If you were to consult a thesaurus for the word "Consistent", you would come up with the following words:

Reliable. Dependable. Uniform. Unchanging. Steady. Stable.

These are all words I would use to describe Penn State's long-time football coach Joe Paterno.

Reliable.
Joe Paterno, along with Florida State's Bobby Bowden, was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame today. Bowden is currently ranked #1 in all-time Division I-A coaching wins with 359; Paterno is ranked #2 with 354 wins.

Dependable.
Paterno, who will turn 80 towards the end of the 2006 Collegiate season, coached two national championship teams (1982 & 1986) and coached five undefeated seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986 & 1994).

Uniform.
Paterno played football for Brown University, where he established 14-career interceptions. After graduating from Brown University, he joined Penn State as an assistant football coach under Rip Engle in 1950. It was a position he held until 1965, when Engle retired and Paterno took over as head coach for the Nittany Lions. 41 years later, Paterno can still be seen on the sidelines, wearing his patent dark blue and white Nike shoes and high-cuffed pants, yelling at the refs.

Unchanging.
Paterno has been assistant and head coach of the Nittany Lions for 55 years.

Steady.
Paterno has 21 bowl game victories in 32 bowl game appearances during his coaching career. Penn State has finished 21 times in the Top 10 National Rankings under Paterno.

Stable.
Paterno's emphasis on doing well does not stop at football. In the 1970's, he began what was called a "Grand Experiment", requiring that all his players do well in academics as well as in football. The experiment worked. Penn State's football players consistently retain above average GPAs.

And there is one more word I would use to describe Joe Paterno.

Compassionate.
My father has followed Penn State as long as I can remember. Whole Saturdays were put on hold so he could "get home to see the game". Or he'd sit in the parking lot of malls, while my mother would shop, and listen to Penn State on the AM radio.

So when I got a chance to buy a ticket to a Republican dinner in my tiny town, a dinner that was featuring Joe Paterno's son, Scott, as a candidate for office, I bought a ticket for me and my Dad. Joe was scheduled to speak that night. I figured it would be the closest I might get my father to actually meeting JoePa.

Boy was I wrong.

I had Republicans coming up to me, asking for me to vote for them, but my only concern was the $35-a-plate dinner which allowed my father to hear Paterno talk.

After the dinner, some people went up to shake Paterno's hand. But the crowd was quickly dismissed, so my Dad thought we had missed our opportunity.

My Dad, a veteran who is a below-the-knee amputee since 2001, is in a wheelchair now, not walking all that much anymore. He took his chair along for the dinner. So I wheeled him up front in that, hoping to catch Paterno before he left.

He was almost out the door, when I yelled "Mr. Paterno, could you take a moment to meet my Dad??"

Joe turned to his son, told him to hold up, that he wanted to shake my Dad's hand.

My Dad couldn't have been any more proud. He explained to him that he was a Penn State fan since Paterno came to the school, all those many years ago.

I asked for a picture, and Joe posed for one with my Dad.

As I wheeled my Dad out to the car as people began leaving the party, my Dad made mention to me that he had hoped my Mom was watching tonight. My Mother passed away eight years ago.

I told him I was pretty certain she saw my Dad finally meet his hero.