SHOULD JOE P
Joe knows......losing
Why should Joe Paterno step down at Penn State? Plain and simple, he is los
ing his touch with the game and losing his control over his players. The once
proud standard for all that was good with college athletics has become a terrible,
unrecognizable shell of his former self.
This season, the team and the tradition have all started that long journey down
the drain, dying a painful and frustrating death.
Joe doesn't have it anymore and in order to uphold the class and dignity he
once set for others tb follow, he should be man enough to admit he has lost the
Midas touch. Yet for some reason, whether it is to prove to media members,
himself or players he can still do it, Paterno has failed miserably and tragically
right before our eyes.
Since the end of the 1999 season, there have been nine reported or rumored off
of the field incidents involving Penn State football players. This season alone,
E.Z. Smith, Andrew Richardson, Tyler Reed, Jeremy Kapinos and most recently
Tony Johnson have
all been charged
with underage drink
ing or DUI. Other
problems include
Anwar Phillips
alleged sexual
assault, from which
he was cleared (but
still allowed to play
in the Capital One
bowl despite being
charged with viola
tions of the conduct
code), Scott Paxson
was charged with
possession of stolen property and criminal mischief, two players were involved
in a fight which sent two wrestlers to the hospital, Rashard Casey and a high
school friend were accused of beating an off duty cop, and there are rumblings
of an alleged incident during the week of the Alamo Bowl involving a prominent
player.
With this season's current record, the team is a miserable 21-23 since 2000.
The three previous years they were a combined 28-9 and the three seasons
before that 29-8. During this stretch of horrendous football, fans and media
members have been witness to Patent° chasing down and verbally abusing offi
cials after games and during weekly news conferences. We have also been wit
ness to Joe not accepting responsibility for the team's actions. He has pointed the
finger at everyone but himself.
Recently during the Minnesota game, Paterno along with five other coaches
had a say in the teams play calling. At the end of the game, offensive coordinator
Fran Ganter was seen yelling obscenities after a failed Paterno call. There is no
reason why four other coaches, including Paterno, should be calling offensive
plays. That is Ganter's job.
During this current display of pitiful football, the teams 23 losses have been by
an average of 12.3 points, which does not look like much on the surface, but
consider they have lost six of those games by 18 or more points (including one
game by 39), 11 by 10 points or more but the hardest losses to swallow were the
nine games they lost by seven or fewer points-including all four losses last sea
son. Add into the equation that the Lions have started 0-1 in Big Ten play in
three of the last four seasons and you have proof that the game is passing JoePa
By ERIC THOMAS
Staff Reporter
The aging king leads his warriors to battle. Paterno leads
the team onto the field before every game.
Joe is also getting slaughtered in the recruiting wars. Since 1999, Paterno has
failed to land top notch state players such as Jeff Smoker, Jaren Hayes, Matt
Schaub, Kevin Jones, Steve Breston, Tim Massaqoui and Marlin Jackson. The
saddest part is the fact that all of those players except Schaub and Jones are on
Big Ten Rosters. This season alone Paterno, in desperate need of a quarterback,
failed to land two of the nations hottest blue chip prospects in Wilson West Lawn
product Chad Henne and Penn Hills prospect Anthony Morelli. Henne is off to
Michigan, Morelli to Pitt. Go figure. West Virginia alone has 28 players from
Pennsylvania, 15 of which where highly touted by national recruiting services.
As recently as 2000, a player who was nominated to the Big 33 all-star team
was quoted by a state publication that he refused to choose Penn State because
of Paterno's age and also because of his play calling. The player, an offensive
lineman, would have started all four years with the blue and white.
As if more proof was needed, all you need is to watch a tape of the Minnesota
game, note the terrible clock management, Ganter's tirade on the sideline, and
the miss-use of freshman Austin Scott and 6'B" tight end Matt Kranchick at the
end of the game. Paterno called for a draw-play with tailback Ricky Upton to
end the second quarter as Upton was stuffed, the Lions later turned the ball over.
And to rub even more salt in the wound, Paterno called for another draw with
Scott at the end of the game, in which two unblocked Minnesota linemen met
Scott at a "supposed" hole and stuffed the rookie.
After the game had been completed, Paterno defended the play blaming an
offensive lineman and calling the play "brilliant."
I hate to say this old man, but brilliant would have been walking away three
years ago when the program took a turn for the worse. Brilliant would have been
not acting selfish, thinking you can still coach at a high level. Brilliant would
have been going out with the respect and applause you once deserved. Brilliant
would be standing up and looking in the mirror and admitting you cannot do this
anymore.
All of the great ones admit it when they cannot go on, yet there is Joe showing
his age, at times classless actions and all the time it seems for selfish and imma
ture reasons.
He has become a farce and what we all had hoped we would never see him
become, yet now have to endure until he is man enough to admit it is time to
move on.
photo by Dan Storm