The chief question is this: If Curley, Schultz and Spanier believed it was no longer appropriate to allow Sandusky to bring children onto the Penn State campus – an act that suggests some concern over his behavior – how could they possibly believe his actions didn’t warrant a full police investigation?
And then there is the conduct of Paterno, the 84-year-old legend. He is beloved for being the winningest coach in college football history and for running a program for more than five decades that never ran afoul of NCAA statutes.
While he may have committed no crime, he must fully explain the actions he took after hearing such an unspeakable allegation.
Did he really listen to this story and think merely telling the AD was enough? Why did he wait a day to summon Curley to his home? Wouldn’t a charge like this take precedent over pretty much everything? Why didn’t he personally look into it further? This is something that allegedly happened in his locker room, by a man he both coached and employed as a trusted assistant for a combined 33 years?
Technically Paterno may have done the right thing, reporting the allegation to his superior, but he isn’t just some middle manager. Tim Curley worked for Joe Paterno more than Joe Paterno worked for Tim Curley. He could’ve called in the police himself.
Paterno was 75 at the time and his advancing age and the limits of his participation in the program are well known. That simply can’t be used as an excuse. Positions of authority come with great responsibility and advancing age does not excuse someone of merely accepting the plaudits of success while avoiding the more difficult duties of the position.
Paterno may very well have appropriate answers to all of the above questions and more. He needs to give them. Four-hundred-plus victories shouldn’t absolve anyone from being accountable in a case such as this.
This is a scandal that goes beyond nearly anything college athletics has ever witnessed. These are the most horrific charges that can be made, the worst of the worst kind of crime that haunts victims forever.
The time for hiding behind statements and closed doors and parsed explanations from so-called leaders are over.
This demands real investigation conducted by real adults, something that’s at least eight years and who knows how many unnecessary victims overdue.
Penn State’s insufficient action amid child sex allegations stunning
by Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
Nov 5, 4:49 pm EDT
