Joe Paterno Belongs; So Do His Peers

By: Chicago Sports Review

Old just isn’t what it used to be.Joe Paterno has paced the sidelines of Beaver Stadium for decades in a pair of Nike shoes we now refer to as “classic.” He has walked the distance from home to office, in preparation for those games, every day for a period that spans four decades. At Penn State, they have afforded him the opportunity to keep doing just that.

Now a youthful 77, under his new contract, he will almost surely coach past the age of 80.

My grandma is nearly 92-years old. She cooks, she cleans, she emails obsessively, she jogs to the mailbox, and at periodic intervals - those few times I am able to visit - she seems to have shrunk. Perhaps I’ve grown. Grandpa shares her age, and her company each night at dinner, as he has for nearly 70 years. Both correspond with their grandson religiously, separated by 2300 miles. One does this instantly, through a maze of fiberoptics. The other relies on an old typewriter. This promises the nearly archaic gift of an envelope opened minus a bill, and a kind word and memory shared.

These are the ones we seek for the world’s greatest gift: perspective.

A good many maintain memories vivid, lessons learned, and opinions aplenty. And wisdom.

Who better to coach? Innovation will never be out. However, we have entered an age of sports that aligns itself with scientific discovery. The blackboard has been replaced with the high definition screen. The chalk has taken a backseat, and now the laser pointer is in.

Hockey, a sport where facial lacerations typically outnumber teeth, has coaches with handheld monitors, diagramming plays through a satellite-linked screen accessing the very game they’re coaching. All this, and yet the crusty old coach is still at times replacing the young.

The reason is this: There are only so many developments that can be made. There are only so many ways to manipulate the rubics cube. We are talking about games that have boundaries, and parameters. And thus, perhaps it just comes down to perspective, and memory, wisdom, and earned respect.

Over the past year, Bill Parcells, Hubie Brown, and Joe Gibbs are a group of way over the hill coaches back in the game. In the case of Brown and Parcells, dividends were paid almost instantly. Want to bet against the aging Joe Gibbs?

Have we reached a new era? We have in terms of aging. People are living longer. Minds are staying sharper. Old just isn’t as old as it used to be.

This year, I have heard as many comments calling Sean Connery “hot” as I have virtually anybody else. Wrinkles are radiant. Limps are lovely. Comb-overs are…

Ultimately, many general managers are falling in love with the idea of having a coach in place who has seen multiple systems work or fail, and relies more on fundamentals, and getting the most out of a group. With expansion, salary caps, mega-salaries and free agency constantly changing the landscape of professional sports, parity is the norm. Early exits, transfers, increased pressure, and elevated coaching salaries have changed the landscape of college athletics.

So in an age of administrative change, those making hiring decisions should seek the perception that comes with having seen it all. And the trend will, and should, continue. When all the developments and failures have been exhausted, something must remain.

In State College, PA, it’s JoePa. In other cities, others are learning that when something old and something new are weighed side by side, there’s more than gold fillings making the scales droop for the grandpas.

It was a couple months ago that grandma sent me an article about Joe Paterno, and the effect his example had been on so many people. She thought it was a cute article. But it was more. It was an acknowledgment of respect from one senior to another. General managers and college presidents should acknowledge the same.

Why not listen to old Joe Paterno? Why not learn from a living legacy?

Respect does still mean something, and when an administrator knows that they have hired an old coach who simply gets the heart and soul of their players on the field, and their respect off it - sometimes that’s enough.

And maybe grandma was right. Paterno should be around.

Maybe those messages off the typewriter mean more.

Who better than the old to teach us something new?

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