FC: Lawmaker wants to know where Joe statue is as a condition of state funding for PSU....
- Thread starter Bwifan
- Start date
I have mixed feelings on this. Pretty sure statue is in storage at a Commonwealth Campus. Location and state funding have no bearing on each other. Statue would only see light of day again in a secure location where it could not be vandalized, IMO.
I get where he's coming from but even if it comes to pass, the university administration will still stonewall. It's what they do best. Expect something along the line of, "While it was displayed on university property, the statue wasn't owned by the university therefore it was never our responsibility to keep track of its whereabouts."
I never liked the statue and don't care if its put back up or not but if they do put it back why not the football museum?
Also the plaque of the players should have NEVER been taken down. Put that back up before the statue.
I like this. Want a sh|t-ton of state money that could just as easily go elsewhere (or many elsewheres)? Let’s see some transparency.
PSU BOT = Boatload Of Transparency?
The timing of this is interesting. Why now? Maybe Bernstine thinks Neeli will do things differently (though we all know it won’t be her decision).
Nitt, I realize your reply isn't 100% serious, but question for anyone -
wasn't the statue a gift to the University, therefore theirs to own and dispose of as they want? I could be wrong on that, but I thought it was given to PSU, maybe specifically to Athletics, but not to the Paternos.
Good question. Who is responsible at PSU to responding to Senate Bill 1283? PSU Athletics?
I liked this part of the statement
"The university is sending a mixed message by treating Paterno as a hero at the campus library where a plaque is displayed due to the millions of dollars he donated, but villain at the stadium where he coached the Nittany Lions to two national collegiate championships and five undefeated seasons.”
"The university is sending a mixed message by treating Paterno as a hero at the campus library where a plaque is displayed due to the millions of dollars he donated, but villain at the stadium where he coached the Nittany Lions to two national collegiate championships and five undefeated seasons.”
IIRC, it was a gift. Given that, I believe you're correct that the university could elect to display it as it sees fit. If they opt to display it in a nondescript storage room there's not much anyone can do about it. Maybe there were stipulations when the gift was made but a gift with strings attached isn't really a gift. If the university is forced to divulge the statue's whereabouts, they could simply say something like, "It's in a storage room at commonwealth campus "X". Afterward they would simply move it to a storage room at commonwealth campus "Y". I doubt it will ever be destroyed because of the very fact it WAS a gift. It would send a message that gifts to PSU are unappreciated and disposable.
I may have related this story on here before, but here goes again anyway -
A buddy of mine, former player now working for PSU, was on a trip with Joe for a University-related event. Probably early 2000s. Joe said to him about the statue - 'I wish they would melt that thing down, make coasters out it, and sell those to raise money for the University'! So, the statue itself meant little to Joe and family, it was always just a symbol for the fans. Honoring the teams is what mattered to Joe. He didn't need or want that kind of 'glory', as we all (well, most of us here) know.
Hey, I'd buy a set of those coasters. Maybe 2 sets. Anyone lurking on here from Kraft's admin?
From wikipedia:
The statue was commissioned by friends of Paterno and his wife Sue in recognition of his contributions to the university and was unveiled on November 2, 2001. It was sculpted by Angelo Di Maria of Reading, Pennsylvania and took 2–3 months to complete.
The statue is 7 feet (2.1 m) high and weighs 900 pounds (410 kg). It was accompanied by a stone wall in three sections. The left section of the wall read, "Joseph Vincent Paterno: Educator, Coach, Humanitarian". The center section showed a bas-relief of players running behind Paterno. On the right was a quote from Paterno, "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach." The right section also featured plaques with lists of games Paterno had coached at Penn State from 1966 to 2011.
----------------
...in a 2009 article by ESPN (when the glasses were cut off the statue) it is stated it "was commissioned by friends of the Paternos and the university".
The statue was commissioned by friends of Paterno and his wife Sue in recognition of his contributions to the university and was unveiled on November 2, 2001. It was sculpted by Angelo Di Maria of Reading, Pennsylvania and took 2–3 months to complete.
The statue is 7 feet (2.1 m) high and weighs 900 pounds (410 kg). It was accompanied by a stone wall in three sections. The left section of the wall read, "Joseph Vincent Paterno: Educator, Coach, Humanitarian". The center section showed a bas-relief of players running behind Paterno. On the right was a quote from Paterno, "They ask me what I'd like written about me when I'm gone. I hope they write I made Penn State a better place, not just that I was a good football coach." The right section also featured plaques with lists of games Paterno had coached at Penn State from 1966 to 2011.
----------------
...in a 2009 article by ESPN (when the glasses were cut off the statue) it is stated it "was commissioned by friends of the Paternos and the university".
Last edited:
Maybe the coasters could be based off of the plaques they took down? I'm in . . .
I think they should bring it out and auction it off, and use the funds to do something relatively worthwhile. I use that modifier because probably one third of the university budget goes to things that I would deem not worthwhile.
Last edited:
Good for Bernstine. Like others I never cared about the statue before Sandusky, but it was the cretins who called for Paterno’s head who made it a rallying cry (remember the airplane banner?). Since they made it their line in the sand, so to speak, I have also taken the position that it’s restoration is now a tangible sign of victory in the battle to restore recognition of Paterno’s legacy at Penn State.
Last edited:
Agree in principle......however I want it back up because they took it down.
I like it - they could get creative with it in a number of ways. Sets of coasters with the yearly schedules and scores is a great start!
My preference would be to have Franco hold John Surma while I kick him in the nuts till I collapse from exhaustion.
I hear that.
Wifey and I had ice cream at the Creamery a couple weeks ago - first time I've been there in quite a long time. While we sat outside enjoying it, she asked me why I had not wanted to go there for so long. I pointed to the Rodless name desecrating the building and said - "that". She understood.
(That said, the cork is out of the bottle now on that personal protest now, so....)
At least you made the trip worthwhile by throwing eggs at the building.
Well, verbally volleyed those rotten eggs at that unspeakable name!
Grandstanding....if he was actually going to threaten the funding, he would do it privately
As alumni, we've seen these rays of false hope before. A lot
As alumni, we've seen these rays of false hope before. A lot
All the university will do is raise tuition to make up the loss hurting the students that are already being gouged.
I f*cking hate this kind of posturing. Same thing when politicians in Tennessee tried to be as loud as possible over the Schiano hiring to score points with their base. Funding has nothing to do with the statue and ultimately, as @lions1995 said, students will pay.
The statue thing is a somewhat worthwhile endeavor, but this is dumb.
The statue thing is a somewhat worthwhile endeavor, but this is dumb.
So dumb. Funding for the continued operation of a school should not have anything to do with a statue of a former coach. Threatening to impede the education of current and future students because you want to know where a statue is ... at its best, this is a hollow, awful political maneuver to score points with constituents (i.e. what's wrong with politics today), at its worst, it's a willingness to not educate students over some meaningless object, the subject of which having voiced he didn't even want it. Insanity.
Last edited:
I'm aware of a few large donors who have pulled their donations until Penn State mends the Paterno fence that are using the return of the statue as the success metric. Personal feelings about the aesthetics of the statue (which IMHO are legit) aside, it is a useful metric in this case.
And since you didn't ask, I don't think their position is unreasonable.
And since you didn't ask, I don't think their position is unreasonable.
You right but by taking it down they made it more than just a statue.
It also puts them new president in a bad spot. If she provides the info, lawmakers are going to think they can yank her strings. Not to mention some of our fans will get more wound up about the statue again and make her an enemy when she does not give in to their request.
If she comes out and says no one’s business where statue is or just does not provide information, some of our alumni/fans will automatically make her the enemy.
Hell, I wonder how many of ours have already asked her when she is going to review the Freeh Report.
If she comes out and says no one’s business where statue is or just does not provide information, some of our alumni/fans will automatically make her the enemy.
Hell, I wonder how many of ours have already asked her when she is going to review the Freeh Report.
This is reasonable. An elected official doing the same with taxpayer dollars? Not so much.
Exactly. It's not the statue itself, but it became the symbol for what they thought of/did to Joe. Otherwise, the statue is fairly meaningless. They chose to make it a touchpoint. And now it is.
Yep, I emailed the PSU President's office over the weekend before the statue was taken down and told them I'd never donate another dime to PSU if they didn't have the guts to stick up for Joe. And I stand by that promise. Obviously that PSU administration and BOT's were spineless, and I've seen no evidence of a major move to transparency since.
What will continue to enrage me is the nerve of those cigar-chomping bigwig sh!theels who paid for the plane message to intimidate us.
I want to sit down with them and throw a pot of hot coffee in their faces, just to get their attention. Then tune them up.
Was it osu? pitt? I bet on michigan. Whoever it was, it was from a school that's covered up plenty of sex crimes of their own.
I want to sit down with them and throw a pot of hot coffee in their faces, just to get their attention. Then tune them up.
Was it osu? pitt? I bet on michigan. Whoever it was, it was from a school that's covered up plenty of sex crimes of their own.
If anyone has a tractor perhaps it could be arranged to drag Paul Suhey around until its returned.
A similar thing has happened to the statue of Columbus that used to be outside City Hall in Columbus--it was a gift from the city of Genoa (who are not at all happy). Where is it? Some city warehouse somewhere. Unlikely it would be destroyed, BTW, for the same reason. The one at the Statehouse is still up.
And folks--please don't make this politcal--I'm just noting the parallels.
I agree, but if it makes some folks at PSU squirm, it's worth it
Where are the plaques?? All those players on those plaques were guilty of winning football games, graduating, and being positive contributors to the world. I can see why you would want to blame them for something they knew nothing about!!!! Don't get me started...I missed 3 easy birdie putts today so I am boiling!!!
Get unlimited access today.