Al Pacino to play Joe Paterno in upcoming movie
Who Ah
Al Pacino will play Joe Paterno in a movie about the late Penn State football coach. Producer Edward R. Pressman confirms Brian De Palma will direct “Happy Valley,” the tentative title of the film, based on Joe Posnanski’s best-seller “Paterno.”
“‘Happy Valley’ reunites the `Scarface’ and `Carlito’s Way’ team of De Palma and Pacino for the third time and I can’t think of a better duo to tell this story of a complex, intensely righteous man who was brought down by his own tragic flaw,” Pressman said in a statement. No start or release dates were given for the film.
While Pressman said the plot remains “under wraps,” Posnanski’s book followed Paterno’s final years, as the winningest coach in college football history saw his career end in disgrace in 2011 with the sex abuse scandal involving assistant Jerry Sandusky.
Bill O’Brien wins Big Ten coach of the year award
I Was Told This Was Going To Be Worse Than SMU
Bill O’Brien was officially named Big Ten coach of the year. Next up for Penn State’s first-year coach, in all likelihood, are some national awards.
O’Brien led the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record, going 6-2 in conference play. His eight wins are the most by a first-year Penn State coach. Six Penn State players obtained first-team All-Big Ten status under his coaching.
That’s impressive enough on its own, but even more so considering O’Brien replaced Hall of Fame head coach Joe Paterno, who was fired last year in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against now-imprisoned assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Penn State defensive end Deion Barnes was named the conference’s freshman player of the year.
Prominent Catholic Priest Says Jerry Sandusky Was Seduced By The Boys
Did I Just Say That
A Roman Catholic priest in New York expressed sympathy this week for some clergy who sexually abuse children, as well as for convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky, saying that it is often the “youngster” who is the seducer.
The remarks by the Rev. Benedict Groeschel, 79, co-founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in Westchester County outside New York City, drew strong criticism from the Archdiocese of New York and the support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“Suppose you have a man having a nervous breakdown, and a youngster comes after him. A lot of the cases, the youngster — 14, 16, 18 — is the seducer,” Groeschel said when asked by an interviewer from the National Catholic Register, the nation’s oldest Catholic newspaper, about his work with priests who abuse children.
Groeschel, who has published numerous books and hosted shows on the Eternal Word Television Network, suggested that children might seduce priests because they lacked a father figure, adding, “They won’t be planning to get into heavy-duty sex, but almost romantic, embracing, kissing, perhaps sleeping but not having intercourse or anything like that.”
The Catholic Church has been rocked in recent decades by accusations that it tried to cover up the sexual abuse of children by priests and has paid out billions in settlements to abuse victims, bankrupting several U.S. dioceses.
Similar scandals have shaken the lucrative world of college sports, most notably the conviction of Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant coach, for sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, most of them in the campus football showers.
Groeschel referred to Sandusky as “this poor guy.” Pondering how Sandusky’s attacks could have gone on for so long, Groeschel added, “Well, you know, until recent years, people did not register in their minds that it was a crime.”
The interview was published on Monday but was removed from the National Catholic Register’s website by Thursday. It was replaced with a note from Jeanette De Melo, the Register’s editor in chief, apologizing for what she called an “editorial mistake,” saying the publication should have attempted to clarify or challenge his comments.
“Child sexual abuse is never excusable,” she wrote.
The Archdiocese of New York said Groeschel’s comments were “simply wrong” and could not go unchallenged, although it does not have direct authority over Groeschel, who retired from teaching in the archdiocese’s seminary last year.
‘SAID SOMETHING LIKE GRANDPA WOULD SAY’
Colleagues of Groeschel suggested on Thursday that he was recovering from a fall and was mentally frail.
The Rev. Glenn Sudano, a spokesman for the Franciscan Friars, likened him to an elderly relative.
“He said something like grandpa would say and it’s like ‘Grandpa, why would you say that?’” Sudano told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“Obviously we don’t agree with what he said, obviously it’s terribly disappointing that people are hurt or upset,” Sudano said. “We feel very bad about it.”
Sudano said he did not know if Groeschel would face any consequences for his remarks.
Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, called the remarks “callous.”
“A teenager does not have the power to seduce anyone. The adult is in the position of power and authority,” Blaine said. “He should be removed from speaking as a Catholic leader.”
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said, “The harm that was done by these remarks was compounded by the assertion that the victim of abuse is responsible for the abuse, or somehow caused the abuse to occur.
“This is not only terribly wrong,” he said in a statement, “it is also extremely painful for victims.”
Ohio State Mocks Sandusky Scandal With T-shirt
Stay Classy
A photo of an Ohio State fan T-shirt that reads “I’d rather shower at Penn State than cheer for the Wolverines” went viral Wednesday. The “shower at Penn State” line refers to a 2001 incident involving Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach. Then-graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary testified he saw Sandusky rape a boy in the showers of the PSU football building.
Joe Paterno Statue Removed From Penn State
Gone
Joe Paterno’s statue was removed Sunday morning and shortly after the NCAA announced it would hold a press conference Monday morning where sanctions would be issued against Penn State.
The 7-foot, 900-pound statue erected in 2001 to honor Paterno, was taken down with a forklift outside of Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., with more than 100 Penn State students watching.
On Friday, Paterno’s widow, Sue, and two of their children visited the statue. In a statement Sunday after the statue’s removal, the family said, “Tearing down the statue of Joe Paterno does not serve the victims of Jerry Sandusky’s horrible crimes or help heal the Penn State Community. We believe the only way to help the victims is to uncover the full truth. The Freeh report, though it has been accepted by the media as the definitive conclusion on the Sandusky scandal, is the equivalent of an indictment—a charging document written by a prosecutor—and an incomplete and unofficial one at that.”
NCAA president Mark Emmert will make the announcement Monday morning regarding the sanctions against Penn State. In its announcement Sunday, the NCAA said it will hand out “corrective and punitive measures” against Penn State.
Joe Paterno Wall Mural Loses Halo
Just A Mortal
Michael Pilato, an artist has removed a halo from a mural of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno amid the school’s child sex-abuse scandal. Pilato had put a halo over Paterno’s image after the beloved coach’s death in January, but said he felt he had to remove it Saturday after a report that Paterno, former university president Graham Spanier and others buried allegations of child sex-abuse against ex-assistant Jerry Sandusky. Paterno’s family denies the claim.
Pilato added a large blue ribbon, instead, on Paterno’s lapel symbolizing support for child abuse victims, a cause the artist said Paterno had endorsed. Pilato earlier removed Sandusky from the downtown mural. He said he hasn’t made a decision on Spanier’s image. Spanier has not been charged. Sandusky has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing.
Penn State Sees Surge In School Donations
Forever Linked
Penn State received more than $208 million in donations for the fiscal year that just ended, the second-highest total in university history despite the upheaval after the arrest of Jerry Sandusky on child sex abuse charges.
The school said Monday there was a raise in the number of alumni who donated money or gifts in the fiscal year that ended June 30 to more than 75,500, reversing two years of declines.
The number of donors overall which would include corporations and non-alumni also rose slightly to more than 191,000. Donations included gifts for scholarships; as well as increases in giving to the football booster club and the annual student-organized dance marathon to raise money for pediatric cancer patients and research. Only the 2010 fiscal year was more prolific for Penn State, when the school raised more than $274 million.
University vice president Rod Kirsch says the school is grateful for the contributions amid “incredibly difficult circumstances.
Sandusky, a retired assistant football coach, was arrested in November. It led to ouster of head coach Joe Paterno, a move criticized by some alumni and former players. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 45 criminal counts last month.
Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown: Jerry Sandusky
Jerry Sandusky
Every Thursday Sports Grind Entertainment will present you with the Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown. The recipient of this honor goes to former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. He was found guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse, closing the first chapter in a scandal that tarnished a university and led to the ouster of four of its top administrators. He now faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison after his sentencing hearing, which will be in about 90 days.
WTF: LSU
Roll Tide
LSU fans really hate the University of Alabama that they think it would be a whole lot cooler to stoop down to the level of Jerry Sandusky and shower at Penn State humor then support the Crimson Tide.
Stay classy.
Dana Jacobson Says She Was Molested As A Child
TALENT
Former ESPN personality Dana Jacobson has spoken out about a personal experience with child abuse. Drawing strength from the testimony of the witnesses in the Jerry Sandusky abuse case, Jacobson shared her story of being violated by a male babysitter on her blog:
Like the young men who bravely took the stand in the Sandusky trial, I was molested as a child. That’s still not easy for me to say, let alone write and share publicly, but if we’ve learned anything from the Sandusky scandal it’s that the time for silence is over. As I heard one Sandusky victim put it, it’s time to “find my voice.”
It was something I couldn’t do when I was molested. I didn’t speak out, no matter how many chances I may have had. I just couldn’t. Travis Weaver, one of the young men who testified in front of the grand jury in the Sandusky case but not at trial did an interview which aired on Rock Center last week. He said he was scared to say anything because he thought no one would believe him. I know that feeling.
That’s what these monsters count on, our silence. They have the power and they know it.
Jacobson went on to write this is the first time she has publicly spoken about these tragic events of her youth. However, she recounts telling her family:
I eventually had to tell my parents and my brother what had happened. It wasn’t just to take the shame or embarrassment away, there was more to it.
Jacobson’s full story can be read HERE
Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown: Bill Conlin
Bill Conlin
Every Thursday Sports Grind Entertainment will present you with the Mama Margie’s Major Meltdown. The recipient of this honor goes to veteran sportswriter and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News Bill Conlin who has been accused of molesting three girls and a boy in the 1970s, including his niece. Authorities said no criminal charges would be pursued against Conlin because the allegations of abuse happened too long ago.
Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and author, retired just ahead of the story’s publication online by The Philadelphia Inquirer. The newspaper reported that the four accusers claim Conlin groped and fondled them in the 1970s, when they were ages 7 to 12.
Conlin had worked at the newspaper for more than four decades, starting in 1965 and becoming the beat writer for the Philadelphia Phillies the next year. He held that job for 21 years and became a columnist in 1987. He also was a commentator on the ESPN program “The Sports Reporters” and wrote two baseball-related books, the “Rutledge Book of Baseball” and “Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin.”
He received the 2011 J.G. Taylor Spink Award presented at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and is honored in the hall’s “Scribes and Mikemen” exhibit. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America said the allegations would not affect his award.
Daily News editor Larry Platt said he didn’t know about the allegations until Tuesday when he accepted Conlins retirement papers. He described the emotions in the newsroom as “overwhelmingly a sense of shock, a sense of outrage, a sense of sadness.”
In one recent column titled “Tough Guys Are Talking About Sandusky,” Conlin questioned people who say they would have intervened had they witnessed child sex abuse.
“Everybody says he will do the right thing, get involved, put his own ass on the line before or after the fact. But the moment itself has a cruel way of suspending our fearless intentions,” he wrote.
Hall Of Fame Baseball Writer Bill Conlin Retires Amid Child Molestation Accusations
Evil
Veteran sportswriter and columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News Bill Conlin has been accused in a newspaper report Tuesday of molesting three girls and a boy in the 1970s, including his niece, who is now a prosecutor. Authorities said no criminal charges would be pursued against Conlin because the allegations of abuse happened too long ago.
Conlin, a Hall of Fame baseball writer and author, retired just ahead of the story’s publication online by The Philadelphia Inquirer, his former editor said. The newspaper reported that the four accusers claim Conlin groped and fondled them in the 1970s, when they were ages 7 to 12.
Kelley Blanchet, a niece of Conlin’s who is now a prosecutor in Atlantic City, N.J., and others told the newspaper they were speaking out in part because of the child sex abuse allegations being faced by Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State University assistant football coach. Like in the Sandusky case, people aware of the allegations involving Conlin years ago did not go to police, the newspaper said.
“This is a tragedy,” Blanchet said. “People have kept his secret. It’s not just the victims, it’s the victims’ families. There were so many people who knew about this and did nothing.”
Prosecutors in Gloucester County, N.J., took videotaped statements from the four accusers last year but said no charges would be pursued because assaults that occurred before 1996 fall under the statute of limitations. The alleged victims said they also came forward to highlight the shortcomings of those time limits.
Conlin had worked at the newspaper for more than four decades, starting in 1965 and becoming the beat writer for the Philadelphia Phillies the next year. He held that job for 21 years and became a columnist in 1987. He also was a commentator on the ESPN program “The Sports Reporters” and wrote two baseball-related books, the “Rutledge Book of Baseball” and “Batting Cleanup, Bill Conlin.”
He received the 2011 J.G. Taylor Spink Award presented at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and is honored in the hall’s “Scribes and Mikemen” exhibit. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America said the allegations would not affect his award.
Daily News editor Larry Platt said he didn’t know about the allegations until Tuesday when he accepted Conlins retirement papers. He described the emotions in the newsroom as “overwhelmingly a sense of shock, a sense of outrage, a sense of sadness.”
In one recent column titled “Tough Guys Are Talking About Sandusky,” Conlin questioned people who say they would have intervened had they witnessed child sex abuse.
“Everybody says he will do the right thing, get involved, put his own ass on the line before or after the fact. But the moment itself has a cruel way of suspending our fearless intentions,” he wrote.
Penn State Pledges $1.5 Milli For Sex Crimes Groups
P.R. Tour
Penn State will give $1.5 million from its share of postseason bowl revenue to two sex-crimes advocacy groups as it deals with the aftermath of sex abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
School officials promised the donation Thursday as part of a three-year partnership with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
The money will come from Penn State’s share of Big Ten bowl revenue.
University President Rodney Erickson says the scandal illustrates the impact such abuse has not only on individuals, but broader communities.
The Sandusky scandal resulted in the departures of coach Joe Paterno and university President Graham Spanier. Sandusky has acknowledged showering with young boys but says he never sexually abused them.
Mike McQueary Played In Jerry Sandusky’s Golf Tourney After Alleged Rape
This Is What I Saw Coach
Mike McQueary’s reaction to seeing a young boy allegedly being raped in the Penn State football showers is under heavy scrutiny, and his behavior in the months following also seems unusual. According to a grand jury report, McQueary testified he heard “sexual activity” coming from the showers on March 1, 2002, and saw then 59-year-old Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a boy he estimated to be about 10 years old.
McQueary has been criticized for not doing more to help the boy, and for going to his dad and head football coach Joe Paterno rather than police or child services. Then a 28-year-old graduate assistant, McQueary has since changed his story, according to a leaked email, saying he informed police the night it happened.
The police say there is no evidence to support such a claim.
Paterno described McQueary as “very upset” when he shared the news with his head coach the next morning, and yet 26 days later McQueary participated in an event with Sandusky. Multiple sources are reporting McQueary, an assistant coach on Penn State’s football team, played in a charity flag football game in which Sandusky coached on March 28, 2002.
Less than three months later, on June 21, 2002, McQueary played in a celebrity golf tournament benefiting Sandusky’s charity, The Second Mile, according to citizensvoice.com. McQueary played in Sandusky’s golf tournament again in 2003 and played in another flag football game with Sandusky coaching in April 2004.
Bob Costas Interviews Jerry Sandusky
Bob Costas scored the exclusive interview with Jerry Sandusky as part of Rock Center, the new Brian Williams hosted show on NBC. During the interview Sandusky was asked by Costas “are you sexually attracted to young boys, to underage boys?” To which Sandusky instead of just flat out saying NO gave a lengthy answer of “am I sexually attracted to underage boys? Sexually attracted, you know, I enjoy young people. I love to be around them. But no, I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.”
Joe Paterno Addresses Penn State Students
The current Penn State scandal involving former former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is one of the most disturbing stories in sports memory. With accusations of sexual abuse now coming from almost 20 kids, Joe Paterno’s role as the team’s leader continues to come into question. Yesterday Penn State student’s gathered in front of Coach Paterno’s home, where he address the students and his first comments since the scandal has surfaced.
There are reports out today that say he is retiring at the end of the season.
Mike McQueary, Penn State Receivers Coach, Is Key Witness
This Is What I Saw Coach
Current Penn State wide receivers coach Mike McQueary is an eye-witness in the grotesque Penn State scandal in which former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over 15 years.
According to the police report, a graduate assistant saw Sandusky sexually assault a boy in the locker room shower of a Penn State facility in 2002. PennLive.com reported that the then-28-year-old assistant was McQueary, who played for the Nittany Lions from 1994 to 1997.
McQueary was said to have told head football coach Joe Paterno of the incident the following morning. The head coach then told athletic director Tim Curley and university vice president Gary Schultz. Attorney General Linda Kelly said on Saturday that despite McQueary’s account, the shower incident was not reported to police.
McQueary testified that after entering the locker room to put away some recruiting tapes, he went to the shower to investigate a noise and saw Sandusky performing a sex act with a boy about 10 years old.
Curley and Schultz, who stepped down late Sunday night, denied that they heard from McQueary and now face perjury charges from the grand jury investigation.
As the starting quarterback in 1997, McQueary lead Penn State to a 9-3 record and the Florida Citrus Bowl. After spending 2002 as a graduate assistant, McQueary was bumped up to an administrative assistant with the football program. He has since ascended to the role of wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.
Penn State Planning Joe Paterno’s Exit?
You Could Have Done More
According to The New York Times, Penn State is preparing for the exit of longtime football coach Joe Paterno in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. The Times’ report came less than an hour after Paterno’s weekly press conference was cancelled early Tuesday afternoon. Scott Paterno, the coach’s son, informed the Associated Press that the press conference had been cancelled at the insistence of University President Graham Spanier’s office.
Two high-ranking officials, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, have already stepped down from their positions in the wake of the scandal. Both former Penn State officials surrendered to police on Monday and face charges of failing to alert police to the criminal activity as well as perjury in their grand jury testimony.
Unlike Curley and Schultz, Paterno is not a target of the investigation. According to State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan, Paterno fulfilled his legal obligation by informing his superiors of the allegations against Sandusky. However, Noonan made clear that he believed Paterno’s behavior did not fulfill one’s moral obligation:
“Somebody has to question about what I would consider the moral requirements for a human being that knows of sexual things that are taking place with a child.” Noonan added: “I think you have the moral responsibility, anyone. Not whether you’re a football coach or a university president or the guy sweeping the building. I think you have a moral responsibility to call us.”
