PSU trustees fire Paterno, Spanier
By GENARO C. ARMAS - Associated Press

For more: http://news.yahoo.com/psu-trustees-f...032116274.html

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — For the first time in almost a half-century, someone other than Joe Paterno is calling the shots at Penn State.

The winningest coach in major college football history was unceremoniously dumped Wednesday night along with Penn State president Graham Spanier, fired in phone calls by a board of trustees fed up with the damage being done to the university's reputation by a child sex-abuse scandal involving Paterno's one-time heir apparent.

"Right now, I'm not the football coach. And I've got to get used to that. After 61 years, I've got to get used to it," the 84-year-old Paterno said, speaking outside his house. "Let me think it through."

Paterno had earlier in the day announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, his 46th.

It didn't matter.

"I'm not sure I can tell you specifically," board vice chair John Surma replied when asked at a packed news conference why Paterno had to be fired immediately. "In our view, we thought change now was necessary."

As word of the firings spread, thousands of students flocked to the administration building, shouting, "We want Joe back!" and "One more game!" They then headed downtown to Beaver Avenue, where about 100 police wearing helmets and carrying pepper spray were on standby. Witnesses said some rocks and bottles were thrown, a lamppost was toppled and a news van was knocked over, its windows kicked out.

State College police said they had no immediate information on the number of arrests.

The decisions to oust Paterno and Spanier were unanimous, Surma said. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley will serve as interim coach, and the university scheduled a news conference with him for Thursday morning. Penn State hosts Nebraska on Saturday in the final home game of the season, a day usually set aside to honor seniors on the team.

Provost Rodney Erickson will be the interim school president.

Paterno had come under increasing criticism — including from within the community known as Happy Valley — for not doing more to stop the alleged abuse by former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who has been charged with molesting eight boys over 15 years. Some of the assaults took place at the Penn State football complex, including a 2002 incident witnessed by then-graduate assistant and current assistant coach Mike McQueary.

McQueary went to Paterno and reported seeing Sandusky assaulting a young boy in the Penn State showers. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice president, Gary Schultz, who in turn notified Spanier. Curley and Schultz have been charged with failing to report the incident to authorities, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly earlier this week refused to rule out charges against Spanier.

Paterno is not a target of the criminal investigation, but the state police commissioner called his failure to contact police himself a lapse in "moral responsibility."

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Paterno has raised millions of dollars for Penn State in his career, and elevated the stature of what was once a sleepy land-grant school. Asked why he was fired over the phone, Surma said, "We were unable to find a way to do that in person without causing further distraction."

At Paterno's house, his wife, Sue, was teary-eyed as she blew kisses to the 100 or so students who gathered on the lawn in a show of support.

"You're all so sweet. And I guess we have to go beat Nebraska without being there," she said. "We love you all. Go Penn State."

This is a p-poor way to treat a man who has given so much to Penn State and his community. As he had stated, in hindsight he should have done more. He reported the abuse to the administration, supposedly the police DID investigate the allegations, and that was the end of the matter. In hindsight .. based upon the fact that the abuse was seen by the person who reported to Paterno .. Papa Joe should have followed up and didn't.

It is a sad fact that Paterno is being treated as a scapegoat ... PERIOD. (in my view).

Many many students are very upset over the firing of JoePa and are showing their ire by the thousands as they gathered on campus, and downtown.

Past football players that were contacted and to the man, have stated they owe so much to Paterno. He was the coach (and teacher), that led by example and taught them to stand on their own feet and be responsible citizens. He and his wife's contributions to the community can't be measured.

Joepa will be sorely missed. It is sad that his legacy will be tainted by his lapse in "moral responsibility".

He deserves better.

This whole incident was handled poorly. The University has done him wrong. How soon do they turn their backs on a man who has dedicated his life to that university....

Joe Paterno spent 61 years of his life at Penn State (41 years as head coach), and to have his legacy be "he was fired" instead of "he resigned", is a real disservice to all of the thousands of young men (and women) who he touched. JoePa IS Penn State.

In my opinion, JoePa was used as a scapegoat ... PERIOD.

To be judged for one decision out of the hundreds of thousand decisions he made while at Penn State is completely unfair (even though he made the wrong decision and could have done more).

His legacy is evermore tarnished .. and, the students have every right to be outraged and angry about the way that the trustees handled the whole situation.

My little sister graduated from Penn State just a couple of years ago, and let me tell you, it is not pleasant being around her at the moment due this whole situation with Paterno.

This makes me angry. Very angry. I hope Penn State's football program sucks balls from here on out. What would make me even happier is if the whole football team walked out and refused to play unless Coach P is re-instated. But I'm just angry and bitter like that. LOL Its not right, no matter how you look at it, to make JoePa the scapegoat for what someone else did. SMH

Another fallout of JoePa's firing just might be the loss that Penn State suffered at the hands of Nebrasla. Many touts were favoring Penn State since the game took place in the house that Joe Paterno built. I don't know about others, but .. it seemed to me that Penn State's football team members were NOT playing at their best. If I were one of the men that had to play after my hero and mentor was dealt a death blow the way that the trustees did to JoePa, I would NOT have taken to the field ... I would have walked in protest (but that's me). I grant you (understanding the kind of man Paterno is, he wouldn't have wanted any of his boys to have let his firing affect them on the football field.

Paterno's son (who is an asst coach at Penn St), had tears in his eyes as he was interviewed after the game. For sure, I don't know where he mustered the wherewithal to work the sidelines, knowing this was the first time that JoePa wasn't on the sidelines in many a year.

Originally Posted by Team Infidel

This whole incident was handled poorly. The University has done him wrong. How soon do they turn their backs on a man who has dedicated his life to that university....

Didn't he kind of turn his back on the boys who were molested?
I think that the students at Penn St deserve criticism for their actions (Re. Paterno) but the US educational system and the teachers and professors deserve more. What I see is a failure to instill reasonable morals and ethics; and to teach analytical thinking process.

So I suppose the history that man helped make for Penn most have gotten lost in all this legal shuffle...

Hope their entire suffers in his absence, I feel for the students and players but to hell with the rest of them.