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My thoughts on the whole JoePa thing
Nov. 11th, 2011 09:38 pmTrigger warning for sex abuse discussion.
Sports fan or no, you're probably sick of hearing about the Penn State scandal. (Would you rather still be talking about Kim Kardashian?) Anyway, it's been talked to death, but I still feel like a lot has been left unsaid. And I just wanted to weigh in.
JoePa's PSU coaching career spanned six decades. He brought the school championships and glory and everybody loved him. He is certainly one of the most accomplished and beloved men in college football. As a diehard Virginia Tech fan, I understand how difficult the recent news must be for all of his fans, and I get why they're outraged and rioting in State College. But I think -- know -- that they're missing the point.
In sports, we place our hearts in the hands of people we don't know. They're public figures, so we feel like we know them, and the love we have for them is real and strong. And it can be damn near impossible to believe anything bad about those icons. I know that if it were Frank Beamer in this position, I would be devastated and heartbroken. But not because a man I love and revere is being run out of his job in shame -- it would be because I was wrong about who I thought he was. That's a bitter pill to swallow, and many PSU fans aren't choking it down. It's easy to rationalize and say JoePa is a scapegoat; that he did what was required of him by law and told his superior, and that he wasn't part of a coverup. But wasn't he?
Sure, he told. But when you find out about a violent crime, you don't just tell someone else and wash your hands of it. You don't brush it under the rug and let bygones be bygones -- because these things aren't just one-time things. And when someone you know to be a violent criminal isn't put in jail, or even on trial? You haven't fulfilled your duty to the victims, and you're putting others in danger. And that's exactly what happened here. By doing only the bare minimum, JoePa and other PSU officials who were in the know allowed a violent criminal to continue his violent crimes. For Paterno to say "I wish I had done more" must feel like salt in the wounds of the victims. Why does he say that now, only after he's been implicated in the coverup? Why not any time in the last nine years that he's known about the sexual abuse? Yeah, it's a shame that this beloved football coach is falling from grace, but what about the victims? The sympathies of this nation are woefully misprioritized. So many people are rallying in support of JoePa, but what does that rallying cry say to the victims? The ones that may never have been victims in the first place if Paterno had spoken up?
I have heard some people make that argument, and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I haven't heard a single thing about something I feel is very closely connected -- there is a definite trend of sex crimes by athletes against women, and it's never really news. Not that I feel sex crimes should ever be news, but the thing is, rape is way too common in the sports culture. And a LOT of it is covered up. An unfortunately large number of women I know have shared stories of being bullied by their school administrators not to pursue police involvement in sexual assault cases, often by football players, though I hate to generalize and make it look like I'm saying "football players are rapists!" I just think that when sports heroes do commit crimes, their schools have a strong interest in making the stories disappear. The latest news story is sensational because it involves big names and a twisted scandal -- serial rape of little boys -- but the sexual crimes against women are no less horrifying, and the coverups are certainly just as huge a problem.
Anyway, I agree with the decision to fire Joe Paterno and the PSU president. I have no idea why Mice McQueary (the coach who witnessed the rape taking place and reported it to Paterno) wasn't also immediately fired, though it looks like he will be, too. I understand why it's hard for PSU fans to agree, but I hope that as the truth of the past few weeks (and years) begins to sink in, that everyone will understand that their pain is nothing compared to that of the victims, and that this was the right decision.
Sports fan or no, you're probably sick of hearing about the Penn State scandal. (Would you rather still be talking about Kim Kardashian?) Anyway, it's been talked to death, but I still feel like a lot has been left unsaid. And I just wanted to weigh in.
JoePa's PSU coaching career spanned six decades. He brought the school championships and glory and everybody loved him. He is certainly one of the most accomplished and beloved men in college football. As a diehard Virginia Tech fan, I understand how difficult the recent news must be for all of his fans, and I get why they're outraged and rioting in State College. But I think -- know -- that they're missing the point.
In sports, we place our hearts in the hands of people we don't know. They're public figures, so we feel like we know them, and the love we have for them is real and strong. And it can be damn near impossible to believe anything bad about those icons. I know that if it were Frank Beamer in this position, I would be devastated and heartbroken. But not because a man I love and revere is being run out of his job in shame -- it would be because I was wrong about who I thought he was. That's a bitter pill to swallow, and many PSU fans aren't choking it down. It's easy to rationalize and say JoePa is a scapegoat; that he did what was required of him by law and told his superior, and that he wasn't part of a coverup. But wasn't he?
Sure, he told. But when you find out about a violent crime, you don't just tell someone else and wash your hands of it. You don't brush it under the rug and let bygones be bygones -- because these things aren't just one-time things. And when someone you know to be a violent criminal isn't put in jail, or even on trial? You haven't fulfilled your duty to the victims, and you're putting others in danger. And that's exactly what happened here. By doing only the bare minimum, JoePa and other PSU officials who were in the know allowed a violent criminal to continue his violent crimes. For Paterno to say "I wish I had done more" must feel like salt in the wounds of the victims. Why does he say that now, only after he's been implicated in the coverup? Why not any time in the last nine years that he's known about the sexual abuse? Yeah, it's a shame that this beloved football coach is falling from grace, but what about the victims? The sympathies of this nation are woefully misprioritized. So many people are rallying in support of JoePa, but what does that rallying cry say to the victims? The ones that may never have been victims in the first place if Paterno had spoken up?
I have heard some people make that argument, and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I haven't heard a single thing about something I feel is very closely connected -- there is a definite trend of sex crimes by athletes against women, and it's never really news. Not that I feel sex crimes should ever be news, but the thing is, rape is way too common in the sports culture. And a LOT of it is covered up. An unfortunately large number of women I know have shared stories of being bullied by their school administrators not to pursue police involvement in sexual assault cases, often by football players, though I hate to generalize and make it look like I'm saying "football players are rapists!" I just think that when sports heroes do commit crimes, their schools have a strong interest in making the stories disappear. The latest news story is sensational because it involves big names and a twisted scandal -- serial rape of little boys -- but the sexual crimes against women are no less horrifying, and the coverups are certainly just as huge a problem.
Anyway, I agree with the decision to fire Joe Paterno and the PSU president. I have no idea why Mice McQueary (the coach who witnessed the rape taking place and reported it to Paterno) wasn't also immediately fired, though it looks like he will be, too. I understand why it's hard for PSU fans to agree, but I hope that as the truth of the past few weeks (and years) begins to sink in, that everyone will understand that their pain is nothing compared to that of the victims, and that this was the right decision.
