Joe Paterno (Page 3)

you can keep bringing up the victims all you want and what he knew or did not know...

bottom line is the guy just passed away

if you don't have anything nice to say about him don't say anything...

again... common courtesy and respect for a human being

Not to directly compare the two, but if this is a general hard-and-fast rule with you, would/did you feel the same way when Bin Laden died? That "common courtesy and respect" for him as a human being prevented you from saying anything bad about him?

honestly bear,

I didn't bring that up exactly but I did bring up the question to several friends and family, "what went through Obama's head that night when he gave the orders to "kill" another human being?? What did he say to his wife when he asked her what she thought?

You're really comparing Joe Paterno and Bin laden?

What part of "Not to directly compare the two" didn't you comprehend?

Just trying to see if your rule applied to everyone or just the departed you admired. There are many out there who feel that Paterno's actions (inactions) are heinous enough to negate any normal respect and courtesy. Just because your opinion differs doesn't mean they're not allowed theirs.

is this really that hard to understand??

it's really as simple as the golden rule... regardless of what you may think his misdeeds were why not be the better person and just find something good to say about somebody in death?

I would think that being admirable is what you would be shooting for? I wouldn't want to set that example for my kids... I'd want to tell them, yeah, the guy mad e a bad mistake here but let's remember the good he did at this sad time

"not to compare the two"

but you were

and yeah, I'd show the same compassion for the two...

I guess it comes form my Catholic upbringing? I don't know? Maybe I'm an idealist?

I'm not saying they're not entitled to their opinions, I'm sure they expressed them three months ago...

a person died here and some respect should be shown

again it's just common courtesy

Respect is earned.  Many people believe that Paterno did not earn that respect.  Just because someone dies (we all do) does not make their misdeeds go away.

Are you suggesting that those that feel it's inappropriate to dance on the grave of the dead are guilty of hero worship?  Or did I misunderstand?

This hero worship you mention, where do you see it?  I'm nowhere near PA, but the only thing I've seen on television so far are people on campus just acting sad and saying things like "it's a shame."  I haven't seen anything, since his death, that I would consider hero worship.  All media coverage I have seen included a discussion of the recent scandal.  Are you seeing coverage or reaction to his death that suggests we disregard recent events?  I'm sure it's somewhere, but it certainly hasn't been the norm (as far as I've seen). 

here we go again... didn't we go through this three months ago...

cover-up is a huge assumption that everybody's making

you can't just show some courtesy in death and recognize the good things a man has contributed in his lifetime

OK, I guess I can understand someone feeling the need to ignore what I consider to be good manners if faced with this, but I haven't seen this in this thread.  Have you?  In fact, the initial reactions in this thread were rather negative opinions about Paterno.  What were they reacting to?  The initial post was deleted so maybe it was that?

I'm not spitting on the grave of JP, I'm just saying lets not forget all that was destroyed in his wake. He did do many good things, won a lot of football games, but he was no saint as many label him. I'm not bashing him, I just don't think he is a deity.

All of the programs he did for the community and the youth were admirable, but as far as his coaching.... well I'm just going to say that there has been a long line of corruption (many student athletes with criminal records or run ins). He was above the school and could use that power as he wanted. On the other hand he coached his kids as his own sons, and wanted the best for them.

It is sad that the man was football, and when all caught up to him and football was taken away from him, he had nothing left and passed away. That is sad. It is just sad that such a legend has his reputation scarred in such a way after this that who really knows the fall out.

Opinions are like buttholes, Most people have one. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002132/   

Has anyone on this thread suggested he was/is a deity?

Yeah, I don't know what they were reacting to either.  But it seems odd that you feel that they are compelled to react in this manner to somehow counteract a minority (although local, I suppose) opinion that wasn't even expressed here. 

ETA: I missed the bolded part when I wrote what I did above.  We already had that discussion.  I disagreed strongly with the Paterno defenders then.  I just don't see what purpose it serves to now try to reassert the points that were made months ago in the wake of his death.

You're stretching now.  This has absolutely nothing to do with what we are talking about now.

I'm not a Penn State fan - i grew up in PA and followed Penn State but not crazy about them or Joe Pa...

Detached from the Sandusky situation I'm just saying that situation was beat into the ground three months ago

can't we just show some respect for a person's passing on this one day??

he admitted he could have done more... he took that regret to his grave