First, there were massive failures at several levels to report an alleged rape of a child by former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky in 2002.
Those failures start with the former graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, who witnessed the alleged assault but did not call police. McQueary first told his father, then met with Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, according to a grand jury report.
Exactly what was said during McQueary's meeting with Paterno is unclear from the record, which states Paterno called athletic director Tim Curley the next day to tell him a graduate assistant had seen Sandusky "fondling or doing something of a sexual nature to a young boy."
Curley involved Gary Schultz, the school's senior vice president, and met with the graduate assistant about a week and a half after the attack was reported. Both Curley and/or Schultz should have filed a report with Child Protective Services, but didn't.
No police agency was notified and the none of the men sought out the identity of the boy to protect him from Sandusky. That's a tragedy.
But Penn State missed the mark again in the way it fired Joe Paterno Wednesday night.
John Surma, the vice chair of the board of trustees, said Paterno was told by telephone he was out.
By phoning Paterno, instead of delivering the news in person, the university showed its greatest cheerleader no dignity. That could cause a fissure between State U and its alumni for years.
Paterno was the epitome of Penn State.
He helped transform the rural college town in central Pennsylvania into a nationally respected university, not just on the football field, but as the star fundraiser. Paterno led the efforts to build a new college library, which now bares his name.
In a statement after his firing, Paterno said: "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."
He went on: "I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today."
Paterno did 46 years of good as head football coach, and it would be sad to see all of the lives he positively touched get erased because a terrible mistake.
Now that the media's got it pound of flesh, and JoePa's out, I hope the real outrage falls back to the accused child molester. Jerry Sandusky has been largely forgotten in this national firestorm.
