There comes a time in every blogger’s career where someone dies who either had the best or worst reputation in the world, depending on who you ask, and you have to walk the fine line between the two where you acknowledge that yes, it’s sad he died, but he did some terrible things and death doesn’t automatically resolve them. Winning football games does, apparently, but not death. So enter coach Joe Paterno, who died this weekend from lung cancer at the age of 85. TMZ reports:
His family released a statement that reads, “He died as he lived. He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”
While we do extend our sympathies to the innocent members of his family at the time, we do have to remember Joe along with the gigantic fucking asterisk that you can only get when you allow for the systematic rape and abuse of young boys because people apparently like football more than they like kids not getting raped. So yes, I’m sure plenty of people will want to remember Joe for his legacy as a coach, but unfortunately, nothing trumps the fact that he allowed countless young men to be raped under his watch. Let me make this as clear as possible: nothing is more important than not letting kids get raped. Won a bunch of football games? I don’t give a shit, you still let kids get raped. Walked on the moon? Tough shit, you let kids get raped. Made a bunch of great movies? RAPED KIDS. See how that works?
