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Watch Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski Dig Himself Into A Hole As He Tries To Defend Joe Paterno

by Dan Fogarty | 2:46 pm, November 15th, 2011

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski defended fired Penn State coach Joe Paterno during a Monday news conference, which is fine — Krzyzewski and Paterno are friends. But as for the defense itself? Well… it didn’t make any sense.

Here’s what he said:

“I think one thing you have to understand is that Coach Paterno is 84 years old. I’m not saying that for an excuse.”

Okay. So the guy’s advancing age isn’t an excuse. Agreed.

“The cultures that he’s been involved in, both football-wise and socially, there have been immense changes. And how social issues are handled in those generations are quite different, quite different. And I think that has something to do with the situation.”

So wait: in Joe Paterno’s generation, they wouldn’t do something if someone in their midst was sexually assaulting kids? And because Joe Paterno came from that generation, he can’t be blamed for some of the cover-up at Penn State? I know Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t actually think that. But when you try to defend someone in a position that can’t be defended, regardless of how much you respect them, you do so at the risk of sounding stupid. And Coach K’s “generational” argument sounded stupid.

To his credit, he’d make sense a little later on, noting that “there’s a lot there” when it comes to information that we don’t know in the Penn State scandal. This is true: there is a lot there. And hopefully whatever’s there supports Coach K’s assertion (and a lot of other people’s assertion) that Joe Paterno is a “great man.” Because that’s in doubt right now.

Here are Krzyzewski’s comments, via ESPN News.

NC

He’s right-Paterno is in another generation.

HOWEVER, that generation would have beat the snot out of Sandusky and then fired him as he was being led to jail.
Txpfc

Paterno live on or near what is, or used to be, a major and respected University. Paterno spends most of his time around young men. If he was not “up to speed”, not aware of common decency, not in touch enough to know that he should be protecting young boy (or girls), then what the hell was he doing in a position of authority? Wake up coach K! How would you feel if you child was Victim #1? Assaulted AFTER Paterno admits he was told Sandusky had contact “of a sexual nature” with another child! Makes you wonder if Krzyzewski should have the position he has, or what skeletons are in his closet?