- University coaches should retire by age 65 or 70. Paterno should not have been coaching at 84, and Bobby Bowden should not have been coaching at 81. It's true that a high degree of competitiveness is required to be a successful top-tier coach, and competitiveness doesn't always diminish with age. Nevertheless, there's a point where the problems inherent in long tenures become acute. Long tenures facilitate over-involvement of alumni and fans, and over-involvement leads to program abuse.
- There is so much money in college football that it perverts the judgment of fundamentally good people and institutions.
- As we have seen in the Roman Catholic Church and elsewhere, people tend to cover up or disregard sexual abuse. I hope and pray that in the 21st century, humankind will adopt a consistent position of absolute intolerance for sexual abuse of all kinds.
Friday, November 11, 2011
About JoPa
Growing up in the South, I was never a fan of football at northern universities like Penn State. For that reason I don't have an emotional reaction to Joe Paterno's firing, but I do have a few thoughts about it.