Penn State Of Denial, Part 2

In the wake of the truly ugly incidents of child molestation involving former Penn State assistant football coach  Jerry Sandusky, looks like his one-time boss Joe Paterno will be retiring at the end of the season from Penn State.

Legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno will retire at the end of the season, he said Wednesday in a statement. Paterno's move comes in the wake of a child sex abuse scandal involving a former assistant football coach.

“I am absolutely devastated by the developments in this case.  I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief,” he said.

“I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today.

"That's why I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can."

I personally don't think Paterno should be allowed to finish out the season, but that's not my call.  The university will be under a lot of pressure to see him go sooner as these allegations get worse.  I have no sympathy for his "legend" either if he turned a blind eye to this for years, nor do I have any sympathy for the school or the program.

Geov Parrish has more on this over at BooMan's place.

And the value of the downfall of Paterno is twofold. First, it underscores that a situation like that can happen anywhere, to anyone - even in a place as idyllic as Happy Valley and with the moral rectitude of Paterno's football program. Secondly, while Paterno has been legally exonerated of wrongdoing, there's also been a pretty clear public moral judgment that his actions were not adequate. That as the most influential man in his community, he should have followed up. He should have asked why Sandusky continued to be around his program - with more young children in tow, no less - for a full decade after the initial allegations against him. When nobody else contacted authorities, Paterno - among others - should have. 

Absolutely agree with this.  I mean Penn State's president, Graham Spanier, is expected to lose his job over this imminently.  Why not JoePa too?