So iyo just what should he have done? Not mention his girlfriend? Jeez what a heartless bastard he would have been.
I don't know what he could have done once the girl called and said she wasn't dead. If he did what his detractors seem to think he should have done, that is immediately come out and announce that he'd been catfished and that she wasn't dead and oh by the way when I said I met her I didn't I was just trying to make it look more normal. The Circus would have erupted then around him and the team and been a huge distraction for prep for the game for everybody involved. The strategy in delaying till after the game at least allowed his teammates and coaches to prepare for he game without a circus going on around them. BTW I know everybody knows this but he wasn't covering up any NCAA violations or the breaking of any laws. This was the first 2 questions that ND AD Swarbrick addressed when he hired the investigation firm.
Given that at that point he was aware that she didn't exist and hadn't died it would seem to be a clearly superior option than to say she did in front of millions of viewers, imo. At at end of the day the core of the issue remains unchanged.....the kid was duped, felt humiliated and lied about it. I don't believe the kid was in on it to hype his story.
I read the transcript (most of it anyway) He says that he got a call from the supposedly dead girlfriend on Dec. 6 but he didn't know it was a hoax at that time. Apparently reports to that effect are wrong. (Imagine that!)
After reading that transcript it occured to me that the fake girlfriend might have fallen for Manti, no way a young woman spends that amount of time on a hoax just for the heck of it. I think she resurfaced because she either missed him or maybe saw online that he had started dating that SMC girl and was jealous. Also it's incredible the extent that they went to in this hoax.
It's not that incredible. As the producer of Catfish said in his interview with ESPN, the Te'o story is actually not anywhere near a deeply layered Catfish scheme. There are others that are far worse than this. What makes Te'o a big deal if his brand and ND's. In terms of actual layers of deception, there's far worse out there. Like I said, I've experienced this twice in my life and that was with people I actually MET.. They had, however, misrepresented damned near everything in their life. One, I think wanted a kid and to go back home to prove she was the mother no one believed her to be. The other gal who did it, I pulled the trigger on quick.. and when I did, she was bothered by this. She was used to luring men on for months or years on end. When I bounced her, it became a greater challenge. The problem was, I had already discovered everything about who the 'real' her was. She kept up this elaborate hoax until I finally laid it down to her...told her to STFU and listen, while I called her by her real name, told her all about her daughter that she never even admitted existed. I told her about where she works. I told her all about her life. She was blown away and I've never heard from her again. Again, I learned my lesson the first time..and also, I'm really good at this internet thing.. Also having friends with badges (some of them even real) and tons of friends in the media helps.
In sales there is an axiom that you stop selling after the prospect gives you the order. This is totally unnecessary and gives Teo yet another opportunity to contradict himself.
I'd have to agree George, isn't the axiom in selling that once you've made your close the next person to speak loses? BTW there is another Catfishing story developing regarding ND. There is a 17y/o Georgia kid named Stanley Williams who talked to all the major Irish websites about his visit to Notre Dame and how much he loved it, etc. Now it's coming out that he catfished the guys at Irish Illustrated, Irish Sports Daily, etc. II has already admitted they were mislead by the kid and pulled their story. Sickening. I"m sure the kid thought in light of Manti recent issues that this would be funny as hell.
That's one way to look at it, and I would not disagree. However, I have believed from the beginning that he was 100% truthful. For that reason, I don't see how he can contradict himself if he is telling the truth. Of course, he must live with the embarrassment and ensuing ridicule for being so naive, which itself is a shame, but as they say, the truth shall set you free. We'll see in a few days. On a side note, early in my career, an older and wiser client said to me, Sid, you have the order. Stop talking. I did. I learned from that experience and never made the same mistake again.
If you're explaining you're losing. One of the problems is he hasn't been totally honest. He perpetuated the story, even after he found out the truth, for awhile at least. It creates questions. :?:
I'm sure he'll be questioned on the mention of the girlfriend after receiving the call. I also am reasonably certain that most people, including the media, have made up their minds one way or the other and will not be swayed by the appearance. What I don't get is why, after so much expression of doubt about his story and his character, people would not want to see and hear him interviewed in a live setting. Isn't this what the doubters, including the media, have been clamoring for? Now that he is giving them what they want, people are saying that he shouldn't be appearing publicly? Are the doubters and haters afraid that he will convey the same positive impression on Katie's show that he conveyed to Jeremy Schaap, thus hurting their "case"? Which is it?
Do you mean totally honest in admitting that he mislead the press by saying he had met her? I was thinking he had already done that.
I can't speak for kp, but I think he means mentioning her in Miami during a hospital visit after he received the Dec. 6 phone call. I'm hoping that he will be asked all the pertinent questions and will answer them truthfully, regardless of the consequences in the court of public opinion. To expand on what I said a couple of posts above, I believe most people's opinions relate directly to their opinion of Notre Dame prior to the revelation of the story. I know that's the case with a sister of mine who simply doesn't like Notre Dame. I know that she will not want to be confronted with facts contrary to her contrived idea of what happened.
Terry, As I understand it he brought up hating cancer and his girlfriend dying a few days after he had found out it was a hoax. He mentioned his grandmother and could have stopped there but he added his girlfriend dying. Why? If he had not mentioned the girlfriend, I don't think anyone would have questioned it. Look, like I said before, I am inclined to believe that Teo was duped. That doesn't mean I don't have questions. I think if you look at this objectively, you would have questions too, if this was someone you were not so familiar with.
That's a fair question, I hope that Couric asks him specifically about that. My own personal opinion is that by then he was in so deep that he made statements that continued the ruse rather than start the firestorm that resulted with admitting as soon as he found out that it was a hoax. What can he say that will satisfy you that all questions are answered?
Terry, I'm not sure. At this point, we are probably never going to have "proof" that Teo was totally ignorant of the hoax, but I would like to hear why he felt the need to bring the girlfriend up at all after he had found out she was not real. Like I said above if he had just mentioned his grandmother then all of his contentions that he didn't want it to be a distraction would be valid. But, he brought up the girlfriend, apparently unsolicited, and he knew at that point that it was not true. I'm guessing he may have thought that he was expected to talk about her and he felt that if he didn't it would raise suspicions. I would just like to hear his explanation of it.