BoT issues new statement regarding Paterno

Basically, they’re just saying they believed letting him coach would add to the media circus. If they think that would have bothered Joe, they’re incorrect.

They caved to media pressure and they’re admitting it. Fine. They will be judged accordingly.

In fairness, the media circus that ensued was a bit less nasty than if he’d been there. Jay and Scrap came off as sympathetic. They did the prayer thing which was cool.

If they thought this would be an easier way to get rid of him than firing him for normal football reasons, than they got what they deserved with the massive backlash. Their hope to avoid such a backlash is the reason they didn’t fire him about ten years ago. Now they got it anyway. [insert Nelson Muntz’ Hah hah].

The board has and should have the right to fire the coach. Well, the president should have that right, but since the president was in the process of resigning, it fell to the board. The board theoretically represents the University’s rightful stakeholders (it doesn’t, but that’s another issue). Their authority is final except for the laws of the land. And that’s ok. Coaches shouldn’t be above them.

But to do it by dark of night by phone without having a proper civilized conversation with him was gutless and possibly a breach of contract.

So I’m not bothered because at least the board is now showing their cards. They have a pair of threes. Lose.

Those who say Joe was being arrogant by trying to dictate his own departure don’t respect the fact that he had a contract with the University and an unwritten obligation to his players.

He handled the termination like Socrates drinking the hemlock. He accepted the board’s decision and didn’t try to claim he deserved special treatment even though he does.

I don’t think Erickson was really wrong when he said they didn’t think they could get their message out. ESPN et al really weren’t interested in the University’s message. They wanted to burn a witch and were going to do whatever it took to do that.

But I don’t see why that prevented them from discussing it all with Paterno like adults. It’s bizarre that they chose to communicate via press releases. The Paternos’ house is a short walk from the Nittany Lion Inn. Or they could have called. The Paternos are in the phone book.

Indeed, I think they probably could have just put him on leave and even get Joe to pretend he was ok with that. Maybe discuss it with the team captains before announcing it so the team understands that he’s not abandoning them but just trying to avoid public unrest.

But instead they panicked.

Regardless of its merits, there’s no reason the board could not have put out this release months ago. There were a lot of those delays. Like why, for example, did they let McQuery twist in the wind for days, and then take many more days to explain – in a round about way – that McQuery can’t be fired because he’s a whistleblower. Likewise, I understand Curley is legally protected. That could have all been clarified immediately.

I’ve worked with crappy PR operations before. Usually the blame shouldn’t be on the PR rep fielding the question, but on the absurd procedures the company or organization has in place that forces the PR rep to get every word cleared by five different people. And if one of those five is out of the office, no statements or releases can get out the door. It seems like with Spanier, Schultz, and Curley gone, the whole system ground to a halt.

unfortunately, the BoT credibility on this issue is in the toilet.

Had this been the statement in November, I (for one), not being alumni, probably would have bought it, as it is perfectly sensible to conclude that Joe and the team would not be able to focus on the remaining schedule and such. Certainly, with all that was going on, it would have been a reasonable position to take.

The problem, of course, is that this is not what they said in November. Surma (to whom I will forever refer to as Asshat) said that Paterno’s firing was based on the report, no more and no less. Clearly, this statement is nothing more than damage control, meant to quell the mass of hordes, storming the gates to their Ivory Tower.

There is good news from this statement, though. That, my friends, is that you are being heard. You have called shenanigans on these assclowns and they are scared. If they weren’t, then they would be continuing the “Let Them Eat Cake” mentality with which they seem to run the university. The people on this message board, and others like it, are having an impact on changing how the university is run. This statement is nothing but desparation on the part of the BoT in general, and the “Power Group” in particular.

Keep pressing these assclowns. Make them fully disclose what they knew about JS and when they knew it. You are all modern day Woodward and Bernsteins. You, the alumni, have them on the run. Don’t let up.