Paterno vs Majerus

[UteThunder]

To AZSwayze:

Majerus was “quirky” . . . ?

Are you kidding me?

Answering your hotel room door butt-naked is “quirky”? 

Stripping down to nothing but your gym shoes in the middle of practice in the Huntsman Center is “quirky”?

No, those are behaviors that can get you on the sex offender registry.

Majerus was an incredible basketball coach, but if even just half of the stories from former players are true he was also a verbally, emotionally, and possibly physically ABUSIVE tyrant. 

Paterno was told by a third party witness that a good friend of his was committing a crime that to his knowledge would be completely out of character for his friend. With no evidence other than this person’s statement, Paterno reported the alleged crime to his superiors. What else was Paterno supposed to do?  Sure, he could have pursued the matter more diligently, but how many of us would have done so if put in the same circumstances? 

Paterno chose not to believe the worst about one of his friends. Majerus was the perpetrator of the abhorrent behavior, behavior that in many cases could be classified as criminal. 

If Ute fans are going to point the finger of condemnation at Paterno & PSU, then they need to point it at Majerus & the U of U too. Or at the very least stop heralding Majerus as some sort of saint.

 

p.s. Have any of you stopped to consider the possibility of senility as an influencing factor in Paterno’s lack of action? The man was very old and had become more of a figure head than a head coach. His behavior in his final years, including throughout the investigation and up to his death, was odd at times to say the least. It’s very possible he didn’t even comprehend what was going on under his nose. 

 

[Anonymous]

He’s a fat guy so he can get away with it.

Think about it we teach our kids about a fat guy in a red suit that flies around the world breaking and entering into peoples homes and delivering toys. Also just to freak them out even more we throw them on stranger’s laps dressed as him. We also sing a song about he knows when they are sleeping and knows when they are awake. Even when they are naughty or nice…..

[UteThunder]

Humorous.

He got away with it because he was a powerful celebrity who nobody dared stand up to. But getting away with it is beside the point. 

His behavior was deplorable but a lot of Ute fans look at him the same way PSU fans look at Paterno. For those same Ute fans to be outraged at PSU and its fans is laughable.

[Anonymous]

The comparison is not even in the same ballpark.  

[UteThunder]

True.

One man heard of wrong doing and reported it, but could have possibly done more.

The other man harassed, demeaned, and abused those around him on a daily basis while frequently exposing himself.

Paterno could have stopped greater atrocities being perpetrated by another person, but Majerus was the perpetrator of the atrocities attributed to him. There is no comparison.

[Anonymous]

You are seriously sounding ignorant right now.  Just read the report you have no idea what you are talking about.  It isn’t even comparable.  

[UteThunder]

I read the report, or rather, I skimmed through it looking for all mentions of Joe Paterno(I’m not going to read the rest of those details).

The ignorance here seems to be that you(and others) want to attribute Sandusky’s crimes to Paterno.

Of course Majerus’ behavior doesn’t compare to child molestation/rape. But guess what . . . Paterno didn’t do those things. Unless I missed something, that grand jury report mentions Paterno 3 times. Twice he was reporting what he was told to his superiors, and the 3rd mention is of a meeting where he told Sandusky that he would not be the next HC at PSU. 

I guess the part describing what Paterno did that is worse than Majerus was left out.

 

[Anonymous]

From your comments I gather you have never read the actual report on the findings from the Sandusky investigation. You also have no idea on the timeline it seems.

Grand Jury report

As an investigator myself I found it disgusting and there is no defense for Paterno or the administration.

Also I saw EDIT:Westslopecutthroat comment earlier about 2.5 million for a victim. Seems like nothing compared to how screwed up you would be. 10 million wouldn’t cover it. Interesting that people say that personally if it was my child I would rather see PSU torn down brick by brick and all hedge fund money donated to victims of child abuse.

[UteThunder]

I made no such comment regarding 2.5 million for victims. 

[Anonymous]

Excuse me that was Westslope my mistake.  

[AZswayze]

Beehive pretty much said it all, but yes, he was quirky. He was also verbally abusive to his players, by some standards, although many of his former players laugh about his antics. Regardless, they’re a far cry from brushing child molestation off, and it didn’t only occur once with Paterno. How many children do you suppose were raped right under JoPa’s nose after he and several other coach’s were made aware? Five, ten, twenty?

Senility? The guy was coaching decades after some of the earliest reports of his being made aware, so spare me. I’ve never been one to defend Majerus, but y’all brought him up as if these two situations are in the same galaxy, and I frankly find that offensive.

[UteThunder]

By some standards? Yeah, Majerus was abusive by some standards as in those of every clinical psychologist on the planet.

And his players laugh off his antics publicly, but in private you would see for many of them that it is more of a coping mechanism than it is them finding true humor in his behavior. I also doubt the maids, pizza delivery folks, and others who had the misfortune of having Majerus expose himself to them found it funny.

You’re right, though, most of Majerus’ behavior isn’t close to child molestation. I would argue that the public nudity and indecency is in the ballpark though. But that’s not the point. The point is that Ute fans revere him despite his abhorrent behavior. This is no different than PSU fans.

Until you mentioned reports of Paterno knowing decades earlier, I was unaware of that possibility.

Still though, have those reports been substantiated? And if they have, to what degree did Paterno know back then? Was there reason for him to believe the report was true back then? Was the person reporting credible? Was there corroborating evidence? If not, then how can anyone hold Paterno accountable?

 

[Anonymous]

I have not spent the time to read the report on Sandusky. Newspaper accounts talk about “inappropriate touching”. So for those who have read the report, tell us what the worst thing Sandusky did and the worst thing that Paterno did or did not do.

[Anonymous]

He had anal sex with a minor.  

[Puget Ute]

If by “a” you mean “multiple over decades”.

[KiYi-Ute]

Senility? Are you f**king kidding me?

Joe Pa Knew. And the school continues to honor him.

Any good manager knows that you are responsible for your employees, and their actions. Regardless of what you choose to believe, Paterno is responsible for Sandusky. It’s called ownership.

Even the slightest accusation of Sandusky’s actions should have prompted immediate action and investigation. Joe Pa did nothing.

[Puget Ute]

And there are allegations that he knew as far back watched early 70s.

JoePa died before he could really be deposed and cross-examined, so we will never really know what he knew and when he knew it.

[Daedalus]

Majerus, like Bob Knight, was a product of a different era. I enjoyed his sound bites and antics then (well, maybe not the towel incident, which seems apocryphal anyway) but I am glad we are past that. Today’s kids would not respond well to the heavy-handed approach.

But it’s definitely apples to oranges. His “abused” players had the option to not play for him, and many used it.

[Tony (admin)]

I don’t like this comparison. I dealt with Rick on many occasions. He was a brilliant coach, funny as hell, and yes a bit off his rocker. Many brilliant people are not quite there in social aspects. That’s a far stretch from willingly and knowingly ignoring sexual abuse.

I know a few former players who LOVED playing for him and decades later still refer to those as the best times of their lives. Yes, Rick was tough on them. He wanted to win more than he wanted to live, more than he wanted a family, more than he wanted anything else. If players (or coaches… can you say JJ?) didn’t want to win like he did, he was brutal on them.

[Daedalus]

I think he would have given it all up for Cindy Crawford though.

[Tony (admin)]

I think he would have given it all up for Cindy Crawford though.

Who wouldn’t?

[noneyadb]

“But how many of us would have done so if put in the same situation?” 

That”friend” would be answering to a higher authority.

[Author]

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