Happy Valley Chaos...But for What?

The bizarre and embarrassing acts that engulfed Penn State's Main Campus late last night set a bad taste in my mouth and stomach. Students rallying for Joe Paterno did not seem like such a good idea especially in the midst of what is looking like the biggest scandal in sports history. I sat quietly in my living room watching the strange press conference last night wondering why this was all going on. The whole idea of holding such a meeting for the firing of Joe Pa totally fed into the culture at Penn State. Ideally, the Board of Trustees would have been better off with just a statement but to open the room for questions might not have been the best idea for the institution at a national level. In fact, the room was full of students blurting out their questions of concern for how their legend, their so called "god" was fired. Who cares if they called him or showed up at his door? The bottom line is the man is no longer the head football coach. How he was fired is minuscule in this entire scandal. From what started out as the discovery of heinous acts, which are unbearable to read on the 23 page grand jury report, it has turned into something that is not. Joe Pa.

The reactions I have read on Twitter from friends and friends of friends who are Penn State alum are quite astonishing. "So sad", "I can't believe this is happening", "We love you Joe!" "WE ARE...PENN STATE". All of these posts I saw populate my Twitter feed only made me feel sick to my stomach. I could not believe that people my age, which is the same age now as those boys who were raped, are sticking to one of the many men who covered up what was happening. Had i not known they were for Joe Pa I would have assumed they were for the children and families of those whose lives were traumatized. My response to those Tweets was harmless but I don't think it set well with Penn State folks, "Joe Pa getting fired is not sad. Little boys getting raped is sad and disturbing." I never got directly responded to on that one, but there was one shout out to Penn State haters saying "no one wants your opinion, shut the f*** up, ur about to get unfollowed..." Part of me wanted to respond indirectly just so I would get unfollowed. Let's get serious, who cares if you stop following me. It's people like that who have twisted this scandal into a worship-fest for Joe Pa. And because he is Joe Pa, he can do no wrong. Now that he has done wrong, he is being held responsible and as well he should be. But regardless, his fans will back him up, feel bad for him and rally for his legacy. For such a legacy and top dog at a prestigious university one would think he would take responsibility not only as a head football coach but as a human being to see that justice is served. But that is not what happened. It was ignored. It was ignored to protect the face of the program and the university. For something as serious as this, it makes you wonder what else are they hiding in Happy Valley? I just don't get it and I never will. Just because I didn't graduate from Penn State doesn't mean I can't have an opinion on this matter.

"Winning"

"Winning." The word has become much more than a sports team's goal or motto these days. I'm sure it was on LeBron James' mind the moment he stepped foot on the court alongside Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in Miami. Rex Ryan sure thought his squad was good enough for it, in Super Bowl terms. The Villanova Wildcats sure had it on their agenda this season, as they were sitting pretty in the early weeks at number six on the AP Top 25 Rankings. What these three teams have in common though, ironically, is not "winning". I think all the smoke and lights that introduced one of the most overrated three-some in NBA's history had some sort of impact down there in Miami and how LeBron and Company can't seem to get it done. The Jet's had their fifteen minutes of fame during the preseason show, "Hard Knocks"on HBO. How many times did we hear Ryan mention his team playing in the Super Bowl? Nova Nation is taking a hit now after completely falling off the AP Top 25 Rankings. The question is, will they make it past the first round of the tournament, let alone make it at all? "Winning". Something these three teams haven't been able to grasp as of recent games.

"Winning" certainly has taken a different spin in the last week or so thanks to Charlie Sheen. Apparently, he is "winning". Whether it's in life or who knows what else, he has let everyone know that's what he's doing. Maybe the Heat, Jets and Wildcats can catch up with him in the next few days and weeks to get things going for them. Even though he lost his show with CBS, Sheen is making it obvious that he has his life under control. I don't know if I would consider myself "winning" if my children were taken out of my house, but he seems to be going with the flow. I can't go one day driving to and home from work without 610 WIP or 97.5 The Fanatic using the Sheen sound bite "winning" in their segments. The word has taken the Twitter world by storm and #winning seems like it's the most trended word since, ever. More and more people are talking about how Sheen has lost his mind and how crazy he is. We can make observations and judgements about the star of "Two and a half Men" all we want. He's only going to appear on more interviews and talk shows as this story continues to escalate. He is who he is no matter what people are going to say. I can't say I don't think the man is crazy, but who am I to judge? Now, don't go as far as comparing me to one of his "goddesses" but all I'm saying is let the man live. I will say though, if he gets his children back before the NFL and NFLPA come to an agreement, then there is certainly something wrong in this world we live in.