Penn State Scandal, Breach of Trust: This "Village" Was Raising Children?

There’s no way this could end well for Joe Paterno or for Penn State, if there’s even any difference, huh?

A prominent, essentially “tenured” assistant coach emeritus has a documented history of criminal and abusive behavior.

How does an educational institution, an entity theoretically and by its very nature grounded in concern and compassion, not reach out to one of its own so clearly in need of intervention?

The vile nature of this alleged and partially documented pattern of behavior elevates this need astronomically.

Why nothing was done about Jerry Sandusky’s troubling alleged extracurricular activity will elicit emotions aplenty.

But the mere fact that nothing was done creates guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.

All that remains is the punishment phase of this gripping morality play—in this world and the next.

By rights, Joe Paterno should be remembered as an iconic and beloved “coach.”  Like Eddie Robinson of Grambling, who took pride in having one job and one wife for 50 years.  A modern-day Knute Rockne, whose very name conjures images of a school and an era.

Sadly, a coaching career, for both head and assistant coaches, has become a transient, virtually vagabond lifestyle.

Deep roots, longevity and the “through-thick-and-thin” days are over.

These “compassionate” institutions say, “Win, or else!”

These coach-educators say, “I’ll love you…until the next best thing comes along.”

Renowned “Voice of Reason” and current Georgia State coach Bill Curry, speaking on ESPN Radio Thursday morning, characterized this sordid incident as the breach of what he called a “sacred trust,” inherent in the role of a coach/teacher/mentor/parent.

An adage preaches “It takes a village to raise a child.”

Incredulously and unconscionably, the PSU village chose to ignore and enable a fiend for over a decade.

If this were fiction, it would be fitting for The Twilight Zone, but it’s far too real and raw.

It wasn’t until the deviant alleged behavior seeped off campus and onto public school grounds—the actual “village”—that law enforcement got involved.

It’s become customary to expect our college sports scandals to be motivated by greed: either players wanting something for nothing (kids merely being kids on many occasions) or adults looking to “cash in” in one way or another.

Good, old-fashioned avarice—one of the seven deadly sins.

Alas, Penn State’s last decade or so has been soiled by a different of the deadly sins, with fallout far beyond the scope of NCAA sanction.

SMU’s Pony Express once received the ultimate punishment because some rich Texans spared no expense.  Their goal…to win more games and therefore strut more pride fully.  (Excessive pride is another of those deadly sins, we might remember.)

Abacus thought a punishment worse than death was just hypothetical hyperbole.

In youth sports, which generally culminate with college-age participation, the good elements dwarf the bad, and the good, solid adults involved far outnumber the unfit.

Let’s make sure we’re not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as we spare no effort in ensuring that our sacred trust of concern and compassion is upheld.