"We all have our own opinions. I have some really strong opinions; I shared them with you this morning. And to be honest with you, and you can probably hear it, and I'll apologize to you, I get mad and it's, uh… It's pretty disturbing," Millen said, fighting back tears. "It makes you sick to see that this could happen to this level; if in fact, that has happened then there's a part of me that, like I mentioned earlier, that visceraly, you just want to go take care of it yourself, which is what I've always done and which is the wrong thing to do. But this is more than just a program, this is more than a football legacy. This is about people. And if we can't protect our kids, we as a society, are pathetic. So, that's where I stand on it."...
"There's a train coming down the tracks, whether you want to believe it or not, so you better get ready for it," Millen said. "And the best way to do it is to deal with it honestly. And I've said this, and I've tried to live this way, and I know I fail at it, but listen, no excuses, no explanations, step up, take what you're supposed to take and move on. And that's what you do. That's what you're supposed to do. Let's see what happens."
I used to date a girl whose family were big Penn State fans. The semi-worship of Paterno seemed odd to me, but odd more in degree than kind: every serious college program has a coach they revere, and places like Penn State (or Michigan) put a lot of emphasis on not just winning, but winning the right way. And I think a number of good things have been said about what's happened, on both the less measured (Andy Staples, Rod Dreher (who unsurprisingly is pretty withering on this topic)) and more measured (Black Shoe Diaries, Spencer Hall) ends of the spectrum. But ultimately I agree with Brian Cook:
Is this fair? Should we forget all the good Paterno has done in our "rush to judgment"? Yes, and yes. This is a failure so massive it wipes out every positive thing about JoePa, of which there were many.
...because the really inconceivable thing is that JoePa had ostensibly known about this or something very close to it since 1998, and the previous investigation into Sandusky is generally now considered to be the reason he suddenly retired the next year. I cannot conceive how a person could have awareness of that and not make a connection when the next incident was reported in 2002, much less to not follow up or say or do anything for another nine years. I cannot conceive of how a morally serious adult could believe, even as a general proposition, that their legal duty and their ethical duty were the same. I really cannot conceive how anyone could think so in this case.
Word on the twitter is that JoePa is attempting to hold a wildcat press conference to talk about it. It'll be interesting to hear what he says, but I doubt any of it can change the reality of the situation.
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