Monday, November 14, 2011

Now back to our regularly scheduled...

...ummm...not so much.

Welcome to the "new" normal. It isn't pretty and it makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

I've been mighty snarky about the media circus that has ensued. But Friday, took me to another, very bad place.

DH and I attended a campus theater performance. (Life does indeed  go on here, and there are other students.) Afterward, one of the local taverns was advertising jazz as their entertainment. Well, because this is such an unusual occurrence, we wanted to patronize said tavern. We also thought we'd get a bit of a break from the non-stop barrage of bad news.

B.I.G. mistake. As is true on most college campuses/towns, we left our car in our legal space and walked from the theater (walking is generally the travel mode of choice on a campus like this). As we approached the administration building we came across students who were leaving the candlelight vigil. As we continued to the downtown area, things changed rapidly. First, the main drag was as bright as daylight from the television floodlights. As we approached I could see a few satellite truck dishes above the screening hedge. But when we stepped into the street there were approaching 20 of these trucks and their attendant ghouls in a  line up and down the street, clearly waiting for "something" to happen.  It was just jaw dropping. In the mere block we walked we saw, literally, 6 state, local and PSU police vehicles on a slow cruise. Sometimes one behind another - with multiple officers on board. I can't even find a way to describe the scene adequately. It was horrific. We beat a path back to the dark center of campus as soon as we could. I was, and continue to be, stunned. The good news is that NOTHING happened.

The fallout hasn't stopped yet, but with any kind of luck, it will slow down enough to eventually allow the business of justice to move forward.

To the whiners and know-it-alls:

Joe Paterno was dealt with the way he was because by his "retirement" announcement, he was trying to do what he's always done. Whatever he wants. Sorry, that's the fact. For years many bemoaned the fact that there was no succession plan in place. He refused to think about how to handle this team he loves so well, and the multimillion dollar business it had become, when it was time to move on. The words selfish and Paterno were being linked more and more often. The message the board sent was that you are not the most important person right now. I believe they saw the standing ovations he would surely get at his last "official" games as antithetical to the "right thing to do". It is really that simple. And let's talk about coaching....can someone tell me how one coaches from a box, with no communication equipment and a cuppa coffee in hand? Shadow puppets? Telepathy? No one knows better than I that he and his family are consummate philanthropists. They have contributed to this community in ways that transcend just money. But it doesn't change the fact that EVERYONE HAS A BOSS and the board finally put on their pants and made that clear.

Lastly, this is not about football. This is about a group of powerful people throughout the community who somehow thought that they could control an alleged predator. They mistakenly thought that hiding information was going to protect the community at large, and their various organizations. I have no idea how anyone could possibly come to this conclusion. I also believe that holding this information in secret, put the rest of us as guardians out of loop.

There are two satellite trucks still here today: NBC and someone generic. However, with interim President Erickson sending an email to the campus community about every 15 seconds. I don't think they'll be getting much. So, move along folks nothing more to see. We're going to have to figure this out for ourselves. All that's left is a sad, stunned community.


1 comment:

kemtee said...

I guess I'm kind of over the media circus and just want them to get to brass tacks as far as prosecution. Without an update on the news ticker every 15 minutes.

What's done is done.