Fired Up over Firing

I can't add much more to the dialogue radiating from the Penn State scandal.

But, I want to pass on the words I wish I'd thought of on my own.

It's a multi-perspective look at a two-hour old moment, a decade-long lapse in judgement, and impulsive reaction.

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Co-worker Steven Sandberg's blog post: "No sympathy for old men" written about 45 minutes after the firing announcement.

ESPN personality, Michelle Beadle: "Penn St finally gets something right tonight. PSU students- read the 23 page court document. Put your blind loyalty aside. Life trumps sports... Parents of Penn State students- turn on CNN now. If you see junior acting like a moron, might be time to have a talk. Growing up time is now."

Bonnie Bernstein: "Wonder if Penn St students revolting over Paterno's departure will feel shame about this day when they have children. #perspective"

Lindsay Joy, local news and sports reporter at KTWO in Casper, Wy: "The more this week went on, the less it seemed appropriate to watch Joe Pa on the sidelines this and every Saturday. People can blame the media all they want, he turned a blind eye and that will never be understandable."

A Grantland article that came out Tuesday morning, before much of anything hit the fan. It's called "Growing up Penn State" and written by a State College native. Beautiful, heartbreaking.

I'm paraphrasing now, but on Tuesday an "Outside the Lines" personality said something in the vein of: We didn't need a hero in this situation. We needed an adult. We wanted someone to act like an adult.

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Joe Paterno: "I wish I had done more."

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What's happening with the firing of Joe Paterno, the students' reaction, and resulting impact crater is incredibly fascinating. I've been hooked to the TV watching it all, and refreshing my twitter feed, reading it all.

ESPN is reporting (9:05pm PST) that students have flipped a news truck. He says, "I don't know if [police] have the capacity to break up this crowd."

Now, 9:17pm PST, "They have their batons out. I'm looking at about five officers here. It's a mess out here. It's hard to tell how many are actually protesting and how many are just out here to look at the protest.... [Police] are severely outnumbered. I'm afraid this could get ugly."

Steven Sandberg 9:18pm PST: "It's a football coach. There's no need for violence. Everyone needs to calm down before someone gets seriously hurt."

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You say, "We are Penn State!"

Who are you?

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Here's the thing. In several hours this will die down. In days, we'll be on to whatever next scandal captivates us.

There will not be a day in the coming months, years, decades, lifetimes that the victims will not be tormented by what happened.

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"All that's necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."