Idol Fallen: Joe Paterno Statue Removed Sunday Morning

The statue of Joe Paterno on Penn State’s campus was taken down Sunday morning, and with “crippling” sanctions on the way Monday morning, the last thing Penn State and Joe Paterno fans want to see is a high-profile, influential person piling on. But if recent polls are to be believed, about half the country cares what this person says. From CNN reporter Stephanie Gallman, who’s in Aurora, Colo. in the aftermath of Friday morning’s movie theater shooting:

Chances are, a reporter just asked Obama his take on this morning’s developments. I can’t help but feel as if he might lose some votes in Pennsylvania come November, if anyone remembers this.

Bless you, whoever created this image. Please claim credit for it immediately. (Also, let’s all read this by David Jones again while we’re here.)

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All is not well in Happy Valley, as Joe Paterno’s statue was removed Sunday in response to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal that has taken over Penn State University. Worse is yet to come as the NCAA prepares to announce potentially crippling sanctions to the football program Monday morning.

The players will take most of the brunt for the actions of four men who covered up years of on-campus sexual abuse. Current players and alumni took to Twitter on Sunday to defend themselves and make it known that they stand by the program through thick and thin.

If an event has happened in the Penn State scandal story, then the family of Joe Paterno has released a statement about it. Sunday morning, the statue of the fallen coach outside Beaver Stadium was removed and placed in storage, and thus a statement followed.

The statement:

You will not see a better photo of Joe Paterno’s statue being removed than the one Centre Daily Times photographer Christopher Weddle took on Sunday morning.

Paterno’s statue being shrouded in the blue his teams wore proudly for more than half a century, its arm raised and the single index finger extended to show the world who is number one? The symbolism is obvious, and Weddle may well be up for photojournalism prizes at the end of the year because of it.

Perhaps the least essential element of the Penn State scandal: what happens to Joe Paterno’s statue? Even though it makes for nothing tangible, it’s still a symbol that means a great deal to many people, both for what it stands for and for what Penn State chooses to do with it going forward. And according to reports, the school has made its decision.

After a whole lot of chatter Friday that PSU is going to take down the statue, possibly under cover of night, NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones (a caveat, from Ben Jones) tweeted the following:

I know. You’re tired of hearing about Penn State. So, what games did you watch this weekend?

That’s what I thought. But, if it’s any consolation, there’s nothing in today’s Monday Morning Jones about Dwight Howard.