Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
One of the greatest careers in US college athletics. But a life marred by a terrible misjudgement. How will Joe Paterno be remembered?
If you're going to read only one obituary of Paterno, this is probably the one. Revered US college football coach; educator and symbol of integrity in a dirty business; fired amid child sex abuse scandal that reverberated across US
And this is what you should read if you want to know about the most explosive scandal in the history of US college sports. And why one of those whose careers it ended was "arguably the most unfireable person in all of sports"
"His was one of the most profound, legacy-altering final chapters in modern American sport, a sudden fall from idolatry to shame that seemed unthinkable for most of his long life"
"I have been critical of him in his later years, particularly for his unwillingness to step aside. But my admiration and respect for him never wavered." He made his mistakes, had his vanities, but his contribution was huge
There is a statue of Paterno. The plaque reads: "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach." He wrote his own epitaph
"Paterno’s ascent, followed by his sudden firing at age 84, formed one of the most tragic narratives in modern athletic history and constitutes something of a conflicted legacy"
"Perhaps no one in the history of American sports had fallen so far, so fast. But the bottom line for many is this: Virtually all of Paterno's players venerate him, and his good deeds tower over his mistakes"
Former Penn State student mourns legendary, flawed coach. "We do not have to reserve our grief for those who are perfect. But he will not be vindicated, nor will he be able to redeem himself"
The first and last interview Paterno gave after Penn State scandal broke. "I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away"
"A child born the year he came to Penn State would be 61 now. Paterno let them put up a statue of him when he was still at work there. He earned it, in wins and many other ways, but in a fable that would be a warning"
Report from college campus in immediate aftermath of Penn State scandal breaking. "The chief grievance of Penn State’s rioting loyalists was that Paterno had been denied a dignified exit—that he deserved to go out on his own terms"
Does this count as kicking a man when he's down? First, the Penn State scandal ended his storied football coaching career. Now Joe Paterno's being accused of misunderstanding the Virgil classic to which he so often refers
Interesting analysis of legal questions flowing from Penn State scandal. "Pennsylvanians have built Paterno into a living god over the generations; now they will be asked to believe that Paterno was right to act like a file clerk"
The most storied career in college football is over. Paterno led his teams to 24 bowl victories, more than any other coach, and he owns the sole distinction of having won the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls. It didn't save him
"His job, his reputation, his desire to finish on his terms, his decades of work, the way he defines himself, his entire legacy — all of it is going up in a smouldering bonfire of flames unlike we’ve ever seen in college sports"
"Irony and tragedy is that in trying to keep his beloved school from suffering harm, Paterno had a hand in causing that very harm. When the scandal was brought before him, he reacted, but it was only the bare minimum, superficial"
"If these boys really were molested and raped by a middle-aged ex-Penn State football coach, then whatever misjudgment Paterno made will be a single lit match compared to the bonfire these boys will walk in for years to come"
