You're Never Too Old: Ask "Joe Pa"

By Lawrence Bienemann I recently had the privilege of watching Joe Paterno, head coach of The Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions football team, coach his way to an exciting, (triple overtime!) Orange Bowl win. ‘Joe Pa,’ as he is affectionately known by both critics and admirers, turned 79 in December. He is the oldest active coach of a major football team, finished this season with 10 wins and only 1 loss, and was rewarded with a New Year’s day trip to a major bowl game. He also won this year's Associated Press "Coach of the Year" honors. What's interesting about his achievement is that it comes on the heels of some very tough seasons. Championship games were certainly not predicted. In fact, he had been dubbed "too old" and "past his prime" by the press and others at the university campus. Also of note? His team beat the only other team led by a coach with more career wins than Paterno – Florida State University’s Bobby Bowden. Coach Bowden is a mere 76 years old. So why does our culture continue to look at the 40’s and 50’s as our ‘prime’ years? What about people like Paterno and Bowden? They have good company: Picasso, Grandma Moses, Paul McCartney, Fran Goodwin and Lucille Chamberlain... This is a short list of people, past and present, world famous and local, who just seem to produce ‘more and better’ and become more vibrant and productive with every passing year. Our culture is quick to use age as an excuse for failing performance. Maybe ‘seniority’ just gives us the patience to avoid excuse-making, the confidence to be fully ourselves and the wisdom to know that most things happen in cycles…. and that if we just keep doing what we know how to do, to the best of our ability, we’ll get to play in another championship game – no matter what our talent. Good coaches are never too old to win. Lawrence Bienemann is a co-founder of The Sheng Group, a management consulting company. He is an RSVP volunteer in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. In addition, he writes and speaks on issues related to 'outrageous aging.' You can reach him by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or at 603-838-6577. Comments (0) >> Write comment Name Email Website Title Comment Write the displayed characters Add Comment

 

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