Philadelphia, PA

Stressing that "it represents the good, and not the bad, that he did", Penn State Board of Trustees have decided to keep the statue of the late football coach Joe Paterno standing, despite pressures from several sectors.

Former coaches, commentators and members of the public have demanded that Paterno's statue be torn down after the Freeh report revealed that he partly played a role in covering up child sexual abuse allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse over a 15-year period. He is awaiting sentencing and facing 445 years in prison. The scandal led to the firing of Paterno in November. He died of lung cancer months later.

"You can't let people stampede you into making a rash decision," a trustee said. "The statue represents the good that Joe did. It doesn't represent the bad that he did."

Several trustees believed Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium eventually would have to be torn down but most agreed it should remain standing in the coming weeks and months.

"It has to stay up," said another trustee. "We have to let a number of months pass, and we'll address it again. But there is no way, no way. It's just not coming down."

"We don't want to jump the gun again. When we did that in November, look where we ended up," another trustee said, referring to the firing of Paterno without getting his side. "If it does have to come down it will be after much deliberation and discussion. If I had my way, the statuewill always be there. People can take from it what they want."

Another trustee said the board is hoping they can have more time pass and people will forget about it and then it won't come down

"I think we have to take some time, some reflection and distance before making a decision on how we will think about Joe Paterno's entire life and body of work," board member Ken Frazier said.

Hours after the Freeh report was made public, Nike announced it was removing Joe Paterno's name from its child development center and Penn State announced that it will renovate the locker rooms and shower areas where Sandusky assaulted children.

If a player can be banned before he gets into a Hall of Fame, why can't someone be tossed after they're in? Len Berman doesn't agree with Pete Rose's ineligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for betting, and he wonders if O.J. Simpson and Joe Paterno can now be thrown out of their halls for their misdeeds?

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