NOW upset by Paterno comments, asks him to resign

[davidinalameda]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/ncaa/01/08/bc.fbc.paternocontrover.ap/index.html

Women's rights advocates who say Joe Paterno made outrageous remarks about an alleged sexual assault want the Penn State football coach to resign.

Joanne Tosti-Vasey, president of the National Organization for Women in Pennsylvania, said Paterno's comments last week represent an institutional insensitivity that endangers women. She issued a news release late Friday calling for Paterno's resignation.

"When someone of his stature makes light of sexual assault, we have a serious problem," Tosti-Vasey said. "It sends a message that this behavior is not serious ... that sexual assault or rape or violence against women is acceptable for an athlete."

The coach's remarks came a day before the Orange Bowl, when a reporter asked a question related to Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson. Nicholson was accused of sexual assault and sent home before Tuesday's game.


State Penn is NOT going to fire JoePa any time soon--he just won the Big 10(11) for them

[kick-ass-bob]

1. I don't think he is very lucid in the first place.

And he's 731 years old or something like that, and probably has kept those fucked up "values" (for lack of a better word) from when he was a kid.

Have you ever seen him interviewed? He is barely audible, and it looks like he has to stop and think and force something out of his mouth.

[davidinalameda]

2. he reminds me of Sophia from Golden Girls

they even look alike

[joeybee12]

3. They'll fire him next year when they go 1-11

This was Joe's last hurrah. Wonder if he knows when it's time to go. He barely beat a very, very mediocre FSU team.

[friesianrider]

6. A "mediocre" FSU?

Uhh...they played pretty damn well. I had no respect for them going into the game but FSU played extremely well.

And we also beat very, very good teams like Ohio State throughout the year. We're 11-1, it isn't like we drew the short straw to play in the Orange Bowl. We got there because we deserved it, and are #3 in the nation because of it.

[joeybee12]

15. Congratulations, but I still think the talent just isn't there...

...FSU now has five losses. Next year will tell.

[terryg11]

14. with exception of kicking FSU played very good

that was the most physical I've seen FSU play in a long time. They are allways athletic but not usually physical, smash mouth type football that they played in the orange bowl.

[Penndems]

4. WaPo's Michael Wilbon said it best in his chat today:

Washington, D.C.: Mike, What is your take on the NOW (National Organization of Women) wanting Joe Pa to resign for his comments about the FSU player arrested for sexual assault?

Michael Wilbon: That Joe shouldn't have been commenting on something he couldn't know anything about...but if NOW thinks he's going to be fired because they ask for him to be fired, they're crazy.

Michael Wilbon's Monday afternoon "Chat House":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/01/06/DI2006010601227.html

[jakefrep]

5. JoePa has earned the right to leave Penn St...

on his terms - whether NOW likes it or not.

PSU sent the kid home from the bowl game and until the jurisprudence sorts itself out, it's all they can do.

[Captain Hilts]

10. It wasn't one of Paterno's players. It was an FSU player, I believe. nt

[NaturalHigh]

11. Yes, it was.

[jakefrep]

13. I stand corrected

NOW is beyond delusional if they think they are going to march into Happy Valley and get Joe Paterno fired. If the alumni and big donors couldn't get him out after a few subpar seasons, there is no way in hell that NOW can do the same. Quite frankly they shouldn't be allowed to.

[NaturalHigh]

7. His comments were hardly inflammatory.

This is nothing but a tempest in a teapot stoked up by people who are constantly looking for a reason to be pissed off. Even taken out of context (as his comments obviously were), there's not much to get excited about. As far as I'm concerned, this whole matter falls into the "who the hell cares" category.

[joeybee12]

17. Disagree--I think the whole Penn State mentality sucks...

...their women's basketball coach has made numerous deragotory comments about lesbians, and has kicekd some off her team. Now Joe comes out with this. They need to haul their sorry asses into the 21st century.

[erpowers]

8. Understand NOW

I understand NOW's feeling about this. I know things like this happen in football, but I do not like are want coachs encourages guy to do things like this. Also, I do not like the double standard associated with this issue. Can you imagine the outcry from people if a women's basketball coach encouraged her players to sleep around or claimed that he ushered guys to the girls rooms. I just do not like that he would do these things. I probably would not have gone as far as to ask him to step down. I would have probably just asked/demanded a sit down meeting to discuss why this comment was not acceptable to myself and others.

I would just like to point out that I do not think Paterno encouraged guys to rape women. I do not like the idea that he would encourage guy to pick up girls at hotels and sleep with them. I am not pushing for guys not to get laid; however, I do not like the double standard. In addition, I just think it is wrong to encourage a mind set that women are just toys to be played with or just pieces of meat. I know some of the girls choose to go to these guys rooms, but I do not want coaches to promoted these things.

He does not like being called JoePa.

[NaturalHigh]

9. He doesn't like being called JoePa?

Wow, I didn't know that. It's so common that I just assumed he was cool with it.

[erpowers]

12. Erik Kuselias' Brother

A few days ago on his show, the Sports Bash, Erik Kuselias said that his brother was able to meet Paterno. Kuselias' brother later told him that Paterno said that he has never liked being called JoePa. I am not sure why he (Paterno) never made a big deal about the name or told people not to call him by that name.

[terryg11]

16. EXCUSE ME, but didn;t the police end up dismissing the charges?

I could have sworn that they found nothing to charge the player with and said so before the start of the orange bowl? What exactly did Paterno say anyway?

[Dulcinea]

18. Not gonna happen.

Paterno will leave on his own terms. He will coach until he is physically unable to.

Dulcinea
Penn State '87

[BamaLefty]

19. What a freaking joke

NOW needs to STFU... NOW!

I'm certainly no PSU fan, but geez, this is total bullsh*t.

[joeybee12]

20. Did you read his comments? They were pretty bad....

...he basically said the alleged rapist was a victim. NOW probably went too far in asking him to resign, but PSU has come off even worse--saying his comments were taken out of context (wrong!) and that he expressed concern for all parties (wrong!). Face it, if he had made these comments after the team had gone 1-11, they would have canned his ass.