For a few years, I had this vision of Joe Paterno's final moments.
He would be on the sideline and taken out by a play, and then taken out of the stadium on a stretcher. At his age, the complications from any surgery to fix anything were likely. At 85, one could easily see him getting rolled - as he had been before - and then piled on by 600 pounds of humanity, and going down hard.
It doesn't take much physical adversity to take a massive and often fatal toll on the elderly. And yes, Paterno was elderly.
As it was, lung cancer ended Paterno's life, with millions of amateur pathologists offering that the child abuse scandal killed him, that he died of a broken heart, and all that.
He was 85 and had lung cancer as well as stress. That does it to anybody.
We should be celebrating his life and career, and those attending services - especially former players - should be telling stories, sharing a laugh and a memory.
Instead ...
I grew up in Pa., about two hours from Penn State. The North is more about pro sports, and my younger days were about the Orioles and Colts, a little bit of the Phillies. Notre Dame was probably my team because my high school was the Fighting Irish, I was Catholic, and I knew a guy who was the starting center on the 1973 national championship team.
But I knew many who breathed Penn State football. I didn't get the college sports bug until college, and I've become a fan of the games rather than having a team.
So I have an objective view of college sports, and I'll tell ya, those are some lonely meetings. And the job allows for a little more access, and thus, a little more insight.
I've never been enamored with Paterno, and that only grew. The respect was certainly there for the consistency and standards, the non-football standards, but there was just something about Paterno that seemed a little shaky.
And in recent years, it was the arrogance that still rankles, the "I'll leave when I want."
Nobody gets, or should get, a blank check in this life, and Paterno is no exception. To think you're bigger than a school? Height of arrogance, and arrogance is not a positive or admirable trait.
Notre Dame continued without Rockne. Alabama survived without Bear Bryant. Michigan kept the doors open after Bo, Ohio State after Woody.
Not sure what Joe expected to happen, since he wasn't going to live or coach forever. Then again, he was pretty damn stubborn.
Bear Bryant sure did set a precedent, a baffling one yet an instructional one for those who didn't know that being multifaceted is a good thing, that being obsessed isn't.
The speculation with Bobby Bowden was that he was afraid he'd pull a Bear after retiring. But Bowden always seemed a little more varied, and he certainly did the right thing after leaving.
He wrote a book, so that meant a book tour, which meant staying busy yet still being close to the game. Throw in his kids and grandkids, and Bowden's plate is anything but empty.
I've always thought coaches should take advantage of the time after retiring by traveling to, well, other places and see what makes us all love the fall.
What coach wouldn't like to go to the Rose Bowl for a game, or Georgia-Florida, Oklahoma-Texas, a game at Texas A&M or LSU?
Go somewhere on a Wednesday and have dinner with the head coach and/or staff, and relax. Thursday, go to a local school and visit, or pop in on a local high school practice. Friday, visit the college team for a few minutes and give a little speech.
And Saturday, go to the game.
Bowden is perfect for that kind of schedule. He's been involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, so he could add an appearance to a local FCA group.
Of course, that wouldn't work for Paterno. We're not exactly sure who Paterno was or what he liked to do. As far as we know, it was football and a level of philanthropy that is certainly admirable and fairly rare.
He was around seemingly forever, and yet here we are, not really sure how much we knew him. We know he couldn't let go.
Paterno was grumpy and arrogant, had a little paranoia, had high standards regarding the expectations off the field of his players, and was quality old school.
And, of course, he didn't do enough at the end.
The past few months have been sad to watch, and his death and now complex legacy will be of lasting debate.
Imagine if he'd have had the humility to retire when he probably should have. It doesn't change what his assistant coach did, nor what Paterno didn't do.
The disgusting secret would have remained, and the glowing tributes to Paterno wouldn't be complete deserved.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
The Atlanta Falcons aren't napping this offseason.
There is skepticism on some of their moves, and none are really going to light up the ticket office lines.
But Dirk Koetter as offensive coordinator isn't as bad as people think.
No, the numbers at Jacksonville weren't astounding. But how much talent did he have to work with? How much cohesiveness was there on the staff? Shoot, Jag coaches were on the hotseat for about three years, and it finally burned up Jack Del Rio.
Koetter was one of the architects of Boise State's rise to national prominence. He had a winning record at Arizona State, for criminy sakes.
Let's see what he does with the likes of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Roddy White, Julio Jones, et al.
Of course, the Falcons need desperately to bolster the offensive line, which was hamstrung at times by clearly predictable playcalling.
I'm guessing the air breathed by the offense these days is fresher.
Hiring Mike Nolan on defense was a nifty step up, with less quantifying and wishful thinking than Koetter's hire.
Now, look at the general restructuring of the staff, and you see that the Falcons apparently saw that they had reached a ceiling with who they had.
This is a good thing. ...
Prince Fielder is getting $214 million for nine years.
And daddy Cecil Fielder is getting all the Oreos and pizza he can eat. ..
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times notes that "Hot-headed Rasheed Wallace says he'd like to come out of retirement and sign with an NBA team.
"Now it's just a matter of dotting some Is and whistling some Ts." ...
Fielder went for the money, leaving Milwaukee, but at least he went to another non-NY/Boston/LA market, Detroit. That city needs every good thing to happen to it possible.
Unfortunately, now the Tigers have to deal with agent Scott Boras, so it's not completely win-win. ...
Mr. Perry has been reading the wedding announcements in foreign papers:
"Hear about the elderly Italian couple — he's 99, she's 96 — that's divorcing after 77 years of marriage?
"Apparently their wedding vows included a '... till an Oregon Rose Bowl win do us part' clause."
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