Unhappy news!
"[Gattuso] continued his playing career at Penn State University where he was the starting nose guard on the Nittany Lions' 1982 national championship team. Gattuso earned AP honorable mention All-America honors as a senior. He also was a two-time AP All-East selection and played in the East-West Shrine All-Star game.
"Following graduation, Gattuso stayed on at Penn State as an assistant coach under Joe Paterno for one season before returning to the Pittsburgh area in 1985. [...]
"From 1989-91, Gattuso utilized his bachelor's degree in administration and criminal justice by working for the Pittsburgh and Bethel Park police departments."
http://www.goduquesne.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/gattuso_greg01.html
"After Paterno died in January 2012, Gattuso was among a group of former Nittany Lions players who returned to campus for tributes to the coach. Paterno had been fired in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky. Gattuso spoke publicly during that period about Paterno's love for Penn State and the lessons he had learned from his former coach."
Barker, Jeff. "Terps appreciate 'goofy personality' of D-line coach Greg Gattuso; Maryland assistant balances 'intense' coaching style with 'peculiar sense of humor'." Baltimore Sun. August 15, 2013.http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-08-15/sports/bs-sp-terps-football-greg-gattuso-0816-20130815_1_maryland-assistant-joe-vellano-quinton-jefferson/2
"Kidded Gattuso, 'if he takes one more thing off my plate, we're going to wrestle right here.' [...]
"Jerry Sandusky, a player, assistant and defensive coordinator under Paterno: 'I'm the man who should be getting the award, for putting up with this guy for 21 years. [...] He recalled when Paterno made him a linebackers coach, a position that came with a young linebacker [...] 'Jerry, I'm going to tell you right now: Leave him alone,' Sandusky remembered Paterno telling him. 'I coach [others] the same way. I leave them alone.'"
Finder, Chuck. "Starring Night: Galaxy of sports celebrities helps Dapper Dan honor Sportsman of the Year Joe Paterno." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 8, 1999: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19990208&id=NoRIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P28DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5003,4829592
Greg Gattuso's a former Penn State football player for Coach Joe Paterno and Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach for Joe Paterno alongside fellow assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, and someone who continues to carry water for Joe Paterno even after his death. Gattuso should fit in at UAlbany just fine, what with Joe Paterno acolyte Bob Ford, and ex-coach, ex-athlete football fan UAlbany Police "Chief" J. "Frank" Wiley (who chose not to report a gang rape by football players to the Albany County District Attorney's office ASAP and thereby failed to improve the case for the prosecution and failed to provide better victims' services).
UAlbany's rape culture isn't terribly likely to change for the better. UAlbany's more apt to become even more like Penn State, just as Bob Ford has so long fantasized.
An assistant coach, like Greg Gattuso had been, "testified that he saw Sandusky and a boy engaged in a sex act in the locker room shower in 2001 and within days reported it to Paterno, Curley and Schultz."
"McQueary: Paterno said that Penn State 'screwed up' abuse scandal responseAt a hearing to determine whether three former officials will face trial, the former assistant recalled warnings from the head coach." The Guardian. July 29, 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/29/paterno-said-penn-state-screwed-up-response
UAlbany athletics' ambitions to emulate Joe Paterno and Penn State, as Bob Ford has explicitly stated in the past (at least he was honest about it):
"What impact do you think Division I athletics will have on the University's relationship with the community? A community as a whole becomes identified with a college or a university that exists within its boundaries. Penn State, as an example, has a community that identifies with that institution. So I think that the City of Albany will eventually identify with the University at Albany, and our intercollegiate athletics program will probably be a source of pride for the city."“Bob Ford on Division I: Community and Campus Pride.” Albany Magazine. http://www.albany.edu/pr/fordnew.html
"Albany has a reputation for grooming young coaches. How do you use your coaching staff? I heard Joe Paterno say, ‘You hire good people, give them a job to do, and don’t look over their shoulders all the time.’ I’d say that’s the way I approach my staff."Coaching Management, 8.4, May 2000, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/cm/cm0804/qaford.htm
"'I'll miss a good friend and I think we'll all miss a coaching legend,' said Bob Ford, UAlbany's Head Football Coach. […] Ford was a friend of Paterno's, and remembers the coach's life fondly. [...] 'he himself did nothing wrong, but as he said, he wished he did more,' said Ford."
Cruz, Megan. "Locals mourn Paterno." YNN. January 22, 2012. http://saratoga-north.ynn.com/content/your_news/571083/locals-mourn-paterno/
Do blog posts and articles about Gattuso's hiring an the University at Albany Foundation Board of Directors President's newspaper the Albany Times Union mention the publisher of the Albany Times Union is the President of the Board of Directors of the University at Albany Foundation? Naturally not (when do they?):
Iorizzo, Pete. "UAlbany introduces new football coach." Albany Times Union. December 10, 2013. http://blog.timesunion.com/sports/ualbany-introduces-new-football-coach/506/
"New University at Albany football coach Greg Gattuso got the best possible endorsement from Bob Ford, the beloved figure he is replacing.
"'I think he's cut from the same cloth as I am in many respects,' Ford said [...]
"[Gattuso] received a five-year contract with a $230,000 annual base salary to turn around UAlbany [...] 'Coach Gattuso is a proven winner who will sustain the legacy created by Bob Ford,' McElroy said in the university release."
Singelais, Mark. "UAlbany selects Ford's successor; Maryland assistant head coach Gattuso is named Danes' coach." Albany Times Union. December 9, 2013. http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/UAlbany-selects-Ford-s-successor-5049709.php
And what a legacy Bob Ford has: UAlbany athletics draining resources away from academics, lower academic standards, sexual assaults and other crimes by the young men he coached, a tight relationship with UAlbany's so-called Police "Chief" who cares more about college and pro athletics than law enforcement, etc.
Will the NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) or the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption look into such things? Doubt it!
No comments:
Post a Comment