Paterno

by Joe Posnanski Narrated by Joe Mantegna

Overview

From America's premier sportswriter, the definitive, #1 New York Times bestselling biography of Joe Paterno and the story of America's love affair with football.

Joe Paterno believed that football was a way to teach young men how to live. He coached at Penn State for 62 years. In the course of his years as a head coach, his teams won 409 games, a Division I record. At the end of his life, more than 100 of those wins were invalidated by the NCAA because of the crimes of a longtime assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, and Paterno's alleged knowledge of those crimes-knowledge Paterno denied until his death. In the process, the name Paterno-the name he had spent a lifetime building-came to represent scandal and controversy.

Joe Posnanski lived in State College, Pennsylvania, through the turbulent final months of Paterno's life and was with him and his family as the scandal that eventually consumed him unfolded. Now with a new afterword, Posnan­ski's book delves deep into the life of Joe Paterno, going back to his childhood days in Brooklyn and his college days at Brown, and looks at him through the eyes of the young men he coached. It is a portrait that goes beyond the daily headlines and into the life of a stubborn idealist, a teacher, and a flawed but principled man who, to the very end, loved to coach.

Editorial Reviews

New York Post - Mike Vaccaro

"I urge you to read [Paterno]. . . A life is never defined entirely by a man's good, or by his bad."

The New York Times - Dwight Garner

"Paterno adds grain and texture to the historical record.... makes a cogent case for absorbing Paterno's entire legacy."

Philadelphia Daily News

"Paterno is a portrait very much in three dimensions. It is the story of an extraordinary life."

ESPN.com

"It is exhilirating to read of Paterno the man and gripping to read of his downfall."

From the Publisher

"Paterno is a portrait very much in three dimensions. It is the story of an extraordinary life."

"Paterno adds grain and texture to the historical record.... makes a cogent case for absorbing Paterno's entire legacy."

"I urge you to read [Paterno]. . . A life is never defined entirely by a man's good, or by his bad."

"It is exhilirating to read of Paterno the man and gripping to read of his downfall."

The truth is that [Paterno] is a portrait very much in three dimensions. In that sense, Posnanski succeeds…We are left with this book as the final record of the final days. It is more than that, obviously - it is the story of an extraordinary life - but it is most compelling as a chronicle of the end.

New York Post

I urge you to read [Paterno]. . . A life is never defined entirely by a man's good, or by his bad.
— Mike Vaccaro

The New York Times

Paterno adds grain and texture to the historical record.... makes a cogent case for absorbing Paterno's entire legacy.
— Dwight Garner

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170768158
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	08/21/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Paterno { Aria }
Joe Paterno

speech to high school coaches

February 5, 1993, Hershey, Pennsylvania

What is a coach? We are teachers. Educators. We have the same obligations as all teachers, except we probably have more influence over young people than anybody but their families. And, in a lot of cases, more than their families.

To teach an academic subject is certainly not easy, but compared to coaching, it is. We can say two plus two is four to every kid and be sure that we are right. But in coaching, we have to literally get to the soul of the people we are dealing with.

We have to work with emotion, commitment, discipline, loyalty, pride.

The things that make the difference in a person’s life.

They look to us for examples. A boy wants to be a man. But he doesn’t know what a man is. They look to us for poise. Everybody doesn’t get a fair shake in life. They look to us for values. You must relate athletic experiences to life. You are role models.

They look to us for consistency. We have to realize a kid will love us one day and hate us the next. That cannot change who we are and what we are about. We are there to help them reach for excellence . . . and not just win games.

We have to be understanding but tough. Firm. Real firmness is always helpful. Bill Clinton said, “I feel for you.” Vince Lombardi said, “The pain is in your head.”

Tom Boswell of the Washington Post wrote about the difference beween excellence and success. He wrote:

“Many people, particularly in sports, believe that success and excellence are the same. They are not. No distinction in the realm of games is more important. Success is tricky, perishable, and often outside our control. On the other hand, excellence is dependable, lasting, and largely within our control. Let me emphasize at once that nobody is all one way or another. The desire for success and love of excellence coexist in all of us. The question is: Where does the balance lie? In a pinch, what guides us?”

I think we all have to ask ourselves that question. In a pinch, what guides us—success or excellence? Which will give us shelter when the storm clouds gather?

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