No, Harrington was trying to create a story out of the fact that Pegula had declined to comment yet.
It's one thing to mention that in a story, it's another to use it as the basis for a story and try to manufacture drama. He most definitely did the latter.
Exactly. If you spend 20 minutes reading the grand jury transcripts, you then realize that the man you want to ask for comment is Cliff Benson, who is on the board of The Second Mile, the organization Sandusky founded, and where he got his victims from.
The posted column was PEGULA PEGULA PEGULA benson.
Harrington spent more time calling me clueless and small minded than actually doing that story.
Exactly. If you spend 20 minutes reading the grand jury transcripts, you then realize that the man you want to ask for comment is Cliff Benson, who is on the board of The Second Mile, the organization Sandusky founded, and where he got his victims from.
The posted column was PEGULA PEGULA PEGULA benson.
Harrington spent more time calling me clueless and small minded than actually doing that story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beechsack
"Pegula was contacted, and had no comment as press time." is a one line addition to an existing story. It's not worthy of an entire article.
I'd respond further but you guys have pretty much said everything.
I commented in the PSU / Pegula thread, but I'll repeat and expand here. Then I'll probably stay silent on it.
1. I read the grand jury statement Tuesday overnight.
2. It doesn't take much connecting of the dots to infer / believe there is a lot more complicity and interwoven cover-up and wrong-doing than just the point-by-point facts / allegations.
Specifically:
a.) Individuals in the PSU hierarchy (all the names identified with PSU and 2nd mile, etc., and likely others in the PSU hierarchy), by virtue of either their title/association with PSU, and/or their actual authority, have access to similar high-authority individuals in the state and county legal and political systems.
b.) This access and these relationships likely run from minor (e.g., golf outings, fundraising dinners, honors banquets, minor business relationships, etc.) to major (e.g, deep business relationships - i.e., lead legal counsel for PSU has same function with 2nd mile).
c.) This interwoveness likely includes relationships in both the PSU Campus and State Police depts., District attorney office, PSU board of directors, governors office - if not now, at least at some point in time. (Note the Penna. Gov. is a default member of the PSU board of directors).
d.) The timing of these events absolutely reeks of complicit actions and interwoveness.
e.g., the 1999 Sandusky retirement after the 1998 investigation,
e.g., PSU football in a bit of a lull in mid-2000s, concurrent with timeframe of Centre County asst. DA Gricar's disappearance - Folks, a murder likely occurred as a result of this whole sordid affair.
e.g., Story not released and Commonwealth action not taken until after victory #409.
etc.,
3) I have no firm opinion on Paterno's extent of guilt. In reality, it may lie anywhere between "In hindsight, I wish I had done more" (paraphrasing his words) to a clear understanding of the nature, extent, and duration of Sandusky's acts over many years, and/or knowledge of the interwoveness and machinations by several others in authority to "at best" avoid dealing with the issue swiftly, decisively, and legally, or at worst, implement and preserve an elaborate coverup scheme, perhaps with a murder involved. As the saying goes, "the truth is likely somewhere in the middle", and I believe it is.
4) McQueary should be relieved of duties on two grounds. 1) his continued presence on the football staff is a monstrous distraction and doesn't pass the red-face test. 2) Hasn't he too allegedly committed a crime? The grand jury found his testimony to be highly credible. If he truly was an eyewitness, as he alleges, I'd be REALLY CURIOUS what the Pa. statutes were at that time. As a grad student he was an employee of the State, so I assume he was also bound to report what he saw to legal authorities. I'll grant McQueary may not have known his obligations (as the heirarchy surely knew, yet chose not to act correctly / fully), but I highly doubt it. From my personal experience as a grad student employee of NYS, as well as a University Resident Assistant, I was extremely aware of my obligation to report to Student Affairs **** like that (granted, more than a decade before McQueary, and in NYS, not PA). But honestly, re: McQueary - in 2002, if you don't know that anal sex with a boy is illegal and you should go to the cops, or at least call an anonymous 1-800 hotline if you think the cops will cover it up, then I sure as **** don't think you're bright enough to play football, let alone coach it. From what I've read, I already know you're a pathetic coward.
5) I remind everyone that, tragically, both sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of minors, occurs daily, and is usually perpetrated by family / friends well-known and trusted by victims. IMO, the PSU / 2nd mile stuff gets the press and airtime because it's a large institution and hierarchical. A similar reason, again IMO, incidents in the Catholic Church and/or Boy Scouts, etc., get the press and airtime, (despite, for example, several independent factual studies show abuse of minors by Catholic priests is actually a lower frequency rate than for clergy in other denominations). Pillory of large, hierarchical, sometimes "faceless" institutions (the Klan, Communists, Nazis, the Catholic Church, Boy Scouts, "liberals", "conservatives", etc.,) promotes a "herd mentality" which shifts focus from our local neighborhood, schools, civic organizations, etc., to the heirarchal organizations. Folks, the risks and crimes are everywhere.
6) In my volunteer work, I am required by 2 separate organizations to receive "safe environment" training on how to establish and maintain an appropriate environment for youth activities, prevent at-risk situations / environments from occurring, and how/what/when to inform CPS / law enforcement of suspected abuse. The training is eye opening, and I encourage you to take it if offered at a volunteer organization, even if you are not personally required.
7) The PSU story made me recall the Swift Current Broncos story (Junior hockey), of which Lindy Ruff and family were close to both the youth abuse and bus accident tragedies.
Last edited by brian_griffin: 11-10-2011 at 04:00 PM.
Reason: spelling typos
Thank God for Sandusky, Paterno is taking all the heat... You'd think he was the actual one who did the molesting.
I think Paterno is getting a raw deal here.... Yes... he should be forced to resign ...and he did make mistakes .. but ...this guy is being dragged thru the mud. Sandusky is getting a pass it seems from most media outlets. I don't care if Paterno is the bigger story...media needs to do its job as well.
Thank God for Sandusky, Paterno is taking all the heat... You'd think he was the actual one who did the molesting.
I think Paterno is getting a raw deal here.... Yes... he should be forced to resign ...and he did make mistakes .. but ...this guy is being dragged thru the mud. Sandusky is getting a pass it seems from most media outlets. I don't care if Paterno is the bigger story...media needs to do its job as well.
Paterno deserves all of this. He probably won't go to jail (or maybe he will), he at least deserves to have his legacy horribly tarnished.
Sandusky is going to jail and will die there. There is no doubt he is getting what he deserves (at least, as much possible, because he deserves so much worse).
The story here isn't about Paterno because people want to ignore what Sandusky did. That has nothing to do with it.
This whole "poor Paterno getting all the attention" shtick is a ****ing joke. It's smoke and mirrors.
Paterno deserves all of this. He probably won't go to jail (or maybe he will), he at least deserves to have his legacy horribly tarnished.
Sandusky is going to jail and will die there. There is no doubt he is getting what he deserves (at least, as much possible, because he deserves so much worse).
The story here isn't about Paterno because people want to ignore what Sandusky did. That has nothing to do with it.
This whole "poor Paterno getting all the attention" shtick is a ****ing joke. It's smoke and mirrors.
Thank God for Sandusky, Paterno is taking all the heat... You'd think he was the actual one who did the molesting.
I think Paterno is getting a raw deal here.... Yes... he should be forced to resign ...and he did make mistakes .. but ...this guy is being dragged thru the mud. Sandusky is getting a pass it seems from most media outlets. I don't care if Paterno is the bigger story...media needs to do its job as well.
Joe Paterno KNEW that Sandusky had inappropriately touched young boys, and forced him to retire. Joe Paterno KNEW that Sandusky had sodomized a 10 year old boy on the Penn State campus, in football facilities.
Joe Paterno simply called his boss, and went about his business.
Joe Paterno chose his friend over every one of these innocent children that couldn't defend themselves from a sexual predator. That man runs State College, and could have singlehandedly had this stopped years ago. He made a choice.
Joe Paterno KNEW that Sandusky had inappropriately touched young boys, and forced him to retire. Joe Paterno KNEW that Sandusky had sodomized a 10 year old boy on the Penn State campus, in football facilities.
Joe Paterno simply called his boss, and went about his business.
Joe Paterno chose his friend over every one of these innocent children that couldn't defend themselves from a sexual predator. That man runs State College, and could have singlehandedly had this stopped years ago. He made a choice.
He's not being dragged through the mud enough.
Meh.... I can understand Sports Radio and ESPN concentrating on Paterno .... Not News Outlets.
Meh.... I can understand Sports Radio and ESPN concentrating on Paterno .... Not News Outlets.
I don't see why it matters. This transcends sports at this point. A person in a position of power covered up sexual abuse of children for years. Doesn't matter what the occupation happened to be.
For the same reason I made this thread, its the biggest news story in the country right now and our beloved owner is deeply involved at Penn State and I would be interested in what he has to say.
Reports coming out now (from the same guy who broke this story earlier this year) that Sandusky may have pimped out boys to big donors in exchange for donations.
Hooollly crap.
This story is just getting more and more terrible and amazing.
If this activity is true, and involved donors to Sandusky's charity, that already makes this one of the worst scandals in years, up there with the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal.
If it involved donors to Penn State, and involved any activity on the campus...then wow. That sort of this would not just destroy the football program. That's the sort of thing that could kill the university itself.
For the same reason I made this thread, its the biggest news story in the country right now and our beloved owner is deeply involved at Penn State and I would be interested in what he has to say.
as far as I can tell, you had not questioned why he had not commented yet. He is not involved directly in the case and should be given the opportunity to respond when ready. The whole story is *still* unfolding, so you should expect someone of Pegula's stature to carefully choose his response.
Great points Griffin, especially about McQueary. I've been saying the same things talking about it with my roommates and it came up in my ethics class today. How on Earth can he possibly keep his job? From what we know as of now, Paterno only knew what McQueary knew so how can McQueary, who witnessed it with his own eyes, not be let go too? How can he not report it right away and hell, why don't you stop it instead of walking away and letting it continue and just go tell your Dad? Be a man and step up. I'd be stunned if the whole staff is going to be cleared out after the season but McQueary has to go now. He's a coward, plain and simple.
I don't see why it matters. This transcends sports at this point. A person in a position of power covered up sexual abuse of children for years. Doesn't matter what the occupation happened to be.
It's my understanding that not only did he make a call to his Boss and report it.... He also reported it to Campus Police ... And forced Sandusky to resign. He took steps .... was he perfect?.. No... but to say he "covered up" isn't exactly true.
Ok folks, I think it's time to take the PSU talk to the PSU thread. I've renamed it to be more generic so all talk can be contained there. Let's let other people not have to see this discussion go on for days and days, because I expect it to. Thank you.
It's my understanding that not only did he make a call to his Boss and report it.... He also reported it to Campus Police ... And forced Sandusky to resign. He took steps .... was he perfect?.. No... but to say he "covered up" isn't exactly true.
Did you read the Grand Jury report? Please please please do not respond any further if you have not. All the facts are right there for you making informed opinions.
Where does it say he reported it to Campus Police? I don't see that in the report.
Paterno himself referred to what was reported about Sandusky as "disturbing" and "inappropriate".
He absolutely DID cover this up. Alone? No, absolutely not. But people are most infuriated with him because of his absolute power at that school. Of all people to do nothing, he was in the best position to pursue the issue.
The fact that Paterno told Sandusky he would never be coach reeks of cover-up. Instead of escalating the issue appropriately, he chose to simply make sure Sandusky didn't get into the spotlight. He did not restrict his access, but actually allowed Sandusky full access to the facilities. The screams not wanting to make anything seem suspicious.
Simply put, Paterno had the power to do something and choose instead to take Sandusky out of any spotlight.
It may not have been an active cover-up (I don't know all the facts), but it was at the very least a passive one.
Did you read the Grand Jury report? Please please please do not respond any further if you have not. All the facts are right there for you making informed opinions.
Where does it say he reported it to Campus Police? I don't see that in the report.
Paterno himself referred to what was reported about Sandusky as "disturbing" and "inappropriate".
He absolutely DID cover this up. Alone? No, absolutely not. But people are most infuriated with him because of his absolute power at that school. Of all people to do nothing, he was in the best position to pursue the issue.
I'm not giving Paterno a free pass. He did make mistakes...and he fully admits that. But... the fact is... he did report the allegations
The fact that Paterno told Sandusky he would never be coach reeks of cover-up. Instead of escalating the issue appropriately, he chose to simply make sure Sandusky didn't get into the spotlight. He did not restrict his access, but actually allowed Sandusky full access to the facilities. The screams not wanting to make anything seem suspicious.
Simply put, Paterno had the power to do something and choose instead to take Sandusky out of any spotlight.
It may not have been an active cover-up (I don't know all the facts), but it was at the very least a passive one.
I'm not giving Paterno a free pass. He did make mistakes...and he fully admits that. But... the fact is... he did report the allegations. One guy he reported it to (Shultz) is head of Campus Police. I'm not sure why anyone would expect him to call the media and let them know and since he didn't it's a cover up?. What was brought to his attention were accusations ...not facts. Who knows if he believed in the accusations or not ..yet he still took actions that were within his power.
Yes ..he messed up.....but he is not the Evil Villain the world is making him out to be.
