Please retire. Please? Before you die right there on the sideline?
I'm serious, and I'm not trying to be a jerk. Maybe I come off as a jerk. Big shock there. But in all sincerity, this latest medical issue is another sign that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno needs to resign before he has the ugliest ending in coaching history.
The guy is 81. He's getting frail of health, as so many people in their 80s do. There's nothing wrong with that.
My problem with Paterno is his hubris, his denial, that he could die right there on a Saturday afternoon, turning Happy Valley into the world's largest wake. Or maybe he's not in denial. Maybe he's very well aware of the possibility, and he doesn't care. Either way it's an ugly thought, a terrible idea, and it's certainly not something I want to happen.
But it could. Paterno needs to realize that, and realize how horrible that would be for everyone involved, and get out before it actually does happen.
Or someone above him -- there is someone above him at Penn State, right? -- needs to realize it for him. And force him out.
