Comments on: Notre Dame’s Te’o “investigation” was lacking in many respects

By: divingdancer

divingdancer — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:14:41 +0000

Not surprised at all. Anyone who has followed the news for the last 20 years knows that Catholics ate not known for their investigation prowess, but they are pretty good at trying to bury the truth.

By: manilovethepftcensors

manilovethepftcensors — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:48:09 +0000

Joe the NCAA has proven itself to be a pretty dictatorial organization and it wouldn’t surprise me if they came up with a way to penalize Notre Dame if it could prove they were purposely lying to the public, possibly for the purpose of helping his Heisman campaign. I’m not saying that I think this would happen but I wouldn’t put it past them.
As far as him not being a student you absolutely are nitpicking me because he clearly was at the time they discovered the hoax and they continued with the facade after that point. If he graduated at the end of the previous semester then, yes, you are technically right that he hasn’t been a Notre Dame student for a couple of weeks but that’s completely irrelevant at this point.

By: joeindc

joeindc — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:28:24 +0000

@manilovethepftcensors Just to nitpick, Manti is not a student at ND anymore. And if even if the whole damn thing was orchestrated by Notre Dame there is no “violation” to be penalized for.

By: joeindc

joeindc — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:25:17 +0000

@sammyscrawfo…. this is also one of the few details that isn’t odd whatsoever. First and foremost, it would be a possible NCAA violation to take the money… so that’s a reason right there to say “no.”

There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t add up, but not giving out your checking account number isn’t one of them.

By: joeindc

joeindc — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:23:03 +0000

@69finfan…. of all the unbelievable stuff in this in this story, having long phone conversations with someone you haven’t met isn’t one of them. That’s something that has happened for literally millions of people… dating or not. Very common for anyone who seriously plays MMOs.

By: irishking

irishking — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:54:59 +0000

@pinion8ted

Te’o did not call anyone because he wanted to stay ‘focused’ on the big game. The prankster group down in the hotel lobby was nothing but a distraction for him. If you don’t believe this, then ask Jack Swarbrick. He knows.

This convoluted story has so confused me that I need to take a sedative just to relax.

By: irishking

irishking — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:46:18 +0000

It is hard to believe that this thing has gone as deep as it has. If Swarbrick was supposed to be in charge of damage control, I would say that he has failed. All he did was fan the flames.

Noticeably missing from all of this is Kelly. To my knowledge he has not said much of anything lately.

By: pinion8ted

pinion8ted — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:42:58 +0000

“In his interview Friday with ESPN, Te’o said a group of people connected with Tuiasosopo showed up, after the team’s curfew, at the Notre Dame team hotel in Florida. One of the group took photos in the lobby and called Te’o and asked if he wanted to come down and join them”

Right there, Te’o's story is exposed.

If he truly were the victim of a hoax, and the perpetrators of this hoax showed up in his hotel lobby the eve of the national championship – after the university had already been notified, and the “investigation” showed it was a hoax – why didn’t Te’o notify the school officials that the hoaxers were right there IN THE HOTEL LOBBY!!!!!!!

Makes perfect sense, right?

Instead he simply “hung up”.

No, Te’o is lying through his teeth.

By: bobzilla1001

bobzilla1001 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:40:32 +0000

As a 7-year veteran of Internet dating, I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around this entire story.
While it is not uncommon to fall “head over heels” for someone prior to an initial meeting, routinely spending eight hours on the phone and declaring that person a “girlfriend” without first meeting is simply child-like behavior.
Obviously, Te’o has the mentality of a 12-year-old. How such a childish person qualified to attend a major university is beyond me. Notre Dame ought to be investigated…

By: tluke25

tluke25 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:23:43 +0000

Drew Brees needs an explanation

By: manilovethepftcensors

manilovethepftcensors — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:23:42 +0000

My first question would have to be why is Notre Dame’s athletic director and the university in general so involved in this? I understand Te’o is still a student there but he’s no longer an athlete and shouldn’t this be a personal matter anyway? Why are events that transpired in Te’o’s personal life of such great concern to the university?
I will answer my own question: Notre Dame is so concerned with their image that they will go to any lengths to try to make it appear as though they are not the bad guys in any way shape or form. They are so arrogant and conceited that they can’t stand to think that their image could be tarnished in any way. They are so used to having their way and getting a pass for anything and everything from the national sports media that they must be really freaking out right now. Quite frankly I’m enjoying every minute of watching Jack Swarbrick squirm in front of the cameras and I hope that if they are found to be complicit in any way that they are heavily penalized.

By: 1rockyracoon

1rockyracoon — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:15:45 +0000

The web of lies keeps growing. What is he still trying to hide? If this was simply him being tricked on the Internet then the whole story would have been told by now and the media would move on. There must be something else he is still hiding.

By: steviemo

steviemo — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:14:11 +0000

Swarbrick simply embarrassed himself with that ridiculous press conference and summary of their “investigation.”

What he meant to say: “A few of us googled ‘catfish’ and we pretty much figured everything out.”

Nice job.

By: steel420

steel420 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 16:02:34 +0000

Notre Dame is a fraud and Manti Te’o is a fraud. They were both afraid of being exposed and looking like fools before the championship game, but thankfully Alabama took care of that anyways.

By: greyhawk9

greyhawk9 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:57:41 +0000

soooo..basically there wasnt really an investigation at all

By: clownsfan

clownsfan — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:55:54 +0000

Nobody asked for his acct #. This kid is still lying. Still covering. Only Manti & his Boo, Ronnie T, know the truth.

By: pinion8ted

pinion8ted — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:53:06 +0000

Wow ….. they didn’t interview Te’o, they didn’t interview Tuiasosopo, they didn’t look at electronic evidence (e-mails, texts, phine records) …….

So, Notre Dame paid for a “professional” investigation, that was as “fake” as Lennay Kekua herself?

Very fitting …. how else do you investigate a fake girlfriend, than with a fake investigation?

By: pjhurley5

pjhurley5 — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:43:10 +0000

I totally agree with this article. Swarbrick obviously has a special relationship with Te’o that means a great deal to him (based on his reports that Te’o is the only player who has ever told him that he loved him, etc.). That’s great – it’s touching to see that type of relationship develop. To be clear I have no problem with that whatsoever. What IS a problem in the process of uncovering the truth is that the person leading and/or directing the investigation efforts (Swarbrick) is completely and utterly biased in a few ways. First, his relationship with Te’o necessarily biases him. Second, he’s biased because he wants someone connected with Notre Dame (Te’o) to be the victim, not the perpetrator, because the former possibly could result in a groundswell of support for ND, while the latter would result in heavy criticism and negative publicity. When people say Te’o doesn’t owe anything to anyone that’s not quite right. He owes it to himself to prove he’s innocent (if he really is) so he can be viewed as trustworthy by potential employers AND he owes it to the people at ND. The reason is that he’s made them look very foolish in placing trust in him and vehemently defending him if he ends up as a perpetrator.

By: bucrightoff

bucrightoff — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:40:24 +0000

“Hey Manti, thanks for knocking us off the front page!”

The NRA

By: sammyscrawfo

sammyscrawfo — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:15:07 +0000

So he didn’t trust the “love of his life” enough to give her his account number? Give me a break, this is such a joke

By: 69finfan

69finfan — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:07:52 +0000

How in the world do you have an 8 hour phone conversation with somebody you have never met?