Publicity stunt ?

[KnowItAll]

Notre Dame's knee-jerk response designed to defend Te'o (and, I guess, ND football in general) is somewhat disappointing. You would think that at a Catholic university virtues like honesty and integrity would prevail, but that clearly is not the case at ND. It reminds me of the case of Joe Theismann back in his ND days. Evidently, the family name was really pronounced "Thees'-man," but ND flacks decided to get Joe to change that pronunciation to rhyme with Heisman ("Hise-man") to improve his chances of winning the trophy. The "anything to win," "anything to promote ND football" mentality would seem to me to be at odds with Christian values, values presumably embraced in the university's founding and mission statements. We shouldn't be surprised to see this win-at-all-costs mindset at other football factories, but I find it surprising and hypocritical at ND, and yet there it is, big as life, and evidently always has been!

you seem to be making a claim of guilty now

Not on all counts (yet), but we now know that Te'o has admitted to carrying on with his story after learning that it was a hoax. And that is giving him the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't in on the hoax. We cannot be sure of that at this point. ND's position, in my opinion, should have been to articulate the desire to get to the bottom of the whole debacle as their first priority, rather than coming out right at the start playing defense. That would have shown integrity.

I would say they were just expressing belief of innocence until proven guilty whereby they did not see any such proof.

[South Pender]

I would say they were just expressing belief of innocence until proven guilty whereby they did not see any such proof.

Then I guess we see ND's behaviour differently.

[KnowItAll]

I would say they were just expressing belief of innocence until proven guilty whereby they did not see any such proof.

Then I guess we see ND's behaviour differently.

I am a real active believer in innocent until proven guilty.

When the Nixon stories first came out, I refused to beleive it, until it was proven and he admitted it. Even though I didnt give a crap about nixon one way or the other

When OJ was first accused, I said no way, until it came out as fact that he physically abused his wife before hand. Anyone who does that is capable and most likely guilty of all he was accused of.

I even give the pissant the benifit of the doubt re the babysitter and the seriousness and intent and extenuating circumstances.

and really, why should any governing body of anything including a school get involved in what is at worst case, a student lies about something that does not break the law or school rules. This is a persons character issue and nothing more. Shouldnt reflect the school in any way. Not up to the school to do any investigating or give any validity to unsubstantiated allegations against a students character.

[South Pender]

I am a real active believer in innocent until proven guilty.

Me too.

and really, why should any governing body of anything including a school get involved in what is at worst case, a student lies about something that does not break the law or school rules. This is a persons character issue and nothing more. Shouldnt reflect the school in any way. Not up to the school to do any investigating or give any validity to unsubstantiated allegations against a students character.

Why? Because the football program at ND is so overwhelmingly important to the school both psychologically and economically that any black mark against it, or any player in it, must be got on top of and defused before it can do long-term damage. Something like this does reflect on the school whether it should or not. ND's reaction reminded me of how criminal defense lawyers jump right in before any evidence has been gathered to declare the innocence of their clients. It's called "getting ahead of the story." We expect this from sleazebag lawyers, but it surprises--and disappoints--me to see it from a Christian academic institution.

So I've been talking about ND's behaviour, not Te'o's, and the evidence is in, in my opinion, on that. As for Te'o's active involvement in this charade (or non-involvement), we'll have to wait a little longer, although we now know that he did lie publicly at one point.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/31/us/manti- ... ?hpt=hp_t2

Hoaxer says Te'o not part of ruse

By Chelsea J. Carter, CNN

updated 4:24 PM EST, Thu January 31, 2013

(CNN) -- The man who says he was behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax claims he was in love with the Notre Dame linebacker, but the athlete knew nothing about the ruse.

"He had no idea," said 22-year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo in the first segment of a two-part interview that aired Thursday on "Dr. Phil." The second part is scheduled to air Friday. "He did not know anything."

Tuiasosopo told host Phil McGraw that he had romantic feelings for the football player. Asked whether he is gay, he said, "I would say, yeah, I am gay, but honestly, I am so confused, I'm so lost."

In the interview, Tuiasosopo says the charade was so difficult to maintain that he tried to put an end to it several times, but it didn't work.

"There are many times where Manti and Lennay had broken up. But something would bring them back together whether it was something going on in his life or Lennay's life, in this case in my life," Tuiasosopo said.

He added, "I wanted to end it because after everything I had gone through I wanted to move on with my life. Me, Ronaiah, I had to just start living and let this go."

Finally, after learning that Te'o had Skyped with several of his former girlfriends, Tuiasosopo essentially killed off Lennay Kekua -- the character he had created -- having her die of leukemia.

A love story unravels

Thursday's segment is the latest revelation in what began as a story of one of the nation's best college football players leading his team to victory hours after learning his girlfriend had died of leukemia, a story later dismissed as a hoax after it was revealed Kekua did not exist.

Te'o: My emotions were real

Sports website Deadspin broke the story this month that the girlfriend whom Te'o, this year's Heisman Trophy runner-up, had talked about and had claimed died in September of leukemia wasn't real.

Te'o rose to national prominence leading Notre Dame's Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season. As he and his team excelled, Te'o told interviewers in September and October that his grandmother and girlfriend, whom he described as a 22-year-old Stanford University student, had died within hours of each other.

"I miss 'em, but I know that I'll see them again one day," he said then.

An online relationship

In the weeks since news of the hoax broke, Te'o said the relationship was carried out via e-mail and telephone.

Last week, Te'o told Katie Couric that Tuiasosopo called him the day the story broke to confess.

During that interview, Te'o said he doubted the voice he knew as Kekua belonged to that of a man.

Tuiasosopo has said he faked his voice to sound feminine. In the interview, he was repeatedly challenged by the talk show host to prove it.

Who's who on the Internet? Who knows

Tuiasosopo' s state of mind

Psychotherapist Robi Ludwig said the behavior described by Tuiasosopo to McGraw is very possible.

"We see this with Internet dating. Sometimes people lie," Ludwig said on CNN's "Erin Burnett Outfront."

"It's a place where they can experiment and where they can impersonate the other sex."

Ludwig said it is possible that Tuiasosopo "actually did have a crush on Manti Te'o and was confused about his sexuality."

"And the reason why he impersonated this woman was to see what it would feel like to be intimate with Manti Te'o to be loved by Manti Te'o," she said.

"Who would say this if it weren't true? I don't get the sense that he's a sociopath. I get the sense that he's confused."

[TheLionKing]

This is taking on a life of it's own.

[Toppy Vann]

This is taking on a life of it's own.

I want the movie rights to this one!!!! This is INSANE.

There is something that still doesn't fit for me with the now backtracking player who has admitted to lying.

He needs to get some help as to what is real and fantasy.

I still wonder if this guy from Dr. Phil is still taking the fall to protect his pal.

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/us/manti- ... ?hpt=hp_t2

Manti Te'o hoaxer's voice said to match recordings

By Tom Watkins, CNN

updated 6:25 PM EST, Fri February 1, 2013

Hoaxer: I tried to end it with Te'o

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Three forensic voice analysts all reached the same conclusion, "Dr. Phil" says

Tuiasosopo says the hoax was linked to sexual abuse he endured beginning at age 12

"It has everything to do with what I went through as a child," he says on show

(CNN) -- The voice on telephone messages left for Manti Te'o matches that of the 22-year-old man who says he posed as a woman in carrying on a relationship -- by e-mail and over the phone -- with the Notre Dame linebacker, according to the "Dr. Phil" show.

"They all say, with scientific certainty, that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is the female voice in those recordings," host Phil McGraw said, citing conclusions by forensic voice analysts with three independent contractors.

That conclusion supports Tuiasosopo's assertion that, posing as a woman, he was involved in a relationship with Te'o, who had not known that his love interest was a man.

Te'o rose to prominence while leading Notre Dame's Fighting Irish to an undefeated regular season. This year's Heisman Trophy runner-up, he told interviewers in September and October that his grandmother and girlfriend, whom he described as a 22-year-old Stanford University student, had died within hours of each other.

The sports website Deadspin broke the story last month that the girlfriend Te'o talked about wasn't real.

McGraw reported in the first part of the two-part interview, which aired Thursday, that the voice analysts had concluded that the voice used by Tuiasosopo in the interview was likely not that of the person who had left the voice mail messages on the gridiron star's answering machine.

McGraw asked the confessed hoaxer repeatedly to adopt the female voice he said he had used with Te'o in order to prove that it was he, but Tuiasosopo refused, saying he was not comfortable appearing on camera soundling like a woman.

A first attempt at overcoming his objection -- putting Tuiasosopo behind a screen in McGraw's home, where the interview took place -- resulted in equivocal findings from the voice analysts.

But when the venue was switched to Tuiasosopo's house, where he said he had made the calls to Te'o, the results were uniformly in agreement, McGraw said.

Tuiasosopo told McGraw that the ruse had its roots in sexual abuse he endured from someone close to his family that began when he was 12 years of age.

"It started off with a hand and then touching and stuff like that," he told the talk show host in the segment that aired Friday. "I didn't know what was going on."

Tuiasosopo said he kept to himself knowledge of the abuse, which escalated to rape, out of fear that his parents would become angry if they were to find out and that it might drive his father -- who was already out of town much of the time -- to leave.

"I knew that I could not go forward with that," he said.

Tuiasosopo said he went on to create an alter persona -- the fictional Lennay Kekua.

"I felt that I couldn't do things, accomplish things, pursue things, live out as Ronaiah," Tuiasosopo said to McGraw. "And I felt the need to create this. It has everything to do with what I went through as a child and my experience with child molestation and abuse."

Asked why he had not created a fictional man instead, he said that it was because he had been "abused as if I was a girl."

In the initial segment, which aired Thursday, Tuiasosopo said the athlete knew nothing about the ruse.

"He had no idea," he said.

Te'o has said he was not a part of the hoax.

Asked whether he was in love with Te'o, Tuiasosopo said: "I mean, yeah ... as twisted and confusing as it may be, yeah, I cared for this person. I did all that I could to help this person become a better person, even though I wasn't getting nothing out of it. Of course, it's very shameful and it's very painful to even talk about. Even now, it's hard to talk about. But, you know, the truth of it is that that happened. I grew feelings. I grew emotions that, sooner or later, I couldn't control any more."

Asked whether he is gay, Tuiasosopo said, "I would say, yeah, I am gay, but honestly, I am so confused, I'm so lost."

Bleacher Report: Twitter Erupts as Hoaxer Tells Story to Dr. Phil

Tuiasosopo said the relationship began after he started a Facebook page under the name Lennay Kekua, the first name an elision of his mother's and grandmother's first names and the last name one he had heard "thrown around in the neighborhood."

He said he "randomly added different people" as Facebook friends with the persona he had created. "One of the people I happened to add was his cousin," he said, referring to Te'o's cousin. "Shortly after, I got a friend request, and it was from Manti."

They began speaking nightly, and Te'o seemed to have been smitten, too, Tuiasosopo said. "He really had fallen in love with this, we'll say, character."

A love story unravels

Te'o: My emotions were real

Tuiasosopo said his motives were pure; he never tried to make money off their relationship. "I just wanted to help him become better," he said.

The charade became difficult to maintain, and he tried to end it several times.

"There are many times where Manti and Lennay had broken up. But something would bring them back together, whether it was something going on in his life or Lennay's life, in this case in my life," Tuiasosopo said.

He added: "I wanted to end it because after everything I had gone through I wanted to move on with my life. Me, Ronaiah, I had to just start living and let this go."

Finally, after learning that Te'o had Skyped with four women -- including two of his former girlfriends -- Tuiasosopo said he essentially killed off Lennay, having her die of leukemia.

"I was just trying to do everything to end it because I knew that, no matter what, you know, it just wasn't right -- and it was never going to be."

Who's who on the Internet? Who knows

In Friday's segment, Tuiasosopo apologized to all those he hurt, including Te'o, Teo's family and his own family. "I can't express how sorry I am," he said. "The truth is I hurt every day for the decisions I have made."

Is that the merciful end of this story? Probably not.

Some evidence gathering that the hoaxer was in love with Manti, and pretended online to be female. The hoaxer expresses embarrassment and also sexual identity confusion.

I would suggest that, if this is true, it lends credence to Manti being duped. Of course, he is also greatly embarrassed.

My reaction: It seems to be more of a tragedy now. Not some scam.

Nowadays things get a little more complicated all the time.

[KnowItAll]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/us/manti- ... ?hpt=hp_t2

Is that the merciful end of this story? Probably not.

probably not for those idiots who still want to insist that teo was in on it.

[Toppy Vann]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/us/manti- ... ?hpt=hp_t2

Is that the merciful end of this story? Probably not.

probably not for those idiots who still want to insist that teo was in on it.

Put me down as one of the idiots who thinks possibly that is there a bit more here to the story.

What makes the story go on for T'eo is what John Elway says will be the questions by the pro teams as they will want to know what kind of character they are getting. At least he's not a raping, gun toting dude if his worse behaviour is to fall in love with a voice and a fake photo.

The ND player has admitted to lying to keep the story up. His team mates really questioned this and he was dating on campus while keeping the story alive or so they claim.

T''eo must have the depth of a wading pool. Falls in love with a voice and fake photo and goes to air on this. Hmm. Not a very good character.

But there was that infamous phone service in Burnbaby (?) that got exposed and the most female to call into was a MALE so the voice story is possibly quite true.