Soxbadger

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 05:02 PM) I can see that and it makes SOME sense. But that is a ton of effort and time put into something that had huge, huge fail potential. Not just if he finds out -- what if he becomes a 5th round draft pick? What if he f***s up a knee? What if he just decides to go off with some other girl because he isn't allowed to see his real girlfriend? Where does Tuiasasopo get the up front money as a very young man to get people to spend the time necessary to carry on this con? Even though if Te'o was conned he was a dumb ass, I think this takes more than a voice modulator to pull off. And with the time they spent on the phone, you could hardly even hold down a job or anything like that. He needed co-conspirators and a lot of money and/or benefactor. This is assuming that Tuiasasopo is clever enough to pull this off (much harder to fool Te'o into thinking his fake girlfriend exists than it would be for Te'o to pretend he has a girlfriend) and get other people to play along without leaking. Im pretty sure Tui is part of some church. Churches have a long history of being involved in scams. It would also give him access to man power to do the scam. The father, Titus Tuiasosopo, is a pastor in California Here is his son, trying to become famous: http://www.reverbnation.com/artist_2128295/bio (edit) here is a link to the father's church: http://mountzionsite.com/special_event_pho...2/dsc_0026.html Notice that they have "Religious Talent Videos" and "Sports Videos", I think they were trying to become the marketing for Samoan's. Which is why 2 Samoan football players independently know of a fake girl.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:53 PM) He had no problem letting massive lies about their relationship be spread throughout the media then well before he found out it was a hoax. This story is annoying and sad, and this is coming from someone who disliked ND and Te'o all year. The part in bold should be true regardless of how this plays out. At some point Te'o knew that the media was presenting an embellished story about his relationship. And as Ive said, Im no ND fan. But its the people that are the most hated and despised, who are often the ones who need to be looked at the most objectively.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:49 PM) That much has got to be true. I mean we know for certain he did at least that. But he went WAAAYYY out of his way to embellish it...and that is what pisses me off. For everyone saying that no one should be upset or care about this...I don't know if my emotions in regards to this rise quite to the level of "anger" or that I "am upset," but the stuff he "claims" happened to his "girlfriend" actually does and did happen to real people. I don't think it is right to make up all this crap and claim he went through all this for the sake of publicity when actual people actually have and continue to go through these tragedies. It belittles their experiences and their hardships. I would tend to agree. But I have known people who have fallen in love online without ever meeting (get married etc) If that person had been hurt before they met, the other person would have been devastated as if they were a person they were actually seeing every day. If Te'o was on the phone with this "con" for 8 hours a day, he would experience real attachment and real loss. Im just not 100% sure at what date Te'o found out. I think he didnt know until after the whole "death" thing. But I do think once he found out, he probably did his best not to let people know how stupid he was.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) I honestly don't think he was in on the con, but I think he completely embellished the story as time went on. The unnamed ND player's comments seem to support this. I think this seems the most reasonable. And then once he found out (December 6) then what are you going to do? "Hi everyone, remember that gf I said I had who died. Turned out she was my online gf who I never met, and yeah it was a con because she called me from beyond the grave asking what was up after an awards show. No further questions!"

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:36 PM) There's still the trouble of motive. Why would Tuiasasopo do this? Scam a professional player! Or, don't kill off fake girlfriend until the guy has actually been paid. Tuiasasopo is 22 years old, yes? Think about how young he'd have to have been when this started. How does he get a girl to play along with this on the phone? How does he get multiple voices to talk on the phone to impersonate a family? Someone talked to him so long that he would SLEEP ON THE PHONE! There has to be a strong motivation to do something like that, the time commitment is tremendous. Jake here is the motive, this is Te'os own words: TE'o began to think of these people as his "family". The reason why its clever to get him when hes in college, is because once he is in the pro's he is going to have things like an agent, who will try and sniff s*** out like this. The end game was Te'o gets drafted, gets a huge paycheck, and maybe he sends them some money because he wants to help his "new family". Im entirely speculating, but its my theory.

Are we really holding Te'o a football player to that high of a standard for intellect? Scottie Pippen spent something like $10mil on an airplane that didnt even work. He sued his lawyers and won, but nonetheless sports history is full of players doing dumb things and believing dumb things. I guess Im just thinking Te'o isnt exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, which is why Im also not convinced hes clever enough to perpetrate such a long con.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:24 PM) Badger You are assuming money was scammed here. As far as anyone knows right now, there has been no money motive at all. At that point, you have to say WTF is this and why? You are scrambling to try and make sense of it like any of us are, and in trying to make sense of it you are making up these possible outlandish scenarios that just dont make sense when nobody is profiting from it. I understand the lengths people go to scam money just as much as you do Badger, I work in credit card fraud. I see it EVERY DAY just like you. Remember my comment about lexis nexis? I use it just like you do. Kyle, We are both speculating. I just believe that the simplest answer is the most logical. What is simpler? 1) T'eo created fake girlfriend months ago for no conceivable reason (I believe ND teammates claim Te'o was sleeping with other girls), just so that he can kill her off for attention later down the line? That just doesnt pass the smell test. By all accounts, outside of this instance, Te'o is a great human. He really did write letters to cancer victims, he really did meet children etc. So it just seems unreasonable that someone with his character would do something so outlandish, for so little gain. 2) Te'o meets girl online and falls hard for her. Te'o doesnt want to tell his teammates that he is involved in an online relationship because that isnt something a football player admits too. In order to cover that up, Te'o embellishes his relationship with her. Then for whatever reason (im thinking Te'o is pushing to meet her as he set up a visit for Wake Forest game) the con artist panics and kills her off. They then try and keep the con going by "reading letters to Te'o from his dead gf before every game." I personally think 2 is more likely than 1. That is not to say that 1 may not be the truth. Just that if I had to bet my last dollar on 1 or 2, Im going 2. The reason #2 has jumped in the lead is the comment by the Cardinal who said he met her. As you would know in fraud, con artists many times use similar cons repeatedly Nigerian Prince Scam or foreign certified check scam. But that is right now, more information can come out that could change my mind. It just seems most people want to destroy Te'o instead of just objectively looking at the evidence and trying to find the answer. Im no ND apologist, I really dont care for them at all. I just hate to see some one railroaded, regardless of their affiliation.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:15 PM) I think when you have to add so many different parts to the story to make it somewhat believeable(and even then, not very believeable at all), then you have to go back to not believing any of it. There are so many people involved in this, his parents and brother, the university people. I just cannot help but think that the type of scam they are claiming this to be is not that complex. Kyle, I have actual experience with this stuff. Ive worked with IL Attorney General, FBI because our firm has had a few clients that have been ripped off by online scams. You would be shocked at how much money these "women" are able to get out of men before they realize that they are just being ripped off. QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:15 PM) I'm guessing Te'O could scam soxbadger pretty easily. It is an honor that you follow me around, but unlike you I actually have experience in this matter. Keep up the good work, the rest of the sheep are counting on your intellect to guide them.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 04:12 PM) Someone should have known something was up right after that interview. He has no details of anything. Um I think she graduated in 2010 oh maybe it was 2011. I mean, really? He was being scammed. If youve ever dealt with scam artists, they are very good about being wish/washy with details. Te'o just seems to be incredibly dumb and never even considered the possibility that someone was trying to get the better of him. Its hard to put yourself in this position, but people do legitimately fall in love with online acquaintances that they have never met. Once they get that attachment, they are not thinking clear and most people dont go out of their way to try and disprove someones existence. Put it this way, the cardinals player believes he actually met her. Thats how good these cons are.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-f...nd-hoax-quotes/ Im now starting to think it was a scam on Te'o. Not sure how Thamel missed it. It makes sense with what the Cardinals guy said. They were using this girl's troubles to try and get money from people. At first killing off the gf doesnt make sense, but think of it this way. She wasnt real. Te'o starts pushing her to come to his games. That wont work. So you kill her off, and you start telling Te'o about these letters she wrote him etc, hoping that he will take care of you because of his love for her. Pretty twisted.

Im willing to pay the price for a guy who requires the other team to use 2 of their players to stop 1 of our players.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 03:50 PM) Melton is just now figuring out his ability, getting rid of him is stupid. Peppers is invaluable to this tea IMO. I agree, Im not a huge fan of weakening something good on the hope of turning something bad into something mediocre. The Bears need to focus on OL/TE. If you get a good TE it helps the OL. I think the most important goal should be to get 1 good lineman. They just need 1 guy that they can feel confident about going 1 on 1 on most downs. Then you build from there.

It usually is a sporting event. And Im not missing part of the game just for HD. I can manage.

I live in the city and every once in a while a hd channel will go out but the sd still works. So its a good trick to try for anyone who is having a problem with a certain station.

No problem. Im a Bears fan, I dont like saying negative things about them. But sometimes I have to get out my annoyance before I can move and accept. Its the 5 stages of grief, I was just beginning to get to the bargaining stage "Ill be okay with this decision if this happens", but with the Marinelli news I went back to the anger stage.

Drunkbomber That quote wasnt to Kyle. It was to Bmags who asked for a show of hands. Which is why I responded in kind. I think Kyle would agree that I never said anything to insult him and we just merely disagree. You guys can talk about whatever you want. When a thread takes a turn that I dont enjoy, I dont tell people to stop talking about a topic or "ask for a show of hands", I just do something else and return whenever its back to something I want to talk about.

ESPN had very little to gain. Deadspin is still trying to prove its journalistic merit. Makes sense which one ran with a story that still is unclear at this moment.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:40 PM) Who is telling you that you cant post on the board and/or breaking any rules. Pipe down the drama Did you not read Bmags post? I was making a joke out of his nonsensical comment. He just has a problem with me.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:37 PM) Again, assumption. Emery said he wanted to evaluate the team going forward, nobody has come out and said that Emery was given a directive to keep Lovie around. Then I blame Emery. But previously people were claiming in this thread that Emery was told he had to keep Lovie for 1 year. I dont know if that is not true. If it was true, then I blame Emery because last year you either had to fire Lovie or re-sign him.

Can I ask for a show of hands of who still wants you posting on this board? You want to disagree and think that the Bears FO is great, that the hiring of Trestman is great, that the Bears can do no wrong, great, go for it. But I should be allowed to express my opinion that the Bears FO has bungled this decision from the start and that the evidence suggests that fans should be extremely cautious when it comes to trusting anything the Bears FO does. /shrugs Disagree or agree, Im not breaking any rules. I guess I find this discussion more interesting than talking about how Forte is going to be MVP and the Bears are going 16-0 after the sign Mike Wallace, trade for Joe Thomas and clone TE Mike Ditka. If thats fun, have at it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:26 PM) $100,000,000? With what was paid for the Dodgers, I bet the Bears are a $2 billion company, at least. I was low balling cause I didnt want to argue the value. There is no way to argue its not worth hundreds of millions. I just didnt want to get in a valuation argument of whether its true a billion dollar company. QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:27 PM) And this is the point here. You dont know, yet you continue to blame the front office. From all accounts Lovie was very specific in who he wanted around and it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Just ask Ron Rivera. What was attractive about this job last January? Angelo was fired, Lovie was on an obvious short leash. What coach would want to tie himself to this team only to be looking for a new job in a year? Sure, the bears could have backed up the truck and offered tons of money to a new OC, but it wouldnt have mattered. This offensive line wasnt going to block anything, nobody was going to reinvent the wheel here. It was a lame duck job whether you want to admit it or not You seem to be making arguments that I am not making. I never said it wasnt a lame duck job, I simply said that there were other options than either Martz or Tice. I also never said that the options may have be limited because of this. What I did say was that you cant just assume that "it wouldnt have mattered". Because if nothing matters, why are we firing Lovie in the first place? You seem to be giving the Bears FO the benefit of the doubt. I am simply asking, what have they done to be deserving of this? For the last few years the Bears offense has been the weakness. Yet the Bears put almost no time into finding a coach for their weakness. That is terrible. Now maybe it was Lovie. Maybe Lovie wanted Tice ony. But if that was the case, the Bears should have fired Lovie last year, and hired a New GM/New Coach and started fresh. That is the ultimate argument here, that the Bears FO f***ed this up from the start last year, when they did their backwards hire a GM, but cant fire a HC nonsense. And Im sorry, but you just cant blame Lovie for that.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) nobody wanted the job two years earlier when they hired tice. maybe they knew better than to waste their time. Sorry doing your due diligence as a hundred million dollar company is expected. It would be like hiring someone at your company and saying "2 years ago we didnt get a lot of resumes, so why look now, might as well just quit." Ridiculous if thats the explanation.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:20 PM) If I said "That is who Lovie wanted" you wouldnt believe it, and you would blame the front office. What is the point in arguing this with you? The Bears FO is to blame for everything, the end. On to next season No if it was who Lovie wanted then Id be absolutely fine with the Bears firing Lovie because thats pretty ridiculous to not even look at your options. I dont know who had the power.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:12 PM) So...nobody qualified wanted the bears job, like I said. Which is why we were stuck with Martz and then Tice. Pay would be a factor, but so would the complete lack of job security working under a coach who may be gone in a year. The Bears didnt even look for a new OC when martz resigned. Tice was hired 3 days later. How can you even suggest the bears were stuck with Tice when they didnt even take a week to try and find a new OC?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:04 PM) The Bears had a hard time getting anyone to come in for an interview. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...bears-list-too/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...rviewing-martz/ http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...tti-staying-put Yes, I'm sure there's tons of people that would love that job. There's few if any qualified people. We don't know if those two would have ultimately accepted the job, anyway. The Bears dont pay top dollar, that is why these guys dont want to come here. If the Bears offered top money, those guys would have come. No one is leaving a sure bet for a small raise. This is just business. This wasnt the Bears saying "We have a blank check for the best coach", this was the Bears being the Bears and not wanting to pay. Its just about money, pretending its about qualifications is hilarious seeing as we just hired a coach who hasnt been in the NFL for half a decade.