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The fickle and phony media responds to Joe Paterno's passing

It really is a shame to see anyone pass along and in Joe Paterno's case, to pass on as he did. When the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal broke in November of 2011, Paterno was fired not long after the stories broke and his record-breaking numbers as the head football coach of Penn State will forever battle the before-mentioned scandal when it comes to how the sports world and world at large remembers JoPa.

It was confirmed yesterday late morning that Joe Paterno had passed away and I found it quite interesting to listen to sports writers, anchors and analysts respond to the news. Ever since the Sandusky scandal broke and Paterno was fired, many of these individuals adamantly spoke out against Paterno, saying he should have done more, that he did the bare minimum and if they had been in his shoes, they wouldn't have even hesitated to have done more to protect the children who had already been harmed and those who may have potentially suffered a similar fate. Almost all of them sang in unison that it was the right decision to fire the former Penn State coach and that his reputation would forever be tarnished due to this.

Then fast-forward to yesterday. These same individuals who spoke so illy of Paterno for 2 months leading up to his ultimate demise contradicted themselves more than Mitt Romney does in a typical day. They talked about how his reputation would forever be in tact as one of the greatest football coaches in history as well as a great man. They'd say that the Sandusky scandal would not tarnish Paterno's perception any. Some even went so far as to say he was unfairly let go by Penn State.

When I point this out to my mother, she said, "You never speak ill of the dead."

Yes, this is very understandable. A person has passed. The last thing you want to do is bash the guy/gal for mistakes they've made. So, yes, that I can fully understand. HOWEVER, don't these television stars realize they're in the spotlight? That their words can be found all across the internet and they can even see themselves on YouTube for some memorable quotes and/or predictions of theirs? I'm sure it makes JoPa feel a lot better now that he's deceased to know that those who spoke out against him for the 2 months leading up to his death are now praising him for the same things they bashed him.

I have a real problem with people who are phony. They'll put on this act for the public at large (or just a group of people, whether it be at work, school, etc.), only to hold a completely different identity when away from said group. They'll be nice to a person's face, yet criticize them behind their back. They'll act like a best friend when a person experiences a tragedy, yet will be seemingly dead to this person the rest of their lives. When people speak highly of me or even when they criticize me, I want the words to be genuine. It's not going to mean much to me if the person singing my praise to my face also speaks poorly of me behind my back. If the person consistently sings my praise, that will mean something. I'll know he or she means those very words. I'll know that they're genuine. That's all I'm saying. It's one thing to speak ill of the dead and quite another to see another as being dead with how illy you speak of them only to sing their praises upon their actually being dead.

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