The BCS system claims "Every Game Counts."
Umm... No.
The National Championship should be about a body of work, which means THE ENTIRE season instead of the timeliness of a loss.
Let's face it, it's harder than every to go undefeated in the NCAA, and will only get tougher. Strength and conditioning is becoming an exact, calculated science that is turning two and three-star recruits into superstars. Just look at Justin Blackmon, he was ranked a three-star prospect out of five total stars coming out of high school.
Not to mention, that strength and conditioning is spilling over into high schools. What does that mean? Better development of talent, and more players to choose from.
Which also means teams are better, faster, stronger and overall just more talented, and the overall landscape of college football is evening out. Nowadays, a Herschel Walker can hardly come in and dominate the field because he'd have a backup that is more of a speedster.
All in all, the fact that college football is evening out means that the BCS is showing more and more flaws.
Especially this year. What's the point of a rematch? What do we gain out of it?
If Alabama wins, LSU can easily say "We had to play one more game then you, PLUS we beat you on your field already. The series is tied 1-1."
If LSU wins, we are reminded that they're the best team in the nation because we've known it for a few weeks now. What's the point of that?
I'm not saying that LSU and Alabama aren't the two best teams, and I'm not saying they are. All I'm saying is what is the point in seeing the same two teams rematch again? LSU already won outright and Alabama won't be their conference's champion... Then again, LSU may not be either.
And Alabama's head coach, Nick Saban, thinks that as well. He said it in 2003 while coaching the Tigers of Baton Rouge.
He said:
"Anyone who doesn't win their conference has no business playing in the national championship game."
Thanks for saying it for me, Coach.
Better question: If LSU loses, how do you justify having a National Championship game played between two teams who weren't their conference's champion?
I give up. See you in the Fiesta Bowl against an overrated Stanford team and a sleeper of a BCS bowl that Oklahoma State will win 70-10.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Column: Kurt Budke -- My First Interview
I woke up to my phone ringing.
Nothing seemed more important than a few more minutes of sleep, so I ignored it.
When it stopped ringing, I checked my phone and realized I had a few missed calls and even more text messages and eventually gathered the news everyone was trying to tell me.
Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and his assistant, Miranda Serna, died in a plane crash flying back from a scouting trip to Arkansas.
Stunning news, especially for me. Budke was my first interview as an aspiring college journalist, an interview that started terribly wrong and ended unimaginably perfect.
It was January of 2011, and I found myself standing in a crowded Gallagher-Iba practice gym face to face with the coach.
I stood in the corner of the practice gym and watched Budke run his practice, stopping the drills here and there to coach his players in his own warm, loving way.
"Back when I was coaching my daughter's team, I asked Kurt for advice," said Dave Hunziker, play-by-play voice of the Cowboys. "I remember him saying that coaching girls is different. He said ‘If you show them you care, they'll run through a brick wall for you,' and even with girls as little as my daughter, it was the truth. He knew what he was doing."
It was evident that Budke operated by that philosophy, but it didn't stop with his team.
Budke applied that ideal to every component of being a head coach.
I experienced that theory firsthand when I approached him to ask him questions about the game.
The fact that it was my first interview was something he recognized right away.
My mouth opened and something that loosely resembled a question lazily tumbled out.
"So, coach … your team is preparing for a big game against the Aggies … How does it look to do that?"
I immediately realized that my brain had simply pieced together fragments of about 20 different thoughts and created one question. I ducked my head in embarrassment and fear.
"Is this your first interview?" Budke asked with a grin.
I nodded, still avoiding eye contact, ready to sprint out of the gym in tears while cursing my plan for a career in sports journalism.
Instead of laughing me out of the gym as I expected, Budke smirked, put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
"Be confident in your questions and we'll give you what you need," he said. "Don't ever get embarrassed about something; if you need a quote then go after it and get it out of me."
What he said has always stuck in the back of my mind, and although I doubt he would have remembered anything about that day, I remember it as if it had just happened a few moments ago.
I have more than 200 interviews with various Oklahoma State coaches and athletes stored up on my recorder, but this one has always been my favorite — not only because it was my first, but also because of what happened.
I moved on to cover the men's basketball program for the remainder of the season but ran into Budke quite a few times after.
The greeting was always the same — a smile, a handshake and a pat on the shoulder.
Budke was more than just a coach at Oklahoma State University. He was a friend to his team, a role model for all who watched him and a great person on and off the court.
"I can still see it right now," Hunziker said. "Every Sunday he was in church. Halfway down on the right side, right arm around his wife, left arm propped on the arm of the pew."
That Kurt Budke is the very same man who helped me out that day in the practice gym and the same man who quietly took his seat for every Cowgirl basketball game since he was hired in 2005.
He was the man who would sit in the first row of the bleachers before and after practices, leaning back against the second row with his arms spread and his legs crossed while talking to members of the media or a fan who happened to wander into practice.
Budke treated both the same — with respect. And it didn't matter who he was talking to; his approach never changed.
"He was a very good coach and a better person," Oklahoma State alumnus and ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb said. "He took over a team that hadn't won a conference game the previous year and made them successful. But it wasn't a success in which anyone else felt threatened by because of how well-respected he was around the department and around Stillwater.
Budke's success on the court was evident, but anyone who knew him also knows that that wasn't all he was worried about. He was as much concerned with preparing his players for the next game as he was preparing them for life after Oklahoma State. In doing that, the coach gained the respect of everyone around the program and city.
"Kurt was kind of like the mayor," Hunziker said. "He had so many people in Stillwater that respected him because he was so approachable that he probably could've won office if he tried. He was that kind of man."
His approachable characteristics quickly gained popularity among the fan base of Oklahoma State.
"I always saw the Oklahoma State women's team as the team of Payne County," Hunziker said. "You had so many people right there in Stillwater that maybe couldn't afford football tickets or men's basketball tickets, so they'd rally behind his team because they could be there, and the fact that he was such a good guy only helped that."
Coming off the 10-year anniversary of the tragic 2001 plane crash that claimed 10 Oklahoma State lives, the situation is all too familiar for any Cowboy or Cowgirl who has been around the program for any period of time.
But if 2001's tragedy is any type of hint, then one thing is for sure when it comes to Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna.
Oklahoma State will never forget.
Nothing seemed more important than a few more minutes of sleep, so I ignored it.
When it stopped ringing, I checked my phone and realized I had a few missed calls and even more text messages and eventually gathered the news everyone was trying to tell me.
Oklahoma State women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and his assistant, Miranda Serna, died in a plane crash flying back from a scouting trip to Arkansas.
Stunning news, especially for me. Budke was my first interview as an aspiring college journalist, an interview that started terribly wrong and ended unimaginably perfect.
It was January of 2011, and I found myself standing in a crowded Gallagher-Iba practice gym face to face with the coach.
I stood in the corner of the practice gym and watched Budke run his practice, stopping the drills here and there to coach his players in his own warm, loving way.
"Back when I was coaching my daughter's team, I asked Kurt for advice," said Dave Hunziker, play-by-play voice of the Cowboys. "I remember him saying that coaching girls is different. He said ‘If you show them you care, they'll run through a brick wall for you,' and even with girls as little as my daughter, it was the truth. He knew what he was doing."
It was evident that Budke operated by that philosophy, but it didn't stop with his team.
Budke applied that ideal to every component of being a head coach.
I experienced that theory firsthand when I approached him to ask him questions about the game.
The fact that it was my first interview was something he recognized right away.
My mouth opened and something that loosely resembled a question lazily tumbled out.
"So, coach … your team is preparing for a big game against the Aggies … How does it look to do that?"
I immediately realized that my brain had simply pieced together fragments of about 20 different thoughts and created one question. I ducked my head in embarrassment and fear.
"Is this your first interview?" Budke asked with a grin.
I nodded, still avoiding eye contact, ready to sprint out of the gym in tears while cursing my plan for a career in sports journalism.
Instead of laughing me out of the gym as I expected, Budke smirked, put his hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.
"Be confident in your questions and we'll give you what you need," he said. "Don't ever get embarrassed about something; if you need a quote then go after it and get it out of me."
What he said has always stuck in the back of my mind, and although I doubt he would have remembered anything about that day, I remember it as if it had just happened a few moments ago.
I have more than 200 interviews with various Oklahoma State coaches and athletes stored up on my recorder, but this one has always been my favorite — not only because it was my first, but also because of what happened.
I moved on to cover the men's basketball program for the remainder of the season but ran into Budke quite a few times after.
The greeting was always the same — a smile, a handshake and a pat on the shoulder.
Budke was more than just a coach at Oklahoma State University. He was a friend to his team, a role model for all who watched him and a great person on and off the court.
"I can still see it right now," Hunziker said. "Every Sunday he was in church. Halfway down on the right side, right arm around his wife, left arm propped on the arm of the pew."
That Kurt Budke is the very same man who helped me out that day in the practice gym and the same man who quietly took his seat for every Cowgirl basketball game since he was hired in 2005.
He was the man who would sit in the first row of the bleachers before and after practices, leaning back against the second row with his arms spread and his legs crossed while talking to members of the media or a fan who happened to wander into practice.
Budke treated both the same — with respect. And it didn't matter who he was talking to; his approach never changed.
"He was a very good coach and a better person," Oklahoma State alumnus and ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb said. "He took over a team that hadn't won a conference game the previous year and made them successful. But it wasn't a success in which anyone else felt threatened by because of how well-respected he was around the department and around Stillwater.
Budke's success on the court was evident, but anyone who knew him also knows that that wasn't all he was worried about. He was as much concerned with preparing his players for the next game as he was preparing them for life after Oklahoma State. In doing that, the coach gained the respect of everyone around the program and city.
"Kurt was kind of like the mayor," Hunziker said. "He had so many people in Stillwater that respected him because he was so approachable that he probably could've won office if he tried. He was that kind of man."
His approachable characteristics quickly gained popularity among the fan base of Oklahoma State.
"I always saw the Oklahoma State women's team as the team of Payne County," Hunziker said. "You had so many people right there in Stillwater that maybe couldn't afford football tickets or men's basketball tickets, so they'd rally behind his team because they could be there, and the fact that he was such a good guy only helped that."
Coming off the 10-year anniversary of the tragic 2001 plane crash that claimed 10 Oklahoma State lives, the situation is all too familiar for any Cowboy or Cowgirl who has been around the program for any period of time.
But if 2001's tragedy is any type of hint, then one thing is for sure when it comes to Kurt Budke and Miranda Serna.
Oklahoma State will never forget.
O Football God's, Where Hast Thou Gone?
Throughout the season, it seems the football God’s have been smiling down on the orange and black all season.
That is, all season until the Cowboys traveled to Ames.
It all started when they traveled to College Station to face a high-ranked Texas A&M football team.
The game was played at Kyle Field, usually considered one of the toughest places to play in America due to the intensity of the Aggie student section, nicknamed ‘The 12th Man.”
Enter the Cowboy luck.
The game was in late September, which meant the weather was still very warm in South Texas.
Kickoff was scheduled for 2:30, and the acclaimed 12th Man had their energy stolen by an especially hot southern sun who smiled down on the stadium for four hours.
The lack of energy showed in the second half, as students chose to sit under the stands and chug water instead of yell until their throats went raw at those daing Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The luck continued.
The Pokes traveled to Austin for a 2:30 kickoff. Same story as Texas A&M, except half of the crowd didn’t even bother to show up.
Then, a trip to Columbia, Missouri and Lubbock, Texas to face Missouri and Texas Tech, both 11 am kickoffs at places that are usually considered death-traps by high-ranked Big 12 teams.
Oklahoma State rolled against Mizzou, and sent the crowd back to their tailgates before halftime in Lubbock.
But eventually, the luck had to run out – And it finally did in Ames.
“I don’t think the scheduling God’s did us any kind of favors on this one,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “We have to travel home from Lubbock, then we have a short week to prepare and travel to Ames. Are you kidding me?”
Although Oklahoma State agreed to the Friday night kickoff back in April, they didn’t expect the week to unfold in the way it did.
When heading back from Lubbock, the Cowboy’s plane had problems that forced the team to sit at the airport for hours. That meant the coaches and players were getting home quite a bit later than expected.
“That threw us off a bit,” defensive coordinator Bill Young said. “It started the week off on a weird note. We weren’t expecting to get in bed that late that night, but that’s the way it happened.”
Add that to the already short week, plus news of the tragedy that hit Oklahoma State on Friday and the Cowboys had a recipe for disaster when they came out of the tunnel to face the Cyclones.
While the Oklahoma State community was down, the football God’s got a few kicks in with a double-overtime loss, and pictures of a jubilant Iowa State crowd rushing the field that just won’t go away.
With the events that unfolded around college football on Saturday, the Oklahoma State title chances aren’t exactly gone, and a win over the rival Sooners could solidify their legitimacy.
But they’ll probably need to get the football God’s back in their corner to down the Sooners for the first time in eight years.
After all, those God’s seem to have been wearing orange all year.
What’s another two games?
That is, all season until the Cowboys traveled to Ames.
It all started when they traveled to College Station to face a high-ranked Texas A&M football team.
The game was played at Kyle Field, usually considered one of the toughest places to play in America due to the intensity of the Aggie student section, nicknamed ‘The 12th Man.”
Enter the Cowboy luck.
The game was in late September, which meant the weather was still very warm in South Texas.
Kickoff was scheduled for 2:30, and the acclaimed 12th Man had their energy stolen by an especially hot southern sun who smiled down on the stadium for four hours.
The lack of energy showed in the second half, as students chose to sit under the stands and chug water instead of yell until their throats went raw at those daing Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The luck continued.
The Pokes traveled to Austin for a 2:30 kickoff. Same story as Texas A&M, except half of the crowd didn’t even bother to show up.
Then, a trip to Columbia, Missouri and Lubbock, Texas to face Missouri and Texas Tech, both 11 am kickoffs at places that are usually considered death-traps by high-ranked Big 12 teams.
Oklahoma State rolled against Mizzou, and sent the crowd back to their tailgates before halftime in Lubbock.
But eventually, the luck had to run out – And it finally did in Ames.
“I don’t think the scheduling God’s did us any kind of favors on this one,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “We have to travel home from Lubbock, then we have a short week to prepare and travel to Ames. Are you kidding me?”
Although Oklahoma State agreed to the Friday night kickoff back in April, they didn’t expect the week to unfold in the way it did.
When heading back from Lubbock, the Cowboy’s plane had problems that forced the team to sit at the airport for hours. That meant the coaches and players were getting home quite a bit later than expected.
“That threw us off a bit,” defensive coordinator Bill Young said. “It started the week off on a weird note. We weren’t expecting to get in bed that late that night, but that’s the way it happened.”
Add that to the already short week, plus news of the tragedy that hit Oklahoma State on Friday and the Cowboys had a recipe for disaster when they came out of the tunnel to face the Cyclones.
While the Oklahoma State community was down, the football God’s got a few kicks in with a double-overtime loss, and pictures of a jubilant Iowa State crowd rushing the field that just won’t go away.
With the events that unfolded around college football on Saturday, the Oklahoma State title chances aren’t exactly gone, and a win over the rival Sooners could solidify their legitimacy.
But they’ll probably need to get the football God’s back in their corner to down the Sooners for the first time in eight years.
After all, those God’s seem to have been wearing orange all year.
What’s another two games?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Bedlam
Bedlam: Noun -- a scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.
It's coming, Oklahoma. Stillwater will host two teams that are responsible for 21 wins and only 1 loss in the 2011 season.
Blood is already boiling over it. Is it possible for the Oklahoma State football team to lose this game?
"It's fate. It can't happen. No way, we're going to New Orleans."
"No way. They're the same old Cowboys. The 'Poke Choke' has to come sometime, it'll be in Bedlam."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Growing up, I was an Aggie fan. My mother graduated from Texas A&M, and if school had been important to me, odds are I would be the same.
Fortunately, I'm a good test-taker and qualified for entrance to Oklahoma State, the only other school I applied for.
I held out for Texas A&M, and eventually got wait-listed. The plan was to go to the junior college in College Station for a year, then sport the Maroon & White until I die.
But I didn't want to be a JuCo kid, I couldn't fathom it, and it eventually caught up to me.
"Mom, let's visit Stillwater."
People were nice, I was hooked. I'd go there for a year or two, then transfer back home. But my blood turned from Maroon to Orange very quickly.
In freshman orientation, I was sitting in the back. The counselors were doing skits and giving info for the 200+ kids there, and they called a guy onto the stage. He was wearing red.
"We don't do this here. Burn this shirt when you get home. You don't wear red in Stillwater. Ever."
That was about the whole message, and I haven't worn red since then.
Obviously, I fell in love with Oklahoma State. I'm an 'underdog guy', and I see Oklahoma State as the underdog in their own home state.
But why?
On the way back from Lubbock after seeing Texas Tech run out of their own stadium by the orange and black, we talked about it. Our photographer KT King, who's a long-time Oklahoma State fan and Oklahoma native, hit the nail on the head.
"Oklahoma has never had a unifying thing. If you grow up in Texas, you may be a Texas Tech fan and your friend may be a Longhorn, but you both like the Dallas Cowboys or the Houston Astros. You have common ground. In Oklahoma, the first thing to come around is the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that's second to college football. There will always be a line between the two, and I doubt anything comes along that is strong enough to erase it."
It was tough for me to understand it, so I took to twitter. Describe Bedlam for me, tweeps.
@Daniel_Toofine: Epic.
@Mitchell_Bro: BOOMER.
@DenLowery: Blood Bath.
@OKenglandk: Japanese anime-like.
@Schemingdreamin: Insanity.
@Chase_Wilcher: It's THE GAME for OSU fans, and it's the last scary test before a big bowl for OU fans
While I was sitting in the O'Colly newsroom today, we were having our usual football talk and putting our guesses down against the Vegas odds. Then I thought about it.
"Is it even possible? The football God's have smiled down on Stillwater all season, is it possible for the Sooners to win? After years of coming in second place in Oklahoma, is it finally the Poke's chance to stand at the top of the state?"
Trenton Sperry, our managing editor who is also an Oklahoma native, looked at me and said "It's Bedlam. Anything can happen."
On one hand, I agree. But on the other, why chalk it up to 'Who knows?'
That's the difference I've noticed from Texas to Oklahoma.
In Texas, unranked Texas Tech WILL beat Oklahoma because Tech is the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas in 2002, top-ranked Oklahoma comes into College Station to face a 5-4 Texas A&M team, but the Aggies WILL beat Oklahoma because the Aggies are the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas, the Longhorns are going to the National Championship to play Matt Lienart and Reggie Bush, possibly the best quarterback-runningback duo to ever play college football. But the Longhorns WILL WIN because they're the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas, Euless Trinity and Southlake Carroll can win multiple state championships because their fan base KNOWS THEY WILL WIN no matter what.
They expect it, they don't hope.
In Stillwater, no one BELIEVES, and the sooner (no pun intended) they start BELIEVING, the sooner they will sit atop of the football world.
Believe.
It's coming, Oklahoma. Stillwater will host two teams that are responsible for 21 wins and only 1 loss in the 2011 season.
Blood is already boiling over it. Is it possible for the Oklahoma State football team to lose this game?
"It's fate. It can't happen. No way, we're going to New Orleans."
"No way. They're the same old Cowboys. The 'Poke Choke' has to come sometime, it'll be in Bedlam."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Growing up, I was an Aggie fan. My mother graduated from Texas A&M, and if school had been important to me, odds are I would be the same.
Fortunately, I'm a good test-taker and qualified for entrance to Oklahoma State, the only other school I applied for.
I held out for Texas A&M, and eventually got wait-listed. The plan was to go to the junior college in College Station for a year, then sport the Maroon & White until I die.
But I didn't want to be a JuCo kid, I couldn't fathom it, and it eventually caught up to me.
"Mom, let's visit Stillwater."
People were nice, I was hooked. I'd go there for a year or two, then transfer back home. But my blood turned from Maroon to Orange very quickly.
In freshman orientation, I was sitting in the back. The counselors were doing skits and giving info for the 200+ kids there, and they called a guy onto the stage. He was wearing red.
"We don't do this here. Burn this shirt when you get home. You don't wear red in Stillwater. Ever."
That was about the whole message, and I haven't worn red since then.
Obviously, I fell in love with Oklahoma State. I'm an 'underdog guy', and I see Oklahoma State as the underdog in their own home state.
But why?
On the way back from Lubbock after seeing Texas Tech run out of their own stadium by the orange and black, we talked about it. Our photographer KT King, who's a long-time Oklahoma State fan and Oklahoma native, hit the nail on the head.
"Oklahoma has never had a unifying thing. If you grow up in Texas, you may be a Texas Tech fan and your friend may be a Longhorn, but you both like the Dallas Cowboys or the Houston Astros. You have common ground. In Oklahoma, the first thing to come around is the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that's second to college football. There will always be a line between the two, and I doubt anything comes along that is strong enough to erase it."
It was tough for me to understand it, so I took to twitter. Describe Bedlam for me, tweeps.
@Daniel_Toofine: Epic.
@Mitchell_Bro: BOOMER.
@DenLowery: Blood Bath.
@OKenglandk: Japanese anime-like.
@Schemingdreamin: Insanity.
@Chase_Wilcher: It's THE GAME for OSU fans, and it's the last scary test before a big bowl for OU fans
While I was sitting in the O'Colly newsroom today, we were having our usual football talk and putting our guesses down against the Vegas odds. Then I thought about it.
"Is it even possible? The football God's have smiled down on Stillwater all season, is it possible for the Sooners to win? After years of coming in second place in Oklahoma, is it finally the Poke's chance to stand at the top of the state?"
Trenton Sperry, our managing editor who is also an Oklahoma native, looked at me and said "It's Bedlam. Anything can happen."
On one hand, I agree. But on the other, why chalk it up to 'Who knows?'
That's the difference I've noticed from Texas to Oklahoma.
In Texas, unranked Texas Tech WILL beat Oklahoma because Tech is the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas in 2002, top-ranked Oklahoma comes into College Station to face a 5-4 Texas A&M team, but the Aggies WILL beat Oklahoma because the Aggies are the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas, the Longhorns are going to the National Championship to play Matt Lienart and Reggie Bush, possibly the best quarterback-runningback duo to ever play college football. But the Longhorns WILL WIN because they're the greatest team on the planet.
In Texas, Euless Trinity and Southlake Carroll can win multiple state championships because their fan base KNOWS THEY WILL WIN no matter what.
They expect it, they don't hope.
In Stillwater, no one BELIEVES, and the sooner (no pun intended) they start BELIEVING, the sooner they will sit atop of the football world.
Believe.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Paterno
DISCLAIMER: With this post, I am not choosing a 'side' on this whole situation, I am simply expressing my opinion. Don't think that I'm a child-molestation advocate who has completely peeved that people are being fired over this scandal, I'm not. These are my opinions, as it says at the top of this page.
I don't support anything in this case. I can't imagine having to deal with the emotional abuse that those children are having to deal with because of Jerry Sandusky's selfish and unspeakable actions.
I also don't know that I support the amount of blame that has been placed on Joe Paterno.
A head coaches job is to keep his house in order, and that includes coaches, players, managers, medical staff, etc, and do whatever necessary to win football games and putting the finishing touches on MEN (not football players).
I've heard Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy talk about it a million times. One of the biggest hurdles in recruiting is gaining the recruit's parents trust, as they basically give their son away for four years.
Nowhere in that job-description does it say the coach should enforce any rules. He only makes them.
Obviously, it shouldn't have to be written that no coaches should participate in child molestation or anything that could be thought of in that way.
But since it came up (A graduate assistant came to Paterno and told him about what he saw) Paterno reported it to the higher-ups in the athletic department (The Athletic Director and the university President.)
As seen here, the department 'handled' the situation.
Why is it Paterno's job to go to the police or mention it in a press conference? Don't you think just as much damage would've come if Paterno made a false accusation claiming that Sandusky was a child-molester?
If that had happened, and Sandusky was innocent, the man would never be able to work anywhere again, much less coach.
This is really a simple matter. There are no winners here, the main losers are the higher-ups in the Penn State department.
But Paterno is less of a loser than they are.
Take a step back, and I hope you read the article posted above for this. The janitor saw Sandusky doing (insert details here) in the shower with a boy, and IMMEDIATELY reported it to his manager.
Should he lose his job? Absolutely not, he did what he was supposed to do.
Paterno heard second-hand from a 20-something year old graduate assistant that he saw something in the showers A WEEK LATER, and Paterno IMMEDIATELY reported it to his boss, who should've handled it accordingly but didn't.
If Paterno should be fired, so should the janitor.
But I guarantee the janitor wasn't fired, I'd be willing to place money on it.
The truth of the matter is that Penn State is doing what it has to do to move forward and get this into the deepest, darkest corner of the school's past as fast as it can, and I don't disagree with the firing for that matter alone.
But at the same time, I think the only reason Paterno's firing should be taking place is for that reason alone, and not because he didn't defy his university's president and athletic director's orders and try to do their job.
It's not his responsibility. The man acted as he should have, and unfortunately the people above him let him down, and now he has become the scapegoat because of it.
Unfortunate situation.
My last thought is something that most people won't be able to comprehend because this is a very passionate and emotional subject, and I fully expect the responses of "IT WASN'T CANDY, THESE WERE KIDS!" to flood my comments section, but if you can remove yourself from that thought-process then hear me out.
Every day after you attend school at Bedford Junior High, you walk over to 7Eleven on Brown Trail and Harwood road.
Your friend comes up and says "I saw that kid over there (We'll call him Jeremy) stealing candy before he left the store last week, but I don't want to tell the manager because I don't want to get in trouble for not telling him sooner."
So you go tell the manager.
Yes or no, is it your job to come back the next day and the next day and the next day to make sure that Jeremy got in trouble for what he did?
I don't support anything in this case. I can't imagine having to deal with the emotional abuse that those children are having to deal with because of Jerry Sandusky's selfish and unspeakable actions.
I also don't know that I support the amount of blame that has been placed on Joe Paterno.
A head coaches job is to keep his house in order, and that includes coaches, players, managers, medical staff, etc, and do whatever necessary to win football games and putting the finishing touches on MEN (not football players).
I've heard Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy talk about it a million times. One of the biggest hurdles in recruiting is gaining the recruit's parents trust, as they basically give their son away for four years.
Nowhere in that job-description does it say the coach should enforce any rules. He only makes them.
Obviously, it shouldn't have to be written that no coaches should participate in child molestation or anything that could be thought of in that way.
But since it came up (A graduate assistant came to Paterno and told him about what he saw) Paterno reported it to the higher-ups in the athletic department (The Athletic Director and the university President.)
As seen here, the department 'handled' the situation.
Why is it Paterno's job to go to the police or mention it in a press conference? Don't you think just as much damage would've come if Paterno made a false accusation claiming that Sandusky was a child-molester?
If that had happened, and Sandusky was innocent, the man would never be able to work anywhere again, much less coach.
This is really a simple matter. There are no winners here, the main losers are the higher-ups in the Penn State department.
But Paterno is less of a loser than they are.
Take a step back, and I hope you read the article posted above for this. The janitor saw Sandusky doing (insert details here) in the shower with a boy, and IMMEDIATELY reported it to his manager.
Should he lose his job? Absolutely not, he did what he was supposed to do.
Paterno heard second-hand from a 20-something year old graduate assistant that he saw something in the showers A WEEK LATER, and Paterno IMMEDIATELY reported it to his boss, who should've handled it accordingly but didn't.
If Paterno should be fired, so should the janitor.
But I guarantee the janitor wasn't fired, I'd be willing to place money on it.
The truth of the matter is that Penn State is doing what it has to do to move forward and get this into the deepest, darkest corner of the school's past as fast as it can, and I don't disagree with the firing for that matter alone.
But at the same time, I think the only reason Paterno's firing should be taking place is for that reason alone, and not because he didn't defy his university's president and athletic director's orders and try to do their job.
It's not his responsibility. The man acted as he should have, and unfortunately the people above him let him down, and now he has become the scapegoat because of it.
Unfortunate situation.
My last thought is something that most people won't be able to comprehend because this is a very passionate and emotional subject, and I fully expect the responses of "IT WASN'T CANDY, THESE WERE KIDS!" to flood my comments section, but if you can remove yourself from that thought-process then hear me out.
Every day after you attend school at Bedford Junior High, you walk over to 7Eleven on Brown Trail and Harwood road.
Your friend comes up and says "I saw that kid over there (We'll call him Jeremy) stealing candy before he left the store last week, but I don't want to tell the manager because I don't want to get in trouble for not telling him sooner."
So you go tell the manager.
Yes or no, is it your job to come back the next day and the next day and the next day to make sure that Jeremy got in trouble for what he did?
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