Soxbadger

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 07:17 PM) The simplest answer is usually correct. And the simplest answer is that he's gay and this was a cover up that spiraled out of control. I was thinking about this on the way home, and I think that making up a fake gf to cover would make sense. It also would make sense why hed lie to his parents about meeting her etc.

Well if Te'o was clever he would have said that he lied about meeting her because he was ashamed of admitting to having an online girlfriend.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:14 PM) Well I certainly can't make you change your opinion, but I just don't see how this is an alibi that could be at all plausible I dont know. Right now I would say that Te'o probably knew at some point and played along with it. I just am saying its possible that he was duped.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:04 PM) But how did tuiasasopo con Teo? Teo told the world that he met his GF in the Stanford parking lot, went on vacation with her, met her family. Told the world she was in a car a accident, told the world her casket was closed at 9am. So if tuiasasopo played Teo, how do you explain Teo telling us all of this and meeting her many times? He paid a girl to pretend that she was interested in Te'o so that Te'o would get closer tuiasasopo as a friend. Then when Te'o is at his weakest moment (Grandma death) take away girlfriend leaving teo only with tuiasasopo to rely on. Thus tuiasasopo becomes Te'o's confidant and best friend. This would be a pretty classic con.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:01 PM) What con was he running, though? The "girl" "died" already. RT would have had to front money for a supposed trip to Hawaii for some random girl. What's he getting out of this? Well if he somehow became Te'os agent or something else, potential millions of dollars? Youve never heard of people trying to get in with athletes when they are young so that they can make money in the future? Do you know who Lebron James agent is? Its Rich Paul, one of his closest friends. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8766225/...t-espn-magazine

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:52 PM) Occums razor states that the simplest answer is most often the correct answer. What is so f***ed up is that this thing has quickly evolved into th deadspin story being the simplest answer I personally think the simplest answer is that Te'o was a victim of a con artist named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. The reason is that this girl dates back to 2008, and supposedly Ronaiah Tuiasosopo played this con on someone else. I just dont think Te'o is smart enough to run such a long con. And none of the timing makes sense if it was truly just a con for publicity. But it could be him, its just hard to tell when you are investigating cons. Because a good con artist makes the other person believe the con is legit.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:44 PM) For now, I guess that will be the story. I wonder what happened in December that would either make him realize he was being conned or realize that the jig was up. Family members coming out of the woodwork asking if Te'o will give them money for the dead insert (daughter, niece, etc.) And sometimes people who are committing cons quit when they think they are about to be found out. Think about it like this. Te'os gradma dies. Maybe Te'o starts sending txts to his gf about how he wants to marry her, that she needs to see him, hes so heartbroken, that hell pay for her to come to ND immediately. How do you keep the con up? Safest bet is to kill her. Te'o is already emotionally f***ed up from grandma, hes not about to start an investigation And for the record, Im no ND fan. I just strongly believe in innocent until proven guilty.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:43 PM) Some other girl being the person Te'o reportedly met would still leave the problem of how that person matched the photos that were being used of the person, including photos being shared by the press. Im not saying that Te'os argument is bulletproof. I am saying that I have seen some pretty elaborate frauds on professional athletes that involve women. So I would not be shocked to find out that the girl in the picture actually had some sort of roll in this. Once they get a hold of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, well find out really quick what happened. If Te'o was involved hes going to roll immediately.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:38 PM) If that's the case, then multiple quotes that Deadspin produced from press reports involved Te'o lying to the press about their having met, for whatever reason. No those are 2 different things. If this is truly a criminal hoax as the ND statement implies, it is very possible that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo had one of his friends that was a girl play the part of gf. The reason that Im not entirely sure is that Deadspin quotes Te'o's father as saying that Te'o met her" Now there are 3 scenarios there. 1) Father is in on it. 2) Father was being duped by Te'o. 3) Te'o really met a girl, but she was not who she said she was. That wouldnt be the first or last time a girl pretended to be someone else to try and either get fame or fortune.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) Like i said earlier. Tweet out a picture manti. Tweet us a picture of you two together. A picture of you and the girl you posted other pictures of. That will crush this story It's as easy as that. The deadspin article is completely squashed if you give us 1 picture of the two of you together. I'm betting we never see it The official story is Te'o' was duped and that he is a victim of fraud.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) ND is just lying for Te'o. That whole college is a fraud, from Touchdown Jesus to this ND SUCKS!!! Not sure if ND is lying. Even deadspin partially concludes that Te'o' may have been a victim:

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:26 PM) I'm curious how Deadspin got turned onto a story like this. ND's official story is they knew as of December 2012. So Deadspin would have likely gotten a tip from someone in ND and then did research.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:23 PM) It looks like they are going to try to say that some random girl told Teo she was kekua and dated him, and then faked her own death Im thinking they are going to say that someone paid this girl to do it in an attempt to get money from Te'o. Sounds like even deadspin thought that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was behind it, and that he had done this before.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:20 PM) ND saying Teo was hoaxed, that he was the victim. Victim of what?!? Believing he had a GF who isn't real! Hoaxed into believing that she went to Hawaii to visit him when in fact she didn't exist??!!, Well this could get tricky. Theoretically some guy (that Tuissopopo) could have paid a girl to go visit Te'o etc as some sort of long con for money. Its pretty absurd, but so is the entire story.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:05 PM) Her account existed long before Te'o. I have no clue. All Im saying is if I was Deadspin id have been a little bit more cautious. Id have run the article, but Id have led with a disclaimer that its based upon research and opinion, and that other evidence may arise to vindicate Te'o but at this moment with the information we have this is our conclusion.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:00 PM) Read the whole article. All the pictures were fake. Classic catfish. Read my posts. I specifically said that the pictures make me think its a hoax, but the other evidence is suspect at best. QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 03:34 PM) The pictures seem to be a smoking gun for a hoax though.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 03:57 PM) Even leaving the lack of records aside, there's the whole weird relationship with Tuiasosopo and the photos of the other girl being used. Bizarre. The photos are easily explained. I didnt want people to see what she looked like for her own safety. So we just picked a random girl that kind of looked like her. Her privacy was important. Once again, we are dealing with internet reports on internet reports. The databases that they checked not conclusive, especially because we do not know what her exact name is. If I worked for deadspin's legal department I would have told them to keep it more "opinion", just in case it turns out we are wrong. The last thing I want is to fight the wealth of ND and ABC/SI/ESPN, etc. Either way my website broke the story.

Someones ass is going to be on the line here. I just have this strange feeling that Deadspin went a little to far. Youd have thought SI would vet the story a little bit before publishing and actual confirm that the girl was real. When you are dealing with online/public persona's its not always ascertain the birth name. Im sure that some people in this thread have been shocked to find out what their friends "real name" is. And if you didnt know it, you might not be able to find any of their records either.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 03:37 PM) That article is confusing. Anyone got cliff notes? Here is the gist. Deadspin did research into the death of Teo's girlfriend. Deadspin was unable to find any records that reflect she actually existed. Deadspin is alleging that this was all done for publicity.

That article is risky as s***. Relying on this: Is troubling. In order to actually ascertain if someone is dead, you need to know there birth name, unless they actually went through the process of changing their name. Its also concerning that they did not mention that they checked the California County Records for a Death Certificate. Death Certificates are kept by county. In Illinois its usually kept in the office of vital records. If you were to search in Cook County instead of Lake County you would find nothing. This will be fun, because one of the comments already said that she had a different real name. "Erm, that's because she was registered under her real name, Lennay Marie Wochinski. Lennay Marie Kekua was her professional name." The pictures seem to be a smoking gun for a hoax though. (edit) And of course my law clerk with the unlimited subscriptions to nexis and westlaw is at school.

Person of Interest is a pretty solid show. If you are going to watch it, Id try and get the early episodes because it actually builds up. One of the most important dynamics is explained early on.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 02:56 PM) Rodriguez might be able to be that...but the real answer is "Because you get to sign 2 out of '1 offensive lineman, Henry Melton, and a quality starting veteran TE'". Or you just draft a quality TE because there should be a bunch in this draft.

So a wife of a player just called me. Pretty damn hard not to ask about the coaching stuff.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 02:34 PM) Evan Rodriguez takes one of those spots, and I think he will excel. Why not just get an actual TE that is good?

Ashlon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall are more like Rice and Taylor or Rice and Clark, than Marshall and Wallace would be. Bears need a TE/Fb, they have nothing close to Rathman/Jones combo. Those old school 49er offenses relied a ton on short passes to not only the RB, but also to the TE/FB.