Breaking News not at all related to Art Briles/BU in any way

[Peruna Pete]

Penn State Alumni, Big Money Donors Demand Reinstatement of Joe Paterno’s Statue as Head Football Coach

Fans, alumni, and financial donors of Pennsylvania State University—fed up with negative press and less-than-exciting football—have demanded that Joe Paterno be reinstated as head football coach at Penn State.

Paterno died in January of 2012, but that hasn’t stopped some from demanding his immediate reinstatement. In the absence of Paterno the man, a petition demanding that Paterno’s statue be installed as head football coach has quickly gained enormous support in Happy Valley. “JoePa was a great man, an honorable man, the best man I've ever known,” stated an anonymous donor to the Penn State football program. “He was tried and convicted by a group of unqualified, jealous outsiders who clearly had an agenda, an agenda to destroy Nittany Lion football as we know it. And if we can’t bring JoePa back, the next best thing is to bring back his statue.” Paterno’s statue was removed from outside Beaver Stadium shortly after Paterno’s resignation in 2011.

Other Penn State supporters expressed their enthusiasm for the unprecedented move. “What a heartwarming sight it would be to fans, to see JoePa once again strolling the sidelines. Of course, there wouldn’t be that much strolling. But at least Joe would be back in charge,” an ardent supporter commented.

Longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was forced to resign in the wake of allegations related to sexual abuse of a child. The report concluded that Paterno was aware that an eyewitness saw Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State coach, sexually abusing a child on university property many years ago. Yet the incident in question was not reported to police investigators or to child welfare officials for a proper inquiry, and more children were abused as a result.

The Freeh report, prepared by former FBI director Louis Freeh, had been commissioned by Penn State for the sole purpose of investigating Penn State. At a cost of $6.5 million, it found that Paterno, former president Graham Spanier, former senior vice president for business and finance Gary Schultz, and on-leave athletic director Tim Curley had, "in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity ... repeatedly concealed critical facts" about Sandusky's alleged abuse. These findings were said to result from the Freeh Group's interviews with more than 400 people and a review of more than three million pages of documents.

Yet even today, the rampant sentiment among Penn State fans appears to be that this entire series of events was not a result of actual criminal activity or even unintended lapses in leadership by well-meaning coaches and university officials. Rather, the Penn State community remains convinced that a large, well-orchestrated left-and-right wing conspiracy exists. “I know for a fact it is true,” reports a moderator at PennStateFans, a large and vocal message board for the Penn State athletic community. “I have sources, sources close to our Board of Regents. In fact, my sources tell me that it was the Board of Regents itself behind this entire, sordid affair. They had a mad desire for power, and they chose to hide their obvious power play behind a so-called concern for “safety.”’

“What is far worse,” the moderator continued, “is how the Board of Regents actively collaborated with other entities to destroy their own university. It is clear, and again, I know for a fact from my sources, that the Board conspired with ESPN, Outside the Lines, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated, the Big 10 Network, The Ohio State University, BuckeyeSports.com, and 7,219 other local and regional newspapers, sports writers, and journalists to ruin Penn State football. They hated our success on the field, and when they couldn’t beat us fair and square, they took advantage of a minor inconvenience like child sexual abuse to advance their nefarious cause.”

Several media outlets are reporting that a double-secret meeting of the Board of Regents will be held in the near future to discuss possible contractual difficulties regarding Paterno’s statue. Potential issues include a contract buyout for the storage facility where the statue has been kept for the last five years, salary for the statue itself, rumored to be in excess of four million dollars per year, and where exactly to place the statue during games.

“Right at the fifty yard line,” suggested one fan. “Where else does JoePa’s statue belong? Right at the center of our lives, indeed at the very center of our universe. Nothing else matters. Nothing.”

Baylor University officials were unavailable for comment.

[ponyte]

If they can put up a statue to honor a man who actively protected a pedophile predator, Then may be USC should put up a statue of OJ.

Pattern's action insured many very young boys would be molested and raped and carry the scars of those activities for the rest of their lives. To me, a million college football wins doesn't make up for the damage done to the most innocent and least protected in our society.