We're Gonna Miss You, Joe Paterno

Anyone who ever watched an American football game probably knew Joe Paterno by reputation...the winningest college coach of all time, five undefeated seasons, three national titles. The list is long and yet it does not tell the real story of Joe Paterno.
He was a simple man, born into a world, 1926, when everything was a lot simpler and more wholesome. He loved his game and it was terribly good to him, but then genius is hard to defeat.
His legendary protection and discipline of his football players, their dedication and love of The Coach, and his wisdom in saying "no" when well-meaning but wrong-headed politicians asked him to run for governor of Pennsylvania. He stuck to football, the Penn State Nittany Lions to be exact, and never looked back.
And, then the unthinkable fell on him and his beloved game. A child abuse scandal at the heart of the Penn State football program. He was devastated, confused by it, and rapidly dismissed by the much younger board of trustees - to show the world they were serious about cleaning up the problem.
Joe Paterno took it like the man he was. He said he should have done more, he agonized over it, he stood in front of his home and told his beloved students to stop rioting and get back their studies when they tried to overturn his dismissal. But he said in his last interview that while he understood that there was a problem, he had no idea what its details were because he didn’t understand it. Joe Paterno was caught up by a world of sex, drugs and rock-n-roll that was simply not part of his life, just as our own grandparents would have been,
And then the second blow - he had lung cancer. Soon confined to a wheelchair and chemotherapy and radiation, he knew, and so did we all who looked at his ravaged face, that Joe was nearing the end. Death came for him this past weekend.
If you love real sports and sportsmanship, your eyes welled up as mine did when the news broke. A football world without Joe Paterno is almost unthinkable. And, the cruelty of being ripped from his team without so much as a public thank-you from Penn State while he was still alive for his immense contribution to the game of football, to civility and honor in sports, and to building men from the youngsters whom he took under his loving wing.
But, those men were there - never wavering during the scandal and at his death. They honored Joe Paterno as we could never do, because they knew him and they knew that he was a unique figure in their lives, in their sport and in America.
Rest in peace, Joe. We will never see your likes again.