I like Michael Rosenberg’s column today.
At The Atlantic the longer term reality is discussed — Joe Paterno and the Law.
Now may be the time for remorse and regret — we’ve heard plenty of it already. But it’s also time for JoePa to lawyer up, as it’s now being reported he has. He was fired, presumably for cause, by the university that had employed him since 1950. He is still in clear jeopardy of criminal sanctions by state prosecutors. He has a huge blue-and-white bull’s eye on his back for civil liability from the alleged victims of the assaults and their family members. His reputation is in tatters and his pension presumably is in jeopardy. It is the end of his life as he knew it — just as it was, it must be said, for those poor young boys who were allegedly assaulted.
No matter what ends up happening from here, no matter how much hush money is paid or how many indictments are handed up, the winningest coach in major college football history is likely to spend the next few years, perhaps what’s left of the rest of his life, in and out of courtrooms and lawyer’s offices. There will be no Happy Valley students there to scream his name in adulation. There will be only smart lawyers with good questions demanding answers. For Joe Paterno, the reckoning is at hand.