While I maintain the superiority of baseball over all other sports (and have fun doing so), I do love sports in general. And I had a passion for college sports over pro sports.

There was certainly an admiration I carried for years for Joe Paterno because he seemed to do things the “right” way in football.

Of course, it has all fallen apart and it’s an incredibly sad mess on just about every level imaginable.

One writer I admire greatly is Joe Posnanski. Joe finds himself deep in this stuff because he was actually working on a biography of Paterno. Talk about “timing.” So, his thoughts are well worth reading.

Then, on another level, I am becoming sickened by my own passion for sports. When I hear reports about Sandusky and Penn State, what I am hearing more is the need to restore Penn State’s reputation. In one Today Show piece, a huge Penn State fan talked about his anger toward Sandusky. Why? Because Sandusky had dared to tarnish the reputation of Penn State.

Ummm… what about the victims?

But, our love for sports and worship of the games we love to play and watch really gets in the way. This hard-hitting article says it far more effectively than I could.

On another level is the superiority with which we think we would act in a similar situation. The young grad assistant who first reported the incident to Coach Paterno is getting grilled. To which David Brooks says, “Not so fast.”

I truly hope we don’t let this horrific incident pass us by as a culture. It says far too much about us to be left alone or shoved aside for the next news cycle.

Let’s be real, could we? Congress won’t solve any budget issues even though we are pressed “to the brink” once again.

The Minnesota Vikings will get their stadium.

All other issues that the media says are so “vital” just aren’t. At least for a few days.

Could we not stop, take a look at this train wreck not for the sake of seeing a train wreck, but to reflect? What do we honestly value as a culture? What “reputations” do we value? What relationships mean the most to us? How do we react to such stories? How do we respond in relationship to the victims?

We need to allow awfulness to shake us awake from time to time. Then, we can get back to our regularly scheduled football games.