Defining a legacy is complicated.

As a society, we feel the need to make someones legacy a universal and accepted truth -- not because we strive to agree with each other, but because unity brings comfort when facing the complicated emotions that accompany the death of someone we cared for.

Joe Paterno had barely taken his last breath before the rest of us went to work -- relentlessly scrambling to define the parameters in which we should remember an 85 year old man who impacted so many.

Just three short months ago -- this would have been very easy for most of us.

Joe Paterno would have been remembered by most as a man who dedicated his life to the development of young men. The words “college football” would trigger his face in our minds -- the unhindered smile that revealed wrinkles etched by decades of hard work and charity.

“Joe Paterno was a good man,” we’d say. “His loss is our own.”

Unfortunately it’s not that easy. His legacy will never be universally accepted.

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The death of former Penn State football head coach Joe Paterno is a reminder, if nothing else, of how complicated life really can be.

In most respects, Paterno lived a life worth emulating. In other ways, though, he became a tragic figure with the fatal flaw of not knowing exactly when to say when.

In a tribute broadcast by ESPN, Jeremy Schaap pulled out a revealing Paterno quote to explain why he hung on for as long as he did. Paterno said he wouldn't retire because of Paul "Bear" Bryant, the long time head coach at Alabama. Mere weeks after retiring from Alabama, Bryant suffered a massive heart attack and died, having lost, apparently the will to live once his coaching days ended.

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In the cases of most sports, be it the NFL, NBA, NHL, Major-League Baseball or college basketball, the postseason showcases the sport at its finest- its best teams and players raising their games under the glare of the championship spotlight. (We won’t mention last season’s horrific NCAA basketball title game.) Sometimes the postseason is practically the only reason to watch a certain sport at all. You can all but skip an NBA, NHL or college basketball season, tune in to the tournament and not miss a whole lot altogether.

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National signing day for 2012 football recruiting is just over a week away, and Urban Meyer is sprinting toward the Feb.1 finish line with a flurry of activity that has longtime observers of the recruiting game shaking their heads in amazement. In less than two months, Meyer has turned a so-so recruiting class into an elite group that ranks among the very best in the sport. And he’s not finished yet.

Meyer’s first recruiting projects at Ohio State were to get some key defensive line commitments solidified. Since then he has turned his attention to two other obvious areas of need on his Buckeye roster - depth on the offensive line, and speed and athleticism in the linebacker corps. With four new commitments in the last week, he is well on his way to addressing those needs. 

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