The seriousness with which both shows treated this topic, and that fact that the Penn State mess was almost the only topic covered, was perceptive. This is one of those events that changes the way we look at an entire institution, and I'm not talking about Penn State -- I'm talking about sports in general and perhaps even large, powerful institutions of all kinds where horrors are swept under the rug because the consequences of exposure are so vast. It seems like any time we get past the surface of what we see on the teevee in college or pro sports we find financial, sexual, medical, political, and other-words-I-can't-think-of-ending-in-"al" misdeeds that take our breath away. The drive shows didn't get all philosophical on us like I'm doing right now, but I thought that their reaction -- being brought up short by the enormity of what took place -- was a perfect mirror of how many of us are reacting.
(2) I was able to have BaD on in the background on Thursday, but couldn't hear it very clearly. I got the impression that they didn't devote much airtime to this subject at all, but I may be way wrong about that. Can anyone give us an account of how BaD handled matters?
(3) The student riots and support for Paterno are excellent reasons for raising the voting age to 25, and also fodder for the growing literature on the worthlessness of the modern liberal arts education. It will be interesting to see what happens to applications there. It's one of the largest universities in the United States, so perhaps it is to be expected that some irreducible core of maroons would be out and about spouting fatuities.
(4) "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more." HINDSIGHT? HINDSIGHT?? Does Paterno even know what kind of activity is involved here? Is there a more poorly-worded confession in the annals (yes, that's "annals") of American history? Who drafted Paterno's appalling statement? That mouthy lawyer kid of his? Craig Rosengarden?
"Hindsight": Astoundingly unfortunate word choice aside, think about what he is saying. "Hindsight" doesn't mean that you now have more facts than you had back at the time to which you are looking back -- it means that some new circumstance has caused you to interpret those facts differently. What are those new circumstances here? Only the threat to his own skin and Penn State arising out of disclosure of the matters he and his staff chose to at best ignore, and at worst to cover up.
His effort to instruct the Trustees on their duty not to regulate his employment is exactly the kind of tone-deaf arrogance that has now tarnished his legacy.
(5) OFF-TOPIC: This site strongly endorses The Hardline's increased references to Green Tail Shiner.
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