Saturday, January 19, 2013

Manti Te'0: Zanny the Girlfriend


                                  Manti Te'o has a "Zanny the Nanny" girlfriend. 

Is it that the "Zanny girlfriend" he has spoken about actually a male?  A co-conspirator? He "met" someone at the USC game and is deceptive about the relationship.  Or, is this something he has done for publicity?

Expect more backlash from the ESPN interview and eventually...the truth.   It may be that the word "we" he uses, is about the relationship he has had with the alleged perpetrator.  This is why he may have lied to his father. 

Is he a publicity hound?
Is he having a "coming out" sexually?

As he speaks, we learn more. 

We know that he did not have a Zanny girlfriend, but his use of pronouns indicates a relationship of some kind.  


NEW YORK (AP)

Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o insisted he had no role in the bizarre hoax involving his "dead" girlfriend and told ESPN on Friday night that he was duped by a person who has since apologized to him.

In an off-camera interview with ESPN, Te'o said Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old acquaintance who lives in California, contacted him two days ago and confessed to the prank. Deadspin.com first exposed the scheme on Wednesday and indicated Tuiasosopo was involved in it.
"I wasn't faking it," ESPN quoted Te'o as saying during the 2½-hour interview. "I wasn't part of this. When they hear the facts they'll know. They'll know there is no way I could be a part of this."
Unreliable denial.  The word "this" shows closeness. 

Typical deceptive technique of having people "wait" where there is no reason to wait. 

He said, "when they hear the facts..." but he could have just given the facts out right then and there. 
Te'o said he first met Tuiasosopo in person after the Southern California game in November. Te'o told ESPN that Tuiasosopo told him he was the cousin of Lennay Kekua, the woman who Te'o believed he had fallen for through Internet chats and long phone conversations.

Here is where he met someone in person.  Is this the guy?
"Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," Te'o told ESPN. "I don't know. According to Ronaiah, Ronaiah's one."

Is he one of the "guys"?
Te'o said he never met Kekua face-to-face and when he tried to speak with her via Skype and video phone calls, the picture was blocked.
He also told ESPN that he lied to his father about having met Kekua. To cover that up, he apparently lied to everyone else.
Why would he need to lie to his father about meeting someone face to face?

After he was told Kekua had died of leukemia in early September, Te'o said he misled the public about the nature of the "relationship" because he was uncomfortable saying he had never met her in person.
"That goes back to what I did with my dad. I knew that. I even knew that it was crazy that I was with somebody that I didn't meet," he said. "So I kind of tailored my stories to have people think that, yeah, he met her before she passed away."
Note the word "crazy" with acknowledgement.  
Te'o's first interview since the story broke came at the end of a day that started with Notre Dame posting a podcast of athletic director Jack Swarbrick's radio show, during which he implored the Heisman Trophy runner-up to speak publicly about the episode. Already, it had turned the feel-good story line of the college football season into a dark and strange one.
Te'o took Notre Dame's advice, but this was no Lance Armstrong-with-Oprah Winfrey mea culpa.
ESPN conducted the interview with Te'o at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., where Te'o is preparing for the NFL Draft and hopes to be among the first-round picks. The network produced only still photos of the interview, with reporter Jeremy Schaap sitting at large table with the linebacker. Schaap then provided details on "Sports Center."
Some wondered whether Te'o had been in on the fake girlfriend scheme in an odd attempt to gain positive publicity and attention. Schaap said Te'o firmly denied that. The nation's best defender also said the hoax affected his play in the BCS national championship, a 42-14 loss to Alabama in which he performed poorly.
Te'o told Schaap that he wasn't entirely sure he was the victim of a hoax until earlier this week, just two days ago, when Tuiasosopo apologized to him via Twitter. As Notre Dame officials said earlier, he did get a call from the person posing as Kekua on Dec. 6 — but it was to tell him she had not died at all, and to carry on their courtship.
Te'o was confused. He finally confided in his parents over Christmas break in his home state of Hawaii and told Notre Dame coaches what was going on Dec. 26.
"My relationship with Lennay wasn't a four-year relationship," Te'o said. "There were blocks and times and periods in which we would talk and then it would end," but he offered her a "shoulder to cry on" when she told him her father had died.

Note that which is said in the negative as very important.  Note the pronoun, "we" after using the word "relationship."
Te'o said he was told Kekua was in a coma following an April 28 car accident, but she awoke the following month. He never made an attempt to visit her in the hospital.

This is not a quote, but with passivity comes desire to conceal  
"It never really crossed my mind. I don't know. I was in school," he told Schaap.
"Never" is not "did not"; here is another deception. Rather than admit the deception, he continues it, while blaming others.  His love of his life is in a coma and he never "really" crossed his mind to visit her.  This means that he has thought about it, but just not intensely.  He weighed the consequences, likely. 
Then came the day in September when his grandmother died and the woman known as Kekua reached out to him.
"I was angry. I didn't want to be bothered," he told Schaap. "We got in an argument. She was saying, you know, I'm trying to be here for you. I didn't want to be bothered. I wanted to be left alone. I just wanted to be by myself. Last thing she told me was `Just know I love you.'"
Note the negative, followed by the pronoun, "we":  there is someone he is involved with, and it is not the fictitious "Zanny the Girlfriend."

Te'o was told later that day Kekua had died.
ESPN did not play audio of the interview, relying instead on descriptions of Te'o and his statements from reporter Schaap. Audio clips were posted later. According to the reporter, Te'o was calm, seemed relieved to tell his side of the story and had no interest in going on camera.
Te'o told Schaap the relationship with Kekua dated to his freshman year at Notre Dame, the 2009-10 season, and they met via Facebook.
The nation's best defender also said the hoax affected his play in the BCS national championship, a 42-14 loss to Alabama in which he performed poorly.

9 comments:

sidewalk super said...

Fantasy thoughts:
He's involved with a Zanny type guy who is blackmailing him with threats of exposure which might sink his pro football offers?
Daddy wants him to get the pro football bonuses?
note to Manti: there's always the Ophrah interview....

Mainah said...

Thought...: "Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing," 2+1= 3. Except, the girl, was mangled in a car accident and died of leukemia. 3-1= 2 (guys)
----------
Oh, sidewalk.

Oprah? = Excessive mansion getaway for the sick and wrong(?).

R.L Haley said...

At first sites were saying he has to be involved now there back peddling ,So is the guy really slow or was he in on it,I cant help but think he was in on it,and could be gay,you know the pressure was on like "wheres your lady?", weird and strange...wonder if the story will just go away?

Skeptical said...

Did you hear that whoosh? It was the Heisman committee breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Jen said...

Hi Skeptical-

U are SO right, can u imagine if he had won?! My husband was really into this story as it was happening during the season...he is really disgusted and discouraged that it turned out to be a scam. My opinion is he was in on it (at least at some point). I've got two running theories...1. He was in on it from the beginning, but as an effort to stay in the closet with his homosexuality. He is Mormon and they do not accept homosexuality at all so he may have began the lies to fool family and teammates, never expecting it would become a national story line. 2. He became aware that the other male (Tuiasosopo) was behind the online persona at some point but he continued to go along with the story since it was working in his favor and he was already in too deep to 'come clean'. Also, I guess there's always a possibility that he was in on the scam from the start and it was a publicity ploy to advance his football career, but it seems less likely for someone to start a lie like this with the intention of it gaining national attention

Either way he admits to lying to his family, coaches and teammates regarding having met 'her' in person so if he's capable of lying to those who know and interact with him daily, then why would he fear lying to a bunch of faceless strangers? The biggest boob prize goes to Sports Illustrated, and all of the other publications who reported these lies without running so much as a google search for proof of 'her' funeral, death, car accident, graduation, or ANY proof of the details they were reporting. A fine example of the death of investigative journalism in this country, the media is spoon fed the story, and they spoon feed it to us...no fact checking or independent research needed/allowed.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see analysis on the whole interview. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8859077/manti-teo-notre-dame-fighting-irish-denies-being-part-hoax-late-girlfriend

I did see that the first thing he says is "No. Never." Is never still flagged as deceptive if it comes after no?

Tania Cadogan said...

Anonymous said...
I'd like to see analysis on the whole interview. http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8859077/manti-teo-notre-dame-fighting-irish-denies-being-part-hoax-late-girlfriend

I did see that the first thing he says is "No. Never." Is never still flagged as deceptive if it comes after no?


Yes, any extra words (qualifiers) made after the denial etc weakens the statement,
never is only appropriate if the questions asks if they have ever...

What is missing is any strong first person singular, event specific past tense denials.

I will go along with he is gay and isn't wanting to be outed.

The trouble is coming out would have been less noteworthy and newsworthy than all the lies and spinning he is doing.

He may be fearful of the consequences of him coming out due to hie religious belief and family pressure.
The public pretty much couldn't give a damn if someone is gay or not.
He may worry about the reaction from teammates in what is seen as a masculine macho sport and fears being snubbed becaue of his sexuality.
The public couldn't care less as long as he plays the best he can.

These days being gay is so passe and accepted by the public, it may warrant a couple of line in the press or a couple mins in the news then is is next story please.

Actors and singers come out all the time, they even use it for publicity if they aren't in the limelight for a while, being bisexual is no big deal and in the fashion industry gay designers are the norm ( this is why they love stick thin girls with no boobs, waist or hips, it reminds them of boys. The male model who n models both female and male clothing and the female who does the same no longer raise eyebrows)

He would be best to come out admit the whole truth and his involvement, apologies like mad and then get on with playing.
After a few days it will be old news and generally ignored.
The longer the denials come out, the changing stories as to who knew what and did what, the longer it stays in the news and the faster any support he had will fade away.
He may think the media will lose interest, they won't, they will keep digging till the truth comes out and the result is he may end up out the team simply because he lied.

Myrt said...

Waste of time on a foolish hoax. Liar, liar. I'll give it no more time.

brosnanfan said...

There's an edited transcript of the ESPN interview, going into far more depth. I have not yet had a chance to read it, but I've got it bookmarked. If there should be some professional SA done on it...that would be awesome. I'm far from a professional.

I'm still sitting on the fence. I'm not 100% convinced either way...IMO, he's either a player, trying to win the Heisman through sympathy votes on a made-up girlfriend, or he's a naive boy who got suckered in by a Catfisher. I just can't decide which.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8859544/highlights-manti-teo-interview-jeremy-schaap