The New York Times is reporting that Joe Paterno will be stepping down as head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football program very soon.
But if you read the article (and, sadly, many like it), you find that the national media is asking the wrong questions. Don’t find out if Joe Paterno’s stepping down is the right thing for Penn State. Find out why Penn State officials covered this up until mere days after Paterno passed Eddie Robinson as the winningest coach in NCAA history.
This story broke in the early morning on Nov. 5, just six days after Paterno got his 409th career victory.
If you read the New York Times article, you’ll see that it focuses more on how Paterno “has more victories than any other coach at college football’s top level” and “made Penn State a prestigious national brand” than the convenient timing of the Penn State football program coming under fire.
The writers even had the gaul to end the piece with six paragraphs that list Paterno’s accomplishments as he made the journey from rags to riches.
In my opinion, New York Times writers Mark Viera and Peter Thamel completely mishandled this story.
Penn State had Jerry Sandusky pinned 10 years ago. And instead of caring about the eight children who were abused at the hands of this alleged rapist (there will be more who will come forward), they chose to care more about the reputation of their football program and getting Paterno to 409 wins.
But the national media’s not going with that angle.
USA Today chose to interview former FSU coach Bobby Bowden, taking the angle that Paterno “deserves the right to tell the university when he is ready to retire.”
ESPN interviewed O.J. McDuffie, a former Penn State player, on SportsCenter and look at the quote they aired:
“I don’t know how Joe can recover from it…I think [Penn State] has been trying to find ways to replace Joe, and this might be the one.”
CBSNews.com went the route of talking with Joe Paterno’s son, Scott. Instead of asking, “So, did your dad or anyone at the university purposely keep this under wraps until he hit 409 wins?” they reported that Scott Paterno told the AP through a text message that “No one has asked Joe to resign.”
Look, if the national media doesn’t want to imply that Penn State cared more about getting Joe Paterno to 409 wins before letting this situation explode, that’s fine. At least focus on the victims. Track them down. Write their stories. Ask them questions. Be the ears that weren’t there for the last decade.
Just don’t give me another story about why Joe Paterno leaving Penn State is good or bad for college football.
