The Passing Of JoePa
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Earlier this week longtime Penn State Head Football Coach Joe Paterno died of complications from lung cancer treatments. I don’t know anyone else’s personal feelings about the man or passing, but it is a sad and sudden death that comes at a bad time for his legacy. Paterno won 409 games in his career. That is more than anyone else in the history of the NCAA, but for now he will be remembered for the scandal that rocked not only Penn State but athletes everywhere.
I personally feel like Paterno got a bum rap on things, and took more heat than Sandusky, who actually committed the horrendous acts. Did Paterno make mistakes in handling things? I believe we can all say yes to that, but what human hasn’t messed up in their life. Yes, this was especially bad due to the nature of the victims, but I feel like Paterno was truly remorseful for how things ended.
It was a sad ending to his life. He has probably been battling this disease for a long time now, and it was his job that kept him going and fighting the fight. Now, I’m not saying he gave up, or had nothing to fight for after losing his job, but the same spark wasn’t there. The stress of losing his job along with the media uproar and attention on this 85-year old man just seems to have been a little too much.
People are saying now that the stadium has to be renamed after him, which it probably will, but that doesn’t mean much. Paterno meant so much more to the program, the people involved, and the school for just a stadium to be named after him. I don’t know how you honor a man like that, maybe just by keeping his memory alive, and living the lessons that he taught those around him.
Players and coaches from all four corners of the country stood up after the passing of Paterno, talking about how good of a man he was, and how he shouldn’t be defined by the events that led to his firing. Adam Taliaferro, the Penn State player that suffered a spinal injury back in 2002 was one of the first people to defend JoePa.
Talaiferro, just a freshman back then, suffered a career ending back injury, that doctors thought would leave him paralyzed for life. Paterno would visit his young player every week, during the season, and tell him how he believes in him. Talaiferro is now walking and a practicing lawyer in New Jersey, and talks on and on about the impact that Paterno left on his life, and how he helped give him the strength to get up and eventually walk.
I hope people remember Paterno for the good man and great coach that he was instead of the man that is being roasted by people across the country.
That is all I have for this week, check back in Thursday’s edition of The Messenger for more rants and ramblings. Remember to follow The Messenger on Facebook and check out our website at www.messenger-news.com. Chris Boothe can be reached at cboothe@messenger-news.com. Until next time, take it easy.
