2012 College Football

[BH]

I question his judgement sure, but after hearing everything so far, I think he actually was duped.

[joey_rogo]

For him to actually have been duped, a real life woman would've had to have posed as his gf, right? Aren't there interviews where he or a family member states having met this girl or something along the lines of 'she visited the family...' I remember reading that somewhere. So, they must've met the fake, catfish girl?? Also, on Mike and Mike this morning, they talked about the fullback from the Cardinals who claims to have met the actual Lennay while doing charity work in the Polynesian Islands. So now she ISN'T fake? None of this adds up.

Plus, that poor guy at the press conf last night. He kept contradicting himself and getting the fake facts wrong and it was just a mess.

Plus plus, in ND's offical statement, they said that both Te'o and the school knew of the 'hoax' on Dec 26th. The fact that they never had a presser to at least acknowledge this says something. They could've simply said there was an investigation ongoing and details would be released when they knew more. Why would you not say anything and risk having a story like this broken by a site like deadspin? Clearly, ND intended to sweep this under the rug forever and now is scrambling because deadspin broke the story.

It's just such a crazy mess. I can't wait to find out more.

[iLikeBeer]

I question his judgement sure, but after hearing everything so far, I think he actually was duped.

There are too many questions I have that need answered before I start to think he was actually duped. 

For one thing, if this girl was TRULY the love of his life and she was in the hospital dying of Lukemia, why did he not go to be with her?  Also, why did he not go be with her when she was in that supposed car accident?  If this were someone I was in love with, at the very least, I would have wanted to be with them in their final days?!  And then, he didn't even attend this supposed love of his life's funeral?  These are just a few of the many things that don't add up for me.

[ericm]

I question his judgement sure, but after hearing everything so far, I think he actually was duped.

There are too many questions I have that need answered before I start to think he was actually duped. 

For one thing, if this girl was TRULY the love of his life and she was in the hospital dying of Lukemia, why did he not go to be with her?  Also, why did he not go be with her when she was in that supposed car accident?  If this were someone I was in love with, at the very least, I would have wanted to be with them in their final days?!  And then, he didn't even attend this supposed love of his life's funeral?  These are just a few of the many things that don't add up for me.

Great points, and ones that raise my suspicions too. Evn if he never actually met her in person, how in this day and age could he have not at least Skyped, or Facetimed with her? He says he spent eight hours a night on the phone with her but never did any of those others? Smells a bit fishy to me, and I don't mean  Catfishy.

[capt. scotty]

Clearly, ND intended to sweep this under the rug forever and now is scrambling because deadspin broke the story.

I know little about this story and dont care to know anything more about it, but Im guessing ND was busier sweeping this story under the rug

http://www.thenation.com/blog/172042/notre-dame-and-penn-state-two-rape-scandals-only-one-cry-justice?fb_action_ids=10151401609568767&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210151401609568767%22%3A116288775209734%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210151401609568767%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#



Two storied college football programs. Two rape scandals. Only one national outcry. How do we begin to explain the exponentially different levels of attention paid to crimes of violence and power at Penn State and Notre Dame?

At Penn State, revered assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was raping young boys while being shielded by a conspiracy of silence of those in power at the football powerhouse. At Notre Dame, it's not young boys being raped by an assistant coach. It's women being threatened, assaulted, and raped by players on the school's unbeaten football team. Yet sports media that are overwhelmingly male and ineffably giddy about Fighting Irish football's return to prominence have enacted their own conspiracy of silence.

As unbeaten Notre Dame prepares to play in tonight's national championship game against Alabama, the sports media have chosen not to discuss the fact that this football team has two players on its roster suspected of sexual assault and rape; two players whose crimes have been ignored; two players whose accusers felt harassed and intimidated; two players whose presence on the field Monday night should be seen as a national disgrace.

The main reason this is taking place is because their accusers are not pressing charges. One cannot, because she is dead. Nineteen-year-old Lizzy Seeberg, a student at neighboring St. Mary's College, took her own life after her claims of being assaulted in a dorm room were met with threats and indifference. The other accuser, despite description of a brutal rape, won't file charges—"absolutely 100%"—because of what Seeberg experienced.

Lizzy Seeberg was a first semester freshman and from a family of Notre Dame graduates. After an evening when she socialized with members of the football team, Lizzy came forward with accusations of a sexual assault. After writing out a statement and submitting to medical attention, she received texts from another member of the team that read, "Don't do anything you would regret" and "Messing with Notre Dame football is a bad idea."

To show that she wouldn't rock the boat, Lizzy was compelled by her peers to go to the next game, stencil the Notre Dame logos into her face and cheer her assaulter. As Melinda Henneberger, a Washington Post reporter and Notre Dame alum who has investigated the sexual assaults on campus extensively, wrote, "On Sept. 7, she wrote her therapist, 'I can't get out of this f*!#ing hole I've started to dig. I'm trying to go to sleep because I'm sick with a cold and need to get rest but I can't stop thinking about taking all the pills I can find. I'm ready to check out because this sucks.' She promised [her therapist] she would never follow through. But then, on Sept. 9, she had a panic attack during a mandatory freshman orientation on sexual assault."

That panic attack preceded her suicide. If in life Lizzy Seeberg suffered at the hands of not only players on the team but the people in power who ignored her pleas, in death these forces have gone further and slandered her to a shocking degree. They have claimed Lizzy was a "troubled girl" who was "all over the boy", as well as mentally unstable. As Henneberger wrote, "The damage to her memory since then is arguably more of a violation than anything she reported to police — and all the more shocking because it was not done thoughtlessly, by a kid in a moment he can't take back, but on purpose, by the very adults who heavily market the moral leadership of a Catholic institution. Notre Dame's mission statement could not be clearer: 'The university is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake.' But in this case, the university did just the opposite."

School President Reverend John I. Jenkins has shown no public regard or concern for the fact that his school has become a place where women alumni warn prospective female students that rape has become a part of campus life. Football coach Brian Kelly, to his shame, treated questions about Lizzy's suicide as a joke.

But this conspiracy of silence and slander is bigger than just the school. Deindustrialized South Bend, Indiana, is a company town, and the company is Notre Dame football. The football program in 2012 was valued by Forbes as the third "most valuable" in the country, behind far larger state universities in Texas and Michigan. This is just the formal economy. Informally, every hotel, every bar, every kid at the side of the road selling bottled water depends on Notre Dame football. Home games generate $10 million in local spending for a community of just 100,000 people. It is the beating economic heart of South Bend and women have become, in this sclerotic set up, the collateral damage.

But the cone of silence that surrounds a company college football town is not enough to understand why Penn State's rape scandal was front-page news the second the Sandusky scandal went public and Notre Dame has been largely protected by the press. The only answer that makes sense is that raping women has become "normalized" in our culture, while raping little boys has not. The only answer that makes sense is that the rape of a young boy sets all sorts of alarms of horror in the minds of the very male sports media, while the rape of women does not. The only answer that makes sense is that it's been internalized that while boys are helpless in the face of a predator, women are responsible for their assault. The accusers are the accused.

This is not just a Notre Dame issue. At too many universities, too many football players are schooled to see women as the spoils of being a campus god. But it's also an issue beyond the commodification of women on a big football campus. It's the fruit of a culture where politicians can write laws that aim to define the difference between "rape" and "forcible rape" and candidates for the Senate can speak about pregnancy from rape being either a "gift from God" or biologically impossible in the case of "legitimate rape." It's a culture where comedians like Daniel Tosh or Tucker Max can joke about violently raping, as Max puts it, a "gender hardwired for whoredom." The themes of power, rape and lack of accountability are just as clear in the case of the Steubenville, Ohio, football players not only boasting that they "so raped" an unconscious girl but feeling confident enough to videotape their boasts.

As Jessica Valenti wrote at TheNation.com, "It's time to acknowledge that the rape epidemic in the United States is not just about the crimes themselves, but our own cultural and political willful ignorance. Rape is as American as apple pie—until we own that, nothing will change."

If the sports media is any indicator, we're nowhere close to owning this reality. Instead, on Monday night, much of the country will cheer for the Fighting Irish of old Notre Dame. It's as American as apple pie.

[BH]

After all the research that ND surely did with the private investigators, I cannot imagine that they would get behind Te'o if they at least didn't believe he was duped.   If he was in on it, I guarantee there would be evidence somewhere.     And ND would not want to look stupid.   The only possible scenario would be if ND hired a company to do a complete CIA style sweep of all the communication and evidence in an attempt to cover for Te'o.   And that is a stretch in my opinion.

[ericm]

Starting to lean more on the side of him being in on this, or at the very least, using the story for good pub, and taking advantage of it. This article brings up some of the questions I've had since hearing this story, and raises some more that I didn't know about.e.g him talking about her after knowing she didn't exist.

A bit long, but interesting, IMO.
   
By TOM COYNE, AP


SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Not once but twice after he supposedly discovered his online girlfriend of three years never even existed, Notre Dame All-American linebacker Manti Te'o perpetuated the heartbreaking story about her death.

An Associated Press review of news coverage found that the Heisman Trophy runner-up talked about his doomed love in a Web interview on Dec. 8 and again in a newspaper interview published Dec. 10. He and the university said Wednesday that he learned on Dec. 6 that it was all a hoax, that not only wasn't she dead, she wasn't real.

On Thursday, a day after Te'o's inspiring, playing-through-heartache story was exposed as a bizarre lie, Te'o and Notre Dame faced questions from sports writers and fans about whether he really was duped, as he claimed, or whether he and the university were complicit in the hoax and misled the public, perhaps to improve his chances of winning the Heisman.

Yahoo sports columnist Dan Wetzel said the case has "left everyone wondering whether this was really the case of a naïve football player done wrong by friends or a fabrication that has yet to play to its conclusion."

Gregg Doyel, national columnist for CBSSports.com, was more direct.

"Nothing about this story has been comprehensible, or logical, and that extends to what happens next," he wrote. "I cannot comprehend Manti Te'o saying anything that could make me believe he was a victim."

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 also lost his grandmother — for real — the same day his girlfriend supposedly died, and his role in leading Notre Dame to its best season in decades endeared him to fans and put him at the center of college football's biggest feel-good story of the year.

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 had also gotten together in Hawaii, where Te'o grew up.

Sports Illustrated posted a previously unpublished transcript of a one-on-one interview with Te'o from Sept. 23. 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 Thursday: 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 the athlete had no plans to make any public statements Thursday in Bradenton, Fla., where he has been training with other NFL hopefuls at the IMG Academy.

Notre Dame said Te'o found out that Kekua was not a real person through a phone call he received at an awards ceremony in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 6. He told Notre Dame coaches about the situation on Dec. 26.

The AP's media review turned up two instances during that gap when the football star mentioned Kekua in public.

Te'o was in New York for the Heisman presentation on Dec. 8 and, during an interview before the ceremony that ran on the 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 on Dec. 9 while attending a ceremony in Newport Beach, Calif., for the Lott Impact Awards.

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.

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."

Reporters were turned away at the main gate of IMG's sprawling, secure complex. Te'o remained on the grounds, said a person familiar with situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither Te'o nor IMG authorized the release of the information.

"This whole thing is so nutsy that I believe it only could have happened at Notre Dame, where mythology trumps common sense on a daily basis. ... Given the choice between reality and fiction, Notre Dame always will choose fiction," sports writer Rick Telander said in the Chicago Sun-Times.

"Which brings me to what I believe is the real reason Te'o and apparently his father, at least went along with this scheme: the Heisman Trophy.

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass blasted both Te'o and Notre Dame.

"When your girlfriend dying of leukemia after suffering a car crash tells you she loves you, even if it might help you win the Heisman Trophy, you check it out," he said.

He said the university's failure to call a news conference and go public sooner means "Notre Dame is complicit in the lie."

"The school fell in love with the Te'o girlfriend myth," he wrote.

[Tracy 2112]

Well, this DID happen. Ole Miss lands the top WR prospect in the nation.

Laquon Treadwell picks Ole Miss

Laquon Treadwell (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee), the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 19 prospect in the ESPN 150, committed to Ole Miss on Thursday, choosing the Rebels over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

"There was one school that built a great relationship with me and my mother," he said. "This fall I will be playing my football at the University of Ole Miss."

Treadwell had the Rebels as his leader for quite some time after previously holding Michigan in the No. 1 spot. There were even a few times throughout the process where it looked like Treadwell would pull the trigger for the Wolverines.

Getting a commitment from top-ranked ESPN 150 wide receiver Laquon Treadwell was big for Ole Miss and it could be a sign of things to come for the Rebels -- who have their eyes on No. 1 overall ESPN 150 prospect Robert Nkemdiche, writes Dave Hooker. Blog

But he decided to take his time and ultimately use his official visits, which led him to the three finalists.

"The recruiting process was something I took very seriously, but had a lot of fun with," he said. "I took my time in the process so I could make the right choice for myself."

The decision to choose Ole Miss, while surprising to some, wasn't completely out of the blue for Treadwell. His former high school teammate and close friend, Anthony Standifer, is a defensive back at Ole Miss. Standifer initially got Treadwell interested in the Rebels, and coach Hugh Freeze and his staff did the rest.

While the Rebels still could land another huge fish in defensive end Robert Nkemdiche (Loganville, Ga./Grayson), this is the first big splash for Freeze.

"I wanted to be a part of something special," Treadwell said. "The program is on the rise with the new coaching staff. (Freeze) is changing the culture, and I want to be a part of changing the Rebel culture."

Treadwell gives Ole Miss 21 commitments, 11 of whom are four-star prospects. Treadwell is the first ESPN 150 commit and the highest-ranked commitment in the class.

[Mahgeetah34]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

P.S. I may have to retract my Oregon in the 2013-2014 national title game now that Chip Kelly has left

[capt. scotty]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

How long did it take you to learn how to blow yourself?

[Mahgeetah34]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

How long did it take you to learn how to blow yourself?

I was only joking. No need for harsh terminology sir.

[YimYodd]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

How long did it take you to learn how to blow yourself?

I was only joking. No need for harsh terminology sir.

Seems to be alot of that throughout the forum these days.

[BH]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

P.S. I may have to retract my Oregon in the 2013-2014 national title game now that Chip Kelly has left

Can you let me know who's winning the championship next year so I can bet my entire farm on a good futures bet next time i'm in vegas?

[iLikeBeer]

Well, this DID happen. Ole Miss lands the top WR prospect in the nation.

Laquon Treadwell picks Ole Miss

Laquon Treadwell (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee), the No. 1 wide receiver and No. 19 prospect in the ESPN 150, committed to Ole Miss on Thursday, choosing the Rebels over Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

"There was one school that built a great relationship with me and my mother," he said. "This fall I will be playing my football at the University of Ole Miss."

Treadwell had the Rebels as his leader for quite some time after previously holding Michigan in the No. 1 spot. There were even a few times throughout the process where it looked like Treadwell would pull the trigger for the Wolverines.

Getting a commitment from top-ranked ESPN 150 wide receiver Laquon Treadwell was big for Ole Miss and it could be a sign of things to come for the Rebels -- who have their eyes on No. 1 overall ESPN 150 prospect Robert Nkemdiche, writes Dave Hooker. Blog

But he decided to take his time and ultimately use his official visits, which led him to the three finalists.

"The recruiting process was something I took very seriously, but had a lot of fun with," he said. "I took my time in the process so I could make the right choice for myself."

The decision to choose Ole Miss, while surprising to some, wasn't completely out of the blue for Treadwell. His former high school teammate and close friend, Anthony Standifer, is a defensive back at Ole Miss. Standifer initially got Treadwell interested in the Rebels, and coach Hugh Freeze and his staff did the rest.

While the Rebels still could land another huge fish in defensive end Robert Nkemdiche (Loganville, Ga./Grayson), this is the first big splash for Freeze.

"I wanted to be a part of something special," Treadwell said. "The program is on the rise with the new coaching staff. (Freeze) is changing the culture, and I want to be a part of changing the Rebel culture."

Treadwell gives Ole Miss 21 commitments, 11 of whom are four-star prospects. Treadwell is the first ESPN 150 commit and the highest-ranked commitment in the class.

Looks like they're backing up the Brinks trucks in Oxford... 

[capt. scotty]

Ok to recap things this college football season (2012-2013) I did the following:
1.)Called the national champion to be from the SEC
2.)STILL called the national champion to be from the SEC after Alabama lost to Texas A&M by saying two of the three unbeaten teams will fall
3.) Had the SEC Championship victory margin accurate within 2 points
4.)The national title game victory margin accurate within 3 points
5.) And now unless proven otherwise, Manti Te'o is indeed innocent.

Im just waiting on ESPN to contact me for a job offer on College Football Gameday

How long did it take you to learn how to blow yourself?

I was only joking. No need for harsh terminology sir.

As was I?