Penn State: Linebacker U or Lineup U?

This news is slightly old, but shocking nonetheless. In an "Outside the Lines" report on Sunday, ESPN put a spanking to Joe Pa and the Nittany Lions. The show reported that since '02 Penn State football players have been charged with 163 criminal complaints among 46 players. Among those complaints, 45 were guilty pleas. The most shocking statistic; it's getting worse.

In '07, 17 players were charged with 72 crimes. For the non-mensan among us, that's over four crimes each. There are chapters of the Crips and Bloods who don't have crime rates that high. When there's problems like this, the fingers start pointing, and most of them are poking Paterno right in the gut. Asked about an intercepted text message containing an order from him, to disrupt the university's judicial affairs department's business, Paterno said he doesn't know how to text, and "I don't even own a computer."

I don't dispute that Paterno is technologically challenged, he gave the same answer not too long ago in regards to new recruiting processes. But I do think the man is perfectly capable of giving an order to an athletics department intern who knows how to spell his name. Joe Paterno is one of the greatest college football coaches ever, and an icon in the sport, but recently a lack of production on the field has the fanbase pushing him out the door. But it looks like his lack of production off the field is what will finally slam it shut.

More words at the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette