The Unhappy Valley

I, like most children in our society, was raised based upon three simple principles: always be honest, never steal, and always try to do the right thing.

As you get older, you realize that sometimes these guidelines get in the way of certain areas in your life. For instance, you're going to have to lie to your significant other from time to time, that's just the way it is. It's for self-preservation.

However, the major stuff isn't very hard to keep right. First of all, it's crammed down your throat everywhere you go. Your school, your job, your Home Owners Association...they all have codes of conduct and rules of ethics that must be followed or you suffer the consequence. It's the first paper they make you take home and sign every single grade from kindergarten to 12th.

Moral ethics are unavoidable. You know what they are, whether you use them or not, is up to you. This is something that can be said for all of mankind, big or small.

With that said, I have no defense for Joe Paterno. The man has been God in Pennsylvania for the last sixty years and the best he can do is pass the word along? You're Joe Paterno!

So McQueary comes to you and says he saw Sandusky doing "something" in the showers with a minor, no warning flags shot off in your head? What the hell could "something" possibly mean? Should it matter if the preceding words before that are "old man", "little boy", and "showers"?

Why didn't you march your khaki-ass down to the showers, pull Sandusky out of there, beat the hell out of him and then turn him over the authorities? Was it because you already knew, Joe? You worked with the man for 30 years. In 30 years he managed to keep his biggest and darkest secret from the man closest to him without so much as a hint?

How big can a kingdom get before you don't worry about it crumbling to salt around you? Man lets legend consume him and then it becomes too late to stop. You become bigger than you are and you forget what's right.

Instead of sitting in your house, feeling sorry for yourself for getting fired, maybe you should read the Grand Jury release, Joe. It's 23 pages, of vivid description, of what your friend Jerry Sandusky did to ruin the lives of children he was pretending to help. He SNAKED them out of the charity he set up, Joe. He showered with them on Penn State's campus, in your kingdom. Where the hell where you, Joe?

Paterno said looking back now with hindsight, he wish he had done more. Well look back further, Joe. All your accomplishments, the record bowl wins, the two national championships, and all the years of wearing the crown...it's all hollow. It all loses meaning and there is a tarnish on everything. You traded your moral fiber for a cardboard crown.

But hey, what does it matter. You're 84 years old, you've lived your life. These boys, however, are now in their twenties. What about their lives, Joe? What are you going to do for them?