paulymortadella:

I find it really interesting how people react when one of their heroes is accused of less than heroic behavior. In the case of Paterno, he allegedly knew of Sandusky’s pervy escapades with young boys, yet chose to do nothing significant about it. 

The cognitive dissonance in such cases makes people act all weird, and say odd things. “Well, he didn’t do the molesting and he was a great coach” is my favorite.

A great coach who chose protecting the revenues of the Penn State football program over innocent children.

A greater coach would have taken more significant, public action to keep Sandusky as far away from children as possible. No one would have faulted him for doing so, and the football program would have been just fine. People tend to rally around those who protect children from molestation and abuse.

If you disagree, imagine one of your kids or a kid you love as one of those molested. Hearing “Paterno was a great coach” brings out a whole different set of emotions.

Paterno might have been a great coach, but he could have been much, much greater.