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NoSuch Dame LB Manti "Snugglebunny" Te'o (official imaginary thread)

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ESPN
Manti Te'o girlfriend voice at issue

Hollywood couldn't make this up. One day after a report that the voice of Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend belonged to the man who masterminded the hoax, Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, another voice has emerged -- that of his female cousin.

Relatives of Tino Tuiasosopo, a woman in her mid-20s who lives in Pago Pago, American Samoa, told the New York Post that Te'o has been speaking to her. "Tino is the girl that Manti has been talking to all these months," said a Tuiasosopo cousin, according to the Post.

In an interview with ESPN's Jeremy Schaap on Friday, Te'o said that he had discovered that a cast of characters portrayed Lennay Kekua, the fake girlfriend who had supposedly been in a serious car accident and then died of leukemia.

When asked who he had been speaking to all that time, Te'o said: "Two guys and a girl are responsible for the whole thing."

He was asked if he knew who they were and he said: "I don't know. I don't know. According to Ronaiah, Ronaiah's one."

According to Ronaiah Tuiasosopo's relatives, another is Tino Tuiasosopo, who works for her father's construction company.

A source told the newspaper that she became the voice of Te'o's girlfriend after another long-distance relationship that had "extraordinary similarities" to the Te'o saga ended in late 2011. Te'o says his relationship with Kekua began in 2009, however, making it very possible others portrayed Kekua.

Tino Tuiasosopo's relatives are certain that at least on voice mails Te'o supplied for his appearance on Katie Couric's television show this week, Tino's voice can be heard.

A person identified as Tino Tuiasosopo's cousin said: "There is no doubt whatsoever that it's Tino."

After listening to the tape of "Kekua" hysterically accusing Te'o of having another girl in his room, one of the Post's sources said: "That's the way [Tino] cries when she's feeling sorry for herself. Its her, that's the voice."

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TDunk;2296736; said:
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2013...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Whole article if you don't want to click.
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TDunk, I think you have uncovered something. This is a cottage industry that brought Te'o attention when it could add to his award/draft status - and if you believe Andre Ware's comments on Sports Center- Heisman votes- then "legal"- under NCAA rules- money from ESPN and Couric for "exclusives." Now Tossmethesopa gets some bucks from Dr. Phil for yet another "exclusive."

Something is rotten in Sweden and it's holing up in South Bend.
 
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cincibuck;2297072; said:
TDunk, I think you have uncovered something. This is a cottage industry that brought Te'o attention when it could add to his award/draft status - and if you believe Andre Ware's comments on Sports Center- Heisman votes- then "legal"- under NCAA rules- money from ESPN and Couric for "exclusives." Now Tossmethesopa gets some bucks from Dr. Phil for yet another "exclusive."

Something is rotten in Sweden and it's holing up in South Bend.
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I'm going to go with Manti is stupid and wasn't in on this. I would imagine that the one time payouts for these interviews would pale in comparison to the total money and possible endorsements he could be possibly missing out on by slipping in the draft. This whole story has done nothing to bolster his draft stock I'm sure. If he was in on this and kept it quiet all season, it could be one of the biggest cons in NCAA history helping him rope in the awards and Heisman votes.
 
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I'm saying Manti Te'o had heard of Skype/Face Time before he learned of the "hoax" and had plenty of other verification tools other than what Alexander Graham Bell invented about a hundred years ago with the phone call. At least sometime in the 3 years he knew "her."

He made this up and figured nobody would look any further in the wake of "tragedy" and wouldn't dare question the "victim." Whether it was to cover up that he is gay or to boost his Heisman/award status is the only thing left to really be solved for me. I honestly hope it is the former because I could empathize with not wanting to come out since he is a Mormon/at a Catholic school/high level athlete. Conversely, nobody would condone pimping a fake death for publicity.
 
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I was listening to Travis Rogers on Yahoo! Sports Radio the other day on my way home and he gave, what I thought was the best one line summary of this so far.

No one EVER wants people to believe they are so unbelievably stupid (which is what T'eo wants us all to believe), unless of course the alternative is much, much, much worse.
 
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Now PETA has joined in the shenanigans.

6232.MantiBB.jpg
 
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