TIME TO LAWYER UP, KIDS.
Denied. ESPN filed a Right To Know request with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, to obtain Penn State's files regarding the 1998 investigation of Jerry Sandusky. The request was denied.
Ruling on a request filed by ESPN, the agency says the university is not a state agency and thus is exempt from most provisions of the state Right-to-Know Law. It says the university is required only to release certain financial records.
No word on whether ESPN will file an appeal. Check out the PA Office of Open Records site here, if you wish.
Halcyon Days. In case you missed it yesterday, Ben Jones takes us back to kindergarten in 1994, when he was a guest in the home of Jerry Sandusky.
Once our permission slips were signed, we made the short walk to the Sanduskys' house. Jerry and his wife, Dottie, welcomed us in and we made our way to their basement, where cookies and milk were laid out for us to eat. After we ate our food, Jerry talked to us about football, we watched a little film from the last game and then we headed back to the school.
As I have covered this story, I can’t help but think back to that day. It is the fact that even in retrospect Jerry seemed like a normal person. A friendly guy who was just happy to share his knowledge of the game he loved. And yet, as I have read the grand-jury report over and over, I realize that it is entirely likely that I also know at least one of the victims.
Ben also spoke to us on the BSD podcast shortly after the story broke, and shared a little bit about that day at the Sandusky residence (listen here, at the 48:00 mark).
Casting A Wide Net. Also from StateCollege.com, one source indicates that the search committee is combing the NFL for potential coaching candidates.
In its quest to find the next Penn State head football coach, the six-person search committee has held two interviews and has not ruled out hiring a coach with NFL ties, a source said.
The pool of potential candidates that has expressed interest in the job is vast, said the source, who wished to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the subject. One of the interviews was with quarterbacks coach Jay Paterno, the son of former coach Joe Paterno, who was fired on Nov. 9 in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Interim coach Tom Bradley is expected to be interviewed this week but has not yet done so as of Wednesday.
Oh, About That. Bradley expects to interview with Dave Joyner next week.
Asked if Paterno's replacement had to have head-coaching experience, Joyner said, "Doesn't have to be. Certainly head-coaching experience is a strong thing to consider, but head coaches had to be assistant coaches somewhere."
Some critics have said the next coach should have not have university ties given the scandal.
"It's certainly not a negative," Joyner said. "They understand our process ... They understand what Penn State's all about."
Co-defensive coordinators Larry Johnson (defensive line) and Ron Vanderlinden (linebackers) could also be candidates if Penn State stayed in-house. But the other assistants are loyal to Bradley, who has also earned added respect among players for his handling of the team through the crisis.
Jerry Sandusky In The House! As you know, he was released on bail yesterday, with help from a $50,000 certified check signed by his wife and a realty bond on his State College home. He's under house arrest and electronic monitoring, in case he gets any funny ideas.
Say It With Me: Quinnipiac. Fun, Right? The public opinion pollsters at the little Connecticut university looked at the people's reaction to the firings at Penn State. The findings? In favor of Joe Paterno's firing by a margin of 52% to 43%. Graham Spanier was not treated as kindly: 74% to 13%. Also of interest, 67% said that it would be a bad idea for PSU to turn down a bowl bid.
And, Good News. Calls to Child Line, a state-run hotline for child abuse, doubled in the week after the Sandusky case became a national obsession. The hotline received over 4,800 calls between November 7 and November 11.