TimeForGuinness wrote:I don't know what's more depressing: that Te'o fell for a hoax, that Te'o lied to boost his stock, that people fell for Te'o, or that people are upset about the Te'o fallout.
I still don't know why people are getting so emotionally involved in this whole thing.
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I'm kind of happy to see the sports media get duped. This saga exposes it for the generally reactionary-oversaturating-hyping-crapola machine that it is. Hooray fake girlfriend!
TBH, I don't think I knew of Manti Te'o grandma/GF dying and brother losing his leg in a tragic bass fishing accident, until after this whole fake girlfriend thing came to light. I rarely listen to sports commentators anymore -I'm either DVRing and using fastforward with sports, watching them in bars, and/or have the sound down. ESPN is almost never on in our house.
Good Lord, I thought I was the only one.
The only thing I hear, it seems, is, "...BUT, BUT...HE LIED!!!...AND NOTRE DAME SUCKS!!!...I'M GOING TO TWEET THAT TO KATHERINE WEBB!!!LOL"
Christ, an athlete lied...OH NOES!!! My unshakable faith in athlete integrity has been shook...somebody hold me.
ghostrunner wrote: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.
Not true. ESPN had the story first, but instead of reporting, they tried to line up an interview - for reasons that can be debated.
On Jan. 16, a fierce debate raged inside ESPN. Reporters for the network had been working for almost a week trying to nail down an extraordinary story: Manti Te’o’s girlfriend — the one whose death from leukemia had haunted and inspired him during a triumphant year on the field for Notre Dame — might be a hoax.
Some inside the network argued that its reporters — who had initially been put onto the story by Tom Condon, Te’o’s agent — had enough material to justify publishing an article. Others were less sure and pushed to get an interview with Te’o, something that might happen as soon as the next day
TimeForGuinness wrote:I don't know what's more depressing: that Te'o fell for a hoax, that Te'o lied to boost his stock, that people fell for Te'o, or that people are upset about the Te'o fallout.
I still don't know why people are getting so emotionally involved in this whole thing.
+
I'm kind of happy to see the sports media get duped. This saga exposes it for the generally reactionary-oversaturating-hyping-crapola machine that it is. Hooray fake girlfriend!
TBH, I don't think I knew of Manti Te'o grandma/GF dying and brother losing his leg in a tragic bass fishing accident, until after this whole fake girlfriend thing came to light. I rarely listen to sports commentators anymore -I'm either DVRing and using fastforward with sports, watching them in bars, and/or have the sound down. ESPN is almost never on in our house.
Good Lord, I thought I was the only one.
The only thing I hear, it seems, is, "...BUT, BUT...HE LIED!!!...AND NOTRE DAME SUCKS!!!...I'M GOING TO TWEET THAT TO KATHERINE WEBB!!!LOL"
Christ, an athlete lied...OH NOES!!! My unshakable faith in athlete integrity has been shook...somebody hold me.
I knew nothing about it either. Granted, I don't follow Notre Dame football, but still. If he was trying to publicize it, he did a poor job.
Socnorb11 wrote:I knew nothing about it either. Granted, I don't follow Notre Dame football, but still. If he was trying to publicize it, he did a poor job.
Trust me, he did not. It was the biggest individual narrative of the college football season, by far.
TimeForGuinness wrote:I don't know what's more depressing: that Te'o fell for a hoax, that Te'o lied to boost his stock, that people fell for Te'o, or that people are upset about the Te'o fallout.
I still don't know why people are getting so emotionally involved in this whole thing.
The reason isn't that people are emotionally invested in this Te'o thing. The issue is that people are emotionally invested in college football. This Te'o incident is just the latest one of many that have exposed college football as a farce. People generally don't like learning that their favorite hobby is a farce.
Socnorb11 wrote:I knew nothing about it either. Granted, I don't follow Notre Dame football, but still. If he was trying to publicize it, he did a poor job.
Trust me, he did not. It was the biggest individual narrative of the college football season, by far.
I guess I did a good job of tuning out the media, then............ which is usually for the best.
TimeForGuinness wrote:I don't know what's more depressing: that Te'o fell for a hoax, that Te'o lied to boost his stock, that people fell for Te'o, or that people are upset about the Te'o fallout.
I still don't know why people are getting so emotionally involved in this whole thing.
The reason isn't that people are emotionally invested in this Te'o thing. The issue is that people are emotionally invested in college football. This Te'o incident is just the latest one of many that have exposed college football as a farce. People generally don't like learning that their favorite hobby is a farce.
There isn't a bigger farce out there than the "student athlete" (I realize I'm painting with a broad brush there...some kids really take advantage of college scholarships)...can't wait to see the fallout when Saban/Meyer/Kelly finally get pinched.
TimeForGuinness wrote:I don't know what's more depressing: that Te'o fell for a hoax, that Te'o lied to boost his stock, that people fell for Te'o, or that people are upset about the Te'o fallout.
I still don't know why people are getting so emotionally involved in this whole thing.
The reason isn't that people are emotionally invested in this Te'o thing. The issue is that people are emotionally invested in college football. This Te'o incident is just the latest one of many that have exposed college football as a farce. People generally don't like learning that their favorite hobby is a farce.
There isn't a bigger farce out there than the "student athlete" (I realize I'm painting with a broad brush there...some kids really take advantage of college scholarships)...can't wait to see the fallout when Saban/Meyer/Kelly finally get pinched.
In many of the lesser sports, I think most really are student athletes. I've taught soccer, volleyball, baseball, swimming, and track athletes, and even cheerleaders, and all were really smart and dedicated. But I've never taught a basketball in 19 years at the university, and only two football players--both redshirt freshmen who would have done well in any class. It's like they quarantine the rest.