Everytime I open the newspaper I see this "fake girlfriend" thing. I am so confused! So this Te'o guy is a player for Notre Dame that credits his success with his dead girlfriend who died of leukemia? So this girlfriend never existed, he says he was tricked? Who was he talking to on the phone? Whose picture did he get? Why would anyone want to play a joke on him. My big question is, why is this news?
That's another good question...why is the university hiring private investigators?
So what you are all saying is that he (or someone else) made up a girlfriend's death to try to give him an edge in getting a Heissman trophy? So my question is, why would a death of a girlfriend give him an advantage to get the trophy?
The media doesn't believe in reporting news worthy stuff anymore.
I can list 20 things that should be front page news, and this isn't one of them.
I am not sure either but it is really offensive to me that this story is top news. According to a radio report I listened to, there was a girl at ND that was allegedly raped by football players, no investigations/convictions resulted and she committed suicide afterward. This story got no news, but yet we see the Te'o news every day and the school apparently hired private investigators to investigate the hoax. I have to say I didn't fact-check the radio story so take it with a grain of salt but if it is true....just says how messed up our news focus and our focus is in this country.
It was a sympathy ploy for his Heisman run.
She never existed, people found out. First they said he didn't know that he was tricked , now they say he made her up and or knew she was fake.
It puts his NFL draft stock in question , ie what round you will go in of the draft. What round he goes in effects future recruiting for the University. Recruiting effects how well the team plays, and if they win games/championships. Just GOING to the championship game brought millions to the school. See where I'm going with this? If they don't get the better recruits ( recruits that want to go into the NFL and are good enough to one day get there) they don't go to he big bowls, they don't get the big money. Te'o is a show piece for the University. If he's a liar it looks bad for the university and his draft stock goes down. follow?
yeah...i agree with avasmom...however...
the thing is, they are saying that the timing - she supposedly died right when the season was wrapping up (i think) or something - and he was first runner-up for the heisman trophy (and would have been in line for a great draft pick, endorsements, huge contract, etc) - and they're saying that all that hype was increased because of the dead/dying/sick girlfriend (whatever). so it's a big deal if he used it to garner votes for the heisman, yadda yadda yadda.
i've done my best to ignore it. don't care. football is supposed to be a sport, for entertainment. it's been twisted and corrupted just like any other sport. it's disgusting and stupid imo. (not to say i don't enjoy watching it...just HATE the politics, the hero-worship, the ridiculous amounts of $$$ thrown at these people. sad really.)
Can someone please explain to me a) why this is even news? and b) why I'm supposed to care?!! Don't we have more interesting things going on this world?!!
Gina--I know right?! SO many more important things!
BB, I know this much right now--I no longer care, and there's really nothing more I want to know about this football player!
I've been wondering why this is news also.
This is news all over the country.
There was a movie a couple years ago that explains this "scam". It's called "catfishing". Essentially someone "makes up" a profile of someone on facebook. Then, they correspond with people and lead them to believe they are someone who they are not. In Te'o's case, Te'o met a girl on facebook. He fell in love. He thought she was real. She was not.
It's just like any other identity scam.... in some cases (especially in the reverse, where there is a woman in love with a "fake" man) the women will have given the man money.... for his cancer treatments or to come to the US, for example.
So, it's a pretty big deal.... as far as educating people about these types of scams.
I think it's news in the Chicago area because Notre Dame is such a big deal. And because of what Avasmom said. They have had some problems at the school with their athletes, but they are clearly willing to look the other way. This is just the latest in a series of issues. I don't think most people would care either way, but when the University claims it's "unapologetically moral in orientation," they deserve to be called out.
It's not worth wasting your energy over. There are many more "news worthy" issues that we should be dealing with. Forget About IT!
