Berry Tramel: Penn State not quite in a Happy Valley

We wanted to believe the Paterno legend. Wanted to believe that a Happy Valley did exist. That Penn State somehow was different. That a man who showed up in 1950 and became head coach in 1966 could still run a program above reproach. Even sport an 8-1 record and the No. 12 national ranking here 12 seasons into the 21st century.

And we were right. Penn State is different. Beneath the façade of Pleasantville lived a culture so heinous that it put football consistency over the welfare of little boys.

The Miami pirate ship. The Oklahoma crime spree under Barry Switzer. Not even the Dave Bliss/Baylor basketball atrocity approaches Penn State for its inhumanity.

This is classic behavior for institutional corruption. Penn State seems no different from the Catholic priest sex-abuse cases. Forget the victims. Protect the church, protect the university.

Twenty-six years ago, a national championship Orange Bowl matched coaches with opposite reputations. Saint Paterno and the villainous Switzer.

A few years earlier, Paterno had said he wouldn't retire and “leave college football to the Jackie Sherrills and Barry Switzers of the world.” Paterno apologized to Switzer but not to Sherrill.

Now there can be no qualifiers. It's time for Paterno to leave, no matter who is left behind.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at (405) 760-8080 or at btramel@opubco.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at newsok.com/berrytramel.