full effect, and has been for nearly 50 years. It's done now. Even if Sandusky is acquitted or exonerated of these heinous charges (I doubt it, but I am not a lawyer, nor will I try this case), look at the damage done.
What parents are going to send their kids to Penn State? Would you, if you are the parent of a high school student-athlete, knowing what you know now, send your kid into that?
What if your kids aren't athletes? Would you think twice before ponying up the cash or entering into financial aid agreement to send them there?
I am not a parent. I honestly don't know if I would. Then again, it is each set of parents (and the kid's) decision to say what is the best fit, what programs are the best for them, and so on.
I think though, enrollment is gonna drop for a time; I think a lot of kids are gonna look elsewhere to play sports. There is a cloud over that entire university, and they have a lot of work to do to clean it up.
In some ways, this is not fair to the wider student body. The kids are not responsible for what Sandusky allegedly did, nor are they responsible for allegations of a major cover-up.
If these were the actions of a professor in one of the non-sports departments, a colleague noted, this would not be a ripple. But it is, because of who is involved.
Back to Paterno: I find it vile that people continue to paint him as a victim and a martyr. I have pointed out that the Trustees did just that in how they dumped him. I understand they had to act, but writing him off with a phone call was not the correct way to do it. They needed to do it to his face, like men.
Paterno has to reconcile within himself what has happened, and just what he will do to make things right. Someone in the media noted that Paterno, being Italian and at his age, is a man who is called "Old School." Some still say he may not have understood how times have changed, and that the allegations of Sandusky's behavior may not have hit Paterno the way they should have.
Possibly. Still, someone had to get to him and say, "Joe, this is fucking serious."
I don't know what went through Paterno's mind, and only he can say. I am sure he'll be asked about it at Sandusky's trial.
How about the university as a whole? How do they deal with this? Time will tell. I think the first step is to deal with the matter of the victims, and make sure that the outreach is sincere, and proper. They need as a whole to apologize for this lapse of reason and sanity.
The next step is the program. I do not believe in the pontificating weanbags of the media who proclaim that the season should be cancelled, that Penn State even drop football entirely. Those people seek readers and column inches to fatten their wallets and pad their egos.
The Athletic Department needs to be wiped clean, and an entire new staff brought in. Whomever takes over as Head Coach needs to have the right to pick his own staff, and it must be free of Penn State holdovers.
I doubt this will be allowed to happen. Consider also that the "Special Committee" that will investigate this matter is led by a Penn State alumnus, and the committee is packed with ex-Penn Staters, that should tell you that the university will investigate itself.
One word: WHITEWASH.
The university population, and especially the alumni and fans have to go through a very painful process of their own.
It's called growing up.
You placed your allegiance, not to a university and its values, but to a football coach and his values. As good as his intentions were I'm sure, you made a God of a man. I don't think Paterno ever wanted that; but the power that comes with such things is a drug.
You enabled him, and you enabled his underlings to become the law. Look what happened.
This has happened before, elsewhere in the world. In religion, politics, society as a whole. When you set a man up, that man eventually falls. Sometimes it is his fault, sometimes it's not.
Either way, you lost your free will, your freedom to question, your freedom to doubt. You now have been slammed with the reality that is Penn State.
You are Penn State alright; welcome to it.
Stop making gods of coaches, players or even just regular people. If you believe in God, or Gods or some higher power, then fine. That's your business. Don't make Gods of men; it always comes back to bite you in the ass.
I'm not putting any links in today; there's no need. We're watching the Penn State-Nebraska game, and I don't know how it will end. Doesn't look good for the Nittany Lions at this point.
Anyway, this whole thing remains very sad. I hope that Penn State can regain its position as a university of higher education, and put THAT as its legacy and what they're all about.
The football team? Yeah, they're a good team, a very good one. But that is what they should be seen as, and the players should be seen as players, but also as people.
We love our sports so much, and our heroes so much, and we make them gods. We never grow up...we remain 12-year-olds at heart if we spend thousands of dollars on season tickets, jerseys, parking, over-priced stadium food and whatever.
The football stadium has become the cathedral and a place of worship, not a place to go and watch a game with family and friends, and have fun. The place to forget about real life for a few hours. No, it is now the religion.
Sad indeed. I enjoy sports as much as the next guy, but I couldn't tell you stats, I couldn't tell you even who half the players are anymore. I have to know certain things as part of my job, but that's it. It's a job, or it's a hobby. It's not my obsession. It's not my life. It's not my faith.
I'm no better than you, the reader. I'm just saying I didn't do what so many people have done, and not just at Penn State. Look all around, look where the fanaticism for a sports program takes hold. Look at Indiana, when Bobby Knight coached basketball there. Look at Duke right now, and the way Mike K(I can't begin to spell his name) runs the show there.
We've all gone a little bit mad, haven't we?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Penn State: the Way of Being, and the Scandal (Part I)
It comes time for me to weigh in on the matter that has taken Pennsylvania, college football and a whole lot more by storm. By now, even the most casual follower of major college football knows of the scandal that has gripped Penn State University. The fallout has been tremendous, as was to be expected, but we are seeing much more happening here. Much more, indeed.
Not so much that such terrible things are alleged to have happened; they unfortunately do in all walks of life, but that they may have happened in a place where such things could never have been conceived. Add to it, by someone who was so respected, admired and honored as the one who started the terrible process.
It is also about those who chose not to "do the right thing," to cover up, to ignore and pretend it wasn't there, all in the name of protecting "the program." I admit, a lot of what I will say will be opinion, observation but with a fair amount of reality. At least I will do my best to dissect what has, and is happening...hopefully what will.
First, we have the man alleged to be the perpetrator, Jerry Sandusky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Sandusky
I will be the first one to tell you that everything on Wikipedia may/may not be accurate, but this mostly appears to be.
Now, take away the charges and lurid details (more on that later); here's a guy that is a product of Penn State. He played footbal there, went off to coach, came back and built a solid reputation as a defensive specialist. For over 30 years, Sandusky served under Joe Paterno, developed very strong defenses, and a string of All-American linebackers, several of whom made to the NFL. He was Def. Coordinator from 1977-99, when he retired; Sandusky had turned down offers to coach at Maryland, Marshall and elsewhere. His heart it seemed was with Penn State, and who could blame him?
He founded a home for underprivileged boys called the Second Mile. Sandusky had a precedent: when he was nine, his parents lived in Washington, PA; they convinced the local officials to keep a small center for kids in need open. They moved in above it, saved the place and kept a safe haven for kids. Sandusky always talked about how that stuck with him, and I honestly believe it did.
Now...forgive my being a cynic, but Second Mile is a rip from the Bible, and that sure plays real well in Pennsylvania, especially up in the North-Central, State College area. Nothing like working God in there, eh?
Well, for years, it would seem that Sandusky, his wife and all those who helped made the charity a going thing, a multi-million-dollar deal, that gave young kids (boys primarily, I think) a chance they never really had. Hundreds have been through it, and I'm sure most of them don't have horror stories to tell.
Like these alleged victims do...
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf
I'm gonna warn you...that official report is not pretty. We had known for three years that a grand jury had been investigating Sandusky, and reports (sketchy they were) of some rather strange and untoward behavior.
Since grand juries tend to be closed door affairs, we never heard an awful lot, but we heard enough to know there was smoke...a lot of smoke. You know what comes next, right?
I'll put myself where I was as this all started to go down. Friday, the shoe dropped, and it was learned that Sandusky, 67 years old, the man long thought to be Paterno's successor had been indicted on the charges described in the above AG's report. I had not read the report until Saturday, when I was working the weekend shift for WITF and KYW Newsradio.
KYW was covering this as a full blown news story; the arraignment had taken place Saturday morning. Radio PA (the WITF-owned network I was working for) had an empty newsroom, but for me that afternoon. Thanks to my colleagues from the WITF News side, I had material to work with, and I ended up rewriting and recording a couple of pieces for RPA's news.
Now, this was all sickening enough...but into the mix were two superiors: Athletic Director Tim Curley and VP of Business & Finance Gary Shultz.
Look at the pictures of those guys (clearly from the Penn State site or somewhere they do those standups), and you have Dumb and Dumber. They too face charges, for the alleged cover-up.
Let's do the skinny on that...it was clear that Sandusky was in trouble from as early as 1994. In '98, one of these incidents occurred on the Penn State campus; there was an investigation, and University Police (yes, they have their own police force) chose to do nothing more (allegedly) than to warn Sandusky and they let it go.
They let it go...allegedly.
Fast forward to the incident that we now know involves Mike McQueary, now the receivers coach under Joe Paterno. Back in '02, McQueary testified that he caught Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the football locker room showers...he testified that he took the matter to his father, and they went to see Paterno the next day.
The AG's office and all others agree that Paterno then took this matter to Curley, his superior, his boss, if you will. Curley promised action; he and Shultz met with McQueary about ten days later, and assured McQueary action would be taken.
Here's what all appears to have happened: part of the terms of Sandusky's retirement in '99 was the standard package a lot of folks get after years of service. This included perks like education discounts for himself or dependents; Sandusky also got an office which he apparently used for the Second Mile activities, and unfettered access to the locker rooms, gym, workout centers, etc. Like he'd never retired.
They took his keys away.
Yeah, and apparently also told Sandusky not to bring any more kids onto the campus.
Now it gets worse.
NO report to the police, the local and/or state police.
NO report to the state, as mandated under the Pennsylvania Child Protection statutes.
It also seems from the, "he said, he said" back and forth in testimony, that Curley and Shultz (allegedly) obscured the picture, not only to University President Graham Spanier, but to anyone else in the know.
Paterno, according to his grand jury testimony and all others agree, did the right thing. He informed his superior, and did so in good time. More on that in a moment.
So here we are: Sandusky is free on $100-thousand bail. Dumb and Dumber are free on $75-thousand each; Curley has requested and been placed on administrative leave, while Curley has returned to retirement.
That being said: I want to make very clear, I am not trying to convict anyone myself. Sandusky, Curley and Shultz deserve a fair day in court, and a right to be defended against these charges. Innocent till proven guilty is the law of this land, despite a media (and quite a few others) who think it is the other way 'round.
Based on what we're hearing and reading (and you need to take a lot of this with grains of salt, many in fact), Sandusky was a classic pedophile: he used his position at Penn State, with the Second Mile and within the community to build good will. Somewhere along the line, it's conjectured he began using it all for something insidious.
The profile, experts say is very classic: Sandusky singled out boys for extra-special attention. He took them to Penn State games, they got to hang out at practices, Sandusky was showing them a good time, making them feel wanted.
In a lot of cases, a kid without a really solid family and not a lot of options can sure as hell use that kind of hand up. No doubt a lot of kids benefitted. But Sandusky appeared to have found the ones most vulnerable, the ones who would keep their mouths shut.
The grooming induces skin-crawling sensations that just make you ill, at least they do to me. Others say that Sandusky's double life was obscured (mostly) by his personality, his way with people; you're made to think this is the last guy on Earth who would ever do things like these.
Yeah. They've said that before too; many times.
So here we have the bones of the story, and how two university officials, high-ranking officials with great responsibility upon them, dropped the ball...allegedly.
Why do that? Why risk everything to keep this all hushed up?
For that, you need to understand a little more about Penn State, and the "Way."
###
What is the "Way?"
As someone who is not from Pennsylvania, I hope I can offer an outsider-looking-in sort of view. Growing up as a kid, I was a sports fan. I was into just about every sport there was, though I could not play any of them well enough to save my own life.
I'd never been a big fan of college football; it just didn't interest me as much as the pro game, and that includes the CFL, considering I grew up in Northern New England, near the Canadian border in pre-cable TV days.
But I certainly knew about Penn State, the Nittany Lions, and I knew who Joe Paterno was. Those plain, blue and white uniforms, the huge stadium in a place nicknamed "Happy Valley." JoePA was the grandfatherly coach who ran a unique program.
He believed that seniors, if they were still on the squad from their freshman year, got to start because they'd earned it. You had to be damn good player if you were playing regularly in your first or second years.
The program seemed "clean." You almost never heard of NCAA violations coming out of PSU, though occasionally there might be a miss-step. Nothing, though that ever meant sanctions, loss of scholarships, loss of postseason play none of that.
Considering what happened to SMU and how the program never fully recovered from the "death penalty" in '87, you didn't expect anything like that again.
Some have put the recent scandals involving pay to play at the University of Miami as somehow like this. No, this is something other...it doesn't involve players, shady agents and the like. It involves men in power, in authority and of influence. Some who appear to have acted terribly, others who have acted out of cowardice, greed or some other need.
So now, let's look at Penn State...the university is indeed a reknowned and well-respected school. You can't be dumbass if you go there; the courses of study across the state system are among the best in the region. No argument.
The sports programs have always been touted as good, competitive programs, but that academics always came first. It seems that way; you never hear much about football or basketball players getting sidelined because their grades stunk. You never hear about players getting the smart kids to do their papers for them or letting them copy their exams, that kind of thing.
In this part of the world, there are supposedly strong values about honesty, ethics, integrity, all of that. Penn State tries to live that way, but all schools should be putting those things forward.
The exception to the rule about sports was football, and Joe Paterno.
He is the all-time winningest coach in Division I football; he just passed Eddie Robinson of Grambling for wins, with 409. He's won two national titles, numerous bowl games, and he's turned out a remarkable number of really good football players. A great teacher, yes.
But with years and years of his being there, the success, the power...comes the cult of personality.
It's not even Paterno's fault; Paterno became bigger than the university, for the very things he preached and practiced. He elicited a following of alumni, students, boosters and whomever that basically saw him as a God.
Not God, mind...just one who rode on God's shoulders when he wasn't reading the classics or diagraming plays.
The adulation becomes frenzied if you dare say anything ill of JoePa; mention that he's too old, that in recent years his teams aren't that good, anything like that, and you will be smacked down by people who virtually foam at the mouth at your blasphemies.
This extends to the media, and I've not a lot of liking for colleagues who continually carry a torch for JoePa...I won't name names, but there are a few radio, TV and print media guys who week in and week out virtually masturbate in public over the greatness that is Joe Paterno.
Most of them aren't, anymore.
And that is where I come to the next point:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/joe-paterno-fighting-for-his-job/article2229289/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Sports&utm_content=2229289
This story is one of many out there. The calls are loud for Paterno to step down, resign, be fired, anything. So many of those who loudly tub thumped and trumpeted JoePa's praises are now demanding he be served up on a silver platter.
Why?
Let's look into that.
Technically and legally, Paterno did the right thing in '02 when that horrid allegation came up. Paterno is 84; back then he'd have been about 75. At an age when most men are having trouble getting out of bed, Paterno could still get about, but over the years people have wondered just how much coaching does the man actually do?
He never wears a headset anymore; he does talk to the players, the coaches, the officials, sure, but is he a figurehead as some charge?
Okay, back to the age thing...Paterno may not have understood the portent of all this, but I tend to think in the back of his mind he did.
He did the right thing. He reported it; my feeling is he trusted Curley and the rest to do their jobs and do the right thing, too.
Only they didn't. There's no proof yet that Paterno ever called to follow up on this.
Now here's another thing: Paterno has a reputation of an, "Aw Jeez," type of guy, down to earth, friendly, grandfatherly, etc. But he was and probably still is a tough customer...his relationship with Sandusky is an interesting matter.
Reports are they were not that close. They worked well together and I'm sure respected one another, but Paterno and Sandusky argued a lot, to the point that Paterno would fire Sandusky (then re-hire him).
Apparently, after that '02 incident, Paterno distanced himself from Sandusky, even though he is an honorary chair member of Second Mile.
Paterno had to have known, it is said, that Sandusky was still around the campus, even after these allegations became known. Paterno had to testify to a grand jury; he had to have at least heard of the other allegations.
Now...this is where Monday Morning Quarterbacking is a big problem. Everyone is claiming moral high ground, and claiming that Paterno should have done more than he did.
How can you judge that, nine years after the fact?
Do YOU have the right to judge that? I don't think you do. I don't either.
Yes, I think Paterno could have done more, and maybe he did. He was not allowed to speak to the media today at his regular Tuesday press conference, on orders from the president, Spanier. More on that particular character in a bit
So yeah...this is being ripped apart, picked apart and torn up. In a world of instant information, 24-hour sports channels and an ever-ready line of "experts" who want in for their face time and 15 seconds of notoriety, you have the inevitable pile of shit.
Paterno must go...Spanier must go...the coaching staff must be wiped out...the slate wiped clean...
Yeah, yeah.
Like you think that's gonna do it?
The general feeling is that Paterno, whose contract is up at the end of the season, will not be rehired. He likely will be allowed to retire at season's end, though I wonder if he will be permitted to coach at a bowl game, which looks pretty likely.
President Spanier, I have never been a fan of. He has done much for the university, including the establishment of a law school, but he has been a figurehead who has allowed himself to be walked all over.
He has been stepped on by Paterno, by the Athletic Department, by politicians and by the media. Spanier has done nothing in my view to stand up for the students and their rights; he has no power. He has been a weak leader, and I honestly think he too needs to leave.
Does Paterno deserve to go? I'm afraid he does, but I feel sorry for him. I never disliked or despised him the way so many have.
This is the double-edged sword of Penn State, and JoePa: you either love him and the school, or you hate them.
You love them for all the good things the school allegedly stands for, the probity, the ethics, the decency, and all that mushy, rah-rah-let's-go-Penn State stuff.
Or you hate them for their arrogance, their swagger and their we're-so-fucking-much-better-than-you attitude. In a lot of cases, they were.
I guess it comes down to this:
--Sandusky faces life in prison for what he is alleged to have done. Following his day in court, we'll see what happens to him.
--Curley and Shultz are likely headed for prison, or at least probation and stiff fines, if found guilty in the cover-up. Their lives are ruined; for if found guilty, they are guilty of failing to act when action was required.
--Spanier likely will lose his job, because all this went on under his watch. His ill-advised statement of support for those two guys may have been meant well, but it backfired. His weakness has helped kill him, too; for he did not stand up to the program, the program Curley and Shultz allegedly tried to protect.
--Paterno? Honestly, I think once it all sinks in, this is a man who is going to hurt like hell, and not for himself. He has done much good for sports, and for people; it was not that he made a mistake, but that it seems in the eyes of many he didn't go far enough in doing what was right. We may never know why.
I don't think one error (if you can call it that) should be any person's legacy. I know that I've said and done things I wished I'd never...but I would hope that no one would take one incident or moment and think that was all I was.
But yes...Paterno needs to retire, and do so with the grace the man has shown over the years. It's time for that change, as well.
--Of course, we have the victims. Those kids, eight of them, some now men...and were there others? Again we might not know. The eight we know will now have to live those nightmares over again, in order to see an alleged predator face his due. Those guys will never be fully "normal," though I'm not even what "normal" is myself.
The whole thing is just sad. My cynical, dark side laughs with what I feel is justification at a lot of people who blindly sang the praises of Penn State and Joe Paterno, and how wonderful it all is, was, etc.
Quite a few of you jumped ship right away, didn't you? The whole story still hasn't come out, has it? Were you ever really fans? Were you ever really Penn Staters? Gotta wonder about you.
Like the song says, "Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself."
I love how the Harrisburg Patriot-News suddenly found its spine after years of fawning over Penn State.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=PA_PN&ref_pge=lst
Sorry, but you know what? You all set yourself up to fall, and hard. Scary, isn't it, when your "Gods" show themselves to be human after all?
Yeah...but at the heart of it all, I feel sad. No one I know is enjoying reporting on this, whether you went to PSU or not.
One of my colleagues is a Maryland grad...she HATES PSU, and has never forgiven Paterno for letting the Lions run the score up on the Terrapins years ago. I don't even remember the game's she's talking about.
I feel the worst for those kids, and those young men. Let's make sure we're clear on that.
I feel bad for Paterno, having to endure something he did not do, but is being made culpable...that is something he himself will have to deal with. We don't have that right to do it for him.
Two men who worked for years at Penn State, when caught in the crisis of their lives, blinked.
One man who, as Paterno stated, "fooled" everyone with an act worthy of the greatest stage performer, for years. And almost got away with it...allegedly.
Then there's a nation of alumni and students...you know what? They didn't do this. They didn't assault those kids; they didn't sweep it under the rug. They've been played, too. All in the name of what Howard Cosell sneeringly called, "BIG TIME COLLEGE SPORTS."
Is what it's all about, isn't it?
Well, I have to go up to Penn State this Saturday, to cover the Nebraska game. I likely will have thoughts about this over the weekend. I have a job to do; I wonder what I will find.
Not so much that such terrible things are alleged to have happened; they unfortunately do in all walks of life, but that they may have happened in a place where such things could never have been conceived. Add to it, by someone who was so respected, admired and honored as the one who started the terrible process.
It is also about those who chose not to "do the right thing," to cover up, to ignore and pretend it wasn't there, all in the name of protecting "the program." I admit, a lot of what I will say will be opinion, observation but with a fair amount of reality. At least I will do my best to dissect what has, and is happening...hopefully what will.
First, we have the man alleged to be the perpetrator, Jerry Sandusky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Sandusky
I will be the first one to tell you that everything on Wikipedia may/may not be accurate, but this mostly appears to be.
Now, take away the charges and lurid details (more on that later); here's a guy that is a product of Penn State. He played footbal there, went off to coach, came back and built a solid reputation as a defensive specialist. For over 30 years, Sandusky served under Joe Paterno, developed very strong defenses, and a string of All-American linebackers, several of whom made to the NFL. He was Def. Coordinator from 1977-99, when he retired; Sandusky had turned down offers to coach at Maryland, Marshall and elsewhere. His heart it seemed was with Penn State, and who could blame him?
He founded a home for underprivileged boys called the Second Mile. Sandusky had a precedent: when he was nine, his parents lived in Washington, PA; they convinced the local officials to keep a small center for kids in need open. They moved in above it, saved the place and kept a safe haven for kids. Sandusky always talked about how that stuck with him, and I honestly believe it did.
Now...forgive my being a cynic, but Second Mile is a rip from the Bible, and that sure plays real well in Pennsylvania, especially up in the North-Central, State College area. Nothing like working God in there, eh?
Well, for years, it would seem that Sandusky, his wife and all those who helped made the charity a going thing, a multi-million-dollar deal, that gave young kids (boys primarily, I think) a chance they never really had. Hundreds have been through it, and I'm sure most of them don't have horror stories to tell.
Like these alleged victims do...
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/Press/Sandusky-Grand-Jury-Presentment.pdf
I'm gonna warn you...that official report is not pretty. We had known for three years that a grand jury had been investigating Sandusky, and reports (sketchy they were) of some rather strange and untoward behavior.
Since grand juries tend to be closed door affairs, we never heard an awful lot, but we heard enough to know there was smoke...a lot of smoke. You know what comes next, right?
I'll put myself where I was as this all started to go down. Friday, the shoe dropped, and it was learned that Sandusky, 67 years old, the man long thought to be Paterno's successor had been indicted on the charges described in the above AG's report. I had not read the report until Saturday, when I was working the weekend shift for WITF and KYW Newsradio.
KYW was covering this as a full blown news story; the arraignment had taken place Saturday morning. Radio PA (the WITF-owned network I was working for) had an empty newsroom, but for me that afternoon. Thanks to my colleagues from the WITF News side, I had material to work with, and I ended up rewriting and recording a couple of pieces for RPA's news.
Now, this was all sickening enough...but into the mix were two superiors: Athletic Director Tim Curley and VP of Business & Finance Gary Shultz.
Look at the pictures of those guys (clearly from the Penn State site or somewhere they do those standups), and you have Dumb and Dumber. They too face charges, for the alleged cover-up.
Let's do the skinny on that...it was clear that Sandusky was in trouble from as early as 1994. In '98, one of these incidents occurred on the Penn State campus; there was an investigation, and University Police (yes, they have their own police force) chose to do nothing more (allegedly) than to warn Sandusky and they let it go.
They let it go...allegedly.
Fast forward to the incident that we now know involves Mike McQueary, now the receivers coach under Joe Paterno. Back in '02, McQueary testified that he caught Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in the football locker room showers...he testified that he took the matter to his father, and they went to see Paterno the next day.
The AG's office and all others agree that Paterno then took this matter to Curley, his superior, his boss, if you will. Curley promised action; he and Shultz met with McQueary about ten days later, and assured McQueary action would be taken.
Here's what all appears to have happened: part of the terms of Sandusky's retirement in '99 was the standard package a lot of folks get after years of service. This included perks like education discounts for himself or dependents; Sandusky also got an office which he apparently used for the Second Mile activities, and unfettered access to the locker rooms, gym, workout centers, etc. Like he'd never retired.
They took his keys away.
Yeah, and apparently also told Sandusky not to bring any more kids onto the campus.
Now it gets worse.
NO report to the police, the local and/or state police.
NO report to the state, as mandated under the Pennsylvania Child Protection statutes.
It also seems from the, "he said, he said" back and forth in testimony, that Curley and Shultz (allegedly) obscured the picture, not only to University President Graham Spanier, but to anyone else in the know.
Paterno, according to his grand jury testimony and all others agree, did the right thing. He informed his superior, and did so in good time. More on that in a moment.
So here we are: Sandusky is free on $100-thousand bail. Dumb and Dumber are free on $75-thousand each; Curley has requested and been placed on administrative leave, while Curley has returned to retirement.
That being said: I want to make very clear, I am not trying to convict anyone myself. Sandusky, Curley and Shultz deserve a fair day in court, and a right to be defended against these charges. Innocent till proven guilty is the law of this land, despite a media (and quite a few others) who think it is the other way 'round.
Based on what we're hearing and reading (and you need to take a lot of this with grains of salt, many in fact), Sandusky was a classic pedophile: he used his position at Penn State, with the Second Mile and within the community to build good will. Somewhere along the line, it's conjectured he began using it all for something insidious.
The profile, experts say is very classic: Sandusky singled out boys for extra-special attention. He took them to Penn State games, they got to hang out at practices, Sandusky was showing them a good time, making them feel wanted.
In a lot of cases, a kid without a really solid family and not a lot of options can sure as hell use that kind of hand up. No doubt a lot of kids benefitted. But Sandusky appeared to have found the ones most vulnerable, the ones who would keep their mouths shut.
The grooming induces skin-crawling sensations that just make you ill, at least they do to me. Others say that Sandusky's double life was obscured (mostly) by his personality, his way with people; you're made to think this is the last guy on Earth who would ever do things like these.
Yeah. They've said that before too; many times.
So here we have the bones of the story, and how two university officials, high-ranking officials with great responsibility upon them, dropped the ball...allegedly.
Why do that? Why risk everything to keep this all hushed up?
For that, you need to understand a little more about Penn State, and the "Way."
###
What is the "Way?"
As someone who is not from Pennsylvania, I hope I can offer an outsider-looking-in sort of view. Growing up as a kid, I was a sports fan. I was into just about every sport there was, though I could not play any of them well enough to save my own life.
I'd never been a big fan of college football; it just didn't interest me as much as the pro game, and that includes the CFL, considering I grew up in Northern New England, near the Canadian border in pre-cable TV days.
But I certainly knew about Penn State, the Nittany Lions, and I knew who Joe Paterno was. Those plain, blue and white uniforms, the huge stadium in a place nicknamed "Happy Valley." JoePA was the grandfatherly coach who ran a unique program.
He believed that seniors, if they were still on the squad from their freshman year, got to start because they'd earned it. You had to be damn good player if you were playing regularly in your first or second years.
The program seemed "clean." You almost never heard of NCAA violations coming out of PSU, though occasionally there might be a miss-step. Nothing, though that ever meant sanctions, loss of scholarships, loss of postseason play none of that.
Considering what happened to SMU and how the program never fully recovered from the "death penalty" in '87, you didn't expect anything like that again.
Some have put the recent scandals involving pay to play at the University of Miami as somehow like this. No, this is something other...it doesn't involve players, shady agents and the like. It involves men in power, in authority and of influence. Some who appear to have acted terribly, others who have acted out of cowardice, greed or some other need.
So now, let's look at Penn State...the university is indeed a reknowned and well-respected school. You can't be dumbass if you go there; the courses of study across the state system are among the best in the region. No argument.
The sports programs have always been touted as good, competitive programs, but that academics always came first. It seems that way; you never hear much about football or basketball players getting sidelined because their grades stunk. You never hear about players getting the smart kids to do their papers for them or letting them copy their exams, that kind of thing.
In this part of the world, there are supposedly strong values about honesty, ethics, integrity, all of that. Penn State tries to live that way, but all schools should be putting those things forward.
The exception to the rule about sports was football, and Joe Paterno.
He is the all-time winningest coach in Division I football; he just passed Eddie Robinson of Grambling for wins, with 409. He's won two national titles, numerous bowl games, and he's turned out a remarkable number of really good football players. A great teacher, yes.
But with years and years of his being there, the success, the power...comes the cult of personality.
It's not even Paterno's fault; Paterno became bigger than the university, for the very things he preached and practiced. He elicited a following of alumni, students, boosters and whomever that basically saw him as a God.
Not God, mind...just one who rode on God's shoulders when he wasn't reading the classics or diagraming plays.
The adulation becomes frenzied if you dare say anything ill of JoePa; mention that he's too old, that in recent years his teams aren't that good, anything like that, and you will be smacked down by people who virtually foam at the mouth at your blasphemies.
This extends to the media, and I've not a lot of liking for colleagues who continually carry a torch for JoePa...I won't name names, but there are a few radio, TV and print media guys who week in and week out virtually masturbate in public over the greatness that is Joe Paterno.
Most of them aren't, anymore.
And that is where I come to the next point:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/joe-paterno-fighting-for-his-job/article2229289/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Sports&utm_content=2229289
This story is one of many out there. The calls are loud for Paterno to step down, resign, be fired, anything. So many of those who loudly tub thumped and trumpeted JoePa's praises are now demanding he be served up on a silver platter.
Why?
Let's look into that.
Technically and legally, Paterno did the right thing in '02 when that horrid allegation came up. Paterno is 84; back then he'd have been about 75. At an age when most men are having trouble getting out of bed, Paterno could still get about, but over the years people have wondered just how much coaching does the man actually do?
He never wears a headset anymore; he does talk to the players, the coaches, the officials, sure, but is he a figurehead as some charge?
Okay, back to the age thing...Paterno may not have understood the portent of all this, but I tend to think in the back of his mind he did.
He did the right thing. He reported it; my feeling is he trusted Curley and the rest to do their jobs and do the right thing, too.
Only they didn't. There's no proof yet that Paterno ever called to follow up on this.
Now here's another thing: Paterno has a reputation of an, "Aw Jeez," type of guy, down to earth, friendly, grandfatherly, etc. But he was and probably still is a tough customer...his relationship with Sandusky is an interesting matter.
Reports are they were not that close. They worked well together and I'm sure respected one another, but Paterno and Sandusky argued a lot, to the point that Paterno would fire Sandusky (then re-hire him).
Apparently, after that '02 incident, Paterno distanced himself from Sandusky, even though he is an honorary chair member of Second Mile.
Paterno had to have known, it is said, that Sandusky was still around the campus, even after these allegations became known. Paterno had to testify to a grand jury; he had to have at least heard of the other allegations.
Now...this is where Monday Morning Quarterbacking is a big problem. Everyone is claiming moral high ground, and claiming that Paterno should have done more than he did.
How can you judge that, nine years after the fact?
Do YOU have the right to judge that? I don't think you do. I don't either.
Yes, I think Paterno could have done more, and maybe he did. He was not allowed to speak to the media today at his regular Tuesday press conference, on orders from the president, Spanier. More on that particular character in a bit
So yeah...this is being ripped apart, picked apart and torn up. In a world of instant information, 24-hour sports channels and an ever-ready line of "experts" who want in for their face time and 15 seconds of notoriety, you have the inevitable pile of shit.
Paterno must go...Spanier must go...the coaching staff must be wiped out...the slate wiped clean...
Yeah, yeah.
Like you think that's gonna do it?
The general feeling is that Paterno, whose contract is up at the end of the season, will not be rehired. He likely will be allowed to retire at season's end, though I wonder if he will be permitted to coach at a bowl game, which looks pretty likely.
President Spanier, I have never been a fan of. He has done much for the university, including the establishment of a law school, but he has been a figurehead who has allowed himself to be walked all over.
He has been stepped on by Paterno, by the Athletic Department, by politicians and by the media. Spanier has done nothing in my view to stand up for the students and their rights; he has no power. He has been a weak leader, and I honestly think he too needs to leave.
Does Paterno deserve to go? I'm afraid he does, but I feel sorry for him. I never disliked or despised him the way so many have.
This is the double-edged sword of Penn State, and JoePa: you either love him and the school, or you hate them.
You love them for all the good things the school allegedly stands for, the probity, the ethics, the decency, and all that mushy, rah-rah-let's-go-Penn State stuff.
Or you hate them for their arrogance, their swagger and their we're-so-fucking-much-better-than-you attitude. In a lot of cases, they were.
I guess it comes down to this:
--Sandusky faces life in prison for what he is alleged to have done. Following his day in court, we'll see what happens to him.
--Curley and Shultz are likely headed for prison, or at least probation and stiff fines, if found guilty in the cover-up. Their lives are ruined; for if found guilty, they are guilty of failing to act when action was required.
--Spanier likely will lose his job, because all this went on under his watch. His ill-advised statement of support for those two guys may have been meant well, but it backfired. His weakness has helped kill him, too; for he did not stand up to the program, the program Curley and Shultz allegedly tried to protect.
--Paterno? Honestly, I think once it all sinks in, this is a man who is going to hurt like hell, and not for himself. He has done much good for sports, and for people; it was not that he made a mistake, but that it seems in the eyes of many he didn't go far enough in doing what was right. We may never know why.
I don't think one error (if you can call it that) should be any person's legacy. I know that I've said and done things I wished I'd never...but I would hope that no one would take one incident or moment and think that was all I was.
But yes...Paterno needs to retire, and do so with the grace the man has shown over the years. It's time for that change, as well.
--Of course, we have the victims. Those kids, eight of them, some now men...and were there others? Again we might not know. The eight we know will now have to live those nightmares over again, in order to see an alleged predator face his due. Those guys will never be fully "normal," though I'm not even what "normal" is myself.
The whole thing is just sad. My cynical, dark side laughs with what I feel is justification at a lot of people who blindly sang the praises of Penn State and Joe Paterno, and how wonderful it all is, was, etc.
Quite a few of you jumped ship right away, didn't you? The whole story still hasn't come out, has it? Were you ever really fans? Were you ever really Penn Staters? Gotta wonder about you.
Like the song says, "Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself."
I love how the Harrisburg Patriot-News suddenly found its spine after years of fawning over Penn State.
http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=PA_PN&ref_pge=lst
Sorry, but you know what? You all set yourself up to fall, and hard. Scary, isn't it, when your "Gods" show themselves to be human after all?
Yeah...but at the heart of it all, I feel sad. No one I know is enjoying reporting on this, whether you went to PSU or not.
One of my colleagues is a Maryland grad...she HATES PSU, and has never forgiven Paterno for letting the Lions run the score up on the Terrapins years ago. I don't even remember the game's she's talking about.
I feel the worst for those kids, and those young men. Let's make sure we're clear on that.
I feel bad for Paterno, having to endure something he did not do, but is being made culpable...that is something he himself will have to deal with. We don't have that right to do it for him.
Two men who worked for years at Penn State, when caught in the crisis of their lives, blinked.
One man who, as Paterno stated, "fooled" everyone with an act worthy of the greatest stage performer, for years. And almost got away with it...allegedly.
Then there's a nation of alumni and students...you know what? They didn't do this. They didn't assault those kids; they didn't sweep it under the rug. They've been played, too. All in the name of what Howard Cosell sneeringly called, "BIG TIME COLLEGE SPORTS."
Is what it's all about, isn't it?
Well, I have to go up to Penn State this Saturday, to cover the Nebraska game. I likely will have thoughts about this over the weekend. I have a job to do; I wonder what I will find.
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