AlohaStyle
BoM Sept '12 & Aug '13
I'm working from home today and have ESPN on in the background, the funeral service for Joe Paterno is on live. I haven't really been paying attention but have looked over a few times. I perked up when Nike Chairman Phil Knight came on as I thought it was ironic how they kept showing pictures of Joe Pa wearing his Nike shoes... I thought it was pretty classless on how much advertising Nike is getting during a funeral, but then realized it is a Joe Pa trademark and then all of a sudden Phil Knight started speaking.
I am glad I paid attention... he had such a good speech. I didn't realize how close they were. He talked about how he flat out told Joe Pa he was his hero back in 1998. He talked about what a great person he was yadda, yadda. He said how in those 12 years, he has never let him down, not once. He then said conventional wisdom would say this last year was a letdown. I was thinking that I couldn't believe he was about to bring up the scandal at his funeral, he started talking about how Joe Pa brought all the info he had to the university President and authorities and did what he had to do. He then said "if there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation and not Joe Pa's response." There was a minute long standing ovation which was very emotional.
He then talked about how after he was fired, in all his interviews in the media, interacting with students etc, he never once complained. His words and body language conveyed a single message... We are Penn State. This got another big/emotional standing ovation.
Whatever your opinion is of the recent scandal, I believe he was one of the truly great people in NCAA history. I am not a Penn State fan by any means, but I respect what he did for that community and the ethics he lived by.
I am glad I paid attention... he had such a good speech. I didn't realize how close they were. He talked about how he flat out told Joe Pa he was his hero back in 1998. He talked about what a great person he was yadda, yadda. He said how in those 12 years, he has never let him down, not once. He then said conventional wisdom would say this last year was a letdown. I was thinking that I couldn't believe he was about to bring up the scandal at his funeral, he started talking about how Joe Pa brought all the info he had to the university President and authorities and did what he had to do. He then said "if there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation and not Joe Pa's response." There was a minute long standing ovation which was very emotional.
He then talked about how after he was fired, in all his interviews in the media, interacting with students etc, he never once complained. His words and body language conveyed a single message... We are Penn State. This got another big/emotional standing ovation.
Whatever your opinion is of the recent scandal, I believe he was one of the truly great people in NCAA history. I am not a Penn State fan by any means, but I respect what he did for that community and the ethics he lived by.
