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The new Joe Posnanski book on Paterno
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:47 am
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:47 am
Posnanski is the best mainstream sportswriter in America and he had been working on a Paterno bio when the Sandunsky charges hit. Anyone looking forward to this book? It comes out Aug 21st and excerpts have been released; it looks like a great read even though I suspect there will be some unabashed Paterno bias in the book.
This post was edited on 8/16/12 at 9:48 am
7
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:50 am to CunningLinguist
I love Poz. He's my favorite sportswriter, and it's not close.
That said, he's the wrong guy for this book. The thing that makes Poz great is that he sees the good in everybody. He could write a fawning piece that could make you like Bud Selig. He writes to uplift, not demean. And this book is no longer a Profile in Courage about all that's right in sports. It's the exact opposite. You need an a-hole to write this book, like Buzz Bissinger.
I honestly am hoping Poz just gets out of this with his reputation still intact.
That said, he's the wrong guy for this book. The thing that makes Poz great is that he sees the good in everybody. He could write a fawning piece that could make you like Bud Selig. He writes to uplift, not demean. And this book is no longer a Profile in Courage about all that's right in sports. It's the exact opposite. You need an a-hole to write this book, like Buzz Bissinger.
I honestly am hoping Poz just gets out of this with his reputation still intact.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:51 am to CunningLinguist
I was wondering when it would come out. I listened to him on I think Jonah Keri's podcast talking about the book a week or so before the Sandusky stuff hit the news. Insane.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:55 am to Baloo
quote:
You need an a-hole to write this book, like Buzz Bissinger.
I would definitely read a Paterno bio written by Bissenger.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 9:59 am to Tiger Ryno
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:02 am to Baloo
quote:
You need an a-hole to write this book, like Buzz Bissinger.
I think you would want neither a sunshine pumper or an a-hole to write this book unless you just want it to agree with your already established opinions.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:04 am to BlueMoon
quote:
"My name," he told Jay, "I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it's gone."
And good riddance too.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:06 am to Baloo
quote:
That said, he's the wrong guy for this book. The thing that makes Poz great is that he sees the good in everybody. He could write a fawning piece that could make you like Bud Selig. He writes to uplift, not demean. And this book is no longer a Profile in Courage about all that's right in sports. It's the exact opposite.
I was leery of this too, but his piece in USA Today gives me hope that he won't just be steamrolled with "WHY DIDN'T YOU ROAST PATERNO!?!?!" criticisms.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:24 am to OBUDan
The interesting part of the GQ snippets is that it portrays JoePa as completely isolated from the Board of Trustees, and he didn't have a sympathetic ear on the Board. Which is contrary to what we all "know". People just assume JoePa had huge control over PSU because he's JoePa, but it seems this book will attempt to demonstrate that Paterno was out of the loop.
And I do want an a-hole to write investigative pieces. Being a good investigative reporter requires being an a-hole, to not accept the company line and keep digging. Poz has always shied away from the dark side of sports, to his credit, but he's also never been known as an investigative reporter.
And I do want an a-hole to write investigative pieces. Being a good investigative reporter requires being an a-hole, to not accept the company line and keep digging. Poz has always shied away from the dark side of sports, to his credit, but he's also never been known as an investigative reporter.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:35 am to Baloo
quote:
The interesting part of the GQ snippets is that it portrays JoePa as completely isolated from the Board of Trustees, and he didn't have a sympathetic ear on the Board. Which is contrary to what we all "know". People just assume JoePa had huge control over PSU because he's JoePa, but it seems this book will attempt to demonstrate that Paterno was out of the loop.
I think the BoT was afraid of the backlash from alums.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:40 am to CunningLinguist
quote:
Posnanski is the best mainstream sportswriter in America
Let's pump the brakes a little here.
Though, I am reading "The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America", and I really like it.....
.... but John Feinstein is a better sportswriter, IMO.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 10:42 am to Baloo
True.
From what he wrote in USA Today, he attempted to give all sides of Paterno and let the reader decide.
I like that approach.
From what he wrote in USA Today, he attempted to give all sides of Paterno and let the reader decide.
I like that approach.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 11:39 am to OBUDan
I imagine the book will garner similar attention as the Freeh Report did, a few choice quotes will be in the media and the masses will use those as gospel. I, unabashed Penn State fan, will order the book and read it at my leisure (pitifully slow), and I will repeatedly say "Did you read it?" to said masses.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 11:47 am to Baloo
quote:
that could make you like Bud Selig
That, for me, is impossible.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 12:47 pm to ProjectP2294
I wonder how many sports writers had their bios of Joe already written and ready to go the day he retired/died, only have to go back and rewrite when Sandusky broke.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 1:03 pm to CunningLinguist
quote:
The day after he was fired, Paterno "sobbed uncontrollably" when meeting with coaches at his house and "cried continually" throughout the day, with reporters camped outside his door. "My name," Paterno told his other son, Jay, "I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it's gone."
This would be very tragic...
...if I thought his tears were for the victims instead of his reputation.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 3:08 pm to LA kid but AU fan
JoPa may have been "out of the loop" to some extent, but do not kid yourself: he stopped the investigation/s into Sandusky cold. This is the same out of the loop football coach who ran the school's AD & president out of his house when they came to talk him into retirement just a few yrs ago. As for losing his name, I am curious as to his take, hopefully in the book, on why he feels he lost it. Makes you wonder if he ever looked at that guy in his mirror every morning.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 3:43 pm to Baloo
quote:
Which is contrary to what we all "know". People just assume JoePa had huge control over PSU because he's JoePa, but it seems this book will attempt to demonstrate that Paterno was out of the loop.
When the President and the AD went to his house in '02 and asked him to resign and he said GTFO, that's not out of the loop. I'm assuming that you are speaking about the last year of 2 of his tenure.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 3:51 pm to tigerpimpbot
The '08 ESPN Outside the Lines report quoted a local beat writer as saying that no outside of the football staff really knew how much control Joe Paterno had at the time because no one from the outside was allowed to see inside those walls. Sounds like institutional disfunction at a minimum.
Posted on 8/16/12 at 5:51 pm to PowerTool
Part of the reason why PSU could have been hit with the death penalty.
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