professor
Thanks for the reply.
But I must remind you of a couple of things.
(1) - no one in their right mind (with the exception to possibly some of the Penn State faithful) has an issue believing that Paterno was a major dirtbag. No one in this entire thread has said/inferred anything contrary to that perception, which confuses me as to why you would infer that anyone here is prepared to give credibility to the "one-sided slants" that you seem to think the media has portrayed. I'll go a step further and say that I, personally, have yet to hear any credible media source (locally or nationally) remotely attempt to paint Paterno in an otherwise positive light since those revelations came to light. So this "one-sided slant" you speak of - where is that coming from? I would hope your own personal news media preferences are at least a bit more filtered and objective than that.
Furthermore... I pointed out that your "first-hand" accounts, as accurate and trusted as you personally might deem them, as accurate as I'm sure they are, nevertheless fail to meet the same exact standard of "burden of proof," which is precisely the argument you levied upon several here for expressing an opinion on the reports that came out immediately following Tiger's DUI arrest two weeks ago. Reports, mind you, that were covered by numerous credentialed, respected media services, which were detailed in police reports and actual, disturbing video footage.
So I'm not sure if you're attempting to change the subject, deflect, or if maybe there's a genuine disconnect somewhere along the communication lines on your part. Just trust that I'm not gonna tell you to "go to hell" however you respond to that question. 😉
(2) - (and to get the topic back on point) - I seriously doubt that HBO would attempt to portray Paterno as this misunderstood, out-of-touch legendary coach who was too old and feeble to understand right from wrong. I don't think there's enough paint on the planet for them to come close to painting that picture. In fact, I think that once they move beyond establishing the background of how Paterno came to fame as the head coach there, they will move quickly to the plot of the story, which I hope not only indicts Paterno's egregious inaction, but also the blind-eye turning from others associated with the football program (possibly even his own family???) who had every reason to be aware that there was a problem with an assistant coach molesting young kids.
If this biopic doesn't cause one to consider the likelihood of not only Paterno's inaction, but too - those who knew and yet did nothing, then HBO will have failed miserably.
No one in their right mind could fathom this story being written and produced in any way that would even consider exempting Paterno from the lion's share of the blame. There is absolutely no glory in this story. Just tragedy.