Penn State...go figure

Penn Staters can finally rest easy.

After almost four years, we have successfully:

• Redesigned/neutered our Lion
• Put Joe Paterno on a can of beer
• Arranged seven home football games (nine, if you count Temple and Maryland)

That's pretty much it.
Nothing says Success with Honor like a pastel lion and a sixpack of JoePa.
Meanwhile, absolutely nothing has improved with PSUBOT governance and the courts grind on.

It's been a while since I set pen to paper...well, blogger fingers to keyboard.

I have my reasons.
I must say, I was genuinely surprised by the number of views this blog got and the overall support I received. I appreciate it. I stay fairly active on Twitter and other social media sites, but after several years of posting, reading and digesting as much information on the Sandusky scandal as I could, I detected some seismic shifts that generally cause me to walk away:

• The general public recognizes more people who cover the events than the subjects of the story. Daily doses of egos and infighting haven't brought much to the party that would be considered useful information....evidence.
• People and reporters co-mingle on Twitter like BFFs.
• With few exceptions, until recently, people continue to treat Spanier, Curley and Schultz as an afterthought. That has pissed me off since day one.
• I'm not writing a book (yet), nor making a movie. I don't care to debate anyone because I don't see how that would contribute to a solution.

It still was tempting to continue, given the endless stream of characters. Nevertheless, the repetition was mind numbing. But, mostly, there has always been such a contrast between what was written/posted and what was actually going on, that my quality time was better spent with real people, in real places, in real time. Working with people who focus on evidence and the legal grind is not nearly as dramatic as chat rooms or as entertaining as blogging, but it's where this is all going to get settled, one way or another.

In addition:
- After I went to the BOT alumni-elected only meeting, it was painfully clear that if THEY can't do anything about their mess, what could I possibly add.
- I wrote an LTE to the CDT endorsing Spanier's suit against Louis Freeh and others. It was McCue'd into the ground in the comment section. Now, there are several points to make about comment sections that are important. (1) Commenters are not held to the same criteria/vetting as the original letter writer. (2) Commenters wage war with each other until the original point is lost. (3) A simple "agree" or "disagree" box would suffice. (4) Publishers can control this aspect of online response, same as print versions, but apparently choose not to...to get hits. (5) As a lifetime free speech advocate, I can actually make a case for how runaway comment sections STIFLE freedom of expression. Bernie McCue and others are known quantities to those of us in the business. I could care less what he thinks/says...but the average citizen doesn't write for fear of being shouted down by some nutcases. Suppression that's not obvious.
- I've written about Kelley, Noonan, Corbett, Emmert, Freeh, Masser, Frazier, Surma, Lubert, Poole, Raykovich, Tomalis, McQueary, Baldwin, Romlinger, Matt Sandusky,  Mitchell...and everyone else I could think of. Guess what? They all seem to be doing just fine.

SNIPPETS:
- The entire PA justice system is suing each other, filing charges against each other...or looking for a lap dance.
- Matt Sandusky changed his first name to Harley.
- PSAA is a mini BOT.
- Jay Paterno signed with the Brewers.
- People still don't know what CAC stands for, where it's located or the criteria it operates under.
- If you want to know what a mandatory reporter looks like, do what I do and look in a mirror.
- Someone was bragging the other day about over 5,000 people having been trained to report child abuse. It's kinda sad that people have to be TRAINED to do the obvious.
- Blaming the media for everything is getting tiresome. Being specific is the way to go. There are obvious bias issues with both individuals and some publishers, but condemning an entire industry is still generalizing. There ARE a lot of good journalists out there. Focus on them.
- Corman's "win" lasted about 10 seconds. Only cost us $60 million...plus attorney's fees. Of course, he allowed the NCAA a "good faith" closure and the PSUBOT signed off on it. ALL the trustees.
- PSUBOT has been kinda quiet lately. Committee appointments will do that. Ted Brown has a newsletter over on Facebook that you can subscribe to. Anybody do that? Worthwhile? Generally, I can assume subscriptions mean data mining.
- If PA was a boat, it would have capsized by now.
- Is there anyone who has contributed more to uncovering actual evidence than Ryan Bagwell's RTK efforts and Sunshine Fund? That's rhetorical. The answer is "no."
- Dana Harris continues to send out emails with relevant links to articles and documents. Thank you.
- If you have $10,000 to give to charity, then just do it...why ransom it with a debate challenge? (I know the answer to this one).
- Blehar and others continue to pour over documents and timelines...information that is useful in court.
- How can "409" bite you in the ass on the national stage? Olbermann on the Tonight Show with David Letterman set the bar. Olbermann said unforgivable things about PSU and THON. And yet, all he had to say was "Penn State sued the NCAA to get back football wins, so they're happy." Letterman showed his disgust and that was it. In 30 seconds, they flipped an entire studio audience and millions of viewers. Millions.
- It is incumbent upon all citizens to challenge the finances of any charity, any time, anywhere. If someone takes umbrage, they're hiding something.
- I tried to explain presentments. The one person I recall publicly reaming the process was Rob Tribeck.
- John Zeigler continues to press for a new trial for Jerry Sandusky. Not without merit. Matt Sandusky under cross would be worth the price of admission.
- Are there any public statements from the Paternos supporting Spanier, Curley or Schultz? I would appreciate link(s). Thanks in advance.
- A recent publication post included this observation: "Joe Paterno would be proud of James Franklin."
Apparently, I missed the seance where we would find out who and what he would be proud of nowadays.
In the meantime, 10,000 PSU freshmen replied with "Joe who?"

That's where we are.

FREEH.    McQUEARY.    BALDWIN.

Every single court case of significance revolves around the testimony of these 3 people. Only one person is taking on all three of them:

Graham Spanier

If Spanier wins his suit against Freeh, or even settles, everything else unravels...the PSUBOT, NCAA, Consent Decree, the presentment...everything. Don't forget, it was Freeh who crucified Paterno along with everyone else. All the eggs are in one basket and Penn Staters would do well to get behind their former president on this.

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As usual, I will leave you with this:
"...the presumption of innocence is essential to the criminal process. The mere mention of the phrase presumed innocent keeps judges and juries focused on the ultimate issue at hand in a criminal case: whether the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the alleged acts. The people of the United States have rejected the alternative to a presumption of innocence—a presumption of guilt—as being inquisitorial and contrary to the principles of a free society."

DUE PROCESS.

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*I will not be posting on a regular basis.