Nittany Lions were right to jettison Paterno

Penn State’s board of trustees finally got it right. They finally did the right thing by firing Joe Paterno and the school’s president. There was no other choice.

JoePa’s inaction, along the inaction of other school officials during this sordid episode in which innocent children were allegedly violated by a monster named Jerry Sandusky, was inexcusable.

I still can’t fathom why Mike McQueary, then a grad assistant and now a full-time Penn State coach, didn’t come to the rescue of that 10-year-old boy and immediately call the police.

I still can’t fathom how Paterno and other school officials didn’t do the right and moral thing after this incident.

Even more incomprehensible is how these “molders of young men” allowed Sandusky to remain on campus and continue to be in situations where he interacted with children.

As recently as two years ago he was still running overnight football camps. Hello!!!! Anybody home, here!!!!! You have an alleged pedophile and you are pairing him with kids.

Some have bemoaned how sad it is to see JoePa’s laudatory 46-year coaching career come to such an ignominious end. Yes, it is sad – sad that this football coach who had graduated the vast majority of his players and who attempted to instill in them a solid moral compass failed to follow his own moral compass and do the right thing.

Had the pontificating Paterno practiced what he preached, at least eight other boys might not have had their lives ruined.

That is saddest thing of all, the true tragedy in Happy Valley.

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Having been a foolish and immature college student many, many years ago, I’m trying to cut the protesting Penn State students some slack. I understand how raw their emotions must be because this scandal cuts to the marrow of an institution they love. I get that completely. They want to be true to their school and the coach who was the face of it.

But riotous behavior never solved anything. Ironically, these destructive shows of support are only making Paterno feel worse.