There are few people that I admire more than Joe Paterno (Penn State’s head football coach). He inspired me when I went to my first Penn State football game when I was three years old, and he still inspires me today. During our last game in Wisconsin, one of the plays ended up on the sideline, coaches and players were knocked over, but nothing out of the ordinary…until I heard and saw Joe Paterno was among the people who got knocked down. Joe, the tough guy he is, stood up, and as soon as he did, his leg unnaturally hyper extended and I almost got sick to my stomach. I yelled “his leg is broken, his leg is broken” to Amy and I watched him try to keep standing. Finally the trainers and other coaches got him to go over to the bench where they could look at his leg/knee.

What I love about Joe is he is such a strong and positive role model. He wanted to stay strong for the team by trying to stand. He did show his fear or his pain, or even want to sit down. … [more]

Not surprising to me, but finally Joe Paterno gets the respect he deserves: Coach of the Year. Good job Joe. I never doubted you. PS. Happy birthday Joe Pa!

Why I love Joe: he makes me want to be a better person.
(from ESPN article):

Now Paterno is in vogue again. Maybe more than ever.

The doubters who cried for change, who thought Paterno was hurting the school by refusing to let go, have had to eat their words.

But don’t expect Paterno to call out his critics.

“To be honest, I really have never thought that way. It’s not my nature,” he said. “I’m not a vindictive guy. I don’t read the papers. I realize the media’s got a job to do and I realize the alumni, if they’re interested in your program, are going to die when you lose and so forth, and a lot of them get carried away.

“What good does it do for me to say, ‘I told you so.’”