2013 College Football off-season

[Sammy Sofa]

I wonder what other storylines they were tempted to make up besides the car crash. "Sorry, T'eo; we can't be together because I'm going to the International Space Station!"

[Outshined_One]

So how did he find out she died if she never existed? Someone pretending to be her mother or sibling?

 

her "brother" who he had spoken to called him. gave him an address to send flowers to, which he did.

 

Wait a second, so a group of sociopaths are responsible for this now?

 

I thought this was just one catfish.

[Guest]

have these been posted? this dude knew about this 6 weeks ago and says it was tuiasosopo

 

https://twitter.com/jayRahz/status/278973792544505858

 

https://twitter.com/jayRahz/status/288495738856558594

 

https://twitter.com/jayRahz/status/276073152432447488

 

https://twitter.com/jayRahz/status/276071308322820096

 

http://topsy.com/twitter/catfishhhhhhhh

 

and then 10 minutes ago

 

jay.R ‏@jayRahz

 

we caught Ronaiah's persona as Lennay Kekua back in 2008 and ended all ties with him..

Edited January 17, 2013 by 17 Seconds

[imb]

Yes if you hand wave all the insanity as "stuff happening" the story real is as old as time

[Sammy Sofa]

Are we talking Stanford 2009?

 

Stanford 2009: te'o and a woman exchange numbers

 

--unclear if any contact--

 

sometime in 2011: woman contacts te'o claiming to be woman he gave his number to.

 

...bunch of [expletive] happens leading to today...

 

that seems pretty logically consistent.

 

Wait, what? How is THAT logical at all? Especially if Tuiasosopo is involved? If anything a theory like that only really makes sense if Te'o is involved in at least some capacity in making this up, because otherwise you're expanding the group of conspirators more and more.

[SpongeWorthy]

MR, I think reading TT's post makes a whole hell of a lot of sense about this mess.

 

All kidding aside, simply applying Occam's Razor to the facts makes it really unlikely that someone could fall for this kind of crap on this level. I don't buy he was behind it, because that would make him a [expletive] sociopath of the highest order, and I kind of doubt that it would manifest himself in the form of the Canadian Girlfriend bit.

 

It's far simpler to reach the conclusion that this chick was a beard to cover for why he didn't have some on campus girlfriend and was never seen getting his swerve on in South Bend, they had to say she died to cover their tracks when T'eo blew up this year in terms of visibility, and now he's hip deep in [expletive] because culturally and religiously it was impossible in his mind to just be an openly gay, really good college football player.

 

Which is fine; you don't have to defend it though. Either way, this guy monumentally [expletive] up and made himself look like an immense fool.

 

So it's simpler to:

 

A. assume that an NFL prospect kills off a fake gf (rather than admitting to his family that he lied and then telling his teammates they broke up) and risks ruining his career

 

rather than

 

B. Te'o is one of a bunch of people that have fallen victim to these scams.

 

It's possible that A is right. I don't think that's more likely nor simpler.

 

Again, what about the stuff like his story about how they met? Do you think he decided to make that up on his own or did the Catfishes tell him to use that story?

 

Are we talking Stanford 2009?

 

Stanford 2009: te'o and a woman exchange numbers

 

--unclear if any contact--

 

sometime in 2011: woman contacts te'o claiming to be woman he gave his number to.

 

...bunch of [expletive] happens leading to today...

 

that seems pretty logically consistent.

 

Or the entire Stanford 2009 thing was concocted by Te'o because he was embarrassed about only knowing "her" online. It's still consistent.

[Tracer Bullet]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

[davell]

A Stanford player said that T'eo always asked them if they knew his mysterious girlfriend.

[Tracer Bullet]

MR, I think reading TT's post makes a whole hell of a lot of sense about this mess.

 

All kidding aside, simply applying Occam's Razor to the facts makes it really unlikely that someone could fall for this kind of crap on this level. I don't buy he was behind it, because that would make him a [expletive] sociopath of the highest order, and I kind of doubt that it would manifest himself in the form of the Canadian Girlfriend bit.

 

It's far simpler to reach the conclusion that this chick was a beard to cover for why he didn't have some on campus girlfriend and was never seen getting his swerve on in South Bend, they had to say she died to cover their tracks when T'eo blew up this year in terms of visibility, and now he's hip deep in [expletive] because culturally and religiously it was impossible in his mind to just be an openly gay, really good college football player.

 

Which is fine; you don't have to defend it though. Either way, this guy monumentally [expletive] up and made himself look like an immense fool.

 

So it's simpler to:

 

A. assume that an NFL prospect kills off a fake gf (rather than admitting to his family that he lied and then telling his teammates they broke up) and risks ruining his career

 

rather than

 

B. Te'o is one of a bunch of people that have fallen victim to these scams.

 

It's possible that A is right. I don't think that's more likely nor simpler.

 

Again, what about the stuff like his story about how they met? Do you think he decided to make that up on his own or did the Catfishes tell him to use that story?

 

Are we talking Stanford 2009?

 

Stanford 2009: te'o and a woman exchange numbers

 

--unclear if any contact--

 

sometime in 2011: woman contacts te'o claiming to be woman he gave his number to.

 

...bunch of [expletive] happens leading to today...

 

that seems pretty logically consistent.

 

Or the entire Stanford 2009 thing was concocted by Te'o because he was embarrassed about only knowing "her" online. It's still consistent.

 

true

[Tracer Bullet]

Yes if you hand wave all the insanity as "stuff happening" the story real is as old as time

 

[expletive], man. just can't win with you, huh?

[Outshined_One]

So how did he find out she died if she never existed? Someone pretending to be her mother or sibling?

 

[Sammy Sofa]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

 

Why isn't reasonable that he's just a damaged human being? Why isn't it reasonable that someone with his background would go to desperate lengths to hide his sexuality? Why do you think gullibility is so realistic but a student athlete making stupid decisions isn't?

[Sammy Sofa]

Or the entire Stanford 2009 thing was concocted by Te'o because he was embarrassed about only knowing "her" online. It's still consistent.

 

true

 

But not consistent with ND trying their damnedest to make it sound like he never lied.

[USSoccer]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

 

Keeping up appearances is a thing that happens, if you're trying to stay closeted. Maybe he thought the risk of being outed would carry a much greater risk of career suicide than trying to keep this [expletive] up for another few months.

 

Plus, maybe he's a genuinely good person in addition to being gay and terrified of being outed. His responding doesn't clash with the possibility that this was an elaborate beard that done got blowed up.

 

One other thing: how does no one at Stanford follow up on the dead alumnus that's all over the news for being the dead girlfriend of one of the best LBs in the country? Especially when Stanford plays fricking Notre Dame; that's low hanging fruit for journalists.

[Guest]

that guy is still saying tuiasosopo is lennay

[SpongeWorthy]

that guy is still saying tuiasosopo is lennay

 

I think that's more or less clear by now. That jrahz and ceee21 or whatever were joking about out her as Lennay because they knew Tuiasasopo was behind it.

 

The question now becomes whether you think Tuiasasopo being behind the account makes it more or less likely that Te'o was in on it.

[OleMissCub]

that guy is still saying tuiasosopo is lennay

 

So surely there was more than just him involved? Who the hell was Te'o talking to on the phone?

 

Maybe he is just the stupidest person in human history.

[Tracer Bullet]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

 

Why isn't reasonable that he's just a damaged human being? Why isn't it reasonable that someone with his background would go to desperate lengths to hide his sexuality? Why do you think gullibility is so realistic but a student athlete making stupid decisions isn't?

 

b/c making a stupid decision doesn't begin to describe the fraud he would have perpetrated against many, many people. Te'o's personality was described long before this as sincere and naive. Maybe he's a sociopath and duped everyone he's ever met. That seems less likely to me based on the information that's come out.

[Guest]

Did Manti have a roomate?

 

Because I'm pretty sure if I had a roommate that was in an online-only relationship for that long I'd make sure they at least skyped so he could be sure it wasn't a fraud. The roommate would have been privy to the late night calls, etc.

 

He didn't have any friends that tried to clue him in on trusting that people online are who they say they are?

 

Hell, I taught my own kids how to spot this kind of thing when they were around 10.

[imb]

You can't swing a dead fake girlfriend without hitting a first round pick who fell in love with a twitter account

[Sammy Sofa]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

 

Why isn't reasonable that he's just a damaged human being? Why isn't it reasonable that someone with his background would go to desperate lengths to hide his sexuality? Why do you think gullibility is so realistic but a student athlete making stupid decisions isn't?

 

b/c making a stupid decision doesn't begin to describe the fraud he would have perpetrated against many, many people. Te'o's personality was described long before this as sincere and naive. Maybe he's a sociopath and duped everyone he's ever met. That seems less likely to me based on the information that's come out.

 

Still seems more likely than the ever increasing gang of people who you are suggesting somehow pulled this off without letting anything slip. Maybe he's so sincere and naive (and dense) he didn't realize the harm that he would cause. He doesn't have to be the monster you keep trying to paint him as to have pulled this off or to have been involved, especially if it was a matter of hiding his sexuality. I'm sure it wouldn't have been difficult to convince himself "hey, who's really gonna get hurt? She doesn't really exist!" Doing stuff like talking to a little girl with cancer could have just been a way of him justifying the lie by doing something good. It's hardly the long shot you so badly want it to be for him to have been involved in this.

[Guest]

btw - it shouldn't be lost that just about the ONLY thing we know for certain in this whole thing is that the "sincere and naive" Te'o is a freaking liar.

[SouthSideRyan]

He talked to a girl dozens of times. So did his dad. This wasn't one guy that did it all.

 

She called him at the ESPN awards banquet to say she wasn't dead. Jesus

 

So it was a gang of people duping him? What a load of [expletive] [expletive]. MAYBE if there was seemingly some kind of effort to blackmail him or something, but instead we're supposed to just believe it was an epic prank multiple people were in on...and it was a prank they only did for their own benefit and they didn't reveal it to anyone at all?

Even the smartest, funniest, most dick-headed secret Internet community couldn't pull off this con, and I know we're not all unfamiliar with a community like that.

 

Even IF I were able to accept all of the unbelievable facts that would contribute to Te'o being a victim, I don't think even the best trolls could pull this off.

Like seriously, no one complicit sees all the coverage of his dead girl and has even the modicum of humanity it would take to create a fake gmail account to tell him he should probs ease up on the tasteless pimping of his dead GF en route to a doomed heisman run? No one has even a shred of a conscience in the group. Not his bud? Not the fake girl stand in? Not anyone they told?

 

Turn it around, Teo' doesn't have a shred of consciousness to tone back the girlfriend he made up and killed for publicity well after nobody cared about the story?

[Tracer Bullet]

Also, MR, I'm really not trying to pile on, but to believe Te'o was duped given the inconsistencies and variables and gaps to fill in....I mean, he might as well say he was distracted by the aurora borealis in Brian Kelly's kitchen. It's really not believable considering the alternatives.

 

It is absolutely possible that he's involved. I'm interested to see what Te'o says in his PC and what the guy behind the twitter account says tomorrow (if that's real).

 

But literally no one has come up with a reasonable justification for committing career suicide and Te'o duping everyone. The guy [expletive] got a message from a family whose daughter was dying of cancer and sent them a long email back about coping with a loved one dying of cancer. I mean, jesus. Why wouldn't he just ignore it if he was making it up? They never expected a response. how much of a sociopath do you have to be to [expletive] with the family of a girl dying of cancer?

 

It just seems much more likely that he was gullible.

 

Why isn't reasonable that he's just a damaged human being? Why isn't it reasonable that someone with his background would go to desperate lengths to hide his sexuality? Why do you think gullibility is so realistic but a student athlete making stupid decisions isn't?

 

b/c making a stupid decision doesn't begin to describe the fraud he would have perpetrated against many, many people. Te'o's personality was described long before this as sincere and naive. Maybe he's a sociopath and duped everyone he's ever met. That seems less likely to me based on the information that's come out.

 

Still seems more likely than the ever increasing gang of people who you are suggesting somehow pulled this off without letting anything slip. Maybe he's so sincere and naive (and dense) he didn't realize the harm that he would cause. He doesn't have to be the monster you keep trying to paint him as to have pulled this off or to have been involved, especially if it was a matter of hiding his sexuality. I'm sure it wouldn't have been difficult to convince himself "hey, who's really gonna get hurt? She doesn't really exist!" Doing stuff like talking to a little girl with cancer could have just been a way of him justifying the lie by doing something good. It's hardly the long shot you so badly want it to be for him to have been involved in this.

 

ever increasing? what are you talking about?

 

if he wanted to make a woman no one has met disappear, break up with her. how many guys haven't had an out of town gf they suddenly broke up with. why make it a death? why respond with personal stories to the parents of the little girl with cancer? he could cover up being gay without going this far and it would be more reasonable (and it wouldn't become a huge story that would bring with it questions about his sexuality).

 

you think it wouldn't be hard to convince himself that no one would be hurt by faking a death of a gf 2 days after his grandma died? this guy was interviewed by local and national media every month. why fake a death of a person that doesn't exist when someone somewhere will start looking for her?

 

If we going with the simplest solution, this isn't it.

[Guest]

Again, we know he was making crap up and telling it to others. At the very least, he was making stuff up to tell his parents.

 

So how much of a stretch is it to go from he made up parts of it to he and some other guy made up the whole thing?

 

Him being completely innocent in this simply isn't true. He made up some of his own details and told them to at least his family.