The Last Conversation... and Kung Pao Chicken

                                                             Earvin Johnson, pre-Magic

   The title of this installment of 7DB will make more sense towards the bottom of the entry, I promise, but for now I will note that the combination of recent events in the news and the marking of the passage of time in the life of the 7DB clan has dovetailed nicely into topic matter. It has also motivated me to get my Beat Down stick out, and the first recipient is former Defensive Coordinator for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Mister Jerry Sandusky.

   For those living in a hovel these last few days, Sandusky is a former coach on the legendary staff of Penn State's football team, led by Joe Paterno. Paterno has a long and storied reputation for a morally strong and solid program, one that includes two national championships and numerous bowl appearances and players who have graduated and moved on to high-profile careers in the NFL. That is part of why the story about their program elicits such shock for those who are aware of JoePa and his history of raising men.

   Sandusky stands charged with more than a decade of abusing boys sexually, many of whom were involved with his 'Second Mile' program for foster children, and all of this while having extensive involvement with the university, including after his retirement from his post as the Defensive Coordinator for the football team. Sandusky hosted clinics for boys in the 4th-9th grades, and used his pull with the coaching staff to take kids on behind-the-scenes tours of the stadium and locker rooms. Where he apparently thought it was OK to sodomize them.

   DISCLAIMER: Innocent until proven guilty. Enough? Good. I will continue.

   IF Sandusky is guilty (caps on purpose), then some combination of the following penalties should be imposed:
   -Flogging by the victims, preferably with barbed baseball bats propelled at high speeds.
   -After an evacuation of family and pets, his house should be filled with rabid bobcats, and Sandusky should then serve home confinement until his trial.
   -As part of the initial sentence, Sandusky should be used for testing of weed killing products and mascara, much like rabbits are now.
   -Every person subjected to the assaults alleged in Grand Jury documents should be allowed to add items to this list.

   The former coach grew up with his parents running a center where troubled youth could feel safe and get a meal, and get help to get through their lives. Somehow, this person took that experience and turned it into a victim factory. Eight youngsters have been identified, but history tells us that many other victims could be out there, hiding from the history of pain.

   There are two responses to this story I have encountered so far: disgust and anger. Every person should feel disgusted even reading the words that make up the assertions, even the most jaded of us. The only point that every religion, every country, every dictator in history have agreed upon is the innocence of children. Stealing this for the satisfaction of a fetish is reprehensible, at best.

   The second reaction, however, is where my thoughts lie. Those who show immediate anger at the charges are people who are familiar with what damage that kind of treatment does to the victim. I am not one to give people 'victim' status lightly, as I believe that everybody has their particular crosses to bear in life, but these children are the absolute meaning of the word 'victim'. No offense was rendered by them, yet a punishment of a lifetime of mental anguish was meted out. But the anger doesn't stop there...

   What may be even worse, as I must believe that this Sandusky was damaged emotionally by parents who gave everything to those in need, but gave nothing to their own flesh and blood, and that this is his motivation... is the reaction of the university. All of the stuffed suits that are currently facing charges are morally responsible, no matter what the legal verdicts are, and the charges they face are not due to participation, but to having known that this happened and not calling the authorities. Many of the people involved have resigned their posts at the university, surrendered to police and posted bail. Their day in court is coming. But one man has escaped the heat largely thus far. That is where the vitriol peaks... Coach Paterno.

   Joe Paterno was approached by a graduate assistant, after said assistant witnessed Sandusky and a child in a shower, after hours, and hearing distinctive slapping noises. When the assistant came into full view, the former 'coach of men' had a small boy pinned against the shower wall while he defiled him from behind. He immediately went to find Paterno and tell him. Paterno's response? Wait a day, then pass the buck to the Athletic Director for the school.

   Now, to be fair to JoePa, he knew this man for more than 30 years, and had no reason prior to suspect his proclivities to be of an abusive nature. However, if I knew someone for 30 years, and this accusation came up from a non-biased source, the very first thing that would happen is a heated conversation with the accused, followed quickly by a call to the police. There is just no way that one can misconstrue what the graduate assistant recounted to the Head Coach. If for no other reason than embarrassment, Paterno should have immediately stepped down. He wants to not discuss the matter, saying it takes away from what the young men on the field have to deal with.

   Well, Joe, the young men on the field have to deal with you letting child molesters linger on your staff for more than 30 years, so I figure they'll be able to handle some bad press. If you care about your players and their future, step aside and own up that you should have, as a man and an adult and a mandatory reporter of child abuse per Pennsylvania law, called the cops and let them sort it out.
 
   Paterno has a press conference scheduled later today, where one hopes he has a logical, digestible explanation for turning a blind eye to one of his assistant coaches sexually abusing children in his own damned locker room. Then, afterwards, I will Webcast the four dozen pigs I have stored flying out of my ass. Man better retire quickly, before the anger simmers back to a boil, and a Google Map out the path to Happy Valley, PA.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   The doctor accused of killing Michael Jackson with prescription drugs was convicted of  involuntary manslaughter this week. I don't wish to delve too deeply into this topic, as I am not sure I want to discuss a man that could have been the exact subject of the previous paragraphs. 7DB loved the early work of the King of Pop, but did not relate to having Macaulay Culkin up to the ranch for long weekends of 'play'.

   Net result, a man who voluntarily dyed his own skin for years will have justice served in his memory for the benefit of people who are still alive. What justice that is... is not for a humble man such as I to evaluate.

   Corny joke alert: He was not a Smooth Criminal. The courtroom trial was certainly a Thriller, but the verdict told us who's Bad. The doctor knew the case against him, but he just couldn't Beat It. It didn't seem Dangerous, but it was. It's all laid out in the court papers, right there in Black or White. Michael wasn't sure if the drugs were working, but the doctor told him "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", so MJ looked at the Man In The Mirror and he decided to Ease On Down The Road. After telling the doc he liked the drugs for the Way They Made Him Feel, he became delusional, discussing how a girl named Billie Jean was a P.Y.T., and how he Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' with her. Alas, Everyone Is Someone's Fool, so Michael chose to Get On The Floor. He couldn't help it. It was just Human Nature.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Smokin' Joe Frazier passed away from complications relating to liver cancer this week, at the age of 67. A man known best for three epic brawls with Muhammad Ali should actually be best remembered for his work with underprivileged children in his native Philadelphia. His name and reputation are marked with gentlemanly behavior outside of the ring, and vicious execution inside of it. Boxing may be a dying sport, but men who fought the way Joe Frazier did will live on in the minds of fans of sport.

   George Foreman, who faced Frazier at his peak, was quoted after hearing of his passing:

   "Good night, Joe Frazier. I love you, dear friend."

   You did something right if a man you traded punches with says that when you pass on.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Earvin 'Magic' Johnson recently celebrated is 52nd birthday, marking more than a half-century that has taken him from the heights of athletic prowess to the same lofty perches of business acumen and success. It is even more remarkable when you consider that, 20 years ago Monday, he held a press conference announcing his own death.

   At least, we the uneducated thought it was his death. Magic had announced his retirement from the NBA after he had "attained" (his unfortunate choice of word) the HIV virus that is a precursor of AIDS. At that point in time, the general public only knew that disease to be one that 'gays' and Africans (not African-Americans...Africans. From the uncivilized areas...) suffered from, a horrible bit of preconception by a public not yet fully indoctrinated in Political Correctness. Now, the most popular athlete in America was going to die from it. His fellow players said they did not want to catch it from playing the game with him, fearful that a speck of blood could be a death sentence.

   The reason that this resonates so clearly with 7DB is that this is the topic of the a conversation between a teen-aged boy and his father. That boy came home from class to see his father and his girlfriend glued to the TV set, watching for "a major announcement" from the Lakers about their star player. The teen joined the unlikely duo to watch the sequence above unfold, and then began a conversation that, unbeknownst to anyone in the room, would be their last.

   The substance of the conversation went from the lack of understanding of the disease to the apparent proclivity of athletes to have marital relations outside of their marriage. (Quite the eye-opener for a teen boy with his girlfriend in the room, as you can imagine...) It wasn't because he was black, and it wasn't because he was gay...it was due to something else. And it was scary. The man with the best smile in the public eye was going to die.

   Now, 20 years later, Magic is still living the dream, with a beautiful family and as good of health as anyone in their 50's should be entitled to. The boy is grown, has a family of his own now. Beautiful wife and daughter... but his father didn't stick around to see it. He died two days after that press conference, at an age five years younger than Magic is now.

   Those words in that last conversation weren't the last words spoken. Life continued on after the press conference ended on November 7, 1991. Dinner was made, and dishes were washed. The last words spoken between the father and his son were in relation to picking up Chinese food to eat that night, to be picked up after the boy took his girl to a movie. Splitting some Kung Pao seemed like a good idea...