Students at Penn State rioted over the firing of Joe Paterno. This isn't exactly news anymore, but I was completely astounded by their reaction when I was watching ESPN in the middle of the night. According to the one coherent rioter that ESPN found, the rioters were pissed because:
1. Joe Paterno was fired over the phone.
2. Joe Paterno told everyone he needed to about the rape. It's unfair that he's being punished while some other people involved are not.
3. Joe Paterno has a $10 million dollar library named after him.
Let's do away with the probability that most of the rioters were just drunk and stupid college kids who just wanted to trash a news van or two, and assess these points as they stand on their own. The first complaint is a breech of etiquette at worst, and one which is insubstantial compared to the rest of the evils of this entire situation. Mike Golic was sputtering a little bit on Mike & Mike about the phone call-firing, trying to make it into a discussion point and realizing that he was failing. Nobody (including Golic) is really arguing about the merits of the firing itself. The phone call point is pettifogging, and I think the people who are citing this as a reasonable complaint know this.
The other two issues strike me as reasons to be mad at Joe Paterno. Only in the narrowest sense did he abide by Pennsylvania's mandatory reporting laws concerning child abuse. I can't imagine being approached by a subordinate who tells me that another subordinate was anally raping a child at our workplace, and not going to the police immediately. What makes it even more heinous is that Sandusky continued to abuse children thereafter. Had someone brought the issue to the attention of law enforcement personnel, it's possible that there could have been fewer victims. Joe Paterno would probably still have his job too, and would have been commended by the public for handling a horrible situation correctly by getting an absolute scumbag arrested.
And as illegitimate as the library thing sounds, I understand completely what the guy was trying to convey. Joe Paterno is a living legend, and I absolutely mean that. The winningest I-A college football coach of all time. The coach with more bowl appearances and victories than anyone, ever. The man who made Penn State a hallmark team in college football. A career with the school that lasted for almost all of his adult life. He's a part of Penn State's essence. These immense achievements stand at odds with a colossal lapse in judgement, and people don't know how to extract Joe Paterno from Penn State.
I understand completely that people are in confused disbelief that the premier coach in college football could end up going out this way. The most emotional of them don't know who to blame. It comes down to this: first, you blame Sandusky. Then you blame the people who created a culture of silence that kept him on the loose. You don't blame the victims. You don't blame the people who fired him. You don't blame the players. Paterno absolutely deserves blame if these allegations prove true, and he deserves to be fired at the very least. And depending on what he said to the grand jury and to law enforcement, he might deserve a trial.
In the end, Paterno is one man. An exceptionally good coach, but still a man. There are no good men in history; there are men who we can say made good decisions, with the benefit of hindsight guiding us. Penn State has many difficult decisions ahead. Hopefully, they face them with more resolve and maturity than they did the night that Joe's career ended.
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