And so, in my fury in those early days after the Sandusky bombshell, I had railed against school administrators, Paterno, and students who rioted over his Nov. 9 firing rather than over what had happened to what we now know are at least 10 victims of a man's alleged deviant ways. And I had called for The Creamery on campus to drop Peachy Paterno from its ice cream offerings.
I would hear from nearly 100 readers - mostly alum. About half were repulsed by what I had written, especially about my disparaging Coach Paterno. One caller had urged me to "drop dead you b----."
In what is no doubt a disappointment to him, I'm still here. Again, I'm writing at the behest of my editors. They wondered whether time and Paterno's valiant yet shockingly short lost battle with lung cancer last weekend had softened my feelings for him and the school that helped prepare me for a career that endures nearly 30 years after I collected my diploma on the same field where JoePa ruled for 46 seasons.
Forgiveness is a long, complicated process involving dozens of steps forward and many in the opposite direction.
Concerning Penn State, my effort at forgiveness has been tripped up by a number of things. Most recently, it was the behavior of alumni who turned out at town hall-style meetings earlier this month in King of Prussia, Pittsburgh, and New York City to hear Penn State's new president, Rodney Erickson, address the school's bungling of the Sandusky disgrace.
Once again I was disappointed to see the Nittany faithful more incensed over Paterno's firing than over the university's misguided agenda of protecting image over the helpless.
