Some of you may remember the name Pierre Pierce. He was a fairly good basketball player for the University of Iowa in the early part of the 21st century. Pierce’s actions off the court, his unrighteous dealings with multiple women, and how his coach, Steve Alford, handled those transgressions did not make them very popular figures in Iowa City. At the time, I was in my early 20s and I was less mature, more foolish, and did not yet have a sense of mortality. I backed Pierce, and his coach’s handling of the situations.
Fast forward to last weekend. It is a Saturday in November. Iowa has just upset Michigan; beating them for the third consecutive year, which has never before happened. Alabama is playing LSU, number one against number two; it is being referred to as the game of the century and it ends up being decided in overtime. These are the things that my Twitter feed should be talking about, but it isn’t. There is a story breaking about a twisted old man (who was a former Penn State assistant football coach), his dealings with young boys, and the enabling allowed by the Penn State football program and university.
I believe that there is only person who is allowed to judge others, and therefore I try not to judge anyone. I do not believe in the mentality of an eye for an eye. That being said the Jerry Sanduskys of the world are some of the most despicable types of people in existence. Very soon, Jerry Sandusky will, deservedly so, never again be a free man. As for those individuals that knew of his actions and did not blow the whistle on him, in my opinion, they are criminals as well.
It is because of stories like these that I do not like watching the local and/or national news. Nonetheless, I have been caught up in listening, reading, and watching the horrible stories that are coming from Penn State University. I was relieved when Joe Paterno was dismissed as Penn State’s football coach; due to his (lack of) actions, he deserves to have his privileges hindered. I just wish that he would come out and blatantly say that he was wrong for not pursuing Sandusky’s wrong doings more than simply notifying his superiors.
The most disturbing story from this mess that I came across was while I drove to work Wednesday morning, and I was listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio. A listener, in his forties, called in to the show to discuss how being a victim of sexual abuse stays with you for the duration of your life. Cowherd had to go away to a commercial break before continuing his show after the caller was done; when he came back his monologue addressed the fact that there are male predators and they usually don’t look any different from any other male. He talked about trying to keep his children safe and other children safe. I drove to work with tears in my eyes.
I am glad that Ryne is too young to comprehend what is happening when the reporters are live from Penn State. This is a blog entry that he should not read until he is MUCH older; I’ve just been thinking about this so much this week, it feels good to write out my thoughts. Ultimately, I guess it comes down to this – how do you keep your children safe from this happening to them? I fear that it is something that you do not have total control over. Not all people are who we think they are. Nonetheless, you have to have faith in people and trust that people are of good nature. You have to have an open line of communication with your child. Though, first and foremost, you have to educate your child about the possibilities, good and bad, the world has to offer.
With the burden of this Penn State situation still fresh in everyone’s minds, if your team wins this weekend it won’t be as satisfying and if your team loses this weekend it won’t be as depressing. I love sports. They are entertaining, and they contain numerous learning experiences. But they are just games. It is unfortunate that it takes situations like these to put everything into proper perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment