Sandusky fallout (11-12-12)

I may be on the cutting edge of stupid.

And yet....

1. If you give me 3 or 4 years, or 14 years, 1-15 investigators, 10-20 victims/witnesses...even I could get a conviction against one old pedophile. I don't get Corbett's and the AG's thrill of the stats. Besides, didn't Sara Ganim do most of the hard work?
2. Are The Second Mile, DPS, CWS, and school districts ever going to be held accountable?
3. Didn't Schultz and Curley file motion(s) for separate trials? What happened with that?
4. Matt Sandusky confessed to perjury, but has not been charged? Why?
5. What was the roll call vote on Paterno's firing? I have it at 7.
6. Cynthia Baldwin is a ninja.
7. The evidence against Surma's prejudice is overwhelming and Masser violated a standing order by not only leaking information to the press, but also by making slanderous statements regarding the accused. Neither have been forced to resign. Why is that?
8. Anybody get me that info I requested on Mark Sherburne?
9. Baldwin, Corbett, Emmert, Raykovitz, Freeh, Emmert, Mitchell, Peetz ........when I start to write this thing...it always feels repetitious. Probably because I tweet too much.
But then, I only have 23 followers...and at least 11 of them are either hookers or salespeople.

Then I realize, it's IS repetitious because it's mostly the same people...doing the same stuff...over and over again, that is the source of my amazement/anger/disappointment/confusion/disgust.
It seems as though:
- There are no rules, codes of conduct or ethics involved in Linda Kelly's news releases/presentments/wantedposters/badphotos/PRflyers/accusations presented as facts.
- The media keeps getting lead around by the nose.
- Not many people actually read legal documents.
- The Board of Trustees and Erickson are a constant embarassment.
- Due process simply is ignored, as are constitutional rights.

OK, we've played some football.

Won some, lost some. Fans went from wanting to fire the defensive coaches to "they're starting to gel," to O'Brien for coach of the Year and McGloin for the Heisman.
Every now and then, we hover around reality. In short, Penn State has some pretty good athletes, pretty good coaches...and a loyal fan base. I think they're fun to watch and can hold their own with anyone in the country. That's good enough for me. I'm proud of all of them.

Side Notes

1. Just so you know: making the Ohio State game into some pseudo-bowl, bigtime, all-or-nothing, BTN division championship, whiteout, in your face, stress-test was an example of..."football culture." Just playing Ohio State used to be enough incentive.
2. People booing Erickson was an example of betrayed alumni voicing their displeasure.
3. Desmond Howard has a crush on Mark Emmert.
4. Smart bet: Freeh and Mitchell will make more money than all the victims combined.

The Sandusky Icon Myth Test

I'll give you 30 seconds to name 5 college football defensive co-ordinators...GO!

-------------------------------I'm waiting----------------------------

Outside of a small circle of sports junkies, there's no such thing as a famous "assistant" coach. Outside of the top ten, most people can't name 5 HEAD coaches.
Sandusky's "fame" was created by and for The Second Mile. Period.
That's how it works...spin doctors and PR took his relationship with Penn State and the football program to generate interest and draw attention to their cause. Prop him up and parade him around for 3 decades to help "children at risk."
Sandusky had the prior exerience with his father and the personae to make it work. But, he never had the money or business acumen to make The Second Mile into what it became. That took deep pockets, power, networking and organization. It's a "Who's Who" list that nobody wants to pursue. But mostly, it was the charity golf culture. (Sorry, just had to throw another sport on the grill).

Since my last blog, 4 significant things have happened:

1. PA elected a new AG.

Now we'll see if there's been a lot of wishful thinking, or the next presentment will have Corbett's name on it.

2. Spanier was indicted and additional counts were added to Schultz and Curley.

People really need to get their heads on straight about this...and knock off the cheap shots. As these men go, so does Paterno...make no mistake about that. BUT, what is really damning, if you believe these men are guilty, is that the Clery Act will literally crush Penn State . If you don't believe me, look it up.

3. Aaron Fisher's "book" came out.

Then there was a small demonstration at his former school. Then nothing. So much for victim's advocacy and holding the real enablers accountable. Pretty disconcerting.

4. John Zeigler debuted his mini-movie, or mini-documentary
on "The Framing of Joe Paterno."

Now, this is 30 minutes well spent. A professional filmmaker and interviews with people who have impeccable credentials, speaking with reason. Throw in some gut-wrenching reminders of the news and opinions from the past year...and a classic "shoe-on-the-other-foot" confrontation with Mark Schwarz of ESPN...it is a "teaching moment."

And finally:
- For those who say "there's no such thing as a simple answer"...I say "yes, there is."

- For those who say "move on"...I say "move over."