Lennay Kekua, A Hoax!

[phork]

Tuiasosopo family to plan response this week to Manti Te'o hoax tale - ESPN

Tuiasosopo's will meet this week for figure out how to respond to this whole mess.

How about stick your dumb *** in front of a worldwide audience and admit you did it and Te'o did nothing. E Z.

 

[Circa]

Mitch Albom: Whom did Notre Dame's Manti Te'o hurt in girlfriend hoax? | Mitch Albom | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

This really Is a great column on the making and ridiculousness of this matter! I liked Mitch before, now I think he is Great!

 

[Kak7304]

How about stick your dumb *** in front of a worldwide audience and admit you did it and Te'o did nothing. E Z.

The ESPN trolls/ND haters crack me up sometimes with how ridiculous they are. The general consensus there is Te'o and Ronaiah are in a relationship and Te'o is paying him off to keep quiet and be the scapegoat. Unbelievable.

 

[IrishLax]

The ESPN trolls/ND haters crack me up sometimes with how ridiculous they are. The general consensus there is Te'o and Ronaiah are in a relationship and Te'o is paying him off to keep quiet and be the scapegoat. Unbelievable.

Yup. Doesn't matter to them that literally every sinle person except for Deadspin's mythical "80%" guy say Te'o isn't in on it. I think only someone like Robert Woods moving out and saying Tuiasosopo bragged to him about prank will convert some of the conspiracy theorists.

 

[yankeehater]

I think Nev from Catfish started this hoax. Seems like he and his show are the only ones benefiting from this saga.

 

[irishog77]

The most ironic story is how Ray Lewis will be stroked off by the media for the next two weeks..a guy who almost certainly took part in or knows about the murder of a person, while Manti Te'o, who has drawn leadership parallels to Lewis (on the field) is getting hammered by the media, and has hurt absolutely no one.

I'm wondering who the big media writer will be to draw these comparisons and put our societal inconsistencies and problems into focus. What a joke.

Or that he's fathered something like 6 children by 4 women...or supposedly spent his time injured down in Miami, away from his team, but is still somehow the greatest teammate in the history of teams mates.


Praise God in public, shoot loads in rando's snatches in private.
Praise the team concept in public, catch some rays in south beach in private.

 

[IrishLax]

The latest..... yup, Manti was totally in on it..... *eye roll*

But a source who is a Notre Dame fan from Southern California says she actually took the pictures that were sent to Te'o and that the people pretending to be the Kekuas were most likely not in Miami. The source said she had just arrived at the Miami airport when she got a message from U'ilani Rae Kekua -- the fake sister of Lennay Kekua -- asking for photos. It didn't strike her as odd initially, but started to puzzle her when U'ilani -- who the source is confident was still in California -- kept bugging her for photos at the airport, the lobby of the players' hotel, the fountain outside and even the elevators.

Manti Te'o hoaxer lied about stalking Manti Te'o at BCS title game in Miami, source says - ESPN

 

[Kak7304]

The latest..... yup, Manti was totally in on it..... *eye roll*



Manti Te'o hoaxer lied about stalking Manti Te'o at BCS title game in Miami, source says - ESPN

This is flat out disturbing.

 

[clashmore_mike]

wtf, seriously.

 

[NDinL.A.]

The latest..... yup, Manti was totally in on it..... *eye roll*



Manti Te'o hoaxer lied about stalking Manti Te'o at BCS title game in Miami, source says - ESPN

Just another article that won't be talked about by the mainstream media tomorrow...

 

[clashmore_mike]

Just another article that won't be talked about by the mainstream media tomorrow...

that's the crazy part. it was seen as a typical savvy PR move to have the interview late Friday night, on NFL conference championship/holiday weekend, with the President getting inaugurated a couple days later so that it could start to fade from the main spotlight. I think all of these new details coming out would be things that his managers would want people to know, but because of the timing of it it won't get the coverage it deserves.

 

[ab2cmiller]

The latest..... yup, Manti was totally in on it..... *eye roll*



Manti Te'o hoaxer lied about stalking Manti Te'o at BCS title game in Miami, source says - ESPN

This is the part that I found disturbing, if the hoaxer was admitting to someone in his church what was going on in December with tears rolling down his face , blah blah blah ..... how could he be truly remorseful if he was continuing this hoax and telling Manti that they were down in the hotel lobby the weekend of the national championship.

 

[ND NYC]

The amazing thing to me is how the Deadspin "reporters" attach so much significance to an "anonymous friend of Tuiasosopo" pulling an 80% likely (that Manti was in on it) out of his as$, but ND using investigators to uncover a trail of tweets and internet communication proving the opposite is totally ignored. Not to mention the parade of other people scammed by the Lennay Kukua cult.

Good for you for striking back NDinLA.

the primary reason Manti made huge mistake NOT breaking this. deadspin comntrolled the narrative from the outset.

 

[IrishYYC]

I was listening to a segment on CBS sports radio right now and they were talking about Te'o and the crap they were spewing just made me so upset. I thought this story was dying down, I guess not.

Anyways, the woman Dana Jacobson was the only one trying to defend Te'o while these other two idiots Tiki Barber (yeah I know) and some other clown Brandon Tierney was just blasting Te'o for making this whole thing up and being part of this hoax. I couldn't believe what they were saying as they had no facts to back up any of their statements and were basically just making fun of him the whole segment.

According to Barber, he doesn't believe Te'o at all. He thinks he made this whole thing up because apparently he was dating multiple girls at ND (according to teammates he said) and felt embarrassed because of his Religion that he needed to create a fake girlfriend to cover up his infidelities. I swear this is what he said I couldn't believe it.

Then this Brandon Tierney guy starts reading a line from the interview Te'o did with Schaap when Te'o said that " Our relationship, bla bla bla" and says that how the hell can you have a relationship with a laptop. Anybody who reads that line by Te'o and doesn't think he was behind this is a complete moron. He then says why lie to your Dad about meeting Kekua. You lie about other stuff not something like this and that this proves Te'o is in on this hoax. HUH?

The woman then says that Te'o was probably embarrassed to tell his Dad that he has had an online relationship with this girl but hasn't met her yet. The two guys brush her off and just continue ranting on. Again, I couldn't believe what these clowns were saying.

The woman then tries to defend Te'o saying she's known people who have had online relationships and have connected without meeting one another and it's completely possible that Te'o was in the same situation however got duped in the end.

They went back and forth arguing and this Tierney guy ended the segment by saying come on Te'o, grow up.

It just angers me that the mainstream media continues to bash this guy without giving any factual evidence supporting their arguments. Instead, they make fun of him for having a strictly online relationship with someone he has never met because to them, it's completely unfathomable.

I watched a few episodes of that Catfish show last night and honestly just got sick to my stomach. Seeing how these people take advantage of other human beings by lying and pretending their someone else is just sickening to me. Our society is really messed up.

I can't imagine what Te'o is going through right now. I know he'll get through it as that's the type of person he is. Hopefully his interview with Katie Couric goes well and more facts come out about this whole thing.

It just really angers me the way the mainstream media continues to portray Te'o without giving us any factual evidence to support their ridiculous claims. They're more interested in getting clicks to their sites then doing any actual reporting or fact checking.

Sorry for the long post. I understand it doesn't matter what anybody thinks or says about this story, the facts will come out eventually. I've supported Te'o since day one of this story and will continue to do so.

Love you Manti!

WE ARE ND

 

[IrishSteelhead]

So is Dana an ally now?

 

[phork]

No sense getting angry. Nothing is going to change. Even when that asshat comes out and fesses up about the whole thing it will not end. Ronaiah is the fall guy, Te'o paid him off etc etc.

IT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE AS SIMPLE AS A YOUNG MAN GETTING COMPLETELY DUPED. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen.

 

[North Buffalo Irish]

Stephen A. Smith says he doesn't want to talk about it because he doesn't want to "lambast" a 22-year-old kid across the national airwaves. He then goes on to call Te'o a liar, says he doesn't believe him at all and that says he is complicit. He's also still saying that it was a three-year relationship.

Ridiculous.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

SIAP, but here's an article from the Sherman Report on why Deadspin shouldn't have used the "80% sure" quote about Te'o's possible involvement:

You can be sure Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey’s reporting on the Manti Te’o story is being dissected at journalism schools throughout the country. They did a solid job putting together the pieces of this incredible puzzle. They set a new standard for reporting through social media.

Yet I have a quibble with their story, and it isn’t insignificant. The end of the post includes this passage:

A friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo told us he was “80 percent sure” that Manti Te’o was “in on it,” and that the two perpetrated Lennay Kekua’s death with publicity in mind. According to the friend, there were numerous photos of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo and Te’o together on Tuiasosopo’s now-deleted Instagram account.

The “80 percent sure” was cited in most news accounts as possible evidence that Te’o was in on the hoax.

If I’m the editor, I don’t let that quote go through. Who was this friend of Tuiasosopo? Was this person also involved? Friends have a tendency to talk out of school. Maybe this person exaggerated the quote just to be part of the story?

Also, how can Deadspin be sure there were pictures of Te’o with Tuiasosopo?

Also, there’s the “80 percent” angle. What does that mean? Obviously, the person isn’t sure.

So now you’re running an incredibly damning quote from a single source who likely doesn’t know the complete story. 80 percent sure is long way from 100 percent sure in this instance.

And even if that friend was certain, most editors would require a corroborating source or two before running such an allegation. It is the only place in the story where Te’o is linked to being more than a victim of a hoax. The strong allegation is too much to hang on one person.

Clearly, there are plenty of questions for Te’o. However, using that “80 percent sure” quote wasn’t fair to him in this instance.

No knew information, but this is the first article I've read acknowledging how unprofessional Deadspin was to include such a baseless smear.

 

[GEORGIA DOMER]

80% of the time, it works every time!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I don't want to quote 3250 above or WhiskeyJack's great post, as they are very good, but longer. Lord knows this thread is long enough! But, most people should be doing other things than dealing with this story. I wonder about the mental health of riding this, pro, or anti Te'o.

Now for the thing I have been trying to get everybody to understand. Michigan weekend, I sat at a table, in a kitchen full of people and listened to this unfold. There was the Te'o is a "player" camp. There was the Te'o is "St. Superman" camp. Most were inbetween. They were all pretty firm with their opinion. One girl who had been around these guys, (the whole team), but not directly involved with Te'o had an opinion, (not so much), a more mature woman that worked on campus also, (thought he was), and another person who said basically, if 99 men walks up to a woman and says, that you have beautiful eyes, it means one thing; if Manti walks up and says it, it means they have beautiful eyes. This was discussed less than two weeks after it happened. And there was no behavior that indicated anything was being hushed that day.

Finally, I wonder if what is fueling this media event is the number of people that have made a$$es out of themselves on this and are now trying to find relief from the stink? It is all about the opinion, not what it was. I have to chuckle, nobody gets it. This is about assumptions, as is everybody's fukkin' opinion! Not about what happened at all!

 

[FearTheBeard]

Stephen A. Smith says he doesn't want to talk about it because he doesn't want to "lambast" a 22-year-old kid across the national airwaves. He then goes on to call Te'o a liar, says he doesn't believe him at all and that says he is complicit. He's also still saying that it was a three-year relationship.

Ridiculous.

Im listening to that now, it is crazy. He's just blasting on Te'o. He's not even looking at any of the evidence like Skip Bayless says. I'm ready for this to die down.

 

[Mr. Larson]

Stephen A. Smith says he doesn't want to talk about it because he doesn't want to "lambast" a 22-year-old kid across the national airwaves. He then goes on to call Te'o a liar, says he doesn't believe him at all and that says he is complicit. He's also still saying that it was a three-year relationship.

Ridiculous.

The A stands for Asshat.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Bayou Irish at Her Loyal Sons just published a good breakdown of the possible legal consequences for Tuiasosopo:

Where the hoax perpetrators can face serious consequence is, of all places, the civil law system. Most states, including Indiana and Hawai’i, recognize the tort of negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress or harm. The consensus approach to this civil action is that the victim suffer a severe emotional injury as the direct result of the tortfeasor’s actions. Here, the intentionality of the bad actors is hard to escape and the breadth of the hoax should satisfy any “extreme and outrageous conduct” requirement. Were Manti able to prove a drop in draft status, with accompanying loss of income and endorsements, he could have a winnable claim. The ability of the perpetrators, though, to satisfy a judgment that large should be questioned given that most liability insurance policies exclude intentional torts, such as assault and battery.

And NDTex (also of HLS) has put together an excellent timeline for this entire debacle.

 

[NDinL.A.]

Im listening to that now, it is crazy. He's just blasting on Te'o. He's not even looking at any of the evidence like Skip Bayless says. I'm ready for this to die down.

Man, Skip Bayless straight served Stephen A Screamer. I mean, beat his *** down verbally. Too bad they didn't give Screamer a chance to respond because he literally would have sounded like even more of a fool/loser.

At least Skip, for all his faults, did a little research and followed the massive evidence. All Stephen A Screamer could muster was "I don't believe him, and that's it." Moron...

 

[BobD]

Have you ever been caught in a terrible traffic jam and when you get up to the scene of the accident, it's very minor and off to the side of the road, but traffic is backed up for miles because people are slowing down to look? That's what this whole thing is now.

 

[chicago51]

Have you ever been caught in a terrible traffic jam and when you get up to the scene of the accident, it's very minor and off to the side of the road, but traffic is backed up for miles because people are slowing down to look? That's what this whole thing is now.

I get mad when that happens. I say to myself "you all slowed down for this?" I hate gapers delays especially when the accident is in lanes moving other direction yet the lanes I'm in are still backed up.

 

[NDohio]

Bayou Irish at Her Loyal Sons just published a good breakdown of the possible legal consequences for Tuiasosopo:



And NDTex (also of HLS) has put together an excellent timeline for this entire debacle.

Interesting, but I am fairly certain that Manti will adhere to this:


1 Corinthians 6


Do Not Sue the Brethren

6 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers!

 

[Irish Houstonian]

Bayou Irish at Her Loyal Sons just published a good breakdown of the possible legal consequences for Tuiasosopo:

FYI, this from HLS is kinda incorrect. At best he could only recover for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and even then couldn't get draft damages unless they're directly caused by the subsequent damage to his mental state (say, he had a mental breakdown or something and people wondered whether he could play). Could go into more detail but it's pretty boring.

 

[IrishLax]

Deadspin's initial spin is what has ruined this. Te'o is stuck trying to prove a negative... to prove he is innocent. And there is a reason our legal system doesn't work that way.

There is not one shred of evidence he was in on this. There is not a single source with any firsthand knowledge of the situation saying he was in on it EXCEPT for Deadspin's 80% guy. There is no link between Te'o and Tuiasosopo having ever met until late November... so he would've had to concoct this whole plan with someone he never met.

There is tons upon tons of evidence that Manti wasn't involved. There is not one piece of evidence that he was involved. But that doesn't matter because everyone's first impression from Deadspin was that he was complicit... and no one wants to take a step back and see what's actually out there to draw their own conclusion.

It's a sad, sad world we live in.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

^Exactly. I challenge anyone in the world to prove they weren't involved.

EDIT: I guess you could be in a coma or dead or something, but you get the point.