Bill O'Brien Getting Thrown Under A Bus

goheels22002 said:

And they are?

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upstater1 said:

You're focusing on the grand jury presentment which solely addressed the charges against the administrators and Sandusky. That presentment said nothing about what Paterno did beyond going to his "superiors." That doesn't mean, however, that he did nothing. The state AG in fact commended Paterno in that presentment. But for what? That's the key question.

We didn't know until the unauthorized release of someof the pretrial testimony. Paterno went to the campus head of police weeks later and was livid at the lack of an investigation. This will all come out in court. Among other things revealed is that the campus head of police was given the child's name by Sandusky and the kid was interviewed by Schultz (the head). Like all the kids Sandusky molested, the kid initally declined to say anything. Read the article below which shows that all the victims were reluctant to come forward except victim #1 (the high school kid molested in 2008).

In addition, though I was willing to cut McQueary a lot of slack earlier, it may be that he did not reveal the extent of what he saw. His friends said as much when he spoke to them the night of the molestation. They said he described nothing like what was in the presentment.

The take in many Pennsylvania circles is that the PSU people certainly screwed up in 2002 but that there wasn't a concerted effort at a cover-up. Look at what they did in 1998 when they brought state and local authorities into the investigation. Back then, Sandusky was still a coach. If they were willing to investigate back then, why not in 2002 when he was no longer a coach? If they were covering up to protect the program in 2002, why not in 1998 when they launched an investigation? Read the link in the article below if you're interested in more info. You'll find that the state didn't have much interest in investigating either. Many suspect the full scale investigation was launched because of the governor's fight with the PSU President, and that Paterno was collateral damage as the governor was trying to put heat on the President. In that article you'll find it was the parents who suggested the investigators look in logical places (like Sandusky's book) and also, only PSU retained info about the 1998 investigation. The local police and state authorities had no record of the investigation.

Jerry Sandusky's book, 'Touched,' helped police investigation into alleged sex crimes | PennLive.com

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The officers had gone so far as to set up a sting operation in which the boy’s mother called the coach, and, with the police listening in, confronted Sandusky.

According to the grand jury report, he admitted to showering with her son and another boy, said he did not think that his private parts had touched her son, but acknowledged that what he did was wrong. “I wish I were dead,” he said, according to the grand jury’s findings.

Ultimately, the district attorney decided against taking the case to trial, a decision that, years later, the attorney general’s investigators could well understand. According to people with knowledge of the current Sandusky case, the district attorney’s decision in 1998 was a close call, even with the evidence the campus police had.

But what most struck the investigators, according to people with knowledge of the current case, was that the university itself seemed to have done nothing in the wake of the police investigation. Whether that was because other senior officials at Penn State did not know of the investigation or because they knew of it, but chose to do nothing, is a central question for investigators today.

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convertedpatsfan said:

Paterno may or may not have done the bare minimum, and he may indeed have followed up later on some issues after the 2002 incident, but ultimately Sandusky was still allowed on PSU grounds for over a decade after the original allegations arose, and during this time another victim was allegedly molested. There's also an incident of Sandusky at a PSU practice with a child in 2007.

We'll have to see what the testimony says, as we've been proven wrong before (Duke lacrosse team case). And I think we've pretty much re-hashed the majority of the case, which wasn't my intent. I just want BOB to get a fair shot as a HC. He's cleaning up a major mess, and I hope he'll get a warm introduction in his first home game is all. If Arrington and Short boycott, all the better.

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convertedpatsfan said:

Thanks for the link. It's pretty ridiculous that the only record of the 1998 investigation is with PSU, who won't release it. There is definitely a lot of blame that extends beyond the PSU administration, though that certainly doesn't absolve the administration in any way for their share.

The 1998 investigation apparently resulted in a 100-page report, and while the DA didn't file charges, PSU apparently didn't follow up afterwards at all. You'd think Spanier or Paterno would want more information considering what is alleged to have been included. According to the NYT:

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Paterno may or may not have done the bare minimum, and he may indeed have followed up later on some issues after the 2002 incident, but ultimately Sandusky was still allowed on PSU grounds for over a decade after the original allegations arose, and during this time another victim was allegedly molested. There's also an incident of Sandusky at a PSU practice with a child in 2007.

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We'll have to see what the testimony says, as we've been proven wrong before (Duke lacrosse team case). And I think we've pretty much re-hashed the majority of the case, which wasn't my intent. I just want BOB to get a fair shot as a HC. He's cleaning up a major mess, and I hope he'll get a warm introduction in his first home game is all. If Arrington and Short boycott, all the better.

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DropKickFlutie said:

Aside from Scar, you could say this about any Patriot assistant coach. Like his players Belichick takes no-name coaches but makes them better. But once he got here, O'Brien has guided the offense to 14-2 and 13-3 seasons, putting up over 450 points of offense each year. That's excellent. BOB is a smart, hardworking coach who has gotten better every year, and I like the 2 tight end offense he's used.

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Atlanta Patsfan said:

I agree with you about BB's assistants. I was responding to TheComeback's statement that BOB has a lot of college experience. I'm in the minority on this one, but I don't think BOB is a great OC and I think he'll struggle at PSU. Time will tell.

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PatsWickedPissah said:

Wait! i think I finally see the problem here. Spock knows diddly about offensive coordinators. Nailed it, I did.

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upstater1 said:

He had emeritus status. If you're going to take away someone's privileges, you need a basis for doing so. Ganim's source in the prosecutor's office said Paterno wanted Sandusky banned. The administration refused. For obvious reasons. They didn't conduct a proper investigation, nor did they have anything on him. He was "told" not to bring kids around. But beyond that, they couldn't take away the keys. Emeritus status is a privilege but it's not taken away unless there is a violation.

Paterno is at fault for not going to outside police. That's the additional thing he should have done, but he certainly could not have gone public with that information.



I think he's going to get a fair shot.

The testimony won't absolve PSU. What's done is done. It will only show that Paterno did more than what's supposed and that McQueary did not tell anyone a child was raped. Even his friends have said that McQueary told them he saw a kid in the showers poking his head out of a stall and being pulled back in by an arm. A minute later he saw a toweled Sandusky walking out with the child. This is what he told people back then. What he told the prosecutors under oath wasn't quite child rape, but he thought it might have been.[/QUOTE

Thanks Upstarter, makes sense. Paterno was pissed, that was obvious. Penn St. wins the National Championship and the team puts Sandusky on their shoulder. He retires in his prime. Paterno speaks for two minutes at his retirement dinner and then leaves. For us who followed Penn St., we know Joe was a stand-up guy. I hope in the end, he gets to have his say, otherwise, his legacy will begin with a cover-up, and rightfully so.

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scout said:

upstater1 said:

He had emeritus status. If you're going to take away someone's privileges, you need a basis for doing so. Ganim's source in the prosecutor's office said Paterno wanted Sandusky banned. The administration refused. For obvious reasons. They didn't conduct a proper investigation, nor did they have anything on him. He was "told" not to bring kids around. But beyond that, they couldn't take away the keys. Emeritus status is a privilege but it's not taken away unless there is a violation.

Paterno is at fault for not going to outside police. That's the additional thing he should have done, but he certainly could not have gone public with that information.



I think he's going to get a fair shot.

The testimony won't absolve PSU. What's done is done. It will only show that Paterno did more than what's supposed and that McQueary did not tell anyone a child was raped. Even his friends have said that McQueary told them he saw a kid in the showers poking his head out of a stall and being pulled back in by an arm. A minute later he saw a toweled Sandusky walking out with the child. This is what he told people back then. What he told the prosecutors under oath wasn't quite child rape, but he thought it might have been.[/QUOTE

Thanks Upstarter, makes sense. Paterno was pissed, that was obvious. Penn St. wins the National Championship and the team puts Sandusky on their shoulder. He retires in his prime. Paterno speaks for two minutes at his retirement dinner and then leaves. For us who followed Penn St., we know Joe was a stand-up guy. I hope in the end, he gets to have his say, otherwise, his legacy will begin with a cover-up, and rightfully so.

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Hey Upstater. I'm a PSU grad and obviously sickened by what Sandusky did. I wanted to thank you for presenting the facts on what was/wasn't done. Not just going by what some ninny like Felger, Zolak or ESPN say. Like you. I feel Joepa will come out looking better..not great....just better than the PSU administration. The part that people need to realize is that Sandusky was going to do what he did to those kids regardless of whether he was banned from campus or not. He would have just done it elsewhere. Hotels, his own house or wherever. He was a sick son of a ***** and would have continued until locked up. The biggest blame should be placed on those who didn't prosecute him.

Not that it matters. Sandusky's last game was the Alamo Bowl. Didn't win a MNC that year. There was a lot of talk from Texas A&M that they produce better linebackers than PSU. Lavar and PSU defense pitched a shutout and hence that is one of the reasons they carried Sandusky off. That was the bowl game Kevin Thompson - qb popped Jay Paterno and was sent home. Backup qb Rashard Casey started and played the whole game instead of his usual just a couple of series.

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State said:

I was sickened by Joe Pa's handling of Rashard Casey around 2000 , the guy who beat up the off-duty cop with the black girlfriend leaving a bar. The white cop was knocked to the ground by Thugsard Casey and another player from Casey's high school. The evidence was overwhelming to prove Casey's guilt--cop's blood on his clothes, eye witnesses, etc. but Joe Pa spoke soothingly to the grand jury whose collective IQ was pretty low and Casey got off scot free.

Joe Pa stood by his thuggish player.

Except for the big civil action the Casey paid out to the Hoboken, NJ, police force where the off-duty cop worked for.

SI.com - College Football - Ex-Penn State QB Casey settles suit with N.J. police - Tuesday August 12, 2003 02:14 PM

This first began to sour me on my boyhood idol, Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions.

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patsfaninpa said:

scout said:

Hey Upstater. I'm a PSU grad and obviously sickened by what Sandusky did. I wanted to thank you for presenting the facts on what was/wasn't done. Not just going by what some ninny like Felger, Zolak or ESPN say. Like you. I feel Joepa will come out looking better..not great....just better than the PSU administration. The part that people need to realize is that Sandusky was going to do what he did to those kids regardless of whether he was banned from campus or not. He would have just done it elsewhere. Hotels, his own house or wherever. He was a sick son of a ***** and would have continued until locked up. The biggest blame should be placed on those who didn't prosecute him.

Not that it matters. Sandusky's last game was the Alamo Bowl. Didn't win a MNC that year. There was a lot of talk from Texas A&M that they produce better linebackers than PSU. Lavar and PSU defense pitched a shutout and hence that is one of the reasons they carried Sandusky off. That was the bowl game Kevin Thompson - qb popped Jay Paterno and was sent home. Backup qb Rashard Casey started and played the whole game instead of his usual just a couple of series.

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It's bizarre how things get so skewed in terms of facts and details, like the post below yours where someone links to an article about the Casey case that says the exact opposite of what the poster claims it says.

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