Originally, this post was going to be about the guilty verdict rendered against former Penn State assistant/convicted serial pedophile Jerry Sandusky and what it meant for the current Nittany Lions football program going forward.
Pre-verdict, tossing such an idea around sounded like a solid tack to take. Post-verdict? Insensitive and callous doesn’t even begin to describe it. Hollowly asinine or asininely hollow, take your pick as they’re in the ballpark.
A pedophile, whether or not he’s connected to a major college football program, convicted on 45 counts of the sexual abuse of upwards of 10 children is not about the current coaching staff or players, or about the past coaching staff or athletic administration that may or may not have been enablers and actively involved in a coverup.
There’s time -- plenty of it -- for that on down the road, to place blame on every single one of ‘em.
The time now, though, and as the father of five and with the resoluteness that only a parent can have, is about one thing and one thing only.
Justice for the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of a serial pedophile. Again, and I’ll italicize it for emphasis, justice for the victims.
That’s it. That’s all the verdict was and should be about right now.
Justice for those who were sexually assaulted by a predator who preyed on at-risk kids. Justice for those who were raped by someone who, under the guise of a children’s charity, ripped away any shred of innocence boys as young as 10 may have had.
There should be much joy from ‘Ville to ‘Burgh and all points in between that the “man” who preyed on that innocence will be behind bars for the rest of his life and will never again make another child his next victim.
The guilty verdict won’t restore what was lost and won’t erase the memories seared into the victims, but it will give them the one thing they deserve.
Justice.
Everything else, every other angle, can wait another day.