The Drive:
      As a preface, if you grew up in PA in the last fifty years, you learn to understand all things “Joe-Pa.”  I remember being a sports fan growing up, but my parents were from Philadelphia, so we watched and followed the pro teams. That didn’t last long. As a junior high student I remember my homeroom teacher spending 5 to 10 minutes every Monday talking about Penn State’s most recent game, and the conversation usually would come up again on Friday. There was no escaping it. In high school it was every athletes dream in my school to get noticed by, and recruited by Penn State. And football players?....all things Paterno. That was the way it was.  Well, I didn’t go to a Pennsylvania school and my work in broadcasting took me far from home, but I always dreamed of returning.  In 2001, that finally happened.

  The Fairway:
      When I returned to work for the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg, I would get my fill of Penn State. It was our primary coverage focus in addition to the high schools. What I quickly learned was Penn State wasn’t like the other programs I had covered. Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas Tech, South Carolina—among them. For the media, it was a nightmare. Everything was closed, everything was controlled, guarded—I remember calling it Kremlin-like…or Kremlin-esque if you will. Where other programs would give you access to anywhere from 6 to 12 players to preview each game, the Nittany Lions would make just 2 available. Where other programs would allow you to get video of the early part of practice, drills, etc for your coverage…Penn State would allow none. Even the bowl mandated one open practice would be so tightly controlled we only ever got some stretching on camera. So much for features on your favorite players. Game video only.  It was tough sledding. I actually did a funny feature from a bowl game on the closed practices and tried to get in—-to no avail, of course.  I didn’t understand that stance, but you accept it, because it is..after all.. Penn State.
       
  The Green:
      All this..brings me to the events of the past week.  My thoughts are pretty simple. For a man, and a program, and a University really—that has stood for honesty, integrity, honor and academics—-before winning—-old school thoughts in today’s world—-it now appears that they all failed us at their biggest moment.  Protect young people at all costs—-certainly protect the most vulnerable among us.  They did not. It appears that the reputation of the institution,(or the program) meant more to the men in charge than those young boys did.  All that protection did was continue to enable the accuser.  We all have an obligation, a responsibility to our community to protect those that can’t protect themselves. Power and an unrealistic sense of worth in a “brand” apparently deluded them all.

  The Jar:
      The law will handle Sandusky. Clean house Penn State. Clean house.