Written Saturday 12th November, 9pm.
I've just finished watching the college American football game between Nebraska and Penn State - a game I was intrigued in seeing for all the wrong reasons.
This time last week, it was revealed that a former assistant coach at Penn State - Jerry Sandusky - was charged with molesting children and, just as shocking, it was revealed that a lot of people who worked for the college had been aware of Sandusky's crimes and merely swept them under the rug.
It made me sick to hear of the things that went down at the college. Every single radio programme I listen to during the weekdays covered this terrible story all week.
Every show, every day.
By the end of the week, heads at the university had resigned. The long-time head coach, Joe Paterno, vowed to retire at the end of this season but he was given his marching orders a number of hours later.
In sheer coincidence, I was going to write about Paterno in last week's post which I dedicated to Alex Ferguson's twenty-five year reign as manager of Manchester United. I was going to refer to Paterno as he himself had spent a lifetime coaching at one place.
Forty-six years according to the Yearbook I have here (I have heard other numbers passed around in all the coverage I have read and heard this week).
What ever number it was, Paterno was Penn State.
And he aided and abetted a paedophile.
The Grand Jury was told that an assistant coach found Sandusky raping a young boy in the showers of Penn State some time in 2002. This coach did nothing at that moment. What he did do was inform Paterno the following morning.
Paterno did little.
If anything at all.
It was the most sickening things I have ever heard about in sport and I was even more concerned when I saw the fans in the crowd during the game with signs saying words to the effect of 'This is for Joe'.
Hero worship is all well and good if the person you are hailing is a hero.
From where I sit, I see cowards.
Good riddance.
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