OT: Deadspin article on story of the death of Manti te'o's girlfriend being hoax *UNLOCKED*

Submitted by sarto1g on

http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

 

Got the link from the EDSBS twitter.  Deadspin is putting a lot on the line with an article like this so I hope they've done their homework.   It does raise a few flags when a picture of "her" is someone else entirely.  Take it FWIW.


Thread is going back up with profit's approval after a quick discussion between us, especially with CBS Radio picking it up. There will probably be a few of the subsequent threads deleted; I'll explain each that I take down in the Moderator Action Stickey.

As a quick reminder, please keep comments to the standards we've come to expect from the MGoBoard. JGB

Edit two: I didn't take down the other threads, so the promised explanations didn't happen in the sticky. If you think a thread was taken down in error, I apologize, but it's now disappeared into the internet. From what I saw, most had served their purpose when this thread was unlocked. JGB.

MGoBoard
Football

MightyMatt13

January 16th, 2013 at 6:04 PM ^

I will give you the following things: love and adoration by all of the ND faithful, any chick in South Bend you want, and access to the internet where you can blindly trust a username and picture that could be absolutely anyone. You know you'd test the waters online, dont lie.

Joined: 02/26/2012

MGoPoints: 5791

FreddieMercuryHayes

January 16th, 2013 at 6:47 PM ^

Yeah, that's the point. Maybe I'm just getting to the age where I'm realizing this happens all the time, but it bothers me when there are no consequences to amorality or unethical behavior as long as no rules are broken. Te'o and ND benefitted from a lie, but since there are no rules against fabricating, or at the very minimum greatly exaggerating, a media story that paints you in a very positive light, nothing will happen. Maybe the all the awards he got get stripped, but I doubt that happens, but at least it's something.

Joined: 12/29/2010

MGoPoints: 40902

snarling wolverine

January 16th, 2013 at 7:02 PM ^

Hold on.  Should a guy be stripped of his awards because he lied about having a girlfriend?  This story raises some questions about him as a person, but not as a player.  On the field, he earned his hype (at least until the Alabama game).  He didn't actually gain from this other than sympathy.  He'll now be dogged by this story forever - a lot longer than the four months of goodwill he got from the story.

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 98745

FreddieMercuryHayes

January 16th, 2013 at 7:19 PM ^

Well then we just disagree on whether he earned it on the field. He was good, but I do not think he was as good as some other players who were finalists. He had good tackle numbers, but hardly any TFLs and sacks, what are usually considered the stats that set apart good from great. Did Kovacs then deserve any awards for having a billion tackles in 2010? I think it's naive to believe he didn't get votes based on all he 'overcame' during the season and his strength if character. Heck, they were just talking a bit ago about how Heisman voters voted for him because of this. He seems to have benefited personally from this whole fabrication, and nothing will happen, and that's what I'm angry about.

Joined: 12/29/2010

MGoPoints: 40902

State Street

January 16th, 2013 at 5:25 PM ^

Yeah, he was a victim.  And Herm has only been on social security for three years!

He explicitly stated in stories that he met her on the field after a game at Stanford.  Calling BS on this.

Joined: 07/09/2011

MGoPoints: 15316

ChiBlueBoy

January 16th, 2013 at 5:25 PM ^

So he wasn't part of the hoax? How is that possible? He never met her in person but told people he did? If this story is true, then at a minimum he lied.

And I have to note that the MSM did their usual job of background checking. I've given up on the Fourth Estate.

Joined: 10/11/2011

MGoPoints: 7843

Picktown GoBlue

January 16th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^

"news" organizations are much more obsessed with throwing out something quickly and clickable, rather than truly newsworthy.  Got suckered into this a few days ago when I thought I was stuck in a traffic jam due to a fatal accident of a person in a disabled car next to the highway.  Turned out it was a serious accident, but not fatal, and not from a disabled car by the side of the highway, and they had the time of the incident off by nearly an hour.  At least the "news" outlet published a correction the next day.

It would be fun to have ESPN publish corrections to every Te'o story they've done with the correct information (once we know it...).

Joined: 01/21/2011

MGoPoints: 6299

Wendyk5

January 16th, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^

That statement is pretty cryptic. I guess my biggest issue is how is this a hoax on Te'o? Didn't he talk about his girlfriend in interviews? Would you consider someone you never met your girlfriend? For his own sake, he needs to come clean on the details.

Joined: 11/20/2008

MGoPoints: 68520

turtleboy

January 16th, 2013 at 5:28 PM ^

So Te'o got Catfished. What an unbelievably shitty thing to do to a person. His grandmother dies and some creepy dude running a fake profile piles more shit on him. I wouldn't want to be in that persons shoes right now, lol

Joined: 04/22/2011

MGoPoints: 35129

jmblue

January 16th, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^

Even if he got "Catfished," he still was guilty of spinning their relationship into something a lot bigger than a little internet exchange.  He referred to her as his "girflfriend," which usually implies a lot more than "girl I chat with online but haven't met yet."  

 

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 103071

coastal blue

January 16th, 2013 at 8:54 PM ^

Its tough to say you got "Catfished" when you claim to have met her in person, talked to on the phone all the time and your parents claim you saw her in Hawaii. Plus, if she was a student at Stanford, what are the odds you would have never seen her when they played there in 2011? 

Joined: 11/13/2010

MGoPoints: 1955

M Fanfare

January 16th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

According to ND, they found out on December 26 that Te'o was a victim of a hoax.

So here's what I'm wondering: did the story of his girlfriend dying get play during the runup to the title game. I admit, I didn't watch any of the coverage nor the game itself since I had no interest.

Joined: 08/17/2008

MGoPoints: 4715

evenyoubrutus

January 16th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^

The thing about ND's statement is that, if Te'o and his family had been the ones who created the hoax, wouldn't they just as easily lie to ND and tell them THEY were duped? Very fishy...

Joined: 11/04/2008

MGoPoints: 178669

Manti Teos Gir…

January 16th, 2013 at 5:52 PM ^

About me:

I love anonymously meeting football players over the internet, and drawing them into long committed (still anonymous) relationships!

I may or may not have a tragic accident next september (plan your heisman campaign accordingly)

You must publicly acknowledge me as your girlfriend, or said relationship will be terminated.

hmu if you think you're my one and only<3

Joined: 01/16/2013

MGoPoints: 5