Abuse In Sports

I'm reading the stories about Sayreville, NJ about the horrible acts taking place in the locker rooms.   Reading the details makes me want to vomit from here to eternity.  It should make everyone so angry, but unfortunately some don't understand just how bad this is.  They think you are attacking their precious game of football.

It was not that long ago that NFL had the video in the news of the player abusing his wife.  At the time, it was the outrage and it doesn't appear to have slowed down the people who worship football.  Maybe that's too harsh, but it really bothers me when we get worked up over a story one day and forget it the next.  Too much of sports is about money and wining and these appear to be more important than human dignity.  I'm sure there are other details that took place here, but I don't follow every nuance of these stories.

Pain Of The Paterno Statue

This is written for all child abuse victims that know far too well the pain of what they endured.  It is also written for those that choose to stay in the dark, when it comes to the issue of child abuse.  There is no greater pain, then the betrayal as a child, of people you look up to or trust.  The pain is greater than anything one can imagine and it isn't like it leaves you alone for the rest of your life.  The pain of child abuse becomes your constant companion throughout your life as you try to heal and move on from it.

Seeing people talk about the penalties that Penn State received in regards to their football program as if they were excessive, is somewhat shocking to me.  As I tweeted yesterday, they must not realize the pain of child abuse.  While I know Paterno did not abuse the children, he held a position where he could have put a stop to it.  However, the almighty sports program and money making donation machine was more important than the welfare, safety and respect of children.

Sandusky and the Paterno Statue

This story has ignited passions and comments throughout the internet.  If you read the trending on twitter today, it is ranking high because they took down the statue of Paterno early this morning (Sunday, July 22, 2012).  While Penn State is trying to move forward and distance themselves from this horrible stain of blood on their university, it will be forever remembered what happened to many children.

Everyone wants to believe that child molesters are some evil looking people hiding in the bushes waiting to pounce on innocent children.  No one wants to think about the child molesters that are normal looking people in places of power, position or influence.  Time and time again, we see this happen from the Catholic, Mormon and Baptist churches to our schools, communities, Boy Scouts and summer camps.

It doesn't stop there though as this happens within families all the time.  The fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins and other relatives that molest their children often go unseen and unheard.  There is a culture of molesting children, while family and friends look the other way.  What Joe Paterno did at Penn State is no different then what happens each and every day in our world.  Far too many people look the other way acting as if nothing is happening.

Did Sandusky's Wife Know?

How much do members of an immediate family know about child abuse taking place under the same roof?  This is a very good question.  Now that Sandusky has been found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child abuse and molestation, people are beginning to wonder how much his wife, Dottie Sandusky knew.  Some people feel she should have known what was going on and is trying to hide what happened, but I'm not sure I would agree with that analysis.

Please don't get me wrong as I'm not endorsing or supporting Dottie Sandusky in any way.  I'm sure there had to be signs that something was up, but of course all of us only see what we want to see.  If we don't want to see something, we put blinders on and act as if never happened.  Does that excuse this behavior?  Absolutely NOT in my mind.  Does everyone put blinders on?  Absolutely, yes they do!

In my own house growing up, I still question to this day what my mom knew about what was going on in the bedrooms or the barn or the vehicles or the semi-truck.  I remember at one point she was trying to hug me and I was so startled that I immediately pulled back.  It surprised her and myself.  Of course, no one thought any further about it.  I remember one time when one of my abusers was having a session with me and as we heard my mom come up the stairs, he demanded that we get dressed quickly.  When she walked in the room, I was zipping up my pants and buckling my belt.  It would have been hard for her NOT to see what was going on, but in my house you just went on as if all this was normal.  There were other things that would indicate something was going on, but it would take much more time than I have here to write it on this blog.