Yesterday Joe Paterno was fired by the Board of Trustees at Penn State University, having been the head football coach for 46 years. JoePa leaves with more victories than any Division I football coach in the history of college football, but his departure has left college sports fans across the country wishing things could have been different, not only for Coach Paterno, but especially for the many innocent boys (many are now men) who were victimized by a former Penn State assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky.
Having been a coach for my entire adult life, the definition of success occasionally rises to the surface in conversations with others as well as in self-reflection. Success on the athletic field is something that is rewarding and fun, and victories very often used as a measuring stick of success. But after the victories, what does one really have? Are the victories and championships worth the price that was paid in State College, PA?
Coach Paterno is 84 years old and has been a symbol for doing things the right way in college sports, and even though we still don't know the whole story, it seems that one terrible decision (the choice to keep quiet), which seemingly was made by Paterno and several others every day for the past 10-12 years, has erased so much of the good that he has done.
I have often said to my own kids as well as to my athletes over the years, that before you do something, if you aren't sure if it is right, then just don't do it. In the circumstances at Penn State, I guess we could say that if you think you should do it, just do it.
Most of us, certainly myself included, have done some things that we eventually wished we didn't do. Some of us, including myself again, have neglected to do something and then in retrospect wish we would have done it. When we fail at something, it doesn't make us failures. It's when we don't admit our mistakes and failings that we become failures. Skeletons are much heavier than they would appear. We can all lighten our loads by removing them.
Tomorrow is a new day, no matter what happened today or yesterday. As long as we keep our closets clean, we can be present and enjoy each moment of tomorrow with a lighter burden than we might otherwise have to carry.
Having been a coach for my entire adult life, the definition of success occasionally rises to the surface in conversations with others as well as in self-reflection. Success on the athletic field is something that is rewarding and fun, and victories very often used as a measuring stick of success. But after the victories, what does one really have? Are the victories and championships worth the price that was paid in State College, PA?
Coach Paterno is 84 years old and has been a symbol for doing things the right way in college sports, and even though we still don't know the whole story, it seems that one terrible decision (the choice to keep quiet), which seemingly was made by Paterno and several others every day for the past 10-12 years, has erased so much of the good that he has done.
I have often said to my own kids as well as to my athletes over the years, that before you do something, if you aren't sure if it is right, then just don't do it. In the circumstances at Penn State, I guess we could say that if you think you should do it, just do it.
Most of us, certainly myself included, have done some things that we eventually wished we didn't do. Some of us, including myself again, have neglected to do something and then in retrospect wish we would have done it. When we fail at something, it doesn't make us failures. It's when we don't admit our mistakes and failings that we become failures. Skeletons are much heavier than they would appear. We can all lighten our loads by removing them.
Tomorrow is a new day, no matter what happened today or yesterday. As long as we keep our closets clean, we can be present and enjoy each moment of tomorrow with a lighter burden than we might otherwise have to carry.
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