Pubdate: Wed, 17 Sep 2008 Source: Reading Eagle-Times ( PA ) Copyright: 2008 Reading Eagle Company Contact: http://www.readingeagle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1399 PATERNO'S STANDARDS BUILD GOOD WINNERS The Issue: Coach Joe Paterno Takes Strong Disciplinary Action Against Players For Offenses Off The Field. Our Opinion: Keeping All-Around Expectations High For Players Sets The Benchmark For College Athletics. Joe Paterno knows what matters, and he s not afraid to stand up for it. In a world increasingly bent on winning at any cost, he s proved himself as a coach who keeps his priorities straight. The longtime Penn State University head football coach showed his stuff again recently when he suspended two players after police found marijuana in their apartment. He also dismissed a team member who was cited for driving without a license in an unrelated incident. That player was charged with drunken driving in 2007. All-Big Ten defensive end Maurice Evans and defensive tackle Abe Koroma, both starters, had to watch the team s Sept. 6 game against Oregon State on television. Two other players who lived in the same apartment, tight end Andrew Quarless and cornerback A.J. Wallace, were at the game, but Quarless sat it out while Wallace played sparingly. Paterno, who refused to comment on the differing punishments doled out to the players, also dismissed Willie Harriott. The reserve cornerback, already facing a drunken-driving charge, was cited for driving without a license. Penn State President Graham Spanier threw his unqualified support behind the disciplinary action, underscoring that, important as football is to Penn State, it doesn t trump respect for basic values and the goal of building good people, not just a winning team. In an e-mailed response to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Spanier wrote, "I support Coach Paterno s disciplinary actions with the members of the football team, who not only broke team rules but who also violated the expectations that Penn State has for its student-athletes. "Character and social responsibility are important values at Penn State that we will continue to emphasize," Spanier said. "We continue to emphasize to our student-athletes the importance of their citizenship, and I regret very much behaviors that could cast our program in a negative light." In an age when fans too often open the sports pages only to find the scores and the action upstaged by scandals, when champions and record-breakers are greeted with increased skepticism and scrutiny instead of unqualified applause, Penn State s stance is good news all around. In a sense, it s old news. Paterno has always shown himself ready and able to discipline or cut loose players who slip up. For example, after a number of players were involved in an off-campus fracas a year ago last spring, some of them saw limited or no action for a few games as a consequence, and the entire team was ordered to help clean the stadium after home games for a while. To Paterno s credit, the team complied to a man, working sometimes until after midnight, until their coach stated they had learned their lesson and released them from the extra duty. We doubt that anybody will ever have to tell one of them that when a person makes a mistake, others often pay the price. Aware that his players failings are not unique to them, Paterno combines discipline with forbearance. For example, he has more than once referred to the need to be realistic about the prevalence of underage drinking as something that affects his players peer group and not just the team. Consistent with this, he has given players a second chance where appropriate, along with the punishment for these and other offenses. The example is a wonderful one for those football programs that prefer to look the other way, saying boys will be boys. By sticking to core values, Paterno is telling all of us that men should be men, in the best sense of the word. And when they are, everybody wins. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath