The Penn State scandal is a mind-blower, straight out of left field. Wow! Makes Ohio State's Tattoo-Gate look like very small potatoes in comparison.
But large potatoes or small, it boils down to one of life's crucial crossroads -- to tell or not to tell. And it's never easy. You know something, and you know that what you know is a bad problem, a hot fuckin' potato. Your knowledge will implicate family, or a friend, or a co-worker, or your company, or put you into some such personal pickle.
Do you act strictly in self-interest, or not? How thin do you slice the baloney? Tressel knew about tattoos and trinkets and told, basically, no one. Paterno knew about abuse and molestation, and told his bosses, but then nobody told anybody else.
Both are quality people, and thought they were doing the right thing. Both thought they were protecting themselves, their employers, and those young people in their charge. Free tattoos are not cool with the NCAA but are not per se illegal. However, butt-fucking children in the shower is a crime anywhere you go.
Joe-Pa is not a criminal, nor is the administration, but the Penn State brain trust played this one very badly, and their civil liability is likely to be huge. It's just -- I don't -- sad, awful, pathetic.
So, back to the original question, if we know some ugly painful shit, do we tell or not? "Snitch" or cover up?
Hell, I don't know. A difficult decision, and it could go either way. We're only human. All I know is I'm glad I'm not a college football coach, and I fervently hope none of us is ever put in such a god-awful situation.
My "big" decisions these days are things like black shoes or brown, white bread or rye, gin or vodka. Scotch? Here's hoping yours are equally momentous.
If this guy is truely a serial pedophile, and it seems there's evidence he is, that would have continued to harm childern, then there is only one answer to the question, 'squeal'. Not like a pig as those poor boys had to, but like a hero and bring the son-of-a-bitch down! Now, there are plenty of situations where the answer is more clouded, but not this one.
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