Penn State Cheats Joe Paterno

After 46 seasons as the head coach and 409 wins, more than any other coach in Division I college football history, Penn State fired Joe Paterno, 84, on Wednesday, just hours after he announced his plan to retire at the end of the season.  He was fired because the football program failed to report numerous sexual assaults performed by defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky during his years with the program in the 80's and 90's.

In 2002, graduate assistant Mike McQueary informed Paterno that he had witnessed Sandusky sexually assault a 10 year old boy.  Paterno then reported this information to athletic director Tim Curley, who now faces perjury charges for lying to the state grand jury, and university vice president Gary Schultz, who in response told him that everything would be taken care of, so he moved on and continued to coach.

Jemele Hill, who believe this was a justified end for Paterno said, "[He] should never have been allowed to coach another game."  She, along with many others, think that Paterno should've acted more responsible and done more to make sure this case was properly reported to the police.

I, on the other hand, believe Paterno did what he was supposed to do.  His job is to coach football, and it is the administration's responsibility, not his, to make sure that any violations are reported.

Could he have done more?  Yes, obviously, he could've reported the case to the police himself, but that's much easier to say in hindsight.  He did what he was supposed to do and moved on.  Do you blame the quarterback when the running back fumbles?  No of course not, and that's exactly what happened here:  Joe Paterno handed this case off to the administration, and they fumbled it by keeping it a secret, so he should not be at fault.

Penn State is simply using him as a scapegoat, just like Cubs fans used Steve Bartman as a scapegoat for their loss in 2003, as I blogged about earlier.  This is a common theme in America.  When disaster strikes, there needs to be somebody to blame and take it out on.  So even though Paterno didn't cause all this, it made sense for Penn State to blame him and fire him because he's old and doesn't have much time left and also because it makes it look like they have handled the situation by taking action.

McQueary, the assistant coach who informed Paterno of the incident and was even more knowledgable about it, however, is still with the program.  The reason for this is because in controversial times like these, there only needs to be one scapegoat, and it made sense for that man to be Joe Paterno because of his age and legendary status, which is now ruined.

Joe Paterno's great legacy will now forever be tainted by this one incident.  Personally, I think what Penn State did was wrong on many levels.  Paterno deserves way more than to be tossed aside in the midst of a season after all he has done for the program.  I understand why they'd want to make a change after all the difficulties they have faced, but Paterno gave them that opportunity by saying he planned on stepping down, so firing him, and by doing that blaming him for the controversy, was so unnecessary and unjustified.

What do you think?  Is Joe Paterno at fault?  Did the organization make the right move by firing him?