Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend = hoax?

[carvers4math]

Mike Golic Sr. seemed to mince his words carefully. Starting to wonder if the scenario where he was initially duped and then just attention whored it isn't the closest to the truth.

[CyJack13]

People keep mentioning this whole verification thing like the media dropped the ball in a major way. I'm not the biggest supporter of sports reporters, but I think this is the kind of detail you would naturally take for granted. You have the feel good story, and theoretically, something that nobody is going to be lying about.

This isn't a media issue. Nobody would have checked into those details. I'm assuming that no one here looked into them when they heard the story. You just feel bad for him and assume it's true.

In this case, you stop feeling bad, because it's obviously an enormous fraud, but in the moment, it's just something nobody would be lying about.

When you can't find an obit or any information on this girl, then yes they should have looked into it more. Gene Woj admitted he thought it was fishy, but decided not to investigate further. It is somewhat a media issue, because they now look foolish for running with the story without ever validating it.

[cowgirl836]

People keep mentioning this whole verification thing like the media dropped the ball in a major way. I'm not the biggest supporter of sports reporters, but I think this is the kind of detail you would naturally take for granted. You have the feel good story, and theoretically, something that nobody is going to be lying about.

This isn't a media issue. Nobody would have checked into those details. I'm assuming that no one here looked into them when they heard the story. You just feel bad for him and assume it's true.

In this case, you stop feeling bad, because it's obviously an enormous fraud, but in the moment, it's just something nobody would be lying about.

Heck, I'm thinking with the media the way they are, wouldn't they have wanted to try to interview her? Not even from a "let's make sure this is true" way, but just hey, it IS a feel-good story, let's try to talk to her and get a good tear-jerker story out of this. Even if it was made known that she didn't want to be talked to, I can't believe they wouldn't try to find her location first, interview her friends/classmates, etc. I suppose that's probably why this came out though, they wanted to get stories after her death and things started unraveling.

[cyhiphopp]

Heck, I'm thinking with the media the way they are, wouldn't they have wanted to try to interview her? Not even from a "let's make sure this is true" way, but just hey, it IS a feel-good story, let's try to talk to her and get a good tear-jerker story out of this. Even if it was made known that she didn't want to be talked to, I can't believe they wouldn't try to find her location first, interview her friends/classmates, etc. I suppose that's probably why this came out though, they wanted to get stories after her death and things started unraveling.

Yeah, I can't believe the shark media didn't try and contact her "family" after her death. Saying you don't want to be contacted doesn't stop a lot of media types from trying. Weird.

[CycloneErik]

When you can't find an obit or any information on this girl, then yes they should have looked into it more. Gene Woj admitted he thought it was fishy, but decided not to investigate further. It is somewhat a media issue, because they now look foolish for running with the story without ever validating it.

In hindsight, sure, but there's no reason in the moment that you'd think a player was lying about this.

It doesn't matter how easy or difficult it is to find now if there was no reason to check it out then.

That's one way to look at it. The other is that they had vested interests in choosing not to look, and I don't have a real problem with that, either.

From a human standpoint, I can't believe that anyone would hear the story and think there's any reason to dig further at that time.

[Wesley]

Alleged hoax leaves Manti Te

Now, with Deadspin's news that the death of Te'o's girlfriend was allegedly a hoax, NFL personnel people will have to approach the 21-year-old linebacker with a measuring stick they've never had to use before. Usually, the NFL's best scouting minds are left to deal with physical and mental attributes as they apply to the game. What are they to do with a story -- whether it was created and perpetrated by Te'o or not -- that would put him in the crosshairs of one of the biggest and strangest scandals in sports history.

I would have "anxiety" if drafting this guy.

[cowgirl836]

When you can't find an obit or any information on this girl, then yes they should have looked into it more. Gene Woj admitted he thought it was fishy, but decided not to investigate further. It is somewhat a media issue, because they now look foolish for running with the story without ever validating it.

and along with that, I tend to believe when something like this is reported, that it's already been checked out. I did read the story and was like oh yep, that's sad - but it's not something I cared about too much so I didn't really read more about it. An obit would be so easy to find - no one checked that to get a time/place to sit and get pictures of him attending? Though I suppose they probably announced that it was a "private, family only" occasion and Te'o couldn't attend.

[GMackey32]

Guys, how do we even know if cowgirl is real?

[cowgirl836]

Guys, how do we even know if cowgirl is real?

haha, you don't! Dangit, and I was just about to go to the next step in my 3 year long plan to fool you all.

[carvers4math]

The media has some interesting ideas of what is news. CNN no longer has investigative reporters according to Jon Stewart (my news source). Watching the CBS morning news show today (which I have on just for the KCCI weather blips), all I ever saw was stuff about Lance and Te'o and nothing about gun proposals and Algerian hostage situation.

[cowgirl836]

The media has some interesting ideas of what is news. CNN no longer has investigative reporters according to Jon Stewart (my news source). Watching the CBS morning news show today (which I have on just for the KCCI weather blips), all I ever saw was stuff about Lance and Te'o and nothing about gun proposals and Algerian hostage situation.

Whoa, first I've heard of that and I actually watched the news for once last night.

[CLONECONES]

Whoa, first I've heard of that and I actually watched the news for once last night.

they had more stories on that on DR then the gun exec orders

[cyhiphopp]

Guys, how do we even know if cowgirl is real?

It all makes sense now!!

[carvers4math]

Whoa, first I've heard of that and I actually watched the news for once last night.

I only saw it online and I had the blasted "news" on TV for an hour this morning.

[cowgirl836]

they had more stories on that on DR then the gun exec orders

DR= Des Moines Register? I'm in WI, so I don't check that regularly, haha.