Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Say It Ain't So, Joe.

 Say it ain't so Joe.
 Please tell me and your legion of fans that you thought you had no obligation to a 10-year old child who was raped beyond telling your boss.
 Say it ain't so Joe.
 Truth be told, at most colleges the Athletic Director would be your boss.
 Everyone knows that at Penn State you are his boss.
 Tell us that you didn't just wash your hands of the matter.
 Say it ain't so Joe.
 The 23-page presentment by a grand jury is vile and chilling. I won't quote it here. I know you've read it.
 For years we all looked to you as a paragon of virtue, an example of what collegiate sports was supposed to be.
 "With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."
 Really Coach?
 This isn't about you.
 Say it ain't so.
 I have a couple of questions.
 Did you tell your assistant coaches, including your son Jay, about what you knew?
 When was the last time you spoke to child rape suspect Jerry Sandusky?
 Was it within the last few weeks when he visited the weight room?
 After all Coach, you knew you had appeared before a grand jury and testified against him.
 He knew it.
 You knew it.
 And yet no one, NO ONE, stopped him from visiting campus.
 Say it ain't so.
 Your farewell home game will be this Saturday against Nebraska. There will be a few more games and maybe even a Bowl Game before you "retire."
 When the thunder of applause rains down on you Coach, will you cry tears for you or tears for the perhaps dozens of boys, young boys, victimized by your decision not to "do more?"
 We all so want to believe that your actions were those of an 84 year old man from another generation who was so consumed with a vaunted football program that you just didn't realize you were turning your back on the most heinous of crimes.
 I want to believe you. We want to believe you.
 Say it ain't so Joe.