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Words I never thought I'd hear: Joe Paterno fired (UPDATE JOE PATERNO IS DEAD)

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Joe Paterno who has been head coach at Penn State longer than I have been alive, was fired last night.    He was fired for not doing enough to stop Sandusky from molesting children.   

Many on the campus are angry that Paterno was not allowed to retire at the end of the season as he had announced earlier this week.  Many think he should have been at least allowed to coach this weeks game which is the last home game of the year for Penn State.  

I reluctantly believe that it was right to fire Paterno asap.   This isn't some scandal involving kids being paid or someone taking bribes or someone fixing grades.    This is scandal involving the sexual molestation of children.   Paterno knew about it a long time ago and could have do more and prevented more children from being molested.  Yeah, he told his superiors, he did the bare minimum, but he could have done much more.  As a result of him not acting appropriately, more children got molested.  As much of a legend as he was, he still needed to go asap.  

What are your thoughts?

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I agree.  I think too many people try to make exceptions for celebrities, like the Roman Polanski case a couple years ago.  If they're famous, they don't deserve punishment.  Well, I'm afraid that when it comes to justice, we have to treat everyone equally, no matter what good they may have done.  It's sad, but he needed to go.

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I don't disagree with you but I just want to make sure you are not confused about the situation.    Paterno is not himself accused of molesting children.  No one things he did that.  What he was fired for was covering it up.   Just wanted to make sure that was understood.

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Oh, I'm clear on that.  It's not the same degree of wrong, but it was still wrong, and I don't like people trying to give celebrities a pass.  Thanks for making sure I understood though :)

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I agree with the celebrity thing.    It angers me that Polanski has been given a pass because he has made some good movies.   It angers me that the people on Polanski's side try to vilify the government(and anyone else for that matter) for daring to go after some one that raped a young girl.    

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I'd never heard of this guy before today, but RIOTS in the streets around his house because an 84-year old man was removed from his post a couple months before he planned to leave anyway is really dumb, even forgetting the fact that he knew about children being raped by one of his employees and did the bare minimum to do anything about it.

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I don't think you understand.   Paterno had not planned to leave this year, he never said he was retiring at the end of the year until this week.    He only did that because of the scandal.   two weeks ago no one had any idea this would be his last year let alone that last week was his last game as head coach. As for the riots, you have to understand this man has be the head coach of the football team since 1966 and before that was an assistant coach since 1950.   He was a legend at Penn State.    He was to Penn State what Knute Rockne was to Notre Dame.   There is a statue of him there.   A library(built with funds he gave and funds he raised) there is named after him.  People believed Paterno was the exact opposite of a person who would cover up something like this.  He was adored on that campus.   It doesn't excuse the riots,  but make it more understandable.    I think the whole university is in shock right now. 

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Like I said, I hadn't heard of him until earlier today. It is unfortunate that someone who seems like they should be remembered for all the good things he's done is probably going to be remembered more for this, at least for people who aren't familiar with Penn State or college sports. But riots are not going to erase this scandal, only draw more attention to it.

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The fact that students are protesting is super dumb.  I love sports, but I know when something is more important than my team's win/loss record.

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this isn't about wins an losses for the students.   They are protesting because of how much they cared about Paterno.    To them, Paterno IS Penn State.   Students and football players came to Penn State because he was there.  He did A LOT for the University.    Again, he is their Knute Rockne.  They wanted him to have one last game.  Some are also upset because Paterno was informed he was fired via a phone call, they thought he should have been told in person.    While the students have my sympathy,  I still think Paterno needed to go asap.    

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The students do not have my sympathy.  They need to deal with it.

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Didn't they?  They fired the AD, the president, a couple other people I think...

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TV's Frink said:

The students do not have my sympathy.  They need to deal with it.

I am not sure why that is.   I mean, it is not their fault this happened.     

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TV's Frink said:

Didn't they?  They fired the AD, the president, a couple other people I think...

yes, but I believe there are still more that need to go.  

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Warbler said:

TV's Frink said:

The students do not have my sympathy.  They need to deal with it.

I am not sure why that is.   I mean, it is not their fault this happened.     

How does this affect them exactly?

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TV's Frink said:

Warbler said:

TV's Frink said:

The students do not have my sympathy.  They need to deal with it.

I am not sure why that is.   I mean, it is not their fault this happened.     

How does this affect them exactly?

I've already told you this guy has been the head coach there since 1966, he was an assistant there before that since 1950.  He is their Knute Rockne.   This guy is a legend to them.    If someone was fired after being manager of the Cubs for 45 years and was considered a legend in Chicago,  might not you be a little upset?  

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If he did what Paterno did?  I would certainly not protest his firing.

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is there chance you would have when you 18 to 21 years old? 

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I have to say Frink,  when you were 18-21 years of age,  you must have been very wise, smart, and mature for your age. 

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I tend to listen to many hours of sports radio during the week, and don't think i've heard any of the hosts mention organizations who attempt to help people who have gone through similar trauma.

Also amazed by how many times i've heard the hosts, talk about how they can't say what they read in the indictment.