OT: PSU Reaction

[nathanhm]

After watching too many PSU fans try to justify JoePa's behavior. It got me thinking. Obviously people are upset because he's a big time coach of a winning program. If the team sucked or he was the head of the history department no way anyone cares enough to riot.

It begs the question how we would react at Georgetown if became obvious JT3 or JT Jr. didn't do enough to protect children from being victimized on our campus by someone who reported into the basketball team?

For me personally I don't care enough about basketball to think anyone should keep their job (or freedom!) after raping a child but do you think we'd see a similar reaction as PSU on our campus?

[Elvado]

No. And if we did, then the University is failing in its mission.

[tashoya]

There's an entire thread already going on this in Pro and College.

[theexorcist]

Nov 10, 2011 9:21:33 GMT -5 nathanhm said:

After watching too many PSU fans try to justify JoePa's behavior. It got me thinking. Obviously people are upset because he's a big time coach of a winning program. If the team sucked or he was the head of the history department no way anyone cares enough to riot.

It begs the question how we would react at Georgetown if became obvious JT3 or JT Jr. didn't do enough to protect children from being victimized on our campus by someone who reported into the basketball team?

For me personally I don't care enough about basketball to think anyone should keep their job (or freedom!) after raping a child but do you think we'd see a similar reaction as PSU on our campus?

This is separate enough to be worth a page or two, since it's a though exercise on GU's reaction.

Paterno is not getting the reaction he's getting because he's the big time coach of a major program. He's not Nick Saban. His name is on the library. A flavor of ice cream is named after him. Students dressed up as him for football games. He's an icon.

John Thompson III is not an icon.

[Bando]

Nov 10, 2011 9:58:48 GMT -5 theexorcist said:

Nov 10, 2011 9:21:33 GMT -5 nathanhm said:

After watching too many PSU fans try to justify JoePa's behavior. It got me thinking. Obviously people are upset because he's a big time coach of a winning program. If the team sucked or he was the head of the history department no way anyone cares enough to riot.

It begs the question how we would react at Georgetown if became obvious JT3 or JT Jr. didn't do enough to protect children from being victimized on our campus by someone who reported into the basketball team?

For me personally I don't care enough about basketball to think anyone should keep their job (or freedom!) after raping a child but do you think we'd see a similar reaction as PSU on our campus?

This is separate enough to be worth a page or two, since it's a though exercise on GU's reaction.

Paterno is not getting the reaction he's getting because he's the big time coach of a major program. He's not Nick Saban. His name is on the library. A flavor of ice cream is named after him. Students dressed up as him for football games. He's an icon.

John Thompson III is not an icon.

Given all that's going on, that might not be a bad thing. It's worth remembering that everyone, even our hero, is human and fully capable of making terrible mistakes. I see the PSU students embracing this crazy tautology: JoPa can't do anything wrong, so he didn't do anything wrong. I think it's great if we can avoid thinking that about anyone at GU (or really anywhere).

[hoyarooter]

Nov 10, 2011 9:27:38 GMT -5 Elvado said:

No. And if we did, then the University is failing in its mission.

This. The success of a football or basketball team isn't the least bit relevant when compared to this type of incident.

[CAHoya07]

I'm not saying that it's right, but I'm saying that I understand the reaction. Joe Pa was an institution. The last game he wasn't on the sidelines for a Penn State football game was a few years after World War II. He has been the coach and face of the Penn State program for generations. Barely anybody remembers what Penn State was like before he arrived. In short, he is Penn State.

In contrast, JT3 has only been with us for eight years, and I can't really speak for JT Jr. because I did not start following the team until after he was coach. So it would be a totally different thing. I don't think any other college can really compare.

Because of his unprecedented longevity and status, Joe Pa's exit would have been an emotional ordeal either way. Sports will most likely never see a tenure like his. But I think the conflicting emotions of support for Joe Pa and anger about the child molesting brought out a weird reaction last night. All said and done, I don't feel too bad for Joe Pa - he brought this upon himself, I think the trustees did the right thing overall, and I feel worse for the victims of these crimes.

That being said, yes, hypothetically, I would hope and think that Georgetown would act better. Again, a totally different circumstance, but I think we reacted pretty well when we made it to the Final Four in 2007.

[RDF]

Nov 10, 2011 14:39:59 GMT -5 CAHoya07 said:

I'm not saying that it's right, but I'm saying that I understand the reaction. Joe Pa was an institution. The last game he wasn't on the sidelines for a Penn State football game was a few years after World War II. He has been the coach and face of the Penn State program for generations. Barely anybody remembers what Penn State was like before he arrived. In short, he is Penn State.

In contrast, JT3 has only been with us for eight years, and I can't really speak for JT Jr. because I did not start following the team until after he was coach. So it would be a totally different thing. I don't think any other college can really compare.

Because of his unprecedented longevity and status, Joe Pa's exit would have been an emotional ordeal either way. Sports will most likely never see a tenure like his. But I think the conflicting emotions of support for Joe Pa and anger about the child molesting brought out a weird reaction last night. All said and done, I don't feel too bad for Joe Pa - he brought this upon himself, I think the trustees did the right thing overall, and I feel worse for the victims of these crimes.

That being said, yes, hypothetically, I would hope and think that Georgetown would act better. Again, a totally different circumstance, but I think we reacted pretty well when we made it to the Final Four in 2007.

CA, I alluded to the fact that John Thompson had his flirtation with NBA--Denver Nuggets to be exact when it quite obvious to any follower of program that it had slipped. Talent was not what it was, he wasn't as interested/invested in recruiting, and basically put it out there. Now I'm certain a coach of Pops quality had several calls for college/NBA jobs--but it was very interesting how he didn't mind that particular job/timing of his performance as a HC stay private like past years. It was public, talked about on ESPN, newspapers, and can also tell you that as a fan of team since I was 5 and at time he "flirted" with NBA--was still in HS, that I felt same as I do today-you don't want to be there, leave. If that's really the case (didn't believe it--still think it was a I need a hug from Hoya fans...show of appreciation since he knew things dropped off) go. You can't commit to doing a great job if you are torn on being there. No surprise that things got worse before they got better as well.

My question to those who rioted on behalf of Paterno:, if I told you that you PSU job would be open after '11 season and you could have top coaches interview but would give job to an 85 year old man who was part of covering up child molestation for the past decade (at least), and in terms of his ability as a coach--didn't do any off campus recruiting, didn't partake in game planning, and was watching the games from press box half the game--if not more due to fact he is too old to react when players come near sideline and is a risk for serious injury if not tragic injury (broken hip), who would they prefer?