Old Tradition and New Technology

As I write these words, I am sitting in rocking chair on the famous and expansive porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  I am sipping a glass of Cruzan reserve rum gazing out at the spectacular view of a full moon rising over Lake Huron, draping the waters with blue silver. 

The Grand Hotel was built in 1887 as a destination resort for the railroad. Tradition is key here; not much has changed in design or style for a long time.  Motor vehicles are not permitted on the island; travel is by foot, bike, or horse-drawn carriage.  Coat and tie are required for gentlemen in the evening and it is requested that ladies not wear slacks.  The movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here because the director wanted a place that looked like “it hasn’t changed in 100 years”. 

Yet I am recording these thoughts by dictating into my iPhone that is using remotely-accessed speech recognition software to interpret my words into dots on a screen aligned into a specified font.  The document created in Pages is then automatically uploaded to the cloud where it is beamed wirelessly back down to me and into my iPad that sits adjacent to me.  When I finish dictating, I can pick up my iPad to finish editing the story. 

I am using technology that Steve Jobs gave us and brought us into the future.  In a place that remains stubbornly rooted to the past.  Irony can be so  . . .  ironic. 

The awkward balance between latest technology and old tradition is played out throughout the college football world.  Big bands full of brass instruments play fight songs written in the 1920’s then give way to “I Gotta Feeling” piped in through the PA system. Tailgaters gather in the Grove in Mississippi or the golf course in Pasadena, laying out traditional white table tablecloths and lighting candles.  Then they hook up their satellite dish and fire up the 55 inch plasma strapped to the side of their RV.

This last off-season was a very eventful one for college football.  Old tradition at Penn State was shattered by the conviction of Jerry Sandusky, the damning of Joe Paterno’s reputation with the Freer report, and the leveling of unprecedented sanctions.  Yet among this gloom and horror their emerging a shining beacon of hope.  College presidents and Athletic Directors, finally waking up and doing the math of how much it would bring in profits, worked out a deal for a college football playoff.  As I have repeated so often in this blog, I hate the BCS but I appreciate it because it is the next step in evolution towards a playoff.  And I was right.  It finally happened.  Even better, the format is a college football fan’s dream:

1) Semi-finals played at a rotation among the current major bowls

2) Finals played on a neutral site awarded to the highest bidder (with the money going to the schools, not a 3^rd party promoter)

3) The four teams selected by a committee, not a bizarre computer algorithm. 

2014 cant come soon enough. 

But until then, we will enjoy USC’s run at a National Title this year.  And the evolution of the Big 12 and SEC.  And the final death throes of the Big East (please just let it go).  And another year of game day pancakes, ESPN College Game Day, grilled bratwurst, and packed stadiums under robin’s egg blue Midwestern skies.

The underdog contest starts in four weeks.  Be ready, dogs!

Fight On,

Hans

PS.  The couple (well, ok, more like several) glasses of rum are starting to get to me.  This rocking chair is reasonably comfortable but hardly suitable for sleeping. In the Somewhere in Time Christopher Reeve arrives at the grand Hotel without a reservation and proceeds to fall asleep on the porch in an Adirondack chair.   I envy that man right now.

The Game Table

On Friday, May 4th at 1800 hours, a remarkable journey ended with the delivery of a custom-made maple game table.  The spark that kindled my desire for such a extravagant geek-luxury ignited years ago in Indianapolis, IN.  I was attending the 2008 Gen Con just months after buying our current home.  We had planned an extensive one-year remodel and I knew that I one of the new rooms would be dedicated to gaming.   In a stroke of karma, that convention happened to be the premier for a new furniture company based near Seattle, Washington: Geek Chic.  They unveiled the "Sultan", an outrageously enormous game table that looked like a converted  pool table.

Interesting: a custom designed game table for a custom game room.  Too cool . . .

Years passed as I saved my money and watched as Geek Chic grew in popularity, adding table designs to their line that are considerably more reasonable than the "Sultan".  In August 2011, I finally found enough nerve to sit down with the their designer at that year's game show and we worked out a plan for my "Emissary" table.  It would replace my trusty, yet small wooden table that had been gracing the game room (aka dungeon):

In October, Geek Chic called and confirmed my order.  We tweaked the design slightly to allow for plenty of room on the sides.  This called for a somewhat narrow table, but it was very long.  I paid my balance and the craftsmen in Washington got to work.  The cut the shapes and pieces they would need from the maple:

Joined the pieces together to make the game top with game well:

Then the assembled pieces and accessories (drawers and cup holders) got several coats of clear finish to preserve the inherent beauty of the maple.

Finally, the pieces were assembled together for one final check before they were packaged up for the journey to Iowa.  This whole construction process took 6 months.  That is a long time, but the care and detail that goes into each piece is remarkable.  One little example: there are pins with springs inset into the hardwood leaves that cover the game vault (the center depression where the game board goes).  The slats, when pressed against each other, with bounce slightly to minimize any force onto the cover- like shock absorbers.

Then the table was loaded on the truck (along with a few other Midwestern deliveries, including two of the aforementioned Sultan tables!) and driven out to Iowa.  The good people of Geek Chic came themselves to hand deliver the table.  Here they are backing the truck into our yard and rolling the table into our basement:

 The table was brought into the dungeon and unpacked.  They explained the use of game vault with clear acrylic, drawers, clip on side desks, cupholders, and covering leaves.

Sophie and I couldn't wait to try it out!  The first game to set up was Fortune and Glory (a pulp adventure race across the globe hunting down treasure and fighting Nazi's, a la Indiana Jones).  Next, we set up the House family favorite game, Eurorails.  The first big test comes in a couple days for our first Dungeons and Dragons game.  It should be sweet!

 The table, complete and ready for action (compare to the "old" table, above)

 The first set up: Fortune and Glory

 "There's Nazi's in Central America, Dad!"

Eurorails, a game Sophie enjoyed frequently while she was still in "development"

Into the Lion's Den

I have attended the Iowa caucuses each election year since we moved here in 2002.  In the two prior events, the Democratic nomination was up for grabs and my wife and caucused as Democrats.   Our first experience, in 2004, was a fascinating indoctrination into this arcane spin on neighborhood democracy.  In 2008, I was an enthusiastic Obama supporter, even rallying neighbors with a pre-caucus reception at our home and walking en masse to the caucus site.  But this year Obama is running unopposed.  My wife was happy to sit out this year.  But I, ever the student of political science and aspiring journalist, went to the county recorder office a few weeks ago and registered myself as a Republican.  It was time to see how the other half lives!

January evenings in Iowa are typically below freezing and the land is usually covered with ice.  This year, as many of you know, has been unusually dry and warm across the Midwest.  It was clear, a relatively pleasant 35 degrees, and devoid of ice and snow.  Unlike prior years, my assigned caucus site was not within easy walking distance from home so I unromantically drove my car to the local elementary school.

The rules are clear: the caucus meeting starts at 7:00 pm and late comers will NOT be seated.  When I arrived at 10 minutes to 7, there was a huge line to get in.  I was allowed through and was given one of the last ballots they had.  This was a major difference in format of the caucuses between the two parties.  Each political party makes up their own rules for the caucuses.  The Democrats hold an open vote: you stand in a corner of the room for your candidate and the party leaders count bodies.  Yep- that open!  And if a candidate doesn’t meet a certain threshold to be “viable” those voters need to re-choose.  Seriously.  It’s really weird and really cool at the same time. 

The Republicans, however, are much more official.  They have a secret ballot.  You write your candidate’s name on a blank piece of paper (write in candidates are allowed), and drop it in a box.  The votes are counted in a back room with volunteer observers, and the results are announced.  That’s it- no reallocation for hopeless candidates.  Just one vote and go home.  It’s more like traditional democracy, but kinda boring. 

Before the vote, however, volunteers are invited to speak for 5 minutes in favor of each candidate.  The order was determined by random.  First up was the representative for Rick Santorum.  He was not particularly enthusiastic, but spoke humbly and honestly.  Remarkably, the speaker chose to highlight Santorum’s Foreign Affairs experience rather than his conservative social agenda!  Interesting. 

Next up was Michelle Bachman.  No one volunteered to speak for her, so the Santorum speaker stood to say a few words.  He couldn’t endorse her as a leader or a presidential candidate, but he wanted to express his appreciation of her as a person.  He teared up as he recalled meeting her on the National Mall in Washington and how impressed she was that she took a moment to focus her attention on his daughter.  I may have many negative impressions about Bachman, but this guy’s story was touching.

The rep for Ron Paul was a young, local small business owner and emphasized Paul’s hands-off regulation, cutting of taxes, and fiscal plans. 

Jon Huntsman?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Beuller?    Lesson here?  When you ignore Iowa, Iowans ignore you.  Besides, his moderate views had few friendly ears in the room. 

Rommney’s rep was a former schoolteacher who lives around the corner from us.  She used the blackboard and tried to speak professionally about Romney, emphasizing his business acumen and his ability to accomplish things in a very liberal state.  Next up was another neighbor to speak for Rick Perry.  He was a veteran, and it was important for him to vote only for candidates with military experience (Paul and Perry).  He had also worked and traveled in Texas throughout Perry’s career and had interacted with him frequently.  (notice a trend here?  Iowans rarely vote for someone they haven’t met!)  He spoke very well and enthusiastically for a candidate everyone in the room knew was dead in the water. 

The last speaker, for Newt Gringrich, turned out to be the closest neighbor to us, just down the road.  He yard is distinctively schizoid, emblazoned with the signs for each and every Republican candidate.  This guy wears his GOP credentials on his sleeve.  He began his talk by relating a story about our recent windstorm.  For his yard, it was a “wind poll”.  The Ron Paul sign flew off into the wild blue yonder, as outlandish as the candidate himself.  Rommney’s was ripped and split into two, like the two sides of his political personality.  Cain’s was just gone- no where to be seen, vanished along with the candidate.  Bachman’s and Perry’s went on wild rides, carried by the wind high into the air only to come crashing down to earth moments later.  But one sign held firm: the Newt.  And this guy took it as a sign (pun intended).

But my amusement with his speech soon ended.  To link himself with Newt’s proud role as a Professor of History, the speaker launched into a long description of his own genealogy.  It seems he can trace himself back to British nobility and Virginia plantation owners.  He said that Newt knows what it means to be an American and that this country is for Americans.  Unfortunately, his implication could not have been more clear: America is for white Europeans, not Kenyan-born foreigners.  For the first time tonight, I became very uncomfortable.  I texted to Kristi that I felt like I needed a shower after that bunch of jingoistic crap. 

With the speeches done, we voted by secret ballot and the box was carried away to be counted.  Since they announce the results to the room before they call Des Moines with the tally, I stuck around to hear the outcome.  In the intervening time, party members were invited to propose planks for the state party convention later this Spring.

The first proposal, to promise to eliminate waste, was a no-brainer and passed by consent.  The second was to amend the Iowa constitution to state that Iowans have a right to keep and bear arms.  Huh?  Apparently the federal government’s second amendment that states this very thing is not good enough for this party.  Weird. 

The third plank was to eliminate smoking in casinos.  A little background here: a few years ago, with a Democratic house, senate, and governor in Des Moines, the state passed a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants but exempted casinos.  This proposal aimed to correct the Democrats act of “selling out to the gambling industry” and complete the protection of workers in those facilities.   Just one problem: Republicans are against further regulation of businesses, not for it!  The proposal was narrowly defeated. 

Finally, a woman proposed a plank stating that life begins at conception.  This one was met with considerable controversy, with one young college age man standing up and challenging that it was time to “separate politics and religion”.  After a spirited debate with a few vocal pro-choice attendees, the “personhood” plank was adopted by a large margin. 

Finally, the moment came we were all waiting for; the results.  In our precinct, the final total votes were: Santorum 25, Bachman 5, Paul 41, Huntsman 4, Romney 81, Perry 15, Gringrich 22.  This was not very reflective of the statewide results, where Santorum tied Romney.  Living in a college town, we are far more likely to have moderate voters or independents in the caucus, and they show a strong preference for Romney. 

Iowans are now very happy to get on with their lives and to stop getting dinnertime phone calls from each candidate.  Your serve, New Hampshire. 

Fight On,

Hans

The Day of the Dog and Blow up the Big East

Sorry I haven’t written in a while.  I was working on one story or another and I kept getting distracted by the great games, surprising developments in the Heisman race, coaches getting fired, and the other wonderful things that keep this game so interesting.  Last weekend, the family and I went to Des Moines for the weekend, staying in a hotel, indulging on Iowa’s version of foodie heaven (Gateway Market in downtown Des Moines), and filling the car with Christmas gifts.  While there, I enjoyed the Court Street District bars while watching USC – UCLA.  You need not wonder if I enjoyed the 50 – 0 thrashing of our rivals; it was simply glorious.  And it served to highlight the ridiculous farce that will be the Pac-12 championship Friday between the mighty Ducks and the beaten down Bruins led by a lame-duck coach (pun intended). 

I had been working on several stories, so I will present two here and the third later on if we ever get a slow news cycle (not likely this year!)

Day of the Dog

Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.

[1600-1 Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 286]

You all know the story by now, but it's worth repeating: Saturday the 19th was one of the greatest days in underdog history.  Sure, it is possible that four top- 10 teams have lost in the same day before, but never with all of them losing to double-digit underdogs. 

The BCS carnage began Friday night with the greatest upset in Iowa State history.  The Cyclones have had some big wins in their long and not-very-storied history of pathetic football.  They upset Texas last year, bit Nebraska the year before that, and knock off in-state rivals Iowa about every 3 years or so.  OSU went into the game with their ticket all but punched for the Big 12 championship at home in 2 weeks.  A win over Oklahoma and they get to play for the national title.  All they had to do was survive a pesky 27 point underdog. 

Oops. 

I was working in the ED at the time, and the game was on in every patient room I visited. I had patients even wait for the play to be over before their answered my question, "How bad is your pain?"  We knew the game ended when a cheer erupted from the waiting room.  Kinda bizarre when you think about it.

A somewhat overlooked top 10 loss occurred Saturday afternoon when Clemson got hammered by NC State.  Clemson had clinched their ACC division and had no chance at the BCS Championship, so the game was relatively meaningless.  But that's no reason to roll over and play dead!

Things really got interesting Saturday night when ABC offered regional coverage of Oklahoma-Baylor and USC-Oregon.  Being in a state with a Big 12 team (the aforementioned Cyclones) we were saddled with the OU-Baylor game.  Fortunately, ESPN3 is the greatest invention since wireless internet, and I was able to watch both simultaneously. 

My wife fell asleep as we watched the game, me getting more and more excited as the night wore on and the Trojans didn't collapse.  I shook her awake after the missed field goal, giddy with the upset.  Still smarting from the beating that the Ducks handed her Stanford Cardinal, she was almost as happy as I was.  We celebrated the win, not even noticing how Baylor held off Oklahoma for the third major upset in 24 hours.

Blow Up the Big East

As you may have noticed, I have not been commenting in any detail on the rash of conference realignment this year.  I was in favor of the development of the 4 16-team super conferences because it would directly lead to a playoff system.  The money flowing into those conferences would help the college presidents they don’t need the bowls or the NCAA and they could put together a blockbuster 4 team playoff completely on their own, keeping all the money.  Interestingly, the legal principle for this lies in a lawsuit brought by Universities of Oklahoma and Georgia against the NCAA in 1984 (NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, 468 U.S. 85 (1984).  The US Supreme Court declared the NCAA to be in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and sided with OU and UGA that they could pursue television contracts on their own behalf, free of limitations from the NCAA (the lawsuit specifically was in regards to a association of colleges known as the CFA).  Not surprisingly, Notre Dame was a key proponent of the case and went on to model the first school to have an exclusive television contract.  A model envied and built upon by Texas (UT) in their development of the Longhorn Network.

Here’s where conference realignment is directly related. 

For the duration of the Big 12’s existence, UT has irritated its conference colleagues by not sharing revenue.  In that league, the rule had been that the teams earn money based on their TV appearances.  Since Texas was always on, they got the most.  And with the advent of the Longhorn network, they stood to profit solo on the backs of their Big 12 teammates.  The Big 10, however, shares all revenue from both bowls and TV, including the added revenue from their Big 10 Network.  Nebraska, frustrated with the “eat what you kill” attitude of the Big 12, jumped to the Big 10 the moment they had the chance.  As we saw this year, frustration over the Longhorn Network claimed two more victims, Texas A&M and Missouri. 

As the Big 12 started to disintegrate, Oklahoma looked to the Pac-12 for salvation, saying they’ve reconsidered the offer they turned down in 2010.  They were ready to bring Texas along to sweeten the deal.  (Conquest Chronicles, a sweet USC fan blog, has some good sources on this, http://www.conquestchronicles.com/2011/9/22/2443356/conference-realignment-closing-the-book#storyjump)  But this September, the Pac- 12 said no.  The conference presidents are happy with the current structure of the league and its culture is geared towards slow, careful growth.  More importantly, the Pac-12 has revenue sharing like the Big-10 and the Longhorn Network was a non-starter (note- the Pac-10 always shared bowl revenue but TV profits were weighted towards the LA schools.  USC and UCLA gave these up when expanding to the Pac-12).  As a result, UT and OU were disinvited and left to find their own way to save the Big 12. 

Enter the Big East. 

Affectionately known as the Big Least, this glorious conglomeration of the best basketball schools in the country somehow have lobbied, cajoled, and bribed their way into keeping an automatic BCS bid despite their smaller membership and lack of on-the-field success.  Sure, occasional runs by Cincinnati or Louisville have kept the league competitive, but ever since the defection of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC in 2004, the Big Least has limped along as the playground for West Virginia and Pitt.  The extra efforts to keep this league in the BCS is evidenced by the NCAA proclaiming last year that TCU’s “data will transfer.”  When the TCU agreed last year to leave the Mountain West for the Big East, the years of Horned Frogs wins as MWC members will count in favor of the Big East when determining their eligibility for continued automatic qualifier (AQ) status.  Yeah, you read that right! 

Now the ACC has poached Syracuse and Pitt, and West Virginia and TCU want out.  Although the legal wrangling will need some time to play out, the Big Least is falling apart rapidly as a football conference.  UT and OU, struggling to save their league, saw an opportunity and extended invites to West Virginia and TCU.  The key concession UT had to make?  Yep, you guessed it; all members (including UT!) agreed to revenue sharing!  Now it looks like Louisville wants to get in to the Big 12 party as well. 

The Big East is dead.  Don’t kid yourself- their attempts to add Boise State (In the east? Really?  Really?), Air Force (again, east?), SMU, Houston, and Central Florida are simply desperate, poorly planned attempts to rearrange the deck chairs.  I look forward to the fall of 2012 when this Big East mess is more settled.  I am certain they will lose their AQ status (for the second year in a row, the Big East league champ is unranked!), but another possibility that has been floated is to eliminate the AQ status altogether.  This makes sense, as it permits the East Coast hooligans propping up the Big Least charade to save face and move into a system where the larger 12 and 14 team conferences can get more than 2 teams each in the BCS.

Better yet, get rid of the BCS altogether!   Bring on the super conferences and the playoff.  I’m ready and so is the rest of college football!

Fight On,

Hans

Distractions

I went to Ann Arbor this weekend to hang out with GoBlue! and Keebz to sample the fine football culture that is the University of Michigan.  I intended this blog entry to be an amusing travelogue of the bars and restaurants of Ann Arbor, expecting to write of story of stumbling home through a haze of bratwurst, marzen, and whiskey. 

Well, actually, that’s pretty much exactly what happened.   After watching the start to the college basketball season on TV at GoBlue’s house, we sipped whiskey flights at my favorite bar, Ashley's.  From there, we were drowned by an enormous 9-piece beer flight at the Jolly Pumpkin Tavern and Brewery.   Steve also introduced me to Conner's, an Irish pub with murals of James Joyce (I am happy to report that they serve Guinness properly with the appropriate waiting time).  Finally, I finished long after midnight at the Heidelburg, a German pub with an arched roof rathskeller straight out of the Beatles' Hamburg day (Marzen.  Fantastic.  No idea what brewery.  Who cares at that point?)

It was a great weekend and I wish I could write of only that.  But the tragic and stunning developments in State College have dominated the psyche and the headlines of college football, and I am obligated to comment. 

Let me start with the few elements that are not in dispute.  The real victims here are the many children who have had their psychology permanently disturbed and have been robbed of joy of childhood.  Gerry Sandusky is a very ill, evil man who does not deserve any pity.   Athletic Director Tim Curley and Senior VP for Finance and Business Gary Schultz had ample opportunity and legal duty to notify the police and have an investigation initiated in 2002 when then graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary witnessed sexual abuse occurring in the locker room shower. 

Other parts of this story are more confusing and open to interpretation.  Events unfolded quickly this week.  On Wednesday, the board of Trustees terminated the employment of University President Graham Spanier and Head Coach Joe Paterno.  A few members of the State College community reacted. ….… poorly.  The question that reasonable to ask is: should Spanier have been fired?  Should Paterno be allowed to finish this season and then retire?  After reading the indictment, reflecting on mandatory reporter laws, and considering the entire context of Sandusky's behavior, I believe firing Spanier and Paterno is justified and essential. 

I do not condone, but I understand the emotional reaction of the students to Paterno's firing.  In a way, the Nittany Lion family is going through the Kubler-Ross stages of grief.  The first stage is Denial ("Sandusky is a slime!  JoPa did what was required of him- he turned it over to his superiors").  Then, Anger: the riots of Wednesday night.  Next, bargaining ("JoPa needs to leave, if he retires after the end of the football season, that would be ok").  Before one can reach Acceptance, one goes through Depression.  That is what we saw this weekend: the candlelight vigil, prayers and flowers outside the Paterno home, and a prayer at midfield amid a stadium in tears.  Playing the game against Nebraska, despite the loss, is a solid start to the healing process. 

How did we get to this point?  The indictment (http://www.crewof42.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Sandusky-indictment.pdf) details the facts of the case as discovered by Pennsylvania Grand Jury.  But they are not laid out chronologically.  Look at the sequence of events again is this timeline constructed by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/11/sports/ncaafootball/sandusky.html).  You'll notice that the 2002 incident witnessed by McQueary is in the middle of the sequence; there were many episodes prior to that.   The question to ask here is: what did Joe Paterno know about Sandusky and when did he know it? 

On New Year's Day in 1998, Sandusky brought a boy to the Outback Bowl with the team (even listing him as a family member for the travel documents!).  Later that year, he takes the boy into the locker room and showers with him, making advances.  The boy's mom asks about the wet hair when he gets home and he tells her what Sandusky did.  She called the police, wore a wire when confronting Sandusky, and an investigation commenced.  Remarkably, the Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar chose not to prosecute.  We can all speculate on how he made this decision (especially weird because Gricar disappeared in 2005 and is presumed dead!), but one thing is clear: Joe Paterno was aware that lurid accusations were made against his then-Defensive Coordinator. 

The following year, Paterno told Sandusky that he would not become Head Coach.  It is reasonable to surmise that Sandusky's odd behavior was at least a factor in this decision.  Sandusky announced he would retire at the end of the 1999 season, which culminated in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.  Sandusky also brought a boy to that game, again listing him as a family member.  We now know that Sandusky sexually assaulted this boy repeatedly in the team hotel in San Antonio.  Although no one could have known of this activity in the room, it would have been obvious to all that Sandusky had brought along another young boy.  Paterno would have seen this and must have known about the investigation the year before.

Sick.  Wrong.  Creepy.  Yes, all three

I detailed those allegations from the indictment to provide the proper context for the 2002 incident.  (I'm skipping the 2000 incident witnessed by the janitor as this was never reported and the boy was never identified).  In this case, McQueary witnesses Sandusky raping a boy in the shower (described as "rhythmic slapping sounds").  He informs Paterno what he saw and Paterno in turn informs his superior (the AD and Senior VP for Finance and Business).

At this point Paterno has completed his legal duty.  As an educator (coach or teacher), he is a "mandatory reporter"; he is obligated to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect (as a health care provider, I am also a mandatory reporter, but more on that in a moment).  Once he has made his report to his superior, under Pennsylvania law, he is done.  Here’s the explanation: http://news.yahoo.com/psu-scandal-stirs-debate-over-abuse-reporting-laws-210836127.html.  Under Iowa law, by comparison, have to ensure that a report is made to child protective services, which in my case is the Department of Health Services (DHS), but I don't have to make that report myself).  As we all know now, Curley and Schultz chose to cover up the allegations and did not make a police report (Dicks.  Creeps.  Assholes.  Yes, all three.  But we covered that already).  So the big question is: should Paterno have noticed that the police were not informed and should he have ensured that to happen?

Yes and no.

A little background here- I have made similar reports before.  Fortunately, child sexual abuse is relatively rare and I have only been involved in a few cases.  These situations are turned over to a specially trained sexual response team and they take it from there.  Once I call this team, I have minimal interaction or knowledge of the case.  If the police or out other authority chose not to prosecute, I wouldn’t even be aware of it.  Much more commonly, I see cases of suspected physical abuse or child neglect.  These happen more often than you want to believe.  In these cases, we admit the child to the hospital (a kind of protective custody) and I direct the Social Workers to make a report to DHS.  After that, I usually get very little feedback.  If DHS determines the child’s environment is safe, I can’t really do anything about it.  My point here is that, as Joe Paterno did in 2002, I would report the case and leave it to others.

Does this mean that JoPa did all he could do?  Of course not.  And he should have done more.  He knew full well of the allegations in 1998.  He had reason to be uncomfortable with Sandusky’s work with teenage boys.  And now he was told of a witnessed sexual assault.  He knows full well that the police were not notified by Curley and Schultz.  And he should have said or done something about it. 

Not yet convinced?  Ok, I hear you. I was still unsure at this point.  So I went to discuss the case with my Social Worker team in the ER.  We reviewed the mandatory reporter law and I described my experience with not doing anything more if DHS drops the case.  I described my ambivalence about JoPa’s actions, and then my colleague made a great point.  She said, “He knew all this and yet he still allowed Sandusky to come to their sports camps.”  Sandusky met his final victims through his Second Mile charity and in high school football practices.  It is tragic enough that Sandusky abused all those boys in 2002 and before, but then to have access to more is simply unconscionable.

Therefore, Paterno needed to be fired.  Its very sad that the legendary career ended this way, but it had to end (and only weeks ago I was cheering the record breaking win!). 

And what about President Spanier?  That’s easy.  He was Schultz’s boss.  He’s responsible for Senior VP’s actions.  You’re done.  There’s the door.

Saturday began the healing.

Chanting “We Are Penn State” before at the game must have felt so good.  A week of shock and horror needed a moment of holding hands and reaffirming that you are part of a larger community.  That you are so much more than one twisted child molester.  That after a prayer at midfield, you are ready to heal and accept the love of nation that is just as shocked as you are.  Let’s get back to football and autumn afternoons and bratwurst and game day pancakes and underdogs and upsets and marching bands and all that is good in this world.

Today we are all Penn State.

Fight on, on, on, on, on,

Hans