Ohio State All-American Fraud

[ulukinatme]

Basically theres this guy that goes by Giovanni Strassini. He's claimed for a number of years now that he was an All American at the OSU. He "won the Rose Bowl in 1974 with Archie, Cornelius Green, Pete Johnson and the rest," according to him. He also "caught an 8 yard touchdown pass in the 1976 Rose Bowl", and "was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as the 162nd player picked in the 1977 NFL Draft." However if you do any research into that game or the team you'll find that the guy doesn't exist.

A new poster on BuckeyePlanet asked about the guy on 5/17. BP sleuths got to work and quickly outed the guy, and it snowballed from there. They sent the info they uncovered to the local Buckeye alumni group in North Carolina where this Strassini has made appearances and says he's a part of. Yahoo and other media sites then picked up the story. This guy has been appearing at charity events for awhile, I guess he's gone as far as editing Wiki information I've read, and he's even signed memorabilia and autographs for people:

Ring he claimed to receive from playing in above mentioned Rose Bowl:

Anyway, it's a bit of a long read, but it starts getting interesting around page 13, post 189. Theres a poster under the handle "alwaysthere" that first posts on page 6, post 81 as well and very well could be Strassini himself. I haven't gotten through the whole thing myself, but it looks like it could be the guy:

Giovanni Strassini fraud, impersonating 1976 All-American - BuckeyePlanet Ohio State Forums

 

[phillyirish]

Interesting for sure, but not the same thing. The only people who should be embarrassed are the administrators of that NC buckeye club he was a part of. I doubt anyone else new about him. Pretty funny but not really a big deal. I mean, you meet someone who claims to have scored a TD in the Rose bowl, you think they would just google real fast to verify.

 

[ulukinatme]

Yeah, it's a little different of course, but essentially a scam where someone claims to be an individual that doesn't exist. It probably wouldn't be news worthy, but it's comical that the guy appears to have shown up on BuckeyePlanet to defend himself and hilarity ensures as the Buckeyes have their way with him. Thats the kind of stuff that usually only happens on the Shag.

 

[GowerND11]

Here is the Yahoo article:
Y! SPORTS

Honestly, how hard would it be as fans of a sports team to not recognize that name? To never remember this guy scoring i the Rose Bowl, let alone being named an All American? Glad someone outed him. What a farce.

 

[BGIF]

What's the fuss? It's not like he sold his gold pants for a tat.

 

[Wolverine1997]

Oh my God. Read page 16 of the message board he gets exposed on. The guy actually joins the board and rants.

Giovanni Strassini fraud, impersonating 1976 All-American - Page 16 - BuckeyePlanet Ohio State Forums

 

[GowerND11]

One of my favorites is on page 17. One poster, jokingly, said he is beginning to think Forrest Gump didn't play for Alabama now.
Another immediately responded that there is more film of Forrest Gump playing than this guy. LOLZ

 

[irishpat183]

LOL...I read his long one. If that guy isn't Giovanni, it's his son.

Dude is crazy

 

[greyhammer90]

Ah... Internet shenanigans. Remember when you had to go down an alley at night to get to see crazy people? Now they get to be across the country and argue back, and we all get to laugh.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

This thread needs to be renamed, seriously.

 

[BGIF]

This thread needs to be renamed, seriously.

^

 

[BeauBenken]

To what?

There was apparently a guy at the school where I now coach who claimed to have been part of the WVU football team and a starting linemen. When my current fellow head coach googled his name and checked WVU directories, nothing showed up. Some people are incredible day dreamers. They desire a life they never lived so they simply say they did. Eventually their lie becomes a reality for them and anyone too ignorant to know otherwise.

Catfishing in a sense.

 

[Irishnuke]

I think this is funny mainly because it didn't happen to us.

 

[Wolverine1997]

I think this is funny mainly because it didn't happen to us.

10x funnier that it is happening to their fanbase.

 

[ulukinatme]

I chose to put Manti in title because Manti recently made an appearance at the Maxim 100 party. I think he's ready to accept the craziness of the situation, laugh about it, and move past it. I see it's already been changed though, which is fine.

 

[BGIF]

One of my favorites is on page 17. One poster, jokingly, said he is beginning to think Forrest Gump didn't play for Alabama now.
Another immediately responded that there is more film of Forrest Gump playing than this guy. LOLZ

When the movie Forrest Gump was #1 at the box office, the UA's Athletic Department was innundated with calls from upset Bama fans demanding to know why the university had "covered up" Gump's illustrious career. Some pointed out that just because Gump was "a little nuts" was no reason to keep him out of the UA Media Guides.