Joe Pa's Tenure Ends in Shame

A little less than two weeks ago, the college football world celebrated Joe Paterno winning his 409th game which broke Eddie Robinson's all time Division I record. He was the winningest coach at the top level. Now, Joe Pa is done and his legacy nearly destroyed.

After the exposure of a major sex abuse scandal at Penn State involving young boys, pressure had been building up to act on those involved. This included Joe Paterno, the head coach of the football program. While Paterno might have done nothing legally wrong, in the eyes of public opinion, it was doing nothing that was wrong. Paterno had apparently been told about Sandusky's acts who then told his superiors about them. Nothing appeared to have happen in order to arrest Sandusky back in 2002. It was the fact that Paterno (among others) failed to do more to quash it back then that has gotten him in trouble now.

The writing was on the wall for Paterno: he had to go. Paterno said yesterday he wanted to finish out the season and then retire but that was not good enough. Yesterday, the board of trustees fired Joe Paterno and the President of the University, Graham Spainer. 46 years as head coach was gone and all that was accomplished, all that was built up meant nothing within just a matter of days.

This firing is justified, I know, but I can't help but feel a bit sorry for Joe Paterno. I know he did wrong by doing nothing and I know that of anyone else who simply stood by and did nothing but I can't help feel some pity that it all had to end this way. One of the greatest coaching careers of all time, maybe even the greatest, ends connected to one of the most shameful things imaginable.

I would like to stress that the university did the right thing and that I don't know all the facts surrounding this decision. I certainly hope Paterno will tell us his side of the events very soon. Whatever the explanation might be, it doesn't make the shame of the past go away.