Zirin on Joe Pa.

• Author: Reiss, Philip
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

Dave Zirin was right on target again ("Penn State and Other Fiefdoms," February issue). Might I add that nearly half of the 90,000-plus fans that turn up at Penn State football games haven't gone to PSU. Those games give many folks living less than a seventy-mile radius of Beaver Stadium something to do and identify with on those Saturdays each fall. Penn State games are a lot closer than going 140 miles to either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to see an NFL game. The tailgating hoopla and the excitement of the games offer a brief escape from humdrum places located in the heart of what my New York acquaintances call "Pennsyltucky."

Philip Reiss

Coopersburg, Pennsylvania

I never watch football, either on TV or in person, I know nothing of Penn State football, nor am I able to recognize the names of any present or former football players from PSU, nor do I know anyone who has attended Penn State.

That being said, I still feel compelled to object to Dave Zirin's judgment of Joe Paterno, who had been informed only of an allegation concerning Jerry Sandusky.

When one witnesses a crime, one is both morally and civilly obligated to report it to the police. With allegations, it's somewhat different. In both the military and in academia (I have served in the U.S. Army and taught for half a century), members are required to observe the chain of command. Paterno did this. An allegation of a horrific sexual act was reported to Paterno, who informed two of his superiors.

I'm sure that the overwhelming majority of aware people believe that Sandusky is guilty, but here in the United States one is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Zirin rightfully castigates Penn State as a "company town where the company is football, and moral posturing acts as a substitute for actual morality." I acknowledge that many in authority at Penn State acted hypocritically...