Manti Te'o got ate by a catfish or something

[Jocephus]

hmm. i dont make that connection at all.
oh well.

[Vidor]

Given the context--damage control after embarassment--and with the appropriate disclaimer, that is an entirely appropriate parallel.

[Socnorb11]

Given the context--damage control after embarassment--and with the appropriate disclaimer, that is an entirely appropriate parallel.

One is damage control for a heinous, sickening crime committed by an institutional leader. The other is damage control for a hoax played on a college kid. It's not appropriate. It's lazy, hyperbolic journalism.

[stlouie_lipp]

why the change to the thread title? he's still a liar. actually, he's now a confirmed liar.

[cardsfansince82]

I can't imagine having such a strong opinion about an article I didn't even read. I thought it made a valid point about how out of control big time college sports have gotten. Penn State immediately, and rightfully so, threw Sandusky under the bus. But they spent an awful lot of time and effort trying to prop up Paterno and the rest of the administration because those were people they were married to, for lack of a better term. Notre Dame couldn't cut ties with Te'o either because they were as guilty as anyone of disseminating his story. So you get a tearful defense without any real investigation. It doesn't matter what the original scandal was, it's how they're being handled. Namely, maintaining image is more important than discovering truth.

[Socnorb11]

I can't imagine having such a strong opinion about an article I didn't even read. I thought it made a valid point about how out of control big time college sports have gotten. Penn State immediately, and rightfully so, threw Sandusky under the bus. But they spent an awful lot of time and effort trying to prop up Paterno and the rest of the administration because those were people they were married to, for lack of a better term. Notre Dame couldn't cut ties with Te'o either because they were as guilty as anyone of disseminating his story. So you get a tearful defense without any real investigation. It doesn't matter what the original scandal was, it's how they're being handled. Namely, maintaining image is more important than discovering truth.

Who was harmed by Te'o's deal? Why wouldn't the university stand by him?

I told you that I read the first paragraph.

[cardsfansince82]

Who was harmed by Te'o's deal?

You honestly don't have a problem with someone lying over and over to boost their popularity? Manti Te'o became a household name and almost became the first defensive player in something like 50 years to win the Heisman. If Johnny Manziell didn't beat Alabama then Te'o has the trophy.

We were told in countless breathless media accounts that he led the country in leadership and character and faith and Notre Dameness. He sure as [expletive] didn't lead in anything related to on field production. I could name ten better defensive players off the top of my head just from this year, let alone the last 50.

Jarvis Jones plays in hands down the toughest conference on a team that came up five yards short of being the one to expose Notre Dame in the title game. He led the entire country in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles. Sounds pretty good to me. Why wasn't he in New York? Not enough media on his nuts? Not enough characdership? Man, if only he pretend cared about a fake girlfriend not dying he could have gone down in history.

Again, I don't think whether he was originally hoaxed or not comes close to absolving him.It's pretty clear from what is out there that this girl didnt matter nearly as much as he let on, so the "tragedy" was fake in either instance. He has admitted to lying about the story all along to give the media what they were salivating for. I think even you have conceded that he wanted attention. I also believe you said he's about like any other athlete. The problem is we were told repeatedly that he was something different.

Here's the point: you can't cop to being a me first attention whore and still expect me to buy any of that leadership, character and faith narrative. That's some mental gymnastics that even Gabby Douglas can't help me with.

One last hypothetical to chew on: what if deadspin didn't get that original tip? When exactly did Te'o plan on voluntarily disclosing this? After the draft? After the ink was dry on the endorsement deals? Never?

Crap! That's way longer than a paragraph!
/totally kidding

[Vidor]

It's lazy, hyperbolic journalism.

It's a metaphor, and Jemele Hill is entitled to her own sense of what is approrpriate and what isn't. And calling an op-ed "lazy" because it makes a comparison you don't like doesn't make a lot of sense. Notre Dame fans and Manti Te'o fans may find this story unpleasant but the rest of us are free to draw our own conclusions.

why the change to the thread title? he's still a liar. actually, he's now a confirmed liar.

Yup, admitted liar

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/e ... y-in-first

[ghostrunner]

I don't have any vested interest in this, since I don't follow college football and hadn't heard of the guy before the story broke. But from the outside it sure seems like the story is being blown out of proportion. I honestly wouldn't expect the school or the media to look into a story like this until there's some reason to think it's not true. Even then, I wouldn't expect much effort. I'm hard pressed to see how it matters. I've also got my issues with Deadspin, and the only reason this was uncovered was probably because of the kind of site Deadspin is. I can't complete this train of thought now - might elaborate later.

[thrill]

why the change to the thread title? he's still a liar. actually, he's now a confirmed liar.

Yup, admitted liar

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/e ... y-in-first

Yep, still a liar. The lying was a result of the larger thing, the catfish situaish.