I'm all for pulling down the statue of Paterno--the thuggish boosterism of those Happy Valley football hooligans could definitely use a little tempering by way of a public backlash.
Having said that, though, I am leery of people's focus on 'football' as the culprit here. Football was the sacred cow this time. At this institution. But people have such a powerful ability to compartmentalize things within a comforting narrative, and then blithely carry on as atrocities repeat themselves. How many American Jews--who sanctimoniously intone "Never Again" at the mention of the Holocaust--lifted a finger to do something about Darfur?
People need to understand that sexual predators can be found anywhere and that childhood sexual abuse is incredibly, sickeningly common. Don't kid yourself that now that the Priests and Sandusky have been exposed we are 'done with this sort of thing'.
The underlying villain in this story, in my opinion, isn't PSU's football program--it's the cowardice and laziness of the innumerable individual people who looked the other way.
You think, what do you want?
You think, make a decision...