The trial of former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky started this week and already it is stomach turning. The amount of people who are coming out of the woodwork who says that they have seen something are piling up faster than disco singers are dying off (Robin Gibb, Donna Summer are now at Studio 54 in the sky in case you don't read the paper). What bothers me the most is the amount of people who actually stood by and allowed this to go on for years and years.
Now I will let Joe Paterno off the hook a little because he is dead and cannot defend himself. I will say that knowing he was aware of the numerous allegations against Sandusky yet chose to go to the University brass instead of the police makes me lose all respect that I ever had for the man. I do not care how many games he might have won, he chose to sweep this under the rug to avoid any controversy and now his legacy has forever been blemished... No biggie, I am a Notre Dame fan anyway.
Here is where I start to get a confused. First, the parents of these accusers. Why on earth were your children ever allowed to spend so much time with another adult unsupervised? Where were you when all of this was going on? If an older man asked to take me out my parents would have laughed in his face after they kicked his a**!! Sleepovers??? Are these people insane? You would actually let your child spend the night at some man's house?
Second, his wife. She could not have been blind to all that was going on around her. No woman would find it normal if their husband spent more time with little boys than he did with her, regardless of what his profession or charity was. How long did she think something was going on? Did she ever confront him about it? Why did she stay with the guy? Why didn't she ever go to the authorities? As anyone who watches college sports knows, coaches and the staff are treated like God around the University. Could it be that she put the lifestyle that she became accustomed to before the health and well being of those boys?
Third, and this is my biggest problem, is assistant graduate coach Mike McQueary. I do not care what anyone says, but this man deserves to be in prison. He says that he actually witnessed Sandusky in a compromising position in the showers with a young boy. Why did he not do something right then and there? Why did he not smash in that man's face? I do not care that he told his superiors. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a pacifist, but if I was to witness such a thing only one of us would have left that shower alive. How could he have possibly walked out of that shower knowing what he saw, knowing that he left that young man to be abused and still look at himself in the mirror???
The sad part about these stories is that everyone overlooks the victims. We talk about the University, we discuss the honor of their sports program and we dissect endless tape video trying to spot something. It is a sad day when a man can get away with playing in the underoos of little boys because he can strategize on the football field and bring his school money.
Is it hot in here or am I Crazy?
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