Controversial Football Coach Paterno Dies at 85: “Get NCAA Out”

Posted by Jeff on January 22, 2012
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Penn State Nittany Lions head coach en:Joe Paterno on the sideline during warmups prior to the 2006 Homecoming game versus the University of Illinois on Friday, October 20, 2006.

Joe Paterno at Penn State was one of the most successful, and controversial, football coaches at the University level. What will his real legacy be?

From The New York Times:

Joe Paterno, whose teams won more games than any other major-college football coach, who became the face of Penn State University and a symbol of integrity in collegiate athletics only to be fired during the 2011 season amid a child sexual-abuse scandal that reverberated throughout the nation, died Sunday. He was 85.

I came across an interview the he published in 1974, explaining how he would “get the NCAA out of internal operations of each university.”

Was he right?

An excerpt is below; it is interesting reading, in light of current events of college-level sports.

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Comments

  1. #1 Art
    January 22, 2012

    A bit sad. He had a full and fruitful life but his demise is too close to the child abuse cases. Had he held on another decade the abuse would be seen as a low point in an otherwise positive life. As it is it will resonate as the ugly ending of a bright career and a contributing factor in his death.

    The NCAA, originally structured to organize and promote college sports, has largely given up on the veil of promoting the good of the colleges/universities as educational centers. It is simply a business. As with all businesses the goal is to maximize profits to the owners and minimize costs.

    As with most business one of the ways to do this is to centralize and go big. Having 20 million people watching two teams is more efficient at concentrating wealth than having a few tens of thousands watching each of a score of games.

    This general trend, in sorts, entertainment, farming and manufacturing, is one of the many reasons we have unemployment.

  2. #2 Jeff
    January 22, 2012

    Thank you for your comment.