Joe Paterno

As a college football fan, I am greatly saddened over the death of Joe Paterno (JoePa). Even though Penn State is not the team I root for, I have always had the greatest respect for JoePa. During his 62 years as the Penn State coach, he was noted for his principles where it involved his players. He always knew that the athlete's education took priority over football, and he expected all of his players to adhere to that philosophy.

That whole nasty situation involving Jerry Sandusky must have been a nightmare to JoePa. During much of their association, JoePa felt that Sandusky might be the heir apparent when it came time for JoePa to retire. I won't even go into all of that now. I know that the University did what they felt they had to do in letting JoePa go, but in my opinion, it was a travesty. True, JoePa might have gone to the authorities immediately instead of going to school officials when told of Sandusky's mis-deeds. JoePa thought that the school officials would handle it.

In 1986, my team, the Miami Hurricanes, went undefeated and ended the season at number one in the nation. The head coach, Jimmy Johnson had a banner year, and his quarterback, Vinnie Testaverde would go on to win the Heisman Trophy. But there were discipline issues with the team, and Coach Johnson just let his players be themselves. But JoePa and his Penn State Nittany Lions had also gone undefeated that year and were ranked number 2.

On January 2, 1987, the Hurricanes and the Nittany Lions met in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona to decide the national championship in what was billed as 'good vs. evil'. The 'Canes came out to Tempe dressed in military style fatigues ready for battle while the Nittany Lions were dressed in shirts and ties. This was vintage JoePa. Since this is not a sports story per se, I will skip over the details of the game itself only to admit defeat to the 'good' team that night. Now, even though I was heartbroken over the loss to Penn State, I had to admit that JoePa had one helluva good team, and in no small part owing to JoePa's discipline.

Unlike my feelings towards other teams and coaches the 'Canes lost to over the years, and there were a few, I always had respect for Penn State and JoePa. There may never be another coach like JoePa and I think college football will be diminished without him.