How far have we fallen as a nation when revered men like Joe Paterno and Jim Tressel prove vulnerable to the corruption in the sports world that merely mirrors that of our country?

A question like this must make us take pause.

And as we do, one’s mind races to questions more than conclusions.

How could someone like JoePa risk destroying the record-breaking legacy he has worked for over a half-century to build? How could Tressel dishonor the memory of his late father Lee Tressel, a widely respected and wildly successful college football coach at Baldwin-Wallace?

Here’s how: They valued loyalty to a person over loyalty to the truth. That never works out to be the right choice.

The truth, well that’ll set us free and keep us free. People ... not so much. The problem being that people are not perfect.

Until about a week ago, JoePa was as close to perfect as a coach could be ... as revered in college football circles as John Wooden was in college hoops lore. Everyone loved JoePa, and he thrived projecting that loveable, cuddly grandpa image. But he was all along carrying a secret flaw he hoped no one would find out about.

Now how does that image look?

JoePa made a mistake, choosing to protect a friend, who turned out to be criminally disturbed and morally bankrupt, instead of an innocent victim. Lie built upon lie, until the truth no longer seemed like an option. Lies always do that you know, grow bigger and uglier the longer they are allowed to live.

Could you imagine what Paterno lived with as each milestone came and went? When the crowds were gone and the lights were off, when he pillowed his head at night did he have this cloud of his deceit hanging over his head, haunting his dreams? And if he didn’t, well he was more culpable than we really know.

While it would be insane to compare the recent scandals at Penn State and Ohio State, they rise out of the insidious environment that surrounds collegiate sports as well as the preps and the pros — if you’re good with the ball, you can get away with it all.

That’s what our “stars,” our “heroes” grow up being taught today. So much so that the ones who are teaching them come to believe it, too. Even those from the old school.

Until the truth rears its ugly head.

When it does, fingers start pointing. But who is to blame? Those who followed the advice of the crowd, stayed quiet and let the lies grow? Or the hypocritical system that gives safe port to those who were born into, and fed by, that system?

Who’s to blame? The system? The criminals? The quiet-at-all-cost accomplices? All of them?

Well, one thing’s for sure: Not those who pursue the truth.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0364.