Happy Valley, Pa., is one place I’m sure glad I’m not right now.
The allegations against Joe Paterno that he withheld information in the court case against his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky have been both an embarrassment and an outrage for the entire Penn State community. Since Paterno’s official dismissal as head football coach of the Nittany Lions Nov. 9, the situation has escalated to nothing short of frightening for students and members of the media at the scene. A friend of mine who studies at Penn State posted a Facebook status last night at 2a.m. merely saying, “I’m alive.”
Another friend of mine, also at Penn State, wrote, “I hope the media learned their lesson with the tipped-over news bus last night. Piss off until you all get the facts straight.”
It’s one thing to have an opinion; it’s something entirely different to go around tipping over news vans. This muddled mess that is the end of Joe Paterno’s career is tragic, confusing and shocking, to say the least. And this probably marks the final act in the decline of the powerhouse that has been Penn State football for the last 46 years. Football is an integral part of the Penn State experience, and it’s a shame its name has been tarnished like this. But the reactions of everyone, both affiliated with the university and not, make me worry about where people’s morals stand.
Naturally, the scandal upsets me. The degree of Joe Paterno’s responsibility in all of this is debatable — perhaps he could have done more than he did about the situation, or perhaps he couldn’t have. Molesting children isn’t ever okay, obviously.
But neither is rioting.
There is something about sports that makes people forget their dignity. When the Canucks lost to the Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals last June, vengeful Canucks fans took to the streets of Vancouver and laid waste to vast swathes of the city. Ever the punching bag, the expectation is that whenever a Philadelphia team wins anything, drunken revelry ensues. Parents are routinely removed from youth recreation centers for verbally abusing the referees when “unfair” calls are made against their children.
And now, angry college students are “justifiably” tipping over media buses and endangering journalists. When sex scandals started surfacing in the Catholic Church nearly a decade ago, people were angry. But no one rioted. And the Catholic Church has far more followers than Penn State football.
If the scandal revolved around the heads of the university, people would be angry but wouldn’t be breaking lampposts or tipping cars over right now. If it were cafeteria workers, the public probably wouldn’t even bat an eyelash. But for some reason, when it comes to athletics, people think it’s acceptable to react like this. I have no theories as to why this is so. People tend to laugh and cry with each victory and loss of their favorite teams. But many are equally emotionally invested in their favorite television programs, and little more than dismay ensues when a beloved show is taken off the air.
Friends at State College keep telling me I don’t get it. One of them posted, “The ‘father figure’ of 40,000 teenagers was fired last night. He’s legally gone from this family. So honestly, what did you think was going to happen? Were we going to sit quietly in our rooms and study … If you’re on the outside looking … you really don’t understand the colossal impact this has on us, so please stop finding amusement inthis.” But honestly, I think I get it better than they do.
It’s football, not the apocalypse. Football fanatic or fair-weather fan, it is never excusable to endanger others. Please responsibly exercise your right to peaceably assemble.
Sari Frankel is a freshman in the College and a staff photographer.
