detroit187
Pretty much a regular
nah was watching tnt nba, whats up. heard him whining earlier that he was fooled. rick reilly is one of the biggest pos in sports
Manti Te'o's Dead Girlfriend was a hoax?!?!?!?!
- Thread starter Smokedawg
- Start date
Jimmydafreak
Pretty much a regular
Not really sure what you're getting at. Scheduling between divisions is done on a rotating basis. There is nothing tricky about it at all. It's pretty much the same way all conferences schedule their games. The only thing that has changed is that teams now only play two cross-divisional games instead of 3 due to expansion.
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JumpOnBoard
CTG Partner
Just one more thing. You say she's invisible?
JumpOnBoard
CTG Partner
JumpOnBoard
CTG Partner
The word today is that shortly before Lennay died, she gave an exclusive to Jayson Blair of the New York Times. Should be riveting stuff.
nbafan88
Pretty much a regular
America at it's finest. Love it.
As part of the promotion in late May, the first 1,000 fans will get an empty bobblehead box, there will be a pretend kiss cam for fans to kiss their imaginary friends and there will be an imaginary food fight in the kids' area, as well as an air guitar contest.
"There's not a lot to do to get attention in January," Freedom general manager Josh Anderson said. "You have to find some way to get the buzz."
Anderson said things might die down by May 23, the day of the promotion, but the team is committed to it nonetheless.
Is it too edgy and too soon?
"I don't know who we'd be offending," said Anderson, who said he met his wife online. "It would just be isolated to the guy who made his season based off this story."
twinkie13
In transit, arriving late.
I mean the Bama/Tenn game.
GoIrish!
Pretty much a regular
rofl
GoIrish!
Pretty much a regular
agreed..the same thing is being said over and over....Teo needs to speak soon
Jimmydafreak
Pretty much a regular
Jimmydafreak
Pretty much a regular
I could probably round up some tickets for you if you're interested.
Roadtrip!
While Manti Te'o huddles with family and advisers to figure out his next move, many are wondering why he continued to perpetuate the lie that his girlfriend had died after he found out that it was a hoax.
Multiple media outlets have found numerous instances of the Notre Dame linebacker talking about Lennay Kekua as if she had existed after Dec. 6, the date that he and the university say he found out that the girl that he thought he was having a relationship with and who died of leukemia was made up.
[h=4]More From ESPN.com[/h]
Is Manti Te'o a world-class liar or the victim of a cruel hoax? A schemer or prey? We all await his version of the truth, Gene Wojciechowski writes. Story
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A former roommate of Manti Te'o thinks the star linebacker should be given more support from the Notre Dame community, writes Matt Fortuna. Story
• Munson: Criminal charge unlikely
• Vitale: Sad stories in sports
At the Heisman Trophy presentation Dec. 8 in New York, ESPN's Chris Fowler asked Te'o what moment of his very public story of tragedy he would remember.
"I think I'll never forget the time when I found out that, you know, my girlfriend passed away and the first person to run to my aid was my defensive coordinator, Coach [Bob] Diaco, and you know he said something very profound to me," Te'o said. "He said, 'This is where your faith is tested.' Right after that, I ran into the players' lounge and I got on the phone with my parents -- and I opened my eyes and my head coach was sitting right there. And so, you know, there are a hundred-plus people on our team and the defensive coordinator and our head coach took time to just go get one [of those players]. You know I think that was the most meaningful to me."
Te'o also said on ESPN Radio the same day that he hoped his grandmother, who died Sept. 12, and his girlfriend, who was reported to have died on the same day, were proud of him.
The Associated Press turned up two more instances during that gap between Dec. 6 and Dec. 26, the date when Te'o told Notre Dame that he knew of the hoax, when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.
During another interview at the Heisman ceremony that ran on WSBT.com, the website for a South Bend TV station, Te'o said: "I mean, I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. So I've really tried to go to children's hospitals and see, you know, children."
In a column that first ran in The Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 10, Te'o recounted why he played a few days after he found out Kekua died in September, and the day she was supposedly buried.
"She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play," he said Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards.
Meanwhile, on Friday an adviser to Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap that the linebacker has been huddling this morning with family members and a team of advisers, who are trying to determine the best way for him to address the controversy. The adviser, who's been part of the discussions, also said that all of the advisers are thoroughly convinced that Te'o is telling the truth in saying that he was a victim of a hoax.
They are encouraged, too, by the fact that several people have come forward defending and supporting Te'o. The thing most upsetting to Te'o, his adviser said, is that his relatives were also victimized by the hoax and are now suffering because of it.
Te'o's Notre Dame family is also suffering. Doubts about his participation in the scam extend to the campus, where he is one of the most popular players in Notre Dame's storied history.
"Whenever Manti decides to speak I'll bet the entire campus will stop what they're doing and watch what he has to say," Notre Dame student body president Brett Rocheleau said Thursday. "I think the majority of students believe in Manti. They just want to hear him answer these final few questions and hear the story from his point of view."
Anonymous teammates have said in the past few days that they questioned the entire girlfriend scenario.
[h=4]Coach & Company[/h]<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://a.espncdn.com/swf/espnradio/09/audio_player_circular_v2.swf" height="70" width="86" id="flashPodcastSwf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"></object>
Nev Schulman, star of MTV's "Catfish" joined Coach and Company to provide expertise on fake online relationships and cover the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax from all angles.
One former teammate told ESPN's Bob Holtzman on Wednesday that players knew the woman wasn't really his girlfriend even though Te'o played that up as his tragic story was being told.
Multiple media reports also have said players thought that Te'o had only met Kekua once and that it wasn't really accurate to call her his girlfriend. But as condolences poured in, Te'o "played along," according to the teammate, who wished to remain anonymous.
The teammate portrayed the move as part of the All-American's personality, telling ESPN that Te'o liked attention so much that he would sometimes point himself out to friends when he was on television.
Te'o's recent silence and the timeline of events raise questions about whether Te'o really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he was complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman. He came in second, propelled by one of the most compelling plot lines of the season.
But the story doesn't add up.
On Wednesday, Te'o and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the player was drawn into a virtual romance with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and was fooled into believing she died of leukemia in September. They said his only contact with the woman was via the Internet and telephone. Te'o was not at the news conference; the school released a 225-word statement from him.
Relying on information provided by Te'o's family members, the South Bend Tribune reported in October that Te'o and Kekua first met, in person, in 2009, and that the two also had gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up.
South Bend Tribune sportswriter Eric Hansen told WSBT-TV Friday that he still has the recording of the interview with Te'o's father Brian and mother Ottilia and listened to it again to make sure he didn't misquote the father.
"They met at Stanford his freshman year, they shook hands," Hansen said, according to WSBT-TV, of what Brian Te'o said. "This was an in-person meeting and there were subsequent meetings in Hawaii when Manti would go home. Again from listening to the tape I don't think Brian ever saw her or met her."
Hansen has been rattled by the experience and wants to know the truth.
"That's again what I'm trying to get to the bottom of -- what's real here and what's not? Is Manti a victim? Is somebody else a victim? Do I need to do my job differently when I've had multiple sources I trust confirm things? Do I need to go get a picture of a corpse?" Hansen said, according to WSBT-TV.
Sports Illustrated has posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23 that backs up the South Bend Tribune story. In it, he goes into great detail about his relationship with Kekua and her physical ailments. He also mentioned meeting her for the first time after a game in California.
"We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin. And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular," he told SI.
Among the outstanding questions: Why didn't Te'o ever clarify the nature of his relationship as the story took on a life of its own?Te'o's agent, Tom Condon, said earlier Friday that the athlete had no plans to make any public statements in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy.
On Wednesday, when Deadspin.com broke the story, Swarbrick said Notre Dame did not go public with its findings sooner because it expected the Te'o family to come forward first.
Swarbrick says he is encouraging Te'o to speak publicly.
Swarbrick says he believes Te'o has to explain exactly how he was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax. Swarbrick says school officials would rather see Te'o talk about it "sooner rather than later."
Swarbrick says university officials understand there is more to be learned, but based on knowing Te'o he believes the linebacker is a victim. He says he will continue to believe that until given "compelling evidence to the contrary."
As Te'o remains silent, some Irish teammates are coming to his defense and saying they don't think that he took part in the hoax.
"Absolutely it seemed real," said former Irish receiver John Goodman, according to the Chicago Tribune. "It was real. If you watch his interviews -- if he's that good of an actor, then Hollywood better be giving him a call. But obviously Manti is like the rest of us. It was real in the locker room, real on the field, and that's what I know of it."
Former safety Zeke Motta, who lived in the same house as Te'o this past fall, told the Tribune: "Manti is a great teammate and friend. I wish people wouldn't make comments about things without knowing all the facts."
Asked if the NCAA was monitoring the Te'o story for possible rules violations, NCAA president Mark Emmert said:
"We don't know anything more than you do," he told reporters at the organization's convention in Dallas. "We're learning about this through the stories just the same as you are. But we have to wait and see what really transpired there. It's obviously (a) very disturbing story and it's hard to tell where the facts lie at this point.
"But Notre Dame is obviously looking into it and there will be a lot more to come forward. Right now, it just looks ... well, we don't know what the facts are, so I shouldn't comment beyond that."
Multiple media outlets have found numerous instances of the Notre Dame linebacker talking about Lennay Kekua as if she had existed after Dec. 6, the date that he and the university say he found out that the girl that he thought he was having a relationship with and who died of leukemia was made up.
[h=4]More From ESPN.com[/h]
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• Munson: Criminal charge unlikely
• Vitale: Sad stories in sports
At the Heisman Trophy presentation Dec. 8 in New York, ESPN's Chris Fowler asked Te'o what moment of his very public story of tragedy he would remember.
"I think I'll never forget the time when I found out that, you know, my girlfriend passed away and the first person to run to my aid was my defensive coordinator, Coach [Bob] Diaco, and you know he said something very profound to me," Te'o said. "He said, 'This is where your faith is tested.' Right after that, I ran into the players' lounge and I got on the phone with my parents -- and I opened my eyes and my head coach was sitting right there. And so, you know, there are a hundred-plus people on our team and the defensive coordinator and our head coach took time to just go get one [of those players]. You know I think that was the most meaningful to me."
Te'o also said on ESPN Radio the same day that he hoped his grandmother, who died Sept. 12, and his girlfriend, who was reported to have died on the same day, were proud of him.
The Associated Press turned up two more instances during that gap between Dec. 6 and Dec. 26, the date when Te'o told Notre Dame that he knew of the hoax, when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.
During another interview at the Heisman ceremony that ran on WSBT.com, the website for a South Bend TV station, Te'o said: "I mean, I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. So I've really tried to go to children's hospitals and see, you know, children."
In a column that first ran in The Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 10, Te'o recounted why he played a few days after he found out Kekua died in September, and the day she was supposedly buried.
"She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play," he said Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards.
Meanwhile, on Friday an adviser to Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap that the linebacker has been huddling this morning with family members and a team of advisers, who are trying to determine the best way for him to address the controversy. The adviser, who's been part of the discussions, also said that all of the advisers are thoroughly convinced that Te'o is telling the truth in saying that he was a victim of a hoax.
They are encouraged, too, by the fact that several people have come forward defending and supporting Te'o. The thing most upsetting to Te'o, his adviser said, is that his relatives were also victimized by the hoax and are now suffering because of it.
Te'o's Notre Dame family is also suffering. Doubts about his participation in the scam extend to the campus, where he is one of the most popular players in Notre Dame's storied history.
"Whenever Manti decides to speak I'll bet the entire campus will stop what they're doing and watch what he has to say," Notre Dame student body president Brett Rocheleau said Thursday. "I think the majority of students believe in Manti. They just want to hear him answer these final few questions and hear the story from his point of view."
Anonymous teammates have said in the past few days that they questioned the entire girlfriend scenario.
[h=4]Coach & Company[/h]<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://a.espncdn.com/swf/espnradio/09/audio_player_circular_v2.swf" height="70" width="86" id="flashPodcastSwf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"></object>
Nev Schulman, star of MTV's "Catfish" joined Coach and Company to provide expertise on fake online relationships and cover the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax from all angles.
One former teammate told ESPN's Bob Holtzman on Wednesday that players knew the woman wasn't really his girlfriend even though Te'o played that up as his tragic story was being told.
Multiple media reports also have said players thought that Te'o had only met Kekua once and that it wasn't really accurate to call her his girlfriend. But as condolences poured in, Te'o "played along," according to the teammate, who wished to remain anonymous.
The teammate portrayed the move as part of the All-American's personality, telling ESPN that Te'o liked attention so much that he would sometimes point himself out to friends when he was on television.
Te'o's recent silence and the timeline of events raise questions about whether Te'o really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he was complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman. He came in second, propelled by one of the most compelling plot lines of the season.
But the story doesn't add up.
On Wednesday, Te'o and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said the player was drawn into a virtual romance with a woman who used the phony name Lennay Kekua, and was fooled into believing she died of leukemia in September. They said his only contact with the woman was via the Internet and telephone. Te'o was not at the news conference; the school released a 225-word statement from him.
Relying on information provided by Te'o's family members, the South Bend Tribune reported in October that Te'o and Kekua first met, in person, in 2009, and that the two also had gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up.
South Bend Tribune sportswriter Eric Hansen told WSBT-TV Friday that he still has the recording of the interview with Te'o's father Brian and mother Ottilia and listened to it again to make sure he didn't misquote the father.
"They met at Stanford his freshman year, they shook hands," Hansen said, according to WSBT-TV, of what Brian Te'o said. "This was an in-person meeting and there were subsequent meetings in Hawaii when Manti would go home. Again from listening to the tape I don't think Brian ever saw her or met her."
Hansen has been rattled by the experience and wants to know the truth.
"That's again what I'm trying to get to the bottom of -- what's real here and what's not? Is Manti a victim? Is somebody else a victim? Do I need to do my job differently when I've had multiple sources I trust confirm things? Do I need to go get a picture of a corpse?" Hansen said, according to WSBT-TV.
Sports Illustrated has posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23 that backs up the South Bend Tribune story. In it, he goes into great detail about his relationship with Kekua and her physical ailments. He also mentioned meeting her for the first time after a game in California.
"We met just, ummmm, just she knew my cousin. And kind of saw me there so. Just kind of regular," he told SI.
Among the outstanding questions: Why didn't Te'o ever clarify the nature of his relationship as the story took on a life of its own?Te'o's agent, Tom Condon, said earlier Friday that the athlete had no plans to make any public statements in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy.
On Wednesday, when Deadspin.com broke the story, Swarbrick said Notre Dame did not go public with its findings sooner because it expected the Te'o family to come forward first.
Swarbrick says he is encouraging Te'o to speak publicly.
Swarbrick says he believes Te'o has to explain exactly how he was duped into an online relationship with a woman whose "death" was then faked by the perpetrators of the hoax. Swarbrick says school officials would rather see Te'o talk about it "sooner rather than later."
Swarbrick says university officials understand there is more to be learned, but based on knowing Te'o he believes the linebacker is a victim. He says he will continue to believe that until given "compelling evidence to the contrary."
As Te'o remains silent, some Irish teammates are coming to his defense and saying they don't think that he took part in the hoax.
"Absolutely it seemed real," said former Irish receiver John Goodman, according to the Chicago Tribune. "It was real. If you watch his interviews -- if he's that good of an actor, then Hollywood better be giving him a call. But obviously Manti is like the rest of us. It was real in the locker room, real on the field, and that's what I know of it."
Former safety Zeke Motta, who lived in the same house as Te'o this past fall, told the Tribune: "Manti is a great teammate and friend. I wish people wouldn't make comments about things without knowing all the facts."
Asked if the NCAA was monitoring the Te'o story for possible rules violations, NCAA president Mark Emmert said:
"We don't know anything more than you do," he told reporters at the organization's convention in Dallas. "We're learning about this through the stories just the same as you are. But we have to wait and see what really transpired there. It's obviously (a) very disturbing story and it's hard to tell where the facts lie at this point.
"But Notre Dame is obviously looking into it and there will be a lot more to come forward. Right now, it just looks ... well, we don't know what the facts are, so I shouldn't comment beyond that."
GoIrish!
Pretty much a regular
[h=1]Friend: Tuiasosopo admitted to hoax[/h]
Updated: January 18, 2013, 2:13 PM ET
<cite class="source" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; line-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; overflow: hidden;">By Shelley Smith | ESPN</cite>
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[h=5]Source: Te'o Not First To Be Duped By Tuiasosopo[/h]Shelley Smith reports that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, has pulled a similar hoax before, according to a source.Tags: Manti Te'o, Manti Te'o hoax, Manti Te'o girlfriend, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo
[h=6]NEXT VIDEO
[/h]
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has been publicly identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told "Outside the Lines" Thursday.
The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded.
[h=4]More From ESPN.com[/h]
Is Manti Te'o a world-class liar or the victim of a cruel hoax? A schemer or prey? We all await his version of the truth, Gene Wojciechowski writes.Story
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A former roommate of Manti Te'o thinks the star linebacker should be given more support from the Notre Dame community, writes Matt Fortuna. Story
• Munson: Criminal charge unlikely
• Vitale: Sad stories in sports
She said Tuiasosopo gave her the tearful confession and account of how he played what he said was at first a game on the unsuspecting Te'o. And, she said, he told her that it wasn't the first time he had done it.
"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. & The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'
"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to."
Notre Dame issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua, Te'o's supposed girlfriend, existing.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a news conference Wednesday night that coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.
Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone. Te'o had described staying on the phone with whom he thought was Kekua for hours each night over many months. Tuiasosopo's friend from church told ESPN that Tuiasosopo admitted to having his female cousin speak to Te'o over the phone.
Meanwhile, on Friday, an adviser to Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap that the linebacker has been huddling Friday morning with family members and a team of advisers, who are trying to determine the best way for him to address the controversy. The adviser, who's been part of the discussions, also said that all of the advisers are thoroughly convinced that Te'o is telling the truth in saying that he was a victim of a hoax.
OTL also interviewed two other people who said they have a cousin who had the same online hoax pulled on them by Tuiasosopo.
[h=4]The Herd with Colin Cowherd[/h]<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://a.espncdn.com/swf/espnradio/09/audio_player_circular_v2.swf" height="70" width="86" id="flashPodcastSwf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"></object>
ESPN's Shelley Smith talks about a conversation she had with a friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who claims that he has admitted to duping Manti Te'o.
J.R. Vaosa, 28, of Torrance, Calif., and Celeste Tuioti-Mariner, 21, of Whittier, Calif., said that in 2008 their cousin began an online romance with a woman who portrayed herself as a model. Vaosa said the cousin showed Vaosa a picture on MySpace of a woman from a Victoria's Secret catalog that he said was Kekua. Vaosa said that the online Kekua would agree to meet his cousin at certain places. Vaosa said he went with the cousin to meet her.
"When Lennay said she was gonna be at this park one day, we'd go to the park and Ronaiah pops up and then we go to the gym in Orange County where the kids have volleyball tournaments, Ronaiah's there," Vaosa said.
Finally, the family convinced Vaosa's cousin that something wasn't right and he needed to cut things off not only with Kekua, but Tuiasosopo, whom they were convinced was the real Kekua, Tuioti-Mariner said.
"I just knew that my cousin would invite her to certain events and Lennay would always say she would go to those things, but she would never end up going and instead of her going we would see Ronaiah," Tuioti-Mariner said.
Then this fall, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner saw the story of Te'o's dying girlfriend.
"When I found out about the Samoan football player (and) his girlfriend, his Grandma died the same day, I was like, 'Whoa this is crazy,' I feel so bad for him, so I just looked him up," Vaosa said. "I found out his girlfriend's name was Lennay Kekua. And right when I read the name Lennay Kekua, I immediately thought of Ronaiah. Then I thought of my cousin -- that this has to be the same person."
[h=4]SportsNation: A Hoax On Te'o?[/h]
Details are still emerging regarding Manti Te'o's girlfriend hoax story. What do you make of it?
• Cast your votes
The cousins said they were convinced Te'o was being victimized, but they were uncertain of what to do. They said they began tweeting their suspicions. Many of their tweets were laced with sarcasm including claims that they were the real Lennay Kekua. After Deadspin.com broke the story on Te'o and Swarbrick held a news conference, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner found reporters at their door and said threats were made to them and their families on Twitter.
Another person involved in the hoax has come forward as well. The woman whose photos were portrayed as Kekua was identified by "Inside Edition" as Diane O'Meara. Her lawyer told the program that her client is also a victim and that her photos were stolen and used to create the illusion of Te'o's girlfriend.
Deadspin.com reported in its original story that the woman whose images were used as Kekua's was actually a former high school classmate of Tuiasosopo and that he used a ruse to get her to send him at least one photo.
Meanwhile, the woman who says Tuiasosopo confessed to her said she has urged Tuiasosopo to take responsibility for his actions.
She said he called her Wednesday as the news of the hoax was breaking. She said he sounded calm but she worries about his guilt over what he did to Te'o and what he did to his family name, one of the most prominent in all of Polynesian sports. She worries what he might do to himself.
"I (still) am worried for him (Ronaiah), not just him and his family but I know that you can't judge people like that and that's why I continue to just encourage (him) to come out and tell the truth," she said.
Updated: January 18, 2013, 2:13 PM ET
<cite class="source" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; line-height: 14px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); display: block; overflow: hidden;">By Shelley Smith | ESPN</cite>
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[h=5]Source: Te'o Not First To Be Duped By Tuiasosopo[/h]Shelley Smith reports that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, has pulled a similar hoax before, according to a source.Tags: Manti Te'o, Manti Te'o hoax, Manti Te'o girlfriend, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo
[h=6]NEXT VIDEO
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has been publicly identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told "Outside the Lines" Thursday.
The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded.
[h=4]More From ESPN.com[/h]
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• Munson: Criminal charge unlikely
• Vitale: Sad stories in sports
She said Tuiasosopo gave her the tearful confession and account of how he played what he said was at first a game on the unsuspecting Te'o. And, she said, he told her that it wasn't the first time he had done it.
"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. & The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'
"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to."
Notre Dame issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua, Te'o's supposed girlfriend, existing.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a news conference Wednesday night that coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.
Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone. Te'o had described staying on the phone with whom he thought was Kekua for hours each night over many months. Tuiasosopo's friend from church told ESPN that Tuiasosopo admitted to having his female cousin speak to Te'o over the phone.
Meanwhile, on Friday, an adviser to Te'o told ESPN's Jeremy Schaap that the linebacker has been huddling Friday morning with family members and a team of advisers, who are trying to determine the best way for him to address the controversy. The adviser, who's been part of the discussions, also said that all of the advisers are thoroughly convinced that Te'o is telling the truth in saying that he was a victim of a hoax.
OTL also interviewed two other people who said they have a cousin who had the same online hoax pulled on them by Tuiasosopo.
[h=4]The Herd with Colin Cowherd[/h]<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://a.espncdn.com/swf/espnradio/09/audio_player_circular_v2.swf" height="70" width="86" id="flashPodcastSwf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"></object>
ESPN's Shelley Smith talks about a conversation she had with a friend of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who claims that he has admitted to duping Manti Te'o.
J.R. Vaosa, 28, of Torrance, Calif., and Celeste Tuioti-Mariner, 21, of Whittier, Calif., said that in 2008 their cousin began an online romance with a woman who portrayed herself as a model. Vaosa said the cousin showed Vaosa a picture on MySpace of a woman from a Victoria's Secret catalog that he said was Kekua. Vaosa said that the online Kekua would agree to meet his cousin at certain places. Vaosa said he went with the cousin to meet her.
"When Lennay said she was gonna be at this park one day, we'd go to the park and Ronaiah pops up and then we go to the gym in Orange County where the kids have volleyball tournaments, Ronaiah's there," Vaosa said.
Finally, the family convinced Vaosa's cousin that something wasn't right and he needed to cut things off not only with Kekua, but Tuiasosopo, whom they were convinced was the real Kekua, Tuioti-Mariner said.
"I just knew that my cousin would invite her to certain events and Lennay would always say she would go to those things, but she would never end up going and instead of her going we would see Ronaiah," Tuioti-Mariner said.
Then this fall, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner saw the story of Te'o's dying girlfriend.
"When I found out about the Samoan football player (and) his girlfriend, his Grandma died the same day, I was like, 'Whoa this is crazy,' I feel so bad for him, so I just looked him up," Vaosa said. "I found out his girlfriend's name was Lennay Kekua. And right when I read the name Lennay Kekua, I immediately thought of Ronaiah. Then I thought of my cousin -- that this has to be the same person."
[h=4]SportsNation: A Hoax On Te'o?[/h]
• Cast your votes
The cousins said they were convinced Te'o was being victimized, but they were uncertain of what to do. They said they began tweeting their suspicions. Many of their tweets were laced with sarcasm including claims that they were the real Lennay Kekua. After Deadspin.com broke the story on Te'o and Swarbrick held a news conference, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner found reporters at their door and said threats were made to them and their families on Twitter.
Another person involved in the hoax has come forward as well. The woman whose photos were portrayed as Kekua was identified by "Inside Edition" as Diane O'Meara. Her lawyer told the program that her client is also a victim and that her photos were stolen and used to create the illusion of Te'o's girlfriend.
Deadspin.com reported in its original story that the woman whose images were used as Kekua's was actually a former high school classmate of Tuiasosopo and that he used a ruse to get her to send him at least one photo.
Meanwhile, the woman who says Tuiasosopo confessed to her said she has urged Tuiasosopo to take responsibility for his actions.
She said he called her Wednesday as the news of the hoax was breaking. She said he sounded calm but she worries about his guilt over what he did to Te'o and what he did to his family name, one of the most prominent in all of Polynesian sports. She worries what he might do to himself.
"I (still) am worried for him (Ronaiah), not just him and his family but I know that you can't judge people like that and that's why I continue to just encourage (him) to come out and tell the truth," she said.
Troutman
Calculated Risk Taker
Right - and still nothing from Te'o. There is no good way out for him, even if he was duped he played it up for the attention.
G
Gyno
Guest
Let me get this straight, They are claiming that tuiasosopo and his crew whomever the fuck they are literally "created a human being" thats right created a fake human being just to fuck with Te'o? This tuiasosopo character convinced a female to talk to Teo on the phone every day and night, even staying on the phone even while they were sleeping? They would of had to dedicate their lives to make this work and Teo would of had to have the mental capability of a 7yr old.
no fucking way. unbelievable that they even want us to believe this fairy tale.
no fucking way. unbelievable that they even want us to believe this fairy tale.
G
Gyno
Guest
ND and Te'o already caught in a lie.. They said they found out about hoax on dec 6th, and Te'o was still talking about this fake girlfriend on dec 8th with chris fowler and on dec 10th with someone else..
Why would anyone believe anything Te'o said?
At the Heisman Trophy presentation Dec. 8 in New York, ESPN's Chris Fowler asked Te'o what moment of his very public story of tragedy he would remember.
"I think I'll never forget the time when I found out that, you know, my girlfriend passed away and the first person to run to my aid was my defensive coordinator, Coach [Bob] Diaco, and you know he said something very profound to me," Te'o said. "He said, 'This is where your faith is tested.' Right after that, I ran into the players' lounge and I got on the phone with my parents -- and I opened my eyes and my head coach was sitting right there. And so, you know, there are a hundred-plus people on our team and the defensive coordinator and our head coach took time to just go get one (of those players). You know I think that was the most meaningful to me."
Te'o also said on ESPN Radio the same day that he hoped his grandmother, who died Sept. 12, and his girlfriend, who was reported to have died on the same day, were proud of him.
The Associated Press turned up two more instances during that gap between Dec. 6 and Dec. 26, the date when Te'o told Notre Dame that he knew of the hoax, when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.
During another interview at the Heisman ceremony that ran on WSBT.com, the website for a South Bend TV station, Te'o said: "I mean, I don't like cancer at all. I lost both my grandparents and my girlfriend to cancer. So I've really tried to go to children's hospitals and see, you know, children."
In a column that first ran in The Los Angeles Times, on Dec. 10, Te'o recounted why he played a few days after he found out Kekua died in September, and the day she was supposedly buried.
"She made me promise, when it happened, that I would stay and play," he said Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards.
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wadegarrett
Guest
Its embarrassing that we have to read all this BS about him not knowing.. pathetic
G
Gyno
Guest
Isn't it wade? I swear to GOD they must think the America public is that stupid. lol
CAPital
Pretty much a regular
That's the thing that's the craziest to me. The sheer dedication to pulling off this hoax would have to have been incredible. Not to mention "she" was supposedly in the hospital during this time, so you would think after talking on the phone for hours every single night, Te'o would have been able to conclude something was a miss, when it didn't sound like "she" was in a hospital. Complete lunacy
cogenman
Raider Nation for Life
After all of this, I think it's safe to say nobody can be your girlfriend if you've never met her in person. People have had long distance relationships but they've always at least met in person before. This bullshit about having someone as your girlfriend when you've never even met is disturbing to me.
L
Lareux
Guest
Exactly, was going to type pretty much the same thing. So let's concede the fact that he was hoaxed and wasn't in on it....fine. He still continued to tell the story, unsolicited btw, after he found out that he was hoaxed on December 6th. That's pretty much all you have to know/say about the entire thing. ESPN can do whatever they want to try and make Te'o look like the victim in this (which he may have been for a while), but you cannot dispute the fact that he continued on with the charade after finding out the truth. He is the one who said that he found out about the hoax on December 6th, so it's not like anyone can say that someone just made that date up to make him look bad.
You don't even have to bring into the story the fact that he said he met her in person, and that his father said she visited him in Hawai'l. Or the fact that Te'o stated that her family had been extremely supportive, etc. You only need December 6th and the fact that he continued on with the story after that date to prove that he had some part in the hoax.
Bingo
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Gyno
Guest
:shake:
:shake:
crawdads
Fairway to Heaven
[h=2] Manti Te'o
Rebounded w/ ACTUAL Girl
After Fake GF 'Died' [/h] EXCLUSIVE
11:49 AM PT -- New photos have surfaced showing Manti and Alexandra sitting on Santa's lap together sometime around Christmas.
Alex also posted a photo on November 16, in which she thanked Manti for giving her a couple of leis, which she hung in her car.
The dates are consistent with the story Manti is telling friends.
Manti Te'o quietly began dating an actual living, breathing female human being ... shortly after he learned "Lennay Kekua" had died from cancer ... and the rebound chick is HOT ... TMZ has learned.
Sources close to Manti tell us ... the Notre Dame star met Alexandra del Pilar the weekend of November 10 -- when Notre Dame played Boston College.
Alexandra, 21, is a student at St. Mary's College in Indiana -- which is close to Notre Dame.
We're told Alexandra and Manti dated for nearly 2 months, but broke up recently.
There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.
(Tip of the hat to Busted Coverage for leading us to the most recent pic)
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IN01b15S
http://www.tmzstore.com
Rebounded w/ ACTUAL Girl
After Fake GF 'Died' [/h] EXCLUSIVE
11:49 AM PT -- New photos have surfaced showing Manti and Alexandra sitting on Santa's lap together sometime around Christmas.
Alex also posted a photo on November 16, in which she thanked Manti for giving her a couple of leis, which she hung in her car.
The dates are consistent with the story Manti is telling friends.
Manti Te'o quietly began dating an actual living, breathing female human being ... shortly after he learned "Lennay Kekua" had died from cancer ... and the rebound chick is HOT ... TMZ has learned.
Sources close to Manti tell us ... the Notre Dame star met Alexandra del Pilar the weekend of November 10 -- when Notre Dame played Boston College.
Alexandra, 21, is a student at St. Mary's College in Indiana -- which is close to Notre Dame.
We're told Alexandra and Manti dated for nearly 2 months, but broke up recently.
There are rumors swirling that Manti created a fictitious GF to take the pressure off him from teammates and others who felt he should be dating, but his relationship with a real woman calls those rumors into doubt.
(Tip of the hat to Busted Coverage for leading us to the most recent pic)
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IN01b15S
http://www.tmzstore.com
crawdads
Fairway to Heaven
[h=2] Manti Te'o
Yeah I Lied
... But I Had To [/h] EXCLUSIVE
Manti Te'o is telling friends ... he knew the truth about Lennay Kekua in early December ... but continued the lie for 20 days for the sake of his team.
Sources connected to Te'o say ... it's true what ND Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday night, that Manti realized he had been hoaxed on Dec. 6, when he got a phone call from "Lennay" ... months after he thought she was dead.
But sources tell us ... Manti didn't tell his coaches about the hoax until Dec. 26 ... because he thought it would be a huge distraction while the team prepared to face Alabama in the BCS Championship.
During the 20 days, we're told Manti struggled over how to handle the situation ... but eventually felt compelled to come clean to his coaches.
Manti is currently training for the NFL combine -- and we're told he's getting a lot of support from the guys he's been training with.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IN0XomCA
http://www.tmzstore.com
Yeah I Lied
... But I Had To [/h] EXCLUSIVE
Manti Te'o is telling friends ... he knew the truth about Lennay Kekua in early December ... but continued the lie for 20 days for the sake of his team.
Sources connected to Te'o say ... it's true what ND Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday night, that Manti realized he had been hoaxed on Dec. 6, when he got a phone call from "Lennay" ... months after he thought she was dead.
But sources tell us ... Manti didn't tell his coaches about the hoax until Dec. 26 ... because he thought it would be a huge distraction while the team prepared to face Alabama in the BCS Championship.
During the 20 days, we're told Manti struggled over how to handle the situation ... but eventually felt compelled to come clean to his coaches.
Manti is currently training for the NFL combine -- and we're told he's getting a lot of support from the guys he's been training with.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IN0XomCA
http://www.tmzstore.com
ljc_267
Mister NSFW
Manti Te'o
Yeah I Lied
... But I Had To
EXCLUSIVE
Manti Te'o is telling friends ... he knew the truth about Lennay Kekua in early December ... but continued the lie for 20 days for the sake of his team.
Sources connected to Te'o say ... it's true what ND Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said Wednesday night, that Manti realized he had been hoaxed on Dec. 6, when he got a phone call from "Lennay" ... months after he thought she was dead.
But sources tell us ... Manti didn't tell his coaches about the hoax until Dec. 26 ... because he thought it would be a huge distraction while the team prepared to face Alabama in the BCS Championship.
During the 20 days, we're told Manti struggled over how to handle the situation ... but eventually felt compelled to come clean to his coaches.
Manti is currently training for the NFL combine -- and we're told he's getting a lot of support from the guys he's been training with.
Read more: http://www.tmz.com#ixzz2IN0XomCA
http://www.tmzstore.com
Yeah that worked out well.
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wadegarrett
Guest
Seriously what's worse?
Getting scammed for months (even tho all of us with common sense know that's not true here)
Or
Attempt to pull off a scam for having a fake gf that dies?
Ur creepy moron either way to me. And I would not draft him esp if he got scammed. An all American LB can't pull a real girl? Not a guy I want calling my teams D in huddle.
Getting scammed for months (even tho all of us with common sense know that's not true here)
Or
Attempt to pull off a scam for having a fake gf that dies?
Ur creepy moron either way to me. And I would not draft him esp if he got scammed. An all American LB can't pull a real girl? Not a guy I want calling my teams D in huddle.
D-Woww
Old Man Dan
ONE thing I will say: Teo was asked about her on the 8th and he said all that despite finding out she was fake on the 6th.
in all fairness, and this doesnt change my opinion, if he is telling the truth I wouldnt blame him one bit for just going along with the question instead of saying "yeah, about that, i was duped, she never existed"
in all fairness, and this doesnt change my opinion, if he is telling the truth I wouldnt blame him one bit for just going along with the question instead of saying "yeah, about that, i was duped, she never existed"
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wadegarrett
Guest
He ain't telling the truth. As ditka says C'MON MAN!
D-Woww
Old Man Dan
yeah wade i wasnt saying otherwise, i just think that particular tidbit i dont hold against him.
but the ? is...why would he do this? was that really all for the Heisman? I mean, I get that he wanted to campaign for it, but this seemed like a huge risk just to try to win an award that he was never going to win anyway. so why?
but the ? is...why would he do this? was that really all for the Heisman? I mean, I get that he wanted to campaign for it, but this seemed like a huge risk just to try to win an award that he was never going to win anyway. so why?
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wadegarrett
Guest
Tough to say why.. all signs point to he that he is Yag
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wadegarrett
Guest
I can't believe I read on here that cowherd steered clear of.the topic..
same today for Colin?
N what about golic?
same today for Colin?
N what about golic?
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wadegarrett
Guest
Fake acct fake girl to cover why u aren't hammering pussy every wk.."I got a girl out west man"
The killing her off?? Lol he a fucked up dude
The killing her off?? Lol he a fucked up dude
CAPital
Pretty much a regular
Lol great quote wade
W
wadegarrett
Guest
Lol
Coverdatspred
Curious About George Costanza‘s Modeling Career
It's so funny, if you only watched ESPN your conclusion to this story would absolutely be that he was a victim of a hoax and had nothing to do with it. Very sad ESPN, very sad. It's like point, counterpoint between ESPN and Deadspin.
JumpOnBoard
CTG Partner
SI story – Pete Thamel -1/17/2013
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c...2&eref=sihp
Kekua’s Injuries and Medical Conditions – 148 DAYS
April 28th 2012 “Car Accident” – September 22nd ”Dead” – 148 DAYS
1) Car accident - Trauma – April 28th
2) Pain in her back
3) Leukemia
4) Coma
5) Flat lined Twice – Revived Her Twice – “Trippy Situation”
6) Could not communicate – she could only Breathe
7) “When she heard my voice her breathing would pick up …Like quickly and then started crying”
8) Memory Problems
9) Back is sore again
10) Chest is burning
11) Dead
12) Closed Casket – 9:00 AM – Carson, CA September 23rd
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c...2&eref=sihp
Kekua’s Injuries and Medical Conditions – 148 DAYS
April 28th 2012 “Car Accident” – September 22nd ”Dead” – 148 DAYS
1) Car accident - Trauma – April 28th
2) Pain in her back
3) Leukemia
4) Coma
5) Flat lined Twice – Revived Her Twice – “Trippy Situation”
6) Could not communicate – she could only Breathe
7) “When she heard my voice her breathing would pick up …Like quickly and then started crying”
8) Memory Problems
9) Back is sore again
10) Chest is burning
11) Dead
12) Closed Casket – 9:00 AM – Carson, CA September 23rd
L
Lareux
Guest
Some dude tweeted to Darren Rovell earlier that ESPN is to blame for ruining Te'o's reputation, and he was serious about it. Some people live in alternate reality, I swear they do.
Coverdatspred
Curious About George Costanza‘s Modeling Career
I can't post it right now but someone has to post the funny or die Manti eharmony video. Fucking priceless.
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Lareux
Guest
[video]http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/7q2e[/video]
ArizonaKid
Pretty much a regular
I'm on my phone so can someone please link the story in the Washington Post yesterday about an alum that decided to honor Teo by raising funds online for cancer in memory of Lennay Kekau.
Now get this, the University caught wind of this and sent a crew to interview the alum. The interview was posted on the Notre Dame athletics YouTube channel ON TUESDAY LOL.
Now get this, the University caught wind of this and sent a crew to interview the alum. The interview was posted on the Notre Dame athletics YouTube channel ON TUESDAY LOL.
