The Lions' Pride

Joe clearly had more power than the people who tried to fire him but instead were tossed from Joe's house.

And to pretend he had none is idiotic. He was either the first or second most powerful person.

If Joe had all the power why is he out of a job?

Which is exactly why he wasn't "fired" in 04. I don't understand this argument about him being fired in 04 as proving he was the most powerful man on campus. He was the most powerful person when it came to football and his job security it doesn't mean he could tell Curley or Spanier what to do in other areas of the campus.

If Joe was an advertising salesman and his bosses came to him and said I think it's time you turn over your accounts to someone else. Joe says I don't think so. His bosses know full well they don't have support to get rid of Joe from their board and know he will take some major accounts with him. The bosses come to the conclusion it's not worth the potential problems to get rid of him. So Joe has put himself in a position that makes near impossible to show him the door. Doesn't mean he runs the entire company.

That's one example we could also talk about teachers or high school coaches whose fate is also contigent on board votes not an AD, principal or super intendent.

I'm sure Curley and Spanier discussed 04 with the Bot. Enough people said talk to him and see what he says. They got their answer and decided it wasn't worth the headaches to force him out.

So, do you agree he was the most powerful person related to football and/or athletic department issues? That is all that is relevant regarding the scandal. If he was, would Sandusky have been fired or forced to retire without Joe not having an inkling as to why? Hasn't it been widely reported that Joe, himself, told Sandusky that he would never be the head coach? Is there any way he hadn't heard rumors when people in the community and throughout college football had heard them (at least according to several recent articles). No-one cares if Joe could hire or fire a biology teacher. They want to know how he didn't know very important details about someone who worked directly underneath him and who unexpectedly "retired" at the peak of his career but decided to stick around.

Huh?
Who did he keep out of jail?

Catch a clue, dude.......

Your superior not being able to fire you = your superior's fault / problem
Police bringing kids to Joe instead of arresting / charging / holding them accountable = the police fault / problem

Unless Joe ran some sort of underground State College "Protection" racket.... you people need to get a grip. You're part of the problem here...

Joe Paterno
Head Coach - Penn State Football

not
Joe Paterno
Police Chief, SVU Detective, Lawyer, Judge, Jury, Execution, Executive Chef, OCY Caseworker, Dishwasher, Psychiatrist, Syracuse Ball Boy....

I mean really.... how much responsibility to you people have in your jobs? Can you imagine people holding you to this standard?... Just unfathomable.

Football yes no doubt. Athletic issues I doubt it. He was a football coach, albeit a very very popular one, why would he be given the power to oversee the whole athletic department. What benefit would Joe have in this power. It's not like his teams had to share facilities so I don't get the advantage. I know in smaller schools the ad has a delicate balancing act with sharing facilities but doubt that's a problem at big time football colleges for the football team.

It is quite possible Joe heard some rumors about Jerry in 98 but I don't know that for certain. Let's say he did hear about the investigation. Heard it didn't turn anything up but he decided that for just the insinuation was enough to decide he was not going to allow Jerry to take over as head coach. I don't know how that changes anything about 02. If anything he thinks what mcqueary was telling him was something similar to what happened in 98 that the DA didn't prosecute. Also if true that Paterno wanted nothing to do with Jerry after 98 it makes more sense for Paterno to tell Curley, what he was suppose to do or it could've looked like Paterno made it personal. This still comes back to what happened after Mcqueary talked to Curley .

I actually find it hard to believe so many people heard about the 98 incident. I haven't seen the police report or anything about it other than the da and/or police listened in on a phone call where Jerry said he may have had inappropiate conduct but at first said he didn't think so. Then said he was sorry he had upset the mom and wished he was dead. With everything else we know that looks like an admission but on it's own I don't know. If that was the extent of the investigation then I doubt alot of people found out, why would they?