Joe Paterno's restless sleep

It has been a little more than a week since the release of the Freeh Report. The report outlined the lack of action Penn State officials took as pedophile Jerry Sandusky preyed on children on their campus.

It is all hard to believe, but by this point in our lives, maybe none of us should ever be shocked by anything that happens. As long as human beings are able to be self-centered, then decisions like the ones made there will continue to happen.

According to the Freeh Report, head football coach Joe Paterno and other high-ranking university officials were aware of the 1998 criminal investigation regarding Sandusky and his alleged abuse of a boy. Though the investigation did not result in charges at that time against Sandusky, there was compelling information that should have resulted in him not having access to university facilities anymore.

However, Penn State officials did nothing, and Sandusky continued using the school’s facilities to abuse boys. The report concluded, "In short, nothing was done and Sandusky was allowed to continue with impunity."

Most of the focus has been on Paterno. For better or worse, head football coaches are one of the most highly visible people on university campuses these days. Paterno was especially powerful at Penn State, and because of this, he has taken more heat than others involved in this.

One of the report's conclusions is the lack of action by officials was done to avoid bad publicity for the university and the football program. If this is the case, it represents a new low. In many ways, college sports stink to high heaven when it comes to corruption, and it is difficult to find a much worse case than this.

What makes this harder to fathom is that Paterno and Penn State had been put on a pedestal as an example of how college sports and academia could work together in a positive way. Looking back at it, a lot of the exalting of the school was from within. The school carried itself with a lot of pride when it came to the ways it did business.

As with most aspects of life, pride often precedes the fall, and this is certainly the case here. Penn State’s values now come across as shrill and self-righteous in many ways. Paterno was critical of many aspects of college sports and sometimes pointed out others he felt were not worthy.

He famously once said he did not want to leave football to the Jackie Sherrill’s and Barry Switzer’s of the world. Both Sherrill and Switzer were coaches who had problems with the NCAA and its rules. Though both those men ran programs that broke rules, neither came close to the horror associated with the Penn State situation.

Of course, Paterno is dead now. He died earlier this year of cancer only months after being ousted as head coach. It would have been interesting to hear him talk about the situation. His family has spoken out in his defense, and I can only imagine the nightmare that is their lives right now.

The bottom line is this is a cautionary tale of how careful we should be when looking up to people we respect. Despite his bad decisions, Paterno did a lot of good. However, he was only a man and capable of making big mistakes like the rest of us.

It is easy to throw rocks at others, but all of us need to realize that evil dominoes can begin tumbling if we lose sight of what is right and wrong. It happened to Paterno, and it can happen to us.

Never lose sight of that fact.

Jerry Sandusky and the role of evil

Last month, a Pennsylvania jury convicted Jerry Sandusky of 45 crimes related to child sexual abuse. In recent years, America has become more of an “anything goes” society, and because of this, we have rarely seen the type of sweeping condemnation that has been directed at Sandusky.

In this case, it is justified. In many respects, Sandusky is a nightmare come to life. He is a person who was perceived to be a nice man with a big heart who helped children. He founded an organization specifically set up to help at-risk youth.  Toss in his reputation as a respected football coach at Penn State, and he appeared almost too good to be true.

Of course, he was too good to be true. The almost unbelievable savagery that he inflicted on his victims was remarkable in the worst sense of the word. There is also an on-going investigation about whether Penn State officials knew about some of this and did nothing, then perjured themselves in front of a grand jury investigating Sandusky. So, this case may not quite be done yet.

After all this, there is one final lesson we must take from this case. This lesson is that evil is alive and well in our society. For people trying to understand why a grown man would get his pleasure from sodomizing a 10-year-old boy, there is only one answer: evil.

Though some may think this is a simple-minded approach to understanding this situation, it really is not. Mankind has worked hard in recent years to elevate himself above what he really is. Evil will always tempt us, and sometimes it will try in grand ways that are unimaginable.

Evil manifests itself every day, but we do not always stop to see it. Graphic examples like the Sandusky case grab our attention, but there is a lot more to it than that. Need other examples?  Check out the civil war going on in Syria and the limp noodle attention it is getting from the rest of the world.

Still, we see evil in much more subtle ways. Simply ignoring the needs of those around us is a form of evil that is common, and our hearts have become calloused to the point that some of us simply do not try anymore.

I know those are harsh words. We prefer to think of evil in large and grotesque terms like Jerry Sandusky. Sandusky’s deeds are a king-size example of evil, but when we only look at the obvious examples, it becomes easier to overlook the little things.

If we do not take the time to consider the role of evil in our society and our reaction to it, it becomes that much easier for it to roam free. It may be a cliché to refer to evil as a beast prowling the countryside, but it is not that far off.

Evil destroys everything in its path. It destroys its victims, but also those who did the deeds. If anybody doubts this, go back and review the video of Sandusky the night he was convicted.

As he left the courthouse, he had a bewildered look on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something but did not know what to say. The expression on his face appeared to say: “How did I get here?”

If we are not careful, we all could get to a point where we are asking that exact question. True, none of us may commit crimes as horrible as Sandusky, but we can all make big mistakes that have a tremendous impact on those around us.

So, we better stay on our toes.

People and failure

At this point, it has been about two weeks since the scandal at Penn State became big news. During this time, turmoil and change have been the order of the day at the university.

Former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been charge with 40 counts relating to child sexual abuse. Of course, these are only charges at this point and Sandusky deserves his day in court.

However, I recommend that people read the grand jury report that summarizes the crimes he is alleged to have committed. It is only 23 pages and is written in a way all can understand. Simply 'Google' it on the Internet, and a person can have it in a manner of seconds.

The allegations are reprehensible, and we should pray that justice is done.

Heads have rolled at the university. The school’s head football coach Joe Paterno and president Graham Spanier have been shown the door. Other employees are on administrative leave. Unfortunately, school officials knew of Sandusky’s activities as early as 1998, but they did not do much about it. We will find out how much they knew in coming months.

The stench from this mess is not going away soon.

The big question is: What do we take away from this? It is a simple question, but the answer is complicated.

This is because we can take this question in a thousand different directions. When I think of this situation, I tend to focus on the failures of mankind.

Obviously, the system failed the victims there. As ESPN analyst Jay Bilas correctly stated, there was a "conspiracy of cowards" when it came to dealing with Sandusky. University officials involved seemed more interested in protecting the school than reaching out to the victims.

In addition to the victims, there has been a lot of collateral damage. Sandusky was a person who was widely respected in the Penn State community. He was part of the community for decades and had endeared himself to many.

To them, he was a hero. Between his success on the gridiron and his efforts to enrich the lives of people, he was thought to be a model of what a man should be.

Now, the people who felt that way are deeply shaken. They wonder if a man who they respected so much can turn out like this, what does it say about mankind?

Actually, it says a lot. It is part of our human nature to put people up on a pedestal. We admire people to a degree that it is impossible for us to imagine them doing any wrong.

We all do this. We may not intentionally do it, but we do. We all have people we admire so much that we cannot imagine them failing.

As well meaning as we may be, we tread on dangerous ground when we do this. This is because we all have frailties nobody else can see. If we admire other people too much, we are setting ourselves up to be let down.

It may not be in as dramatic a way as Sandusky allegedly betrayed those around him. However, if we idolize other people too much, trouble is coming.

It is all about maintaining a proper balance in our lives. We can respect people and look at other people as role models. But that is as far as it should go.

That is easier said than done. How do we know when we are crossing the line when admiring people too much? I don't know. If it was so easy, then we would not have seen the tragedy we just witnessed.

Still, we should strive to maintain that balance. If not, it could cost us big later.