Patriots and Paterno
A Sunday of Triumph and Tragedy
By: Charles Giuliano - Jan 23, 2012
On Sunday morning we were surprised and saddened that coach Joe Paterno, a legend of college football, died at 85. It was just months from when his family announced that he was stricken with a “treatable form of lung cancer.”
Hours later we were riveted by a sloppy, nail biting, smash mouth playoff game between the tough and resilient Baltimore Ravens and a New England Patriots team which few experts predicted would get this far.
It was a topsy-turvy contest of mistakes, fumbles, interceptions and the unexpected.
The sudden death of a great coach whose many, remarkable accomplishments and legacy will now be remembered for ending in scandal and disgrace.
A team that few truly believed in prevailed in the final seconds of an evenly fought game that was too close to call. Having miraculously knocked down a reception in the end zone, which would have iced the game for the Ravens, in the final seconds, the kicker shanked one wide that would have sent the game into overtime.
Now Monday the shock of Paterno’s death, and the euphoria of the Pats once again heading to the Super Bowl, is old news.
While JoePa, as he was known to legions of Penn State fans is laid to rest, the media will hype to death the two week runup to coach Bill Belichick’s fifth trip to the Super Bowl since taking over as head coach in 2000.
Let us pause for a moment to consider these implausible football stories that played out so differently yesterday. They represent a rare confluence of the yin and yang of sports.
To quote Confucius “It’s not a matter of whether you win or loose. It’s how you play the game.”
Beyond the final score, and the win/ loss column, and the kind of stats that intrigued us in “Money Ball,” sports often provide compelling metaphors of life itself.
Why, for example, did Paterno continue to coach into his mid 80s?
Of course that is not a question one would ask of an artist.
We tend to think of coaching as a job not as an art form. Perhaps Paterno and Belichick should be regarded as masters of their game. It might be appropriate to address them as maestro rather than coach.
Maestro Belichick.
How does that sound?
Perhaps not quite right for the gruff and grumbling guy in a hoodie. He is more noted for what he doesn’t say during reluctant and usually aloof, resentful meetings with the media.
Maestro implies a kind of elegance and sophistication not associated with the job description of a football coach.
Arguably, as Magister Ludi, a coach moves armored giants with X’s and O’s in complex strategies which can be changed by audibles at the line of scrimmage.
Perhaps the quarterback is the maestro.
Tom Brady is among the greats at the position.
Yesterday, as he himself put it in a post game interview, “I sucked.”
Absolutely.
But the great ones get the job done.
It was just astonishing to see him make that high dive over center on the goal line.
Just like Sam Bam Cunningham at the Rose Bowl.
Consider the risk factor.
That’s your one, indispensable player: The quarterback.
Like having your king or general lead the charge.
They did just that back in the day.
Yeah, Brady is great. He led them through a flip flop season.
Like last week when he defeated God at Mile High Stadium.
When I conflate Quarterback and Maestro, however, Peyton Manning comes to mind.
Watching him shake and bake back there is just terrifying.
What moves.
Incredible.
Compared to which Tom Terrific stays in the pocket, stands and delivers.
With pin point accuracy when his game is on.
This season just seemed so hollow with Peyton sidelined.
Likely never to return or not as his former self.
While the once mighty Colts folded into a doormat.
The Pats face a grudge match against brother Eli and the Giants.
It was the other Manning who wrecked a would-be perfect season with a Super Bowl defeat in 2008.
We will hear that rehashed to death in the next couple of weeks.
By then Paterno will be a trivia question.
One last time, however, Say it ain’t so Joe.
A flawless reputation ruined, not by what he did, but what he didn’t do.
When compelling evidence of sexual abuse was brought to his attention JoePa, arguably, looked the other way.
Allegedly he put self interest, that of the team, and that of the university ahead of doing the right thing.
Ultimately, the alleged criminal activities of Jerry Sandusky, a once trusted associate, brought them all down.
Sports are about character.
It takes courage, determination, heart and stamina to triumph against the odds.
Yesterday, in the face of defeat, John Harbaugh the coach of the Ravens spoke to the media with enormous grace and dignity. He deserved to win. On this day it was not meant to be.
When Paterno faced his greatest challenge, off the field, he was found lacking.
His demise was truly an American Tragedy.