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Topic: Manti Te'o hoax
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Donuts
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Posted: 1/16/2013 11:44 PM
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MFRONE wrote:expand_more
Nobody is allowed to rip on Burke for his "work" now. Awesome job Tim 


As someone who has said in the past I don't care for Tim's work, it has nothing to do with any writing he does. I just don't really get how taking screen shots or making GIFs and then making them your own work is really doing much of anything.

I've seen him complain about not getting credit for something, but at the end of the day, the original camera man is the one who should be getting any credit. He's sitting at a home or office and rewinding things to take a clip, and almost always adding nothing new to the product. Not saying it doesn't take a lot of time to take screen caps and make GIFs, but it just seems silly and something a person should do as a hobby, not actually profit off of it.

Anyway, in case it isn't obvious enough, taking part in this Te'o article isn't related to what most know him for on the internet. So any rips I have made on his work, at least in my case, doesn't apply in this instance.
Last Edited: 1/17/2013 12:41:28 AM by Donuts
Monroe Slavin
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:05 AM
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donuts...what he writes, do the opposite.   has there ever been a more negative person.
Last Edited: 1/17/2013 12:05:41 AM by Monroe Slavin
L.C.
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:20 AM
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Cardinal's Fullback says he met Lennay Kekua several times in 2011 in American Somoa while doing charity work.
Reagan Mauia wrote:expand_more
This was before her and Manti. I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was—I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa.
athena
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Posted: 1/17/2013 8:04 AM
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Did anyone else catch Burke being interviewed by Matt Lauer on the Today Show this morning?

Nice job, Tim.
71 BOBCAT
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Posted: 1/17/2013 8:12 AM
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We haven't heard the whole story and may never hear it.







GO BOBCATS
JSF
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Posted: 1/17/2013 8:21 AM
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L.C. wrote:expand_more
Cardinal's Fullback says he met Lennay Kekua several times in 2011 in American Somoa while doing charity work.
This was before her and Manti. I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was—I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa.


This just gets weirder.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 8:36 AM
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JSF wrote:expand_more
Cardinal's Fullback says he met Lennay Kekua several times in 2011 in American Somoa while doing charity work.
This was before her and Manti. I don't think Manti was even in the picture, but she and I became good friends. We would talk off and on, just checking up on each other kind of thing. I am close to her family. When she was going through the loss of her father, I was—I offered a comforting shoulder and just someone to bounce her emotions off. That was just from meeting her in Samoa.


This just gets weirder.


Manti, claims they met in 2009-10, so this is just another part of the ruse.  Bottom line, the man played this scam into the National sportlight, it made him the Heisman runner-up and brought ND tons of publicity.  In fact, his whole story was the number one reason that the SI article on OHIO Football was pushed back, due to ND beating Michigan and the human interest story of Manti's personal tragedies.  All one needs to do is put together is own interviews and words, and it becomes clear that ND and Manti are in cover-up mode.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 9:15 AM
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Great interview on NBC by Tim Burke, promises a second article today with more facts. 
Mark Lembright '85
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Posted: 1/17/2013 10:39 AM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Great interview on NBC by Tim Burke, promises a second article today with more facts. 


Great job on the article, etc. Mr. Burke!!!!
Last Edited: 1/17/2013 10:40:22 AM by Mark Lembright '85
Ryan Carey
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Posted: 1/17/2013 11:20 AM
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WestOhioBobcatFan
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Posted: 1/17/2013 11:37 AM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
Manti, claims they met in 2009-10, so this is just another part of the ruse.  

He claims to have met her several times, so things aren't adding up.

Either he was in on it, or he is the worst boyfriend in recorded history.

Your girlfriend of 4 years, supposedly, gets in a horrific car crash. She is diagnosed with leukemia, goes through treatments, is getting worse, finally passes away, has a funeral, a burial....and you never ONCE go visit her, if you had supposedly met her several times?

 

No way in hell he wasn't in on it.

Donuts
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Posted: 1/17/2013 11:59 AM
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WestOhioBobcatFan wrote:expand_more
Manti, claims they met in 2009-10, so this is just another part of the ruse.  

He claims to have met her several times, so things aren't adding up.

Either he was in on it, or he is the worst boyfriend in recorded history.

Your girlfriend of 4 years, supposedly, gets in a horrific car crash. She is diagnosed with leukemia, goes through treatments, is getting worse, finally passes away, has a funeral, a burial....and you never ONCE go visit her, if you had supposedly met her several times?

 

No way in hell he wasn't in on it.



When a guy is a high-profile football player with very little free time who lives thousands of miles away from home and surrounding by little to no Samoans, it is not crazy for him to turn online and try and find someone. If a 21 or 22 year old guy goes home for the holidays and tells his parents "hey, I've been talking to this online girl for a while" they would laugh at him. So telling white lies such as where he met the girl and how they talk face-to-face can keep him from getting any type of ridicule from family and jocks around him.

Hearing a voice, seeing multiple pictures, including one in which she holds up a specific name, makes things more legitimate. He has stated they became serious this year, so they made no trip to Stanford. Last year it has been confirmed he asked many of the Stanford players if they knew her but no one did.

The hoax probably got to the point where he was going to actually go and see her for the first time, and then the whole thing had to be blown up. It makes sense, since he probably had some off time for the holidays prior to the National Championship. With him about to make a lot of money, it was only a matter of time before he could personally schedule visits to see this girl.

However, I guess it is much easier to just automatically label him as definitely in on the whole thing.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:00 PM
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I am amazed how the National media is NOT holding him or ND's feet to the fire, especially since it is now acknowledged that ND officials knew in advance, and allowed the stories to be written up through the football game.  Knowing full well they benefitted from this publicity.
Donuts
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:11 PM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
I am amazed how the National media is NOT holding him or ND's feet to the fire, especially since it is now acknowledged that ND officials knew in advance, and allowed the stories to be written up through the football game.  Knowing full well they benefitted from this publicity.


Yes, instead they should have thrown him under the bus and created a huge controversy around something that had nothing to do with the game. How exactly would you have handled the situation since you are calling out the ND officials?
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:15 PM
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HOw you handle the situation is you do not get involved in such a scam.  That's right I used the word scam, because right now there is just enough evidence to suggest that he was a part of this, and not a victim of this.  Too many references about meeting, seeing, spending time with her.  Including his own father saying she comes to Hawaii to see him.  Also the timing of the "death" and the "funeral", those were played very nicely to coincide with "big" games and heighten the legend of Te'o.  And what evidence is there that he was duped?  Well, we have his word, and the word of the ND Athletic Director, two people who have a vested financial interest in this.


And speaking of ND officials and "victims", they can hire a Private Investagator to protect their stud linebacker, but they refuse to look into rapes that were committed on campus and allegedly by football players.  Yeah, that is another reason why they do not get a free pass on this issue.  They are protecting a business that is making millions a year, and we've seen how "honest" administrations are when that is jepordized....see Penn State.
Last Edited: 1/17/2013 12:21:12 PM by BillyTheCat
Paul Graham
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:23 PM
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I've done my share of Burke hatin' on here...that said, I'm stoked that he broke this story and happy for what comes next in his career. Congrats man!
Donuts
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:26 PM
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I don't know anything more or less than the average person following the story. All I know is, a Heisman runner-up who is a jock at one of the top schools in the country is not supposed to have to turn to the internet to find love. He may call her a girlfriend and be connected to who he talked with on the phone, but what do you think a bunch of football players and parents are going to do to a guy when he tells them they have never met? It is entirely possible that the lying he did was just covering up the fact that they were only in an online romance, because, well, look at Catfish the movie and TV show. Most are not going to accept that.

Just because he never met the girl does not mean he didn't develop feelings for whoever he was talking to. Calling her a girlfriend may be a bit much, but that is his personal choice. With the girl getting sick and having her death during the season, it makes it easy to send only flowers. Also, how awkward would it be to meet your online girlfriend for the first time in a casket? 

In my opinion, I have yet to see one piece of information that doesn't make this look entirely like a hoax in which Te'o had nothing to do with. Not saying I'm right, but everyone jumping to conclusions about a guy no one had a reason to doubt in the first place is irresponsible.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:26 PM
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His own teammates didn't even believe this crap.

http://deadspin.com/5976762/manti-teos-teammates-had-thei...
Bobcatbob
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:28 PM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
I am amazed how the National media is NOT holding him or ND's feet to the fire, especially since it is now acknowledged that ND officials knew in advance, and allowed the stories to be written up through the football game.  Knowing full well they benefitted from this publicity.


How, exactly, did the University of ND benefit from publicity about Te'o's girlfriend between December 26 and January 7?  Wasn't the Heisman voting enough to merit our attention to Te'o on the field?  How about the #1 ranking?  Maybe the BCS championship that was on the line?  The mere fact that it was N freakin' D, the most followed team in the universe, for the first time in forever playing a meaningful game?

This is a nasty, ugly mess with enough mud to go around but let's not turn it into a ND football conspiracy.
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:31 PM
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Nice article about the work Tim did on this story.

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/200950/deads.../
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:32 PM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
I am amazed how the National media is NOT holding him or ND's feet to the fire, especially since it is now acknowledged that ND officials knew in advance, and allowed the stories to be written up through the football game.  Knowing full well they benefitted from this publicity.


Maybe it's because the national media are too embarrassed because they got sucked in so badly.  Don't want to point up the fact that they didn't do their jobs. 

This whole thing reminds me of an episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye invents a surgeon named "Captain Tuttle."  When "Tuttle" is about to get a medal for having his pay sent to a local orphanage, they kill him off (he, of course, died heroically).  Everyone grieves at the loss of such a good soldier and friend, and share fond remembrances of him; Henry Blake calls him the best Duty Officer he ever had. 
BillyTheCat
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:36 PM
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Donuts wrote:expand_more
I don't know anything more or less than the average person following the story. All I know is, a Heisman runner-up who is a jock at one of the top schools in the country is not supposed to have to turn to the internet to find love. He may call her a girlfriend and be connected to who he talked with on the phone, but what do you think a bunch of football players and parents are going to do to a guy when he tells them they have never met? It is entirely possible that the lying he did was just covering up the fact that they were only in an online romance, because, well, look at Catfish the movie and TV show. Most are not going to accept that.

Just because he never met the girl does not mean he didn't develop feelings for whoever he was talking to. Calling her a girlfriend may be a bit much, but that is his personal choice. With the girl getting sick and having her death during the season, it makes it easy to send only flowers. Also, how awkward would it be to meet your online girlfriend for the first time in a casket? 

In my opinion, I have yet to see one piece of information that doesn't make this look entirely like a hoax in which Te'o had nothing to do with. Not saying I'm right, but everyone jumping to conclusions about a guy no one had a reason to doubt in the first place is irresponsible.


You are missing the point....The guy in interviews makes statements that he cannot wait to see her again, makes multiple references to spending time together?  That is a direct inference to having seen her!  His father talks about how she comes and visits in Hawaii, this is stuff that is on tape, and Kodak does not lie.

The real breakdown comes with mainstream media because someone should have turned this up when they were writing stories in September and October about her.  The Chicago Tribune alone wrote 15 different articles that mentioned her or were about her.  15!!!!
Andrew Ruck
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:40 PM
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This is insane...Burke is all over the place!  One of the most unique and thought provoking stories I have ever seen.

My only criticism of Tim is he didn't throw in a "Go Bobcats" to Lauer at the end of the interview.
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:43 PM
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As has been pointed out, there are many facts that could be checked that Burke wouldn't have access to. For example, his phone records could be checked. Either he was talking to someone every night, or he wasn't. If he was talking to someone, to whom? Also, IP's could be traced.

Yes, it's pretty weird, and I have seen a crazy variety of possible explanations. Many or most people seem to think he was in on it, and they reach that conclusion based on the comments that they had met in person on visits to Hawaii. If he was in on it, the most common explanation is that he did it for publicity, but there are others that think "Lennay" might have been created if he was gay, to deflect questions. 

Meanwhile others accept the version that he is a victim, and they think that the stories of meeting in person might have been "white lies" he created to avoid questions like "you are this serious, and you've never really met???". Some believe he was probably a victim because they don't think he's a good enough actor to have been that convincing, and certainly his game play matches that of someone who believed she was real, playing exceptionally well right after her death, when he would have believed he was playing in her honor, and playing rather poorly in the bowl, by which time there was no doubt that she had never existed.

Then, of course, there is the question of people that supposedly have met her in real life. While Burke was convinced, some may wonder if "Reba" is an innocent as she claims. How many people would take a picture at the request of someone they don't know very well, on behalf of a person they don't know, holding a sign that they don't understand? If there really were people who actually met Lennay, then the person would have had to match the picture, and that points back to "Reba".

I think its clear we haven't heard the last of this.
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Posted: 1/17/2013 12:52 PM
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BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
You are missing the point....The guy in interviews makes statements that he cannot wait to see her again, makes multiple references to spending time together?  That is a direct inference to having seen her!  His father talks about how she comes and visits in Hawaii, this is stuff that is on tape, and Kodak does not lie.

The real breakdown comes with mainstream media because someone should have turned this up when they were writing stories in September and October about her.  The Chicago Tribune alone wrote 15 different articles that mentioned her or were about her.  15!!!!


Not missing any point. These are all white lies that anyone in an online relationship would tell. No one wants to be labeled as the guy who met his girlfriend online. They exchanged pictures, they talk on the phone...dad's don't say stupid things to the press? He could have easily come clean to his parents that they were only online friends at the time so he makes up stories to try to help.

Is talking on the phone not spending time together? Is exchanging photos of each other not seeing each other? Every Catfish episode has texts and messages sent by those involved talking about love, having sex, having children, holding each other, etc. Just because you can't wrap your head around that process does not mean it hasn't been documented a ton of times. Telling the media they spend time together is a lot easier than having to explain to them that he is some loser sitting on his laptop instant messaging a girl he's never seen in person.

Everyone wants to just run and label this guy who up to this point had done nothing wrong. It seems like the only crime he committed here is that he might have a tougher time than people think a jock would have when it comes to finding love. Given that it seems as though he might be interested in women with a similar ethnic background, I'm sure that leaves him vulnerable and lonely at times in the Samoan hotbed of South Bend, Indiana.
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