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Friday, November 25, 2011

Crime / Politics / Sports JoePa Still Popular in PA

Posted by Goldy on Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 9:37 AM

A couple weeks back, in a post attempting to explain why the graduate assistant who allegedly witnessed the infamous Penn State child rape probably felt he was doing the right thing by reporting the incident to legendary head coach Joe Paterno rather than, say, the police, I tried to explain to readers here the oversized status of Paterno back in my native Pennsylvania:

It's fair to say that year-in, year-out, Paterno has been one of the best known and most highly respected men in the entire state of Pennyslvania, more popular and more trusted than any politician, businessman, or celebrity.

And it turns out that even after weeks of scandalous headlines and his own firing, a new PPP poll shows that Paterno is still more popular than any PA politician:

51% of voters in the state view Paterno favorably to 28% with an unfavorable opinion. With all the recent controversy those are still far better numbers than any politician in the state can boast. Every demographic group PPP tracks continues to have a positive take on Paterno.

Of course, those results are at least partially a commentary on the awfully low opinion most people currently have about the generally awful politicians in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation. But it also speaks to the enormous level of admiration and respect Paterno earned during the half century or so in which he ran one of the cleanest and most successful (both academically and athletically) football programs in the nation. You know, apart from the alleged covering-up-for-a-child-rapist thing.

As for the alleged child-ass-fucker himself, only three percent of respondents have a positive opinion of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky... which raises some serious questions about the morality/mental health of three percent of Pennsylvanians.

Comments (13) RSS

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which raises some serious questions about the morality/mental health of three percent of Pennsylvanians.

I've been having the same questions about you for years, Goldy. I'm kidding!

3%? Be grateful that number isn't higher. I think Osama Bin Laden probably has higher approval.

Posted by Teslick on November 25, 2011 at 9:48 AM

What do you think the percentage would have been, had they asked during the week or two before the scandal broke?

Posted by Matt from Denver on November 25, 2011 at 9:52 AM

Why does State College refer to itself as "Happy Valley?" I think that's kinda creepy all on its own.

Posted by lauramae on November 25, 2011 at 10:27 AM

Unless you're from PA, you don't get it. Joe Paterno is a legend there. The same way Steve Jobs is for you Apple dipshits. Put Steve Jobs in Joe Paterno's place, and there'd be plenty of supporters, still.

Posted by Confluence on November 25, 2011 at 10:36 AM

@ 4, as usual you're the dipshit. Sports has to be compared to sports. For example, our god in Denver is John Elway.

Posted by Matt from Denver on November 25, 2011 at 10:45 AM

Now, Matt, that wasn't very nice. OK, granted, Confluence usually is the dipshit, but since these geeks know nothing about sports, thought it was a good analogy.

Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty

on November 25, 2011 at 11:06 AM

I could see it if SLOG wasn't a place where people practically take to arms over the subject of Steve Jobs...

Posted by Matt from Denver on November 25, 2011 at 11:48 AM

Goldy,
I believe Sports Center announced (based on an interview) that the then graduate student/assistant coach, McCreary did claim to "stop" the assault and report it to police. I don't know if it has been substantiated. I tried to find some reference but couldn't. My initial question was why he didn't stop the assault and call the police.

FTR, while I don't hold Paterno in high or low esteem, there is still a lot we don't know about the PSU scandal. Personally, I don't find college football coaches and programs that important. With or without the Sandusky/PSU affair, college football programs still need scrutiny not just glowing admiration from its fans and alumni. Equally important of a story as the Sandusky/PSU scandal was that the NCAA allowed "payment" of players on some varsity football (others?) programs. To me that is alarming.

Posted by lark on November 25, 2011 at 12:35 PM

@ 8, I have a feeling that that's nothing new. College football and basketball are huge, multi billion dollar businesses and recruiting scandals usually revolve around some kind of payment scheme. Look up the history of some recent Heisman Trophy winners sometime.

That's just graft and corruption. Child rape and its coverup are far more horrifying.

Posted by Matt from Denver on November 25, 2011 at 12:58 PM

which raises some serious questions about the morality/mental health of three percent of Pennsylvanians.

3%? It's just as likely that they constitute the total number of people in PA who live in a cave/cult/monastary and have no idea what's been going on for the past month. I looked at the results, and the question gives no explanation of why the question is being asked, so it could well be that 3% of them live with a pre-child rape mentality.

Or 3% of PA residents are very seriously fucked up people. Considering the percentages that routinely claim they believe Obama is the antiChrist, it's not even that high a number.

Posted by Lynx on November 25, 2011 at 3:15 PM

The high esteem Pennsylvanians have for Paterno after this is one of the most damning commentaries of humanity I've ever read.

Posted by TVDinner

on November 25, 2011 at 4:49 PM

For the last 5-10 years, Penn State's football program has not been that clean. There have been some miscreants in that program.

Posted by clashfan on November 25, 2011 at 9:44 PM

5% of Americans approve of Fidel Castro. Personally, I suspect that the 3% who approve of Sandusky are either pedophiles themselves, or people who decided to mess with the pollster for the hell of it.

Posted by I have always been... east coaster on November 26, 2011 at 8:23 PM