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If you follow me on twitter, this past week has been a keeper. I’ve been going off on Joe Paterno and Penn State University over what we’re all learning has happened to young boys IN the football facility. To say I’m pissed would be the understatement of the year. Now that I’ve calmed down a bit, I thought i would try to put my thoughts into some sort of semi-coherent form by breaking them down into a few sections.

I’m heart broken over the loss of innocence that these boys have experienced.

LIfe will never be the same for these boys. They’ll live a life marked by mistrust, fear and shame all because a pervert chose them to attack. I do not understand how an adult can attack a child. To me it’s the lowest of all crimes. When the coach is convicted and sent to prison, he’ll discover that inmates agree. I’ve visited pedophiles in prison and they have told me that very thing. Prison will not go well for Sandusky, which I have to admit, I’m more than good with.

I want to punch every adult witness who walked away.

The idea that a grown man would WITNESS a child being harmed and walk away is so heinous that they should share a cell with Sandusky. I know some will say “but he was only a graduate assistant and he did report it to his boss.” To which I say, Paterno was rightfully fired for essentially the same thing. Secondly, he was a GRADUATE assistant, which means he was at least 22 yrs. old. A legal adult in every sense of the word. Plus he had just finished up a career as a college football player. I think he would have been able to defend himself against a 50-something year old pervert. Bottom line is one of those two adults should have gotten his butt whipped in that shower.

If that had been me, the sequence would have been tackle Sandusky, get the boy to safety, call the police,  THEN call Joe Pa. The way McQueary handled it was the highest form of cowardice and oh how I wish I could tell him that to his face.

How did any Penn State student with a conscious join a rally to protest JoePa’s firing instead of the sexual assault of multiple little boys?

Does anybody else see how twisted that was? You’re protesting an adult being held accountable for his inaction? Not mention the fact that college football coaches get fired, even JoePa. That’s why they have buy-out clauses, they know there are only two kinds of coaches: those who just got fired and those who are about to be fired.

Not only do you have a rally but you destroy property? What kind of kids are these? What kind of parents do they have? I have a daughter in college and I can promise you that if she ever participated in something so deplorable, her college career on my money would be over. I know not every Penn St student was involved but there were enough to give the entire school a black eye that will take years to overcome.

It reminded me to only have dead guys as role models

I grew up an Alabama fan, so I got to attend several Penn St. games (including the Goal Line Stand Sugar Bowl) and I have to say those where among my favorite. Penn St fans are simply the best fans in college football. They travel every where and win/lose with class. I always thought a lot of how Penn St. had never been put on probation under Paterno. He was what I thought every college football could and should be.

Now, he’s no better than Barry Switzer, Ron Meyer or any other college coach who got caught cheating. That’s really sad to me. It’s also why you should only have dead guys as role models because you KNOW how their story ends.

Lastly:

I’m reminded that everybody has a little Penn St. in their lives.

I heard a preacher (Michael Katschke) say this and it really resonated with me. The point is that everybody has a secret sin that they hope no one finds out about. Everybody has something they are hiding. But the fact is nobody gets away with it forever. Sandusky is one more name added to the long list of folks who thought they could keep their sins a secret, only to be exposed. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, especially those who like me are followers of Jesus. Numbers 32:23 put it this way “you may be sure that your sin will find you out”.

Working on my Penn St’s should keep me busy for a while.

One of the best things that happened to me when I lived in Tuscaloosa for several years, was it totally changed my view of Alabama football. Before I was obsessed with anything and everything to do with Alabama football. I would be visibly angry for days after a loss and I acted like a total horse’s butt while watching a game way too many times. Now I enjoy the games whether I’m at home or in Tuscaloosa but when it’s over, it’s over. 10 minutes after the game, win or lose, life goes on.

Here’s the before and after on how I changed:

BEFORE

I used to yell at the players on TV (did I REALLY think they could hear me?) when he missed a tackle, dropped a pass or the worst of all sins, fumbled.

AFTER

Because I was a pastor I got to know a few of the players with their helmets off. What I mean is before I only knew the player in his uniform, he was just a number. But then I got to see them away from Bryant-Denny, as they were hanging out with other college kids. After a few times it finally dawned on me that they were just like every other college kid I knew. All fo them were still figuring out how to make the transition from kid to grown up. The only difference was they were freaklishly good athletes. The bottom line was it became impossible to be mad at the kids once I saw their faces.

BEFORE

When I wasn’t yelling at the players, I was screaming to fire the coach at the first loss. On the Spot. Right then. Now!

AFTER

Not only did I get to know players, I also got to know coaches and other staff. I had just moved my wife and kids to Tuscaloosa so I understood the stress moving causes. I also learned that the majority of assistant coaches work on annual contracts and there’s never a guarantee that they will have a job come June, so their families are constantly wondering if they’ll have to move.  That’s a lot of pressure for a family to handle.

Coaches also had wives and children who had to listen to their husbands/dads being called everything in the book but had to keep quiet.

The most sobering thing I finally understood was that coaching was their job, not life or death. Back in the day when coaches used to stay at a school for 20 years, a bond formed between the coach and the school. Well, not anymore. Now contracts have buy-out clauses for both sides, because the loyalty of the school ends with the first losing season and the coach is loyal to whatever school is signing his check. The coach was not emotionally invested to the same level I was.

So that’s how college football became what it should have always been to me, just a game. Now that’s college football season is in full swing I hope every guy will remember that.