Thursday, May 24, 2007

Way To Go, Joe

If Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is successful this season, the Nittany Lions will go to a bowl game … and have the cleanest stadium in the country.
Angered by the arrest of six of his players in connection with a fight at an off-campus apartment, Paterno will be disciplining his entire team — for the entire season.
Paterno, speaking at a university alumni function in Valley Forge, Pa., said he is going to require all of his players to perform community service.
Paterno said his players “were going to clean out the stadium every Sunday after every home game.” He also said the Nittany Lions would work with the Special Olympics and build a home in Centre County (Pa.) through Habitat for Humanity.
He added that the players would turn their pay for cleaning up Beaver Stadium over to the university’s club sports, whose participants usually perform the work to raise money for their teams.
“We had kids involved in something that was embarrassing, and I think we ought to prove to people that we’re not a bunch of hoodlums,” Paterno, 80, said.
“Obviously, I’m probably going to have to keep one or two of them out of a game and drop one or two on the depth chart. And then whatever (university officials) think they have to do, they do. I want to do something where the whole team kind of says, ‘Hey, we’re all wrong, let’s go.’ ”
State College police arrested six of Paterno’s players, including defensive backfield starters Anthony Scirrotto and Justin King, on April 27, almost four weeks after a brawl at an off-campus apartment. A judge since has dropped charges against four of the six players, including King, but Scirrotto, an all-Big Ten safety, and defensive tackle Chris Baker will stand trial.
Police said Scirrotto and a woman got into an argument on the street with passers-by who insulted the woman and punched Scirrotto. Scirrotto summoned friends and teammates, who met him at the apartment where they knew the passers-by were, and a brawl ensued.

Wha you say? Discipline? being responsible for your actions? What decade is this? I'm rooting for Joe this season except of course when he plays Iowa or Notre Dame for that matter...

1 comment:

Brian Holland said...

Gotta disagree with you on this one, Chief. I'm all for disciplining those who fucked up, but I don't believe in punishing the entire team for the actions of a few. I had teachers in Junior High and High School who did that, and I was very indignant about it--why should I take the rap for what some other knucklehead(s) did? I say make the six idiots clean the stadium out after the games while the rest of the team laughs at them...

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