Tornoe retroactively updates Paterno obit cartoon

Comments ³

1. birdie

   I don’t like the updated cartoon. What Joe Paterno did was horrifying and despicable and sullies the entire college he coached at. It just doesn’t seem right to tell someone they’re welcomed to heaven and then boot them out once you find out they did horrible things. Couldn’t they have done something like have him in a special cell away from children? I guess that god isn’t a forgiving one like that book of his says.

2. Jimmy Delach

   I’m sure God can exercise his rights to send anybody previously sent to Heaven down to Hell if any dirt comes to light on them.

   My parents are from Pennsylvania and they rooted for Penn State University. I was born in Florida (my parents moved there a year before I was born) and when I got into sports, I rooted for Penn State too. Back in November when the Jerry Sandusky scandal was coming to light, I actually thought Penn State should’ve let Paterno coach the remainder of the season not because me or my parents condoned Sandusky’s actions but because he was not the main bad guy in all this. Now that the Freeh report came out, my opinion on Paterno changed drastically. I now view Paterno as a total disgrace for mankind and his firing was justified. I think Penn State needs to sever all of their remaining ties to Joe Paterno and his family. They should take down the statue, they should remove Paterno’s name from the campus library and pay back the Paterno family all the money that they have donated over the years, and his ice cream flavor (Peachy Paterno) should be removed from the school creamery where another flavor named after Jerry Sandusky was previously removed. As for the football program, many people are calling for the death penalty. I think Penn State deserves the death penalty but I’m not sure if the NCAA will enact strongly on this due to the fact that Penn State has always been a clean football program prior to this past November. If the NCAA punishes Penn State, they should give them a lengthy bowl ban (minimum five years) and massive scholarship reductions. That’s how they should be punished. I will never ever root for Penn State football again.

3. Carl Moore

   This whole trashing of Joe Paterno reaks of hysteria. Rob Tornoe’s less-than-brave re-do of his earlier laudatory obit cartoon says more about Tornoe than Paterno.

   When Paterno heard McQueary’s story about Sandusky in the shower with a kid, he immediately notified the campus police. Under the circumstances, what more could he do? Well, with 20/20 hindsight, he should have been much more aggressive. But given the fact that Paterno was in his late 70s or early 80s, isn’t it understandable that an old man of that generation would be experiencing a huge jolt of the “yuck” factor, and having informed the campus police, he wanted nothing more than to be rid of the problem? This does not excuse his not doing more, but it makes it understandable. And given his enormous reputation for helping athletes not only excel in football but also helping them graduate and do well outside of sports, and given the huge finanacial boost his talent as a great coach gave the university, and given his much-deserved reputation for integrity and honorable character, do you think maybe he’s owed at least the benefit of the doubt instead of hysterical calls for tearing down his statue and reputation? Would a modicum of empathy be in order here?