The Cult of Penn State - LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-1113-hubler-pennstate-20111113,0,4148222.story

The author of this article, Shawn Hubler, does not try to defend any of those involved in the Sandusky scandal. None of the news sources I found did, but he does emphasize the extent of Penn State football’s control over the people. Being from small-town central Pennsylvania, he never once resisted or even hesitated the devotion he and his family had for this “cult,” as his mother brings rosary beads to the game and his parents, not having gone to the college themselves, adopt Penn State as the highest level of success.

This article analyzed changes over time and distance. Hubler notes how infallible and almighty the university was, and remained, until the less mired, urban “scholarship kids” force him to step outside of the current and how his growing up was marked by the slow disillusionment process. He examines the relationships between sports and the people, their spheres on influence and hints at what about each place determines how extreme their support will be. He reflects on how unhealthy this prioritizing can be when the town in question has such old and unchanging traditions and where the breaking point could be (when does it turn bad?). Hubler chooses to focus on Paterno and his personal relationships with Penn State football, as a retrospective. This anchors each block of realization with the author’s own growth, winning our trust with how personal it is, and playing with our consciences (what are we this oblivious towards?) and a warning: not to ever become so enmeshed with a group so that we can’t tell their decisions from our own. He suggests filtering information more objectively, and as a reporter, he is able to appeal to mostly all audiences, even those whose faith in Paterno is now stronger than ever.