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Poll: When do you think Manti Te'o knew?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jan 21, 2013.

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When did Manti Te'o know that Lennay Kekua was not real?

  1. From the beginning. He was a party to the hoax from the day it was concocted, and never believed she

    3.0%
  2. At least by the time of her "death." When Lennay Kekua "died" in mid-September, and he talked to the

    21.2%
  3. When she died, he still believed she was real, but he realized the truth very soon thereafter - perh

    24.2%
  4. Manti Te'o believed Lennay Kekua was real throughout the football season, at least, but exaggerated

    39.4%
  5. Manti Te'o believed that Lennay Kekua was real throughout the football season, at least, and conside

    12.1%
  6. Other. Explain.

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I know this story has already been beaten to death, but, hey, it's a fun mystery, and obviously has struck a chord here, right or wrong.

    Above, I've listed five general explanations for what has gone down. Obviously, there are levels of detail that may come out to take it out of some of these general categories and into a more specific factual category. But even though I've listed a sixth option for "Other," I've done so in the event that someone has a completely unique theory here.

    Grounds rules for this thread:

    Vote for a theory.

    Explain, briefly, why you believe this theory to be true. (ex. "No one is that gullible.")

    No arguing allowed with other posters. Just give your own thoughts.

    As for me:

    I largely believe the story Te'o is telling now. I believe that he believed that Lennay Kekua was a real woman. I believe he believed he was in an online relationship with her, and that he believed she died of leukemia in September. He had no reasonable motive to concoct the story at that point. He was not a Heisman candidate. Notre Dame was not a national championship contender. And the public electronic trail of his communications with her and her "family members" dates back to a year before, when he certainly would have had no reason to carry on any sort of ruse.

    Any holes and discrepancies in his story at this point are extremely minor, and there are valid explanations for the times he did exaggerate details of the relationship, namely because he realized that there is a stigma attached to online-only relationships. I believe that the manner in which he was taken in was a pretty textbook case of a young man idealizing a romantic interest, and that the perpetrators were quite good at pushing and pushing the limits a baby step at a time to see how far they could reel him in.

    (Reading my explanation now, I realize that I could have easily picked category No. 4 instead of No. 5. I think that they are pretty similar and reliant on the definition of "girlfriend." I think he believed he had a very close relationship with a potential girlfriend. So, really, No. 4.5.)
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    I think he knew before she died.

    I think he might have exaggerrated what happened a few times and then the whole thing exploded after SI came in for the story and he was in too far to get out.

    I don't believe for a second that he didn't know anything until December.
     
  3. Norrin Radd

    Norrin Radd New Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    The second and third answers both split the difference between "He's a Phony" and "He's a Moron." I went with the third one.

    My theory remains that his boy started it to be a smartass, then Te'o found out sometime before this season. It continued because it's easier than having a real relationship, 'cause those kinda take effort.

    As Notre Dame's season started to look good, they probably figured they had messed with this poor fictional girl enough, and decided that if the choice was between hitting the eject button and having her lose a leg or become a crack addict, it was best to just eject.

    Doubt they ever thought the publicity would grow like it did, but Te'o was stuck and had to answer the various questions.

    Again, if he was completely duped, then he's the worst boyfriend of all time.

    Bottom line, he needs to shutup now. There was such a web of BS concocted around this (I met her, daddy!") , now there's only an opportunity for more BS.
     
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    #4.

    If you talk to people who are under, say, 25, most of them have no problem believing that he could engage in this online-only relationship with someone. That is one takeaway I've had from the whole mess: how far away I am from the social media world of today (and how wonderfully thankful I am for that).
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    That's the way it was explained to me as well. I still don't know that I can completely believe that.

    It's definitely true that younger people find what happened a lot more plausible than someone in their late 30s or older... Some people actually like physical contact with their girlfriends.
     
  6. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    The only correct answer to this poll is, "I don't know." If you do know, find a news media outlet and get yourself a freelance paycheck.
     
  7. Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    Well, Lennay was involved with drug dealers.
     
  8. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    "(W)hile there are many different possibilities, not all of these constructed pasts - not all of the possibilities - are equally plausible." - Kenneth L. Feder, "Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology"

    Technically, do we have to all remain agnostic in l'affair Te'o? I suppose. But that doesn't mean that the known facts and reporting don't give us an inkling of what possibilities are most and least plausible.
     
  9. Bradley Guire

    Bradley Guire Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    How 'bout "I don't care. Roll Tide!" Yeah, I'm going with that.
     
  10. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    Any reasonably prominent ND football player always has motive to fabricate/embellish some kind of heart-and-flowers sports sob story, given the MSSM's long-demonstrated tendency to eat that shit up and amplify it 1000 times.
     
  11. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    If only this board had an expert on this.

    Maybe a younger guy, with a thousand facebook friends, most of whom he's never met in real life, but some of whom he's developed strong "friendships" with, and maybe even developed "feelings" for.

    Do we know anyone like this?
     
  12. Oggiedoggie

    Oggiedoggie Well-Known Member

    Re: Poll: When did Manti Te'o know?

    I'm pretty sure that he caught her with a púca and had her killed, but I don't see that as one of the options.
     
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