ND Press Conference - Thoughts?

Submitted by TheGhostofYost on

I realize there is a thread about the general topic below, but I'm very curious about the responses to the press conference in particular.  For me, I find the lack of notification to authorities very puzzling.  Did your opinion shift after listening to Swarbick?

phork

January 18th, 2013 at 7:50 AM ^

Its really the conflagration of misinformation out there.  Everyone is running like "Who the hell do we believe here".

My personal belief after seeing everything thats been released so far is the following:

  • This person who made the fake account contacted T'eo and set the hooks
  • T'eo being a Mormon and certainly not a professional gigolo, fell for the hook set by this person who would have intimate knowledge of Mormon and Samoan beliefs.
  • T'eo ate it all up.  And had stated he had "met" this person.  Of course wanting to make this more real than it was he figured it was a matter of time before he actually got to see her.  When he "met" this person it was online only.  he even told his Dad that he met her.  Of course its easy to make up a story as to why she didn't show up.
  • However, T'eo spoke to this person on the phone, quite a bit, more than 2 other people spoke to this person as well.
  • A girl from ND who had befriended Lennay on twitter and had spoke to her for a long time until her "death" started talking to Lennay's sister.  At which time they set up a meeting at the USC game in LA this last fall.
  • When this girl setup the meeting place she was greeted with this Ronaiah guy and a little girl.  Both said that Lennay's sister couldn't make it and that they should go in her place.  Photos were taken, he got nervous and asked the photos not be posted online.

And then it gets weird.

  • T'eo gets the call on Dec. 6th that is who he thought was his gf explained she was not.  It was a hoax.
  • T'eo wants to speak to his family about it and heads home for Christmas break
  • The family decides to tell the university
  • the university investigates with a 3rd party investigator, its clear now that its a hoax but they have evidence of the people who might be responsible chatting online. (I think they did some basic twitter sniffing and its actually someone that knows this Ronaiah guy.)
  • The investigation is done the university is satisfied that there was no wrong doing on T'eos part and leaves it up to the family to spill the beans, as they have said they were going to do.
  • Deadspin breaks.
  • ND Presser, I seriously doubt Swarbrick would do and say what he did if he felt that a kid that is no longer at the school and not a football player for the school did something wrong.
  • T'eos were going to speak today, the interview got canned.  Tom Condon is T'eos agent, yes the same guy that told Brady Quinn to hold out.  He has squashed atleast 2 attempts to let T'eo speak.
  • Lance Amstrong is rejoicing this week,

Here is where my tin foil hat comes in, brace yourself.

  • In June of 2012 Robert Woods (Yes the WR for USC) posts this:

 

Robert Woods @HeismanWoods @iworship hahaha sick, what did you guys do today

 

 

  • This was just after Lennay was in a car accident.
  • the @iworship account had 2 people it followed.  Lennay and T'eo.
  • Ronaiah was a USC student who was somehow involved with the football team. Several of people he knew were upset when Te'o picked ND over USC.  His dad played at USC the family is the Tuiasasopo clan.  Many football players in their lineage
  • TMZ has a phone interview and the pictures this girl took at the USC game, and also pictures supposedly of Lennay's sister at her grave site.

My big issue, obviously as is everyones, is why Te'o covered it up for so long.  Certainly plausible that the biggest name on one of America's popular brands was embarrassed.  As would any of us be.  I have nothing to contend the facts as they appear, until Te'o speaks.  ND did what it had to, it defended its brand.  If it felt that something was rotten why would they defend a player/student who was no longer a player or a student, you would think they would distance themselves.

I really can't stand how some of these media outlets are all about BURN THIS MOTHER DOWN mentality when no one has more than 10% of the facts.  Do I believe Te'o had something to do with it?  Well I will never say never about anything.  I do believe he was not complicit in the hoax, outside of finding out it was a hoax in early December.  And for those who argue he was in on it to garner Heisman love, ND was 2-0, just barely beat Purdue, was barely in the Top25 and he wasn't anywhere near Heisman radar.

In the end  I can't say I would be surprised at any outcome here.  As a football fan it seems like it was already 20 years ago that ND was 12-1, this includes the Kelly to the NFL bullshit.  In the end I feel like Te'o got duped, was embarrassed about the whole thing and here we are.  If USC had anything to do with this, or intimate knowledge of it I can see Kiffin being ended and possibly the cancellation of the USC series.  I believe this as much as you guys believe that Te'o had any involvement in the fake gf story over and above a kid who got played.

Te'os Uncle Speaks:  http://1280thezone.com/index.php/audio/listen/alema_teo

Interesting tidbits in regards to this Ronaiah kid.

http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_22397472/manti-teo-football-hoax-has-tie…

 

OmarDontScare

January 16th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^

Swarbick is upset over a fictitious death of a fictitious ND football players GF conjured up by god knows who but he didn't get upset when Lizzy Seeberg committed suicide after being allegedly assaulted by one of his defensive stars or when a video coordinator died at practice when it could have easily been prevented?

LSAClassOf2000

January 16th, 2013 at 10:35 PM ^

One of the creepiest parts of the Deadspin article was the fact that CBS This Morning ran the story on the morning of the NC game with a photo of a dead girlfriend that turned out to be the photo of a currently living California resident, who was rightfully shocked, of course. So, I wonder the same thing actually - if indeed the school knew by then, why would they not do everything possible to stop these from airing by being upfront with the networks about their veracity? Worse, who supplied them with the means to get a photo of someone that by now they must have known was not Manti's supposedly deceased girlfiend? If they failed to stop this, either Te'o or the school would be complicit allowing the life of someone they don't even know to be invaded - perhaps even materially affected - in a decidely not-so-good way, and that's simply beyond low.  

Real Tackles Wear 77

January 16th, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^

ND went all in on Manti telling the truth...he's going to have to answer some tough questions soon and if a lot of unlikely things didn't happen both he, the university and the football team are going to look very bad.

MGJS SuperKick Party

January 16th, 2013 at 10:08 PM ^

After it was all done, the athletic director came back on stage and said Charlie Weis wasn't really morbidly obese, it's just an elaborate hoax with mirrors, and smoke. He is actually the definition of healthy living... It's ridiculous how much Notre Dame is trying to cover it up. Like my parents said growing up, never cover a lie with a lie...

SFBlue

January 16th, 2013 at 10:17 PM ^

This looks bad for ND and T'eo, but I would reserve judgment at this point.  Deadspin's sources for Te'o being in on this are anonymous people on the Internet, who are speculating.  Te'o could have embellished other details to give a backstory for a very naive thing that he did (falling for someone he met on the Internet, and never met in person); I am not sure I believe this at all, but stranger things have happened.  In any event, I doubt that ND is going to hold a press conference saying it believes one of its student-atheletes is a liar, when the story they have been told is plausible. 

 

SMJenkins3

January 16th, 2013 at 10:17 PM ^

So if Te'o is to be believed the story goes something like this:



He met this girl online and over about 2 years he falls in love with her. He never meets he in person and they never Skype, FaceTime, etc. When asked how they met he says they met at/after the Stanford game (maybe lying to say they met in person/shook hands/exchanged numbers).



After this growing love is given time to develop so strong there are indications they are going to get married (at least that is what the dad thinks). She gets into a car accident. He doesn't fly out to see her in the hospital. While she is in the hospital the dx her with leukemia. He doesn't fly out to see her then either. She is released from the hospital. He doesn't go and she her. She dies, he doesn't go to her funeral. After the season is over he never goes out and visits her grave/headstone. This is the women he was in love with and was going to marry and he never goes to see her even when all these awful things are befalling her. He doesn't make a surprise midweek trip (I'm sure the coaches/administration would/should understand- it would make a good story how he visited her and still made it back for her game)



I haven't even covered the apparent misunderstanding where he father believed she came to Hawaii on multiple occasions to visit him.



This is the story as he would tell it. There are so many holes here. Really interested to see what, if any, holes he addresses in his press conference.

TheGhostofYost

January 16th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^

Sorry, but you are just wrong.  Teo never said he met the girl in person after that Stanford game, and one comment from the father about marriage does not support your statement.  It is factually inaccurate.  You may be right, but your conclusions are not well thought out.

SMJenkins3

January 16th, 2013 at 11:32 PM ^

I don't think I made any conclusions.  I think i said the story as it is being presented has a bunch of holes that need to be filled. 

Teo may or may not have said he met her in person af the stanford game- a newspaper certainly reported/implied that he said it.  I guess it wasn't in quotes so they could have been making it up.  The article has sense been taken down so I can't cite to it, but it said things words to the effect of their eyse/stares met, they looked into each others' eyes and shook hands.  Seems  unlikely that a paper is going to just make up a story about them shaking hands/locking eyes if all he says is "I met a girl at the Stanford game."  But, as you can see above, I put this in parretheses because it was kind of irrelevant.  Without this the story still has holes.

And as to his dad saying they were getting married- again this came from somewhere.  Maybe Teo never said they were getting married, but he must have talked about her enough to give that impression.  If he knew a girl for 2 or 3 years and dated her seriously for some period it is still shocking he wouldn't fly out to see her EVER, in her time of need after she had "always been there for him in his times of need." 

Anyway, my point is I see a lot of holes in the story as we know it right now.  I don't really know what I beleive right now.  I would like to beleive him because I feel really sorry for him if his sotry is true.  But there are just a bunch of unanswered questions. 

Indiana Blue

January 17th, 2013 at 10:01 AM ^

involves fabrication, I believe anyone's conclusion is valid.   Don't get caught with "my sources are better" ... that is bullshit.  

News Flash  -  the entire thing about the gf is a fucking lie, or Te'o has the emotional control of a 5 year old.  Planet of the Apes is more believable than the nd story.

Go Blue!

dahblue

January 16th, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^

This is all just funny stuff as it involves a full of shit school that preaches its piety and, again, is caught looking (at best) like a fat lesbian revealing her lies to an insecure girl who thinks she's about to meet her (male) soulmate on Catfish.  Of course, that'd be the best case for ND.  They still have to deal with the fact that Teo's Dad claims multiple in person visits:

 "They started out as just friends," Te'o's father, Brian, told the Tribune in October 2012. "Every once in a while, she would travel to Hawaii, and that happened to be the time Manti was home, so he would meet with her there."

...

As I re-read the quote, maybe Teo is gay and lied to his Dad to keep the cover story going.  That wouldn't be unheard of.  ND continuing the lies would then be in line with an anti-gay institution not wanting to seem as if they had lionized a gay student athlete (oh the horror).

bluesalt

January 16th, 2013 at 10:55 PM ^

I think this story is as ridiculous as the next guy, and I'm frankly hoping to find out Brian Kelly was somehow involved, but did your "fat lesbian" metaphor add anything to the discussion?

Sexism isn't funny, even on Internet message boards talking about the true oddity of a star football player with a fake, and then dead, girlfriend.

dahblue

January 17th, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^

Easy now. "Fat lesbian" being the episode of Catfish recently plugged on MTV where a girl tricks another girl into thinking she's a guy. That's the show. Don't hate the messenger, hate the catfish. By the way, there's nothing sexist about weight or sexual identity.

Sopwith

January 16th, 2013 at 10:21 PM ^

 

Position:  Inspiring dying girlfriend

Attractiveness: Most Beautiful Te'o (n)ever met, but mostly because of her character

Guru Ratings:  No. 7 Manti Te'o overall girlfriend, No. 1 online

YMRMFSPA:  Hitler Diaries, Balloon boy, Shroud of Turin, Crop Circles, Ron Mexico

Schadenfreude Resulting from Self-Righteousness of Institution Involved:  High

Prediction Based on Flimsy Evidence:  Heartwarming media stories involving athletes will continue to be based on flimsy evidence

Overall:  Five FAKEs out of Five

 

samsoccer7

January 16th, 2013 at 10:31 PM ^

WTF?  This shit is getting ridiculous now.  How can that Cardinals FB think this is the same person?  What makes him think that?  Maybe this Tuoiusioopppo guy is pathologic, but it still doesn't explain everything.  Teo basically embellished everything about the relationship and when he was getting national recognition, never really refuted it.  Maybe he got caught up in the lie and couldn't back down after it took a life of its own.  I don't know, but this shit cray...

Brown Bear

January 16th, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^

So let me get this straight. Deadspin does a HUGE story with tons of investigating revealing this person does not exist. Notre Dame holds a press conference confirming. Manti Te'o releases a statement confirming she doesn't exist. Then this guy says no she is real. Ahahahah. Wtf.

MGoRyan

January 16th, 2013 at 10:27 PM ^

The only rational defense outside of the complete sham this was, is possibly that he is gay. I can see why he would cover this up for so long. It doesn't make sense to me to string this along for 3 years just to get heisman hype. If he was in a relationship forbidden by his church, taboo in his sport, and looked down upon by his family, then maybe it's conceivable he made up this backstory. He may have been close to being found out, or ready to break things off and decided to work it to his advantage. The details with the friend, the locations, and the time frame of how long this went on for don't make much sense otherwise.