Another Downfall Of Joe Paterno's Old Age: Rampant Thuggery

In an attempt to clean up a program which has come under intense scrutiny lately over its myriad off-field issues, Penn State defensive tackles Chris Baker and Phil Taylor were kicked off the team. This news comes just a couple days after ESPN's damning " Outside The Lines" piece on the alarmingly high amount of disciplinary and criminal problems plaguing Joe Pa's program. ESPN's Steve Delsohn interviewed an ornery Paterno and asked him questions along the lines of, like, "Hey, Joe, why are your players raping women and beating up people so much these days?" Paterno blamed it on the kids being young and was visibly annoyed by Delsohn's line of questioning, even accusing ESPN of conducting a "witch hunt" against the school. You can't argue with some of the facts Delsohn had in front of him, including some confidential judicial affairs reports that suggest Paterno may have tried to cover up some of the incidents. But one interesting argument over at College OTR suggests that ESPN may have violated some of the student's privacy rights by revealing that material on air. One thing for sure is that this will be the storyline that follows Paterno all year and should Penn State falter this season, it might be big enough to tarnish his legacy. Penn State DTs Baker, Taylor Kicked Off By Paterno [SI] ESPN's Witch-Hunt Into Penn State Football [College OTR]