{"id":5302,"date":"2011-11-17T08:56:19","date_gmt":"2011-11-17T14:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nsr-inc.com\/\/?p=5302"},"modified":"2011-11-17T08:56:19","modified_gmt":"2011-11-17T14:56:19","slug":"the-joe-paterno-lesson-one-bad-decision-can-ruin-a-lifetime-of-good-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/the-joe-paterno-lesson-one-bad-decision-can-ruin-a-lifetime-of-good-work\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joe Paterno Lesson: One Bad Decision Can Ruin a Lifetime of Good Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young Athletes Can Take Instruction from Penn State Debacle<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
No one in sports history has seen his reputation collapse as quickly and as far as Joe Paterno.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hidden in the ruckus of the Penn State scandal is the effect one bad decision has had on a lifetime of good work by Nittany Lion head football coach Joe Paterno and how it sends a clear and vital message.\u00a0 It’s a lesson which should not go unnoticed by high school athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Prior to the revelations regarding Paterno’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky calamity, JoPa was universally revered for having run a squeaky clean football program and for his\u00a0seemingly unending\u00a0support of the university and his former players, not to mention the State College community and Pennsylvania as a whole.\u00a0 All that, however, is a distant memory because of one bad decision on his part.\u00a0 His alleged inactions pertaining to Sandusky has cast a shadow so dark and long over Paterno that it clouds nearly all the good previously attached to him and his name, particularly in the court of public opinion.\u00a0 Perhaps never in the annals of American sports has one so high fallen so far and so fast as Joe Paterno.<\/p>\n

Young athletes should give this matter their attention.\u00a0 They should understand that every decision has a consequence and every action has a rebound effect on their lives.\u00a0 And,\u00a0it is an example of how even the best of us\u00a0can be\u00a0blinded by loyalty to an entity as opposed to one’s ideals and integrity.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good decisions, not good intentions, are the foundation of good character.\u00a0 Joe Paterno may have indeed had good intentions in his heart about the way he handled the Sandusky issue, but he allowed his concern for the institution to override his obligation to a young child in need of his intervention.\u00a0\u00a0Coach Paterno made a specific decision\u00a0not to\u00a0champion the more important of two\u00a0options he faced.\u00a0 His misplaced\u00a0loyalty and, in this case, twisted sense of duty to his employer, led him down a path\u00a0to his own demise.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is a microcosm of life for today’s student-athletes.\u00a0 One moment of indecision or compromise can emote such dire outcomes as to\u00a0dismantle a life well-lived.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, there are times to be loyal and there are times when it is righteous to\u00a0come to the aid of one’s\u00a0business, colleagues, teammates or boss, but right is right and wrong is wrong.\u00a0\u00a0When situations arise which require right and wrong answers, one’s integrity cannot be shoved\u00a0behind the\u00a0veil of protocol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young Athletes Can Take Instruction from Penn State Debacle Hidden in the ruckus of the Penn State scandal is the effect one bad decision has had on a lifetime of good work by Nittany Lion head football coach Joe Paterno and how it sends a clear and vital message.\u00a0 It’s a lesson which should not … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsr-inc.com\/scouting-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}