A halftime tribute yesterday to late coach Joe Paterno at the Penn State football game included a "video board presentation of Paterno's first game against Maryland exactly a half-century prior." His 409 victories "were referenced," and players "attending" from the '66 team "were introduced." The "biggest cheer actually was for the players." The only other presentation "was on the video board early in the third quarter, a brief tribute to the Fiesta Bowl win over Miami but mainly to the Paternos' charitable contributions." David Jones writes, "That was it. Total time devoted: About three minutes." It was a "rather modest acknowledgement of his contributions" and "was reasonable" (PENNLIVE.com, 9/17).
The N.Y. TIMES' Juliet Macur wrote under the header, "Why Is Penn State Celebrating Joe Paterno?" Univ. officials "declined" requests to "discussion the decision." Macur: "If I were planning to celebrate someone who was accused of standing by as dozens of children were sexually abused, I wouldn't want to say much, either" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/17).
