It’s interesting how this story, the cover-up and the attitude of Paterno and the others in power, parallels the hundreds (thousands?) of Catholic priest abuse stories.

And when you consider the fact that Paterno is Catholic…

I am not sure what I’m getting at, but I was a serious Christian for the first half of my life. When I moved away, one of my biggest issues with Christianity (beside all the ridiculous fabrications) was the God as a Father figure concept.

If I made a god, she would most certainly be a mother. And I bet a lot of people share that notion.

Cold wave here (for Tokyo, nothing as bad as NYC) so really pining for spring and baseball now.

i got the reunion cd and it’s good. individually, they’re all pretty heavy hitters. sheehan’s of course a bass deity of the highest order. i’m pretty sure you know how i feel about paul gilbert – not only he is the world’s greatest rock guitar shredder, but he’s a *massive* musical influence on me. his solo stuff is beyond unreal and he’s a great guy. like you, he also married a japanese girl (his keyboard player) and learned the language.

if i toured japan, at least i wouldn’t have to worry about tracking down a good marimba! man, i’d LOVE to do clinics/masterclasses there. need a company to back me and send me over. i think my fusion trio could do alright, but we don’t have the “name power”…

[3][4] I’m done with Joe Poz now. His reaction to this scandal was baffling, actually defended Joe Paterno and his wife…really strange.

ithaca has a good music program. gordon stout, the long-time percussion instructor there is world-class!

THANKS for checking out my site, much appreciated! i’m hard at work finishing my 2nd solo percussion cd. i hope to release it by the end of spring. there will be a tribute to Todd Drew on there! : )

at the same time, i’ve made a lot of progress on the compositions for my 3rd (and final…) solo percussion disc. there’s a lot of “detail” work that needs to be done, but i think i’m gonna let it rest for awhile. gotta concentrate on releasing the sophomore effort and i’m teaching a lot at the music college, plus personal stuff…

i do plan on putting up a goodly amount of old audio in the coming months, including more jazz-oriented recordings i’ve done, plus an old hard-rock band from NY!

i know you play some drums. if you ever feel like talking about it or have any drum-related inquiries, please feel free to shoot me an email anytime!!!

BTW, I checked out your site. Damn, you’ve got some credentials! Looking forward to checking out more of your stuff.

however, i will defend the honor of my school, to the hilt. there’s inexcusable inaction on the part of a few, but that shouldn’t define our history from 1855 on. and now, with the education degree i got from there…i’m off to teach!

my old penn state band – which is one of the 2 best ensembles i’ve ever been in my whole life – is in the midst of trying to set up a couple of big reunion shows in State College this summer. i’m trying to have it set up as a benefit, giving proceeds to a charity fund for the victims.

i lived in state college for 5 years in the early to mid 90′s (’91-’96). i was never a big football guy, but joepa was bigger than the school and entire Central PA area. sandusky was a huge name there at the time.

for half my time at the school, i lived in the building(s) closest to the football stadium. i may have been around before the alleged attacks, but of course, i never heard a thing about this horrible tragedy. it’s all so sad…

but i will forever remain Penn State Proud. this unspeakable horror doesn’t do anything to change my personal experiences and education i received from a world class learning institution.

Of the scandal, as Jenkins notes, Paterno had earlier said: “In hindsight, I wish I had done more.” What exactly does he wish he had done? Jenkins never tells us and we don’t even know whether she asked.

“Paterno is accused of no wrongdoing,” Jenkins writes, but that’s not technically true, is it? He is accused of no crimes, that’s true. Jenkins writes that “authorities have said he fulfilled his legal obligations by reporting to his superiors.” (my emphasis). And to my knowledge he is not a defendant in any pending or conceived civil cases against Penn State or Sandusky. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been accused, by tens of millions, of a form of wrongdoing that goes beyond the letter of the law or the scope of the jury.

“No fewer than five formal investigations” are still underway into the scandal, Jenkins writes, and for Penn State “the best case scenario is that the institutional leaders were guilty of blindness, and an unfeeling self-absorption….” Does this include Paterno? We don’t know. Jenkins instead asks us to feel pity for him; to place the scandal into the larger picture of his legendary life. Fine– this is what apologias do. They seek to change hearts and minds. They seek to remind people of the long arc of a life and not its worst moments.

My takeaway from Jenkins’ work, however, is this: if Paterno wrongly failed or refused to properly deal with the 2002 allegations in the ten long years before the scandal broke, he sure is having to deal with them now. Some mistakes we pay for right away. Some mistakes we pay for later. And some mistakes we never pay for. Maybe Paterno believed he would never have to pay for this mistake– or even confront it. But Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it, whether you are a legend or a loser.

I’m genuinely glad that Paterno got his side of the story out in the public realm– in a controlled and controlling manner that entirely befitted his reputation as a head coach. And the frail old man should be “shocked and saddened” about what transpired under his regime. But if he is looking here for a form of absolution, looking for it with a few pitiable quotes under the watchful eyes and ears of his handlers, looking for it while contending at the same time that he’d never heard of “rape and a man,” he’s looking for it in all the wrong places.