If you follow me on Twitter, you know I’ve been mildly obsessed with the Manti Te’o story lo these last 24 hours (give or take). If you haven’t been following the Te’o story, Katie did a great summary of the whole thing here.
Allow me to hit the highlights for you:
Here’s the shortened version: Te’o and the girl, Lennay Kekua, supposedly met at a Stanford/Notre Dame game in 2009. They liked each other, and that led to a relationship that lasted until she reportedly died after battling leukemia during the 2012 season.
Her death came shortly after Te’o’s grandmother passed away, and then Te’o’s story garnered national attention. Then of course he won a bunch of post-season awards and made it all the way to the national title game, where Notre Dame played like garbage and lost to Alabama.
Fast forward to today, when Deadspin revealed that Lennay never existed – at least in human form. The story is super complicated, but her “relationship” with Te’o only existed on the phone and online, never in-person. He didn’t even go to her funeral, because she said she didn’t want him to miss a game (I have a separate set of problems with this…). And apparently they never met in person, despite the fact that Te’o said they did.
Whack, right? I mean, there are so many questions that Notre Dame’s Athletic Director didn’t answer the school press conference last night, such as: If this was purely an online relationship, where the did the story about Manti and Imaginary Fake Girlfrienf (IFGF) meeting in a Palo Alto parking lot come from? Where did the stories about her visiting him in Hawaii come from? Where did Te’o send the flowers for her funeral? And, most of all, can you really call someone your “girflriend” if you’ve never met them in real life?
While I was puzzling all that out, I came across this:
After a 101-loss season, the Cubs would have to improve by 20 games simply to reach the .500 mark in 2013.
Manager Dale Sveum said being .500 “is not acceptable.” Sveum expects the Cubs to compete with a revamped rotation, a new set-up man and another year of growth from the kids.
“The one thing you hate doing is saying .500 will be good, because it’s not good,” Sveum said. “It’s not 101 losses, but .500 isn’t getting you to the playoffs. Just getting in the playoffs is what’s satisfactory.”
And then this from Theo:
“Behind the scenes, regardless of the results, there’s progress being made. But as far as 2013, you can define it as a success or failure by whether we make the postseason, and ultimately whether we win the World Series. But absolutely. There are stories every year about teams that don’t necessarily look like the favorites on paper that find their way playing meaningful games in September, playing into October, playing into deep October. Baltimore, Oakland last year, they are great inspirations for teams in our position.”
Which got me thinking . . who is more delusional? Manti Te’o because he (allegedly fell) for a IFGF? Or the Cubs front office, who has already defined the upcoming (non-playoff going to) season as a failure?
Let’s chart out the arguments for and against:
For Manti being more delusional: A) He goes to Notre Dame; B) He (allegedly) fell in love with a woman he had never met; C) He cried on national television over the IFGF he never met; D) he put the IFGF he never met’s death on par with his grandmother’s death; E) he let the Notre Dame athletic conference handle the press conference. Speaking of which, has anyone paused to consider that perhaps Lance Armstrong is behind all of this?
For the Cubs’ front office: A) Have already declared the season a failure if the Cubs don’t make the playoffs; B) the Cubs aren’t making the playoffs; C) third base; D) Carlos Marmol; E) a bunch of 37-year old Asian pitchers coming off Tommy John Surgery; E) Crane Kenny still works there.
I tell ya, I think it’s a draw.
If you were hoping to see social media ingenue Sammy Sosa at Cubs Con this year, you’re going to be disappointed. AGAIN.
Cubs spokesman Julian Green confirmed Sammy Sosa was not invited, though he gave no reason for the decision.
“Obviously Sammy was a great player and accomplished a great deal for us, and for this organization, no question,” Green said, adding there were more than 70 players, former players and coaches whom fans will be able to see.
It’s no surprise, of course. Sosa has been estranged from his former team since the end of the ’04 season when he walked out of the clubhouse during the final game.
Whether he ever will return to the good graces of his former team is a question that probably won’t be answered unless Sosa adequately addresses his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. Sosa, who hit 609 home runs, finished with only 12.5 percent of the votes on this year’s ballot, suggesting voters believed he was simply a creation of modern chemistry.
“Even if we weren’t inducted on our first time, we are still winners and there is always a next time,” Sosa tweeted on his account, @TheRealMr609.
Keep the faith, Sammy.
RE:Teo, I have relatives that never met until they married. They wrote each other, and it was the culture,but if you asked my aunt,she said she fell in love with her husband by the time they met. Really, the ND story is no big deal, becuase the whole ND team won and lost their games in 2012;the lesson for college players is keep you mouth shut to the media,because any dumb thing you say will haunt you. Teo made no $$ of the dead girlfriend, and no movie or anything was created around the tale.
Now, regarding Delusional Dale vs. Theo-this is more a case of a manager wanting his team to like him versus front office trying to manage the expectations of anyone watching the Cubs. If the Cubs by some miracle have a good year, well its a miracle. If the Cubs suck, well the fans and public were warned…
I doubt we break camp with Marmol, especially in the wake of the Soriano signing.
Also, we had a Hall of Famer at the hot corner (Santo) and we still don’t make the post season. 3rd base and the Cubs has been a joke since before Kevin Orie. Another season of Stewart/whoever isn’t going to kill us.
And Teo is just a kid who got catfish’d and didn’t want to admit to his teammates or the national media that he’d never met his “girlfriend.” The story got bigger than he could handle because he wasn’t the one driving the narrative.
I don’t buy the “Catfish” story. He knew the guy behind the IFGF account, he told people he met his GF at a parking lot in Palo Alto, his parents told people she came to visit him.
I really think he was in on this.
Agree.
Sounds like a Sheraton Hotel is planned to go up next to Wrigley.
Link? I just did a google news search for that and didn’t see it.
Will it be triangle-shaped?
Actually, the Trib corrected the original Crain’s report…it is a Starwood Hotel…it will be on the McDonalds property…consistent with what was said at the neighborhood meeting the Cubs held last week.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-hotel-near-wrigley-20130117,0,4608342.story
All of this, of course, is contingent upon a deal to renovate Wrigley being struck.
Come to think of it…even if a deal isn’t struck, putting up a hotel in that neighborhood would be a huge economic boon. Honestly, I can only think of a handful of hotels in that area, and none are nearly as big as what is being presented here. Demand will be huge.
The article says it’s contingent on a plan to renovate Wrigley, doesn’t it?
I swear that’s what I read.
Obviously it does…my point has nothing to do with that…I’m just saying that there is a huge demand for hotel space in Wrigleyville and anyone who was to open one up is going to make a killing.
So supposedly Tiger Woods has offered his ex-wife $200 million to get back together with her.
Um…
So if this is true, if she takes that money, does that basically make her the world’s most expensive prostitute?
That would sully the good name of prostitutes..
Maybe she’d be a caddy? His golf game has sucked since she left.
Just read the story. It’s not quite the way you put it. The $200 million would come via prenup, which means that’s she would get if they divorced again. She’s insisting on a $350 million anti-cheating cause, which means that she would get $550 million if he gets caught cheating and they divorce because of it. I don’t think she so much wants the money, as she wants the threat of being ruined to hang over his head so he stays faithful.
They’ve been awfully quiet lately. Maybe they’ve worked things out? If so, good for them.
They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. She was still in Europe, and he in the U.S…
Actually I thought she moved back to Florida last year after she tore down her and Tiger’s old home and rebuilt a brand new one in it’s place.
Half a fucking billion dollars. Wow.
Tiger must be having a really tough time finding dates.
She’s insane to go back to him.
For $200 million, I’d go back to him, I’d just never go near him.
Hell…for $200 million, I’d probably sleep with him.
Icky.
Of course, I wouldn’t get the $200 million until is divorced him…that might be a bit tricky.
But I know a good divorce lawyer.
But I mean, I get this thinking. If his WIFE is willing to take him back, who are the fans, sponsors, etc. to keep judging him? In his eyes, it’s probably his ticket back to the top.
Of course, he needs to work on his golf game, first.
Honestly, his golf game was really damn good last year…he just didn’t win a major.
Call me delusional, but I’m dating someone… in Canada. Haven’t met him yet but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt I love him. But when you tell people that you’re in love with someone you’ve only met online and know online, people have no problem hiding the fact they think you’re crazy and stupid, so it makes sense to have a natural reaction to want to hide it since nobody seems to want to accept this kind of thing. This kid though, clearly is in on it. Nothing makes sense, and there isn’t really a reason to even make this up.
And Sammy is the winner of the delusional award. I’m sorry, but if you cheat, you’re not a winner of any sorts.
I’ve kept silent on the Manti Te’o thing since last night…
And the reason is that every time more information comes out, the more confused the whole situation gets.
At this point, I can’t put an opinion on it because I frankly don’t know what happened.
Te’o lied. We know that.
About what? We aren’t entirely sure yet.
Did the lie start before her “death”? Did it start as a way to cover up his embarrassment when he found out the truth? It’s kinda hard to know right now. Are his parents in on it? Or were they duped just like Te’o? Or were they duped by Te’o?
Then there is Notre Dame itself which, for reasons that completely elude me, decided to have a press conference about this basically backing Te’o's story and doing so before all the facts really have been released. After a year where the school finally pushed itself back into the national limelight, they once again fumbled in a crisis situation because, as I said earlier, Te’o lied and that lie resulted in helping the team move back into the nation limelight. Regardless of what eventually comes out, the school is backing a person that, to some level, lied.
Yes, Te’o lied.
Now I just need to sit back and wait until we all find out exactly what he lied about.
From our favorite hobbit:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/chi-cubs-prior-20130117,0,2449043.story
The one thing I did get out of this story was that it appears the Cubs offered Mark Prior a chance to make an appearance at the Cubs Convention this year, but he declined.
Oh…and the Cubs are going to announce renovation plans on Saturday at the Cubs Convention.
Can’t say I blame him seeing as it’s his daughter’s birthday this weekend. I am glad to see him at least willing to work with the club in some capacity. I’d almost rather see him on a minor league contract with the Cubs than D. Willis.
I would just get my hopes up again. And that would suck. I can’t help it, it’s like a sickness.
More on the renovation plans…
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/14485/source-cubs-to-unveil-wrigley-plans-sat#more
Looks like plans for a video board are getting a little more serious.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130117/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-quotes/
In the words of the interviewer, “This is unbelievable.”
It’s interesting because all of Te’o's answers are so carefully worded, it’s just creepy.
After reading this:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130117/manti-teo-girlfriend-hoax-quotes/
I’m back to thinking he made the whole thing up. Too much detail on some things, not enough detail on others, not mention of her telling him to play football even if she died. Something’s not right.
I will never make any sense out of this Teo tale. Other than “What a dumbass!”
Why? Why? Why?
A person will never get away with something like this and one has to know this and not even attempt something like this.
This will bug(Haunt?) him for a while and it’s not going to be pretty.
I shudder when I think about this.
Again,”What a dumbass!”
And I chuckle at the optimism coming from the front office.
But it’s a friendly chuckle.
GO CUBS!!!
What do you expect? The chat was probably had halfway through Jameson Tuesday Afternoon.
I imagine the game goes something like this-
When someone is talking to the reporter on the polycom, everyone else has to try not to bust up laughing. If you think you’re going to crack, take a shot. For every bullshit statement you give the press and don’t get called on, you take a shot.
I imagine an intern is kept around simply for tracking the number of shots earned when talking to the Chicago Media.
Cubs and Garza agree to $10.25M deal to avoid arbitration. No word on years yet.
One year.