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Deadspin: Manti Te’o’s Dead Girlfriend Is A Hoax


Punch

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You'd think that because you are a reasonable outside observer - but this pattern of "deny first, than cover up as possible" didn't start with Penn State. Politiicians pull this stunt time after time, it always ends up making things worse for them in the end, and none of that stops the next guy from trying it.

 

Navy SEAL doctrine 101:

 

1) Admit nothing

2) Deny everything

3) Make counter accusations

 

As adeptly employed by Lance Armstrong for over a decade. And it worked...for a long time at least.

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Has anyone seen the movie "Catfish"? It used to be one of my favorite documentaries. But it shows how easy it is for people to get duped by online fakes. The online fake girlfriend in that movie seemed like a decent person--but for unknown reasons, just lied through her teeth to further the relationship.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfish_(film)

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Has anyone seen the movie "Catfish"? It used to be one of my favorite documentaries. But it shows how easy it is for people to get duped by online fakes. The online fake girlfriend in that movie seemed like a decent person--but for unknown reasons, just lied through her teeth to further the relationship.

 

http://en.wikipedia....i/Catfish_(film)

 

Authenticity questioned

 

In an interview Ariel Schulman related that some viewers believe Catfish to be a fake documentary, or a hoax. Morgan Spurlock, director and subject of the documentary Super Size Me, walked up to the producers of the film during one of its initial screenings and told them "it was the best fake documentary I have ever seen." Comedian Zach Galifianakis also has stated that he does not believe the events in the film to be true.[4]

Kyle Buchanan at Movieline questions why the filmmakers would begin obsessively documenting Nev's online relationship so early on, and argues that it is highly improbable that media-savvy professionals like the Schulmans and Joost would not use the Internet to research Megan and her family before meeting them.[5] Others have also questioned the trio's decision to begin filming, as well as the seemingly improbable coincidence of them catching everything of importance to the story on film as it happens. It has also been pointed out that the group's supposed movements in Catfish are not documented in their public blog postings at the time. [6]

Since the movie's release, Angela has been interviewed by ABC's 20/20[7] and the Los Angeles Times has spoken with neighbors familiar with her family.[8] In the summer of 2011, The Mining Journal ran a two-part profile[9] of Angela in connection with the North of the 45th Parallel 2011 exhibition at the DeVos Art Museum on the campus of Northern Michigan University.[10]

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This specific point might have merit. I mean, in college how many of us only talked to many of the girls we did (at least initially) because of the wonderful word BOOZE. Since Manti can't drink (which is likely why he didn't go to too many Irish Catholic College parties!), he may have been shy around women.

 

That said, still a lot of **** that doesn't add up.

 

Yeah - like, if he's such a devout Mormon, why did he end up at Notre Dame instead of BYU?

 

And, even though he purportedly doesn't drink (and why should we believe anything he purports right now?) , can we at least assume - since he's an American Samoan - that he chews kava, and paan? That stuff makes you crazier than booze!!!! :beer:

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Yeah - like, if he's such a devout Mormon, why did he end up at Notre Dame instead of BYU?

 

And, even though he purportedly doesn't drink (and why should we believe anything he purports right now?) , can we at least assume - since he's an American Samoan - that he chews kava, and paan? That stuff makes you crazier than booze!!!! :beer:

 

Seems only fitting that a guy that practices a made up religion would have a made up girlfriend?

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He met a girl online. He fell for her. He found out she was not real, and he got embarrassed. I don't get why that is so hard for people to believe. He wasn't around at parties because he was in his room chatting with the hoaxster. When he pressed to see her in person all if sudden she's sick and dies. This is by far the most plausible scenario.

 

What about the story about how they met. 3 years and no Skype? Him speaking with her family? What hoax spends hours per day on the phone? The trip to Hawaii? The teammates saying he is a very good liar? The school chaplain who said he had met her? The dad says she came to Hawaii? If this was a hoax why did friends and family push more misinformation?

 

It all makes sense as a hoax if you are willing forget large portions of information.

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True.

 

Mormon = Catholic = Lutheran = Jewish = Islam = Hindu = Buddhist = Atheist

 

Actually, I was trying to be subtle to Mike in Syracuse.

 

I figured that if one was going to point out that the Mormon religion specifically was "made up" then they likely were not an atheist or agnostic, as atheists & agnostics generally believe that "all" religions have been made up.

This would mean that Mike has some form of religious belief and would perhaps be offended by my comment......which hopefully would make him mindful that his comment would be derogatory and offensive to people of the Mormon faith.

 

FWIW I am not Mormon, atheist nor agnostic.

Edited by Dibs
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He met a girl online. He fell for her. He found out she was not real, and he got embarrassed. I don't get why that is so hard for people to believe. He wasn't around at parties because he was in his room chatting with the hoaxster. When he pressed to see her in person all if sudden she's sick and dies. This is by far the most plausible scenario.

 

By far? Hardly...

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This isn't a legal trial. This is trial by the media/public. It's not fair but that is how the modern world treats celebrities.

 

If the PI's have been through all these, and it was found that his phone records showed him making regular long nightly calls at the pertinent times.....then all they have to do is make that public.

He is being accused of making the whole thing up.....why wouldn't he want to publicly set the record straight?

The timing and such are really quite strange. It would be best for Notre Dame AND Manti Te'o to have a joint press conference, address the issues head on, and present their own report based on what the PI's found. Instead, we get that they knew about this for about a month, already hired a PI and concluded their investigation, and Swarbrick waves his hands and says things like "I don't have my notes in front of me". Instead of dousing the fire, they threw more gasoline on it. If he truly was the victim of a hoax, I hope he just takes a break from NFL combine training and gets out in front of it.

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What about the story about how they met. 3 years and no Skype? Him speaking with her family? What hoax spends hours per day on the phone? The trip to Hawaii? The teammates saying he is a very good liar? The school chaplain who said he had met her? The dad says she came to Hawaii? If this was a hoax why did friends and family push more misinformation?

 

It all makes sense as a hoax if you are willing forget large portions of information.

 

it doesnt "make sense" for any of the stories.

 

it only "makes sense" as him being in on it if you twist a ton of stuff and make big jumps too.

 

it does seem to fit with most of the basic tenants of the proverbial "catfish" type hoax.... but those, even when true, dont make much sense. if your looking for an explanation that will "make sense" at the end of this, i think you will always be looking for the missing pieces, because odds are the truth here will not make much sense, in the traditional sense, of course.

Edited by NoSaint
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Its rather disappointing to see the zeal and glee with which the media is going after this story.

 

Perhaps someone could ask President Obama about the made up girl-friends in his two autobiographies.

 

If the media can find time to vet a linebacker,vetting a president should be mandatory.

 

 

(and yes, I know that this isn't the PPP, but since we have a whole thread devoted to imaginary girlfriend, other examples, and the media reaction is appropriate)

 

 

.

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Its rather disappointing to see the zeal and glee with which the media is going after this story.

 

Perhaps someone could ask President Obama about the made up girl-friends in his two autobiographies.

 

If the media can find time to vet a linebacker,vetting a president should be mandatory.

 

 

(and yes, I know that this isn't the PPP, but since we have a whole thread devoted to imaginary girlfriend, other examples, and the media reaction is appropriate)

 

 

.

 

I guess the difference is that most people have no idea what this means in regards to the President's past but pretty much the first thing that comes to mind when you mention Manti Te'o is his strength and resiliance in the face of losing his girlfriend to leukemia. Kind of a huge disparity.

 

EDIT: Not to mention, the whole reason this is a story right now is that the media did not properly vet Te'o in the first place.

Edited by Punch
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