Sunday morning was not Joe Paterno's finest hour, or half hour as it were.
ESPN documented the litany of Nittany Lion legal problems on its ''Outside the Lines'' program, and Paterno came across as an unapologetic, out-of-touch curmudgeon during his interview segments.
It was sad to watch, really.
It appeared Paterno cannot see or refuses to acknowledge the damage that all the off-the-field problems have done to his and Penn State's once golden image.
ESPN did its homework and detailed the whopping number of arrests and charges that have piled up against Penn State football players in recent years. None of it was new information - every incident had been reported in detail on a case-by-case basis - but seeing it all compiled into one report on national TV certainly was embarrassing for the university.
Everything was presented to Paterno, at which point he had two options. He could:
1. Admit there have been problems, apologize for them and vow to do everything in his power to make sure the nonsense stops; or
2. Get defensive, refuse to show any responsibility and call the whole report ''a witch hunt.''
Paterno did the latter, which was a big mistake.
Overall, three words could describe the report, and they are not ''a witch hunt'' as Paterno suggested. The correct three words are ''the truth hurts.''
The truth is there has been an obvious lack of institutional control regarding the Penn State football program.
While Paterno backpedaled during his interview, university president Graham Spanier met the issue head on by admitting there have been too many transgressions and that they have to stop.
Unlike Paterno, Spanier came out looking like a true leader.
The ESPN program focused primarily on the apartment fight in April of 2007 that led to six players initially getting charged with felonies. That subject was done very well, but it was strange so much attention was placed on an incident that occurred 15 months ago.
Very little of the program centered around the HUB brawl in October, Austin Scott's rape charge or Chris Bell pulling a knife on a teammate. If anything, ESPN could have bolstered its case of mounting problems at PSU by probing more into those incidents.
The best component of Sunday's program came near the end during analysis by Philadelphia sports radio broadcaster Mike Missanelli. He pointed out Paterno has ''responded very poorly'' any time the legal issues are brought up.
Instead of addressing the real issues and how to correct them, Missanelli mentioned how Paterno often has chided reporters simply for asking about the problems.
That's called denial.
The worst part of this situation is that in late July, with the football season still more than a month away, Penn State is in spin control defending its football program and its head coach.
It's embarrassing for the school, for Spanier and most of all for Paterno. He's in the final year of his contract, and his defensive stance on a national stage in Sunday's program could not have garnered him much support from university officials.
