Lendle

For nearly five decades, Joe Paterno has enjoyed a coaching record that was almost as pristine as his reputation off the field. But for all of his unrivaled achievements, the legendary Penn State football coach may ultimately see his legacy tarnished and eternally defined by a shocking scandal that rocked the world of collegiate sports in the fall of 2011.As the headlines revealed to a captivated global audience, Joe Paterno's discharge as head coach seemed to be the only fitting course of action for the board of trustees to take in the hours following the announced allegations against former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. In "Joe Paterno: The Sandusky Scandal Ends A Coaching Legend's Career," Michael Essany and Ian Ross Hughes provide balanced analysis of the Sandusky Scandal and its effect on Joe Paterno, Penn State, and society as a whole. Chapter List:Chapter 1: Fall from GraceChapter 2: The Paterno LegacyChapter 3: The InvestigationChapter 4: And The Crowd Goes WildChapter 5: A Collegiate Powder KegChapter 6: The Long Road to RecoveryChapter 7: Paterno’s PredicamentBook Excerpt From Chapter 4:It was a scene reminiscent of a sports community that had either secured a major championship victory or defiantly endured a devastating defeat.Shortly after Penn State brass announced the termination of head coach Joe Paterno's contract, a sea of Penn State students - thousands in all - flooded the downtown area to express their apparent anger and objection to the coach's firing. Storming the surrounding community like an invading army with torches in the night, the vociferous mob rhythmically chanted Paterno's name as they unleashed their discontentment through physical acts of aggression aimed at their surroundings.Hell in "Happy Valley"From plowing down light poles and overturning vehicles (most notably a television news van on College Avenue), hell was unleashed on "Happy Valley" - a moniker often used to denote the general surroundings of the Penn State campus.But, as it turned out, what happens in "Happy Valley" doesn't stay in "Happy Valley." International news media were on hand to cover what became known as the Penn State riots. Video and images from the student uprising portrayed demonstrators running amuck and battling authorities, which included throwing rocks and even directing fireworks at campus police. Within hours of the initiation of the campus turmoil, crowds had swelled to a massive extent. Authorities were forced to respond with pepper spray to disperse the riotous and increasingly violent band of students. But the swarm of incensed protestors would not be easily repelled, as the majority of demonstrators crowded police and pushed the officers back into a position of retreat. It was not until the early morning hours of the following day that police had finally quelled the angry mob and successfully dispersed the crowd by forcefully marching, with linked arms and pepper spray galore, down College Avenue until the streets were cleared and sanity was restored.State College police subsequently requested additional assistance from local and state police. Penn State officials admitted that for the foreseeable future police will be closely monitoring all campus events and social networking sites to remain on top of student protests for the purpose of deploying adequate personnel to control any future riotous outbreaks.Missing The Big Picture"Of course we're going to riot," Paul Howard, a 24 year-old aerospace engineering student at Penn State University, told The New York Times. "What do they expect when they tell us at 10 o'clock that they fired our football coach?"You can read more inside the book.