I thought we were through with hearing about Notre Dame until the 2013 college football season. After they were demolished by Alabama in the National Championship game, it seemed like that was all she wrote. However, as always seems to be the case with Notre Dame, they have found their way into the national spotlight once again. The reason this time though, is one that none of us could have seen coming.
A story was released yesterday stating that their star linebacker, Manti Te'o, had been involved in some sort of false relationship with a girlfriend he claimed to have had. I won't go into detail about what this so-called "relationship" was all about, because it seems like most news outlets in the country have been doing that this morning. My biggest problem with this entire story at this point is whether or not this is really as important as some people are making it out to be. I understand that this is the news of the day, and we all like to immediately react (and often times, overreact) to something without looking at it in any kind of retrospective way. We usually want to label things instantaneously, and I think that many people are at fault of doing so in this case.
Is this really a huge deal that should cause such widespread unrest? I'm not so sure that it is. Many people seem to be overwhelmed by the fact that someone would be able to form what they feel to be such a close bond with a person that they met through the internet. Yet, if you turn on the television, you see commercials for numerous different types of online relationship sites, and I have heard of many marriages coming about thanks to such websites. Now, I don't know where on the internet Te'o met his alleged girlfriend, but there are definitely places out there that would allow him to do such a thing. So, it is absolutely legitimate to believe that Te'o could have formed an online relationship with someone. He wouldn't have been the first to do so, and he will not be the last.
Next, we have the idea of people assuming false "online personalities." This is also something that I am 100% sure happens all the time. I always believed that the cardinal reason for this was to allow the person assuming a false personality to gain some sort of monetary or sexual benefit from doing so. We hear all types of admonitory stories being told about exercising caution when forming relationships online because you have no way of knowing who exactly it is that you are communicating with when it is being done via message board or chat room, etc. Therefore, this is another reason for me to believe that this entire story is being blown completely out of proportion. Tales like the one that is being told about Te'o right now happen all the time. The only reason this particular tale matters is because of the victim.
Thirdly, and I just learned this yesterday, not only do things like this happen frequently, but assuming a false personality through the internet and duping someone into believing you are someone you aren't actually has a name. It is called "catfishing."
Why is it called catfishing? I have no idea. Is it because a catfish is really a fish pretending to be a cat in order to fool its underwater brethren? That is my best guess, but I have no clue as to whether or not that is actually the basis of the term.
In addition, not only does this phenomenon have a name, but it also has a TELEVISION SHOW on MTV that tells stories of the many people who have been involved in "catfishing." (And really, MTV, is there anything that you WON'T make a show about? Because it sure seems like you are open to any and all suggestions).
Once again, more proof that what happened to Te'o is far from an isolated incident, and it happens much more than most of us are probably aware of. Was Te'o just a "catfish" victim? It's possible.
I don't mean for this to sound like I am in the corner of Te'o in this case. I believe that it is far too easy to poke far too many holes in his story to be able to believe that he was not, in some way, involved in the promotion of this story. Whether it was concocted in order for him to receive sympathy or attention is something that only he can answer. The struggles and subsequent death of this alleged girlfriend during the season all played into making Te'o and Notre Dame seem to be the feel-good story of the college football season. However, now that we have learned that at least parts, and possibly all of the story may be untrue, a shadow has been cast over Te'o.
All I want to say is, three years from now, if Te'o is the starting middle linebacker on an NFL team somewhere, I doubt that this will be much of an issue, and it may end up being completely overlooked. All professional sports (the NFL especially, but all sports are included here) are based more upon performance than they are off-field stories and/or "scandals" like this. There are extenuating circumstances (a.k.a. performance enhancing drugs) that overshadow talent, but that is because the drugs have a direct correlation to play on the field.
What did Kobe Bryant do that got him in trouble off the court? What about Ben Roethlisberger? Ray Lewis? Lakers fans, Steelers fans, Ravens fans, and sports fans in general may know the answer to those questions, but the large majority of those fans (at least those who do not have some kind of deep-seeded personal vendetta against any of those athletes) overlook those things. When Kobe flashes those championship rings, when Roethlisberger and Lewis flash those Super Bowl rings, we speak of them for their on-field ability, not their life off of the field.
That is why, in the long run, I feel like this story about Te'o is being totally blown out of proportion. Sure, it might hurt some people because they were deceived by something he may have made up, but does that really make any sort of difference in your day-to-day life? The answer to that is likely, no. This bizarre story may give some organizations pause when thinking about drafting Te'o, but trust me, if he hits the field in September and starts making plays like he did for the majority of his career at Notre Dame (January 7, 2013 not included), the team he plays for and its fans will be very quick to forgive him for whatever sort of effect the news of today had on them.
Daily Nets Update: Well, you can't win them all, and the Nets finally suffered their first loss of the 2013 calendar year last night in Atlanta. The team is still 9-2 under interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo, and I think he has earned the right to have that "interim" tag removed from his title. Atlanta comes to Brooklyn tomorrow night for the back end of a home-and-home series with the Hawks (and I will be there!). Hopefully, last night was just a bad day at the office and the team gets back on the right track tomorrow night before taking off for its longest road trip of the season up until this point.
Daily Rangers Update: As unlikely as it seemed only a few weeks ago, we are now only two days away from finally getting to see some hockey. Rick Nash is the shiny new toy that has been added to the Rangers' arsenal, and I have extremely high hopes for this season.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The minutes keep ticking away until the start of the season, and hopefully when that countdown finally reaches zero, Justin Upton will still be our starting right fielder. The saga seems to be never-ending, but he is still on the roster, and hopefully it remains that way for a long time.
Daily Giants Update: Nothing much new here. Eli Manning has been announced as Aaron Rodgers' replacement for the Pro Bowl, but the Pro Bowl at this point is pretty much not even worth watching. It is a nice resume builder for looking back on your career after retirement though, so I'm happy for Eli that he got selected. More importantly, September 8th will be the first Sunday of the 2013 regular season, so let's start counting down until that day.
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