Big Journalism is as Dead as Te'o's...Reputation.

I read this today...and learned A LOT!

I learned that some people are so willing to save face, that they'll hire silly-expensive lawyers and PR firms instead of simply coming clean.

According to quotes from last night's interview, Manti Te'o "tailored" and "catered" his story in order to deceive his parents and friends...Ummmmmmkay.

Good enough for me-

Now he's confirmed that he compounded lies for three years in order to get those he cared about most on board with the original scam hoax victimization...But we're supposed to believe that now he is telling the truth because Schaap says he seemed honest...and Swarbrick vouched for him.

At this point, he's either completely fooled himself into believing his own saccharin-sweet story OR his years of practice at lying has trained him to lie all the time in a convincing manner.

The fact that EsPN passes this interview as journalism is funny.  We don't know all of the stipulations that Schaap had to agree to to get this exclusive...we do know that Te'o refused to let the interview happen on video.  It could be because he's too embarrassed to go in front of the camera...Well, that's not true, he allowed photographers and tape recordings.  He also had a team of handlers with him and his lawyer at the table during this "some holds barred" interview.

So just to review some of the finer points-
-UND finds out that Kekua isn't dead in early December...tells no one but their crack private investigation team.
-Te'o continues to perpetuate the lie with the media during awards shows and bowl prep after finding out the real truth...(for Mr. Schaap- he was pretty convincing at that point too!)
-The story blew up earlier this week, thanks to Deadspin.com's real investigation. UND's Swarbrick defended Te'o and cried...Te'o stayed silent.
-TMZ reports that Tuiasosopo has given a tear-filled confession that Te'o had nothing to do with it.
-A paper in Hawaii reports they've been contacted by Kekua who said she faked her death in order to evade drug dealers threats (she also told Te'o the same story in early December).  Now that's where the story gets ridiculous- Te'o said she was a beautiful, bilingual Stanford grad who was a great person...but she had drug dealers after her?

No matter...all of this is an exercise is misinformation and blind trust.

Te'o's interview took place at a training facility for pro-athletes-to-be called IMG Academy.  Ironic, no? This whole thing is about image.

Te'o repeatedly via taped interviews and released statements calls himself the victim of a cruel hoax...But, I'm pretty sure he could press charges or at least sue the crap out of Tuiasosopo and company if he really felt wronged. When the courts get involved, we'll see Te'o's phone records that showed him amassing thousands of hours on the phone with the "love of his life"...we'll find out about the four or five people that he knew, by the way, who perpetuated this elaborate all-consuming hoax for YEARS.

Seriously, if I see the phone records and find out that Te'o has sued or press charges on Tuiasosopo, my perspective will change- Te'o will be downgraded from an perpetrator of a hoax to a small time delusional liar.

The good news for me, like most of you, is that I didn't care about his sappy human interest story until I read about it via Deadspin.

As my brother said, the initial reports of Te'o's fall sounded like the life of Job...and no person should have to go through losing two of their loved ones in mere days.  But, with the exception of Te'o's Grandmother's death, we now know Kekua and her made-up death is a myth like the Gipper or Weis' schematic advantage (that got Te'o to commit to UND, by the way).

In spite of Schaap's awesome and revealing interview, there are still too many holes in the story to believe anything...other than we've all been lied to, A LOT.

Am I the only one who loves the irony of this sub-title??

What EsPN Taught Me Yesterday

It's pretty well documented that we don't like EsPN when it pretends to be a journalistic entity.  Sure, they study up on the SEC for football and ACC for basketball, because they have vested interest in those conferences.  But, outside of Urban Meyer being aOSU's head man, there aren't too many storylines that interest the folks in Bristol about the nation's oldest conference.  Furthermore, when a football team from that conference is a middling to lower-third team, they don't care at all.

Purdue's not sexy...we get that.  BUT, if a network is going to spend four minutes on a preview on a BCS conference team...and that network claims to be a sports-related outlet, there should be some show prep that took longer to research than the final piece itself.  Clearly, on EsPN's "College Football Today" show prep is asking around the office and glancing at a Google search.

Adam Rittenberg is pretty good at his job...and he works for the crappiest sports network in all the land- he's what people inside of the EsPN family should call an expert.  Rittenberg knows quite a bit about what's going on inside Purdue football...because he reads up, interviews and prepares for the articles he writes.  Someone at EsPN's TV studios should give Rittenberg's card to David Pollack; the braintrust behind yesterday's Purdue season preview.

Reportering is hard.

Here are some things that the Entertainment Network told me about Purdue yesterday that I never knew.

-First, Robert Marve transferred from the University of Michigan to West Lafayette.  Sweet.  The poor guy probably has to pay his own tuition.  B1G fans know that intra-conference transfers are strongly discouraged by the league...so much that you don't get a schollie when you decide to make such a move (unless it's '12 and you're leaving PSU).  Sure it happens- UM's Boren transferred to aOSU after he found out that Rodriguez was an asshat...but it's not normal.  And while UM does stand for University of Michigan, Marve's former school was the University of Miami, Einstein.

-Second, Purdue never beats aOSU.

Actually, they've done so twice in the past three seasons...and thrice in the last six times they've played...but who's counting (not David Pollack).

Why not post a photo of Steele?

One of our favorites, Erin Andrews' replacement at the network, Samantha Steele, told me that it took two overtimes for the Boilers to beat the nuts in '11...And while I'm known to blackout from time to time in stressful situations, I'm pretty sure I only saw one OT last season at RA...but her error is much less egregious than Pollack's multiple boners on the air.

-Lastly, and most-glaringly, Purdue has secretly added MSU and Nebraska to the '12 schedule...all to be played in the last three games of the season.

This is big news to me...and I'm surprised that the B1G, any Purdue outlet and the Purdue Athletic Department itself has decided to keep this so hush.  Hell, even guys who are really in the know like J Money and TMill haven't let me in on this news...Jerks.

Regardless, I hope Purdue gets another homegame out of the deal...it'd be tough to play two more surprise road games...Dammit, I hope the coaches and players know.

Thanks to David Pollack, and his employer for never letting us down.  While our expectations are low, you guys always find a way outdo yourselves.  Schleps.

Monday Gumbo (Mikesky, McKinzie, Indy and More)

The Spring game is coming...I love it for a ton of reasons, but I hate it for others.  The summer doldrums of sports are kind of already here- J and I forced to talk about IndyCar and MLB...no Purdue sports to be found...and generally, news that comes out of West Laffy in the Spring or Summer has something to do with ACLs and isn't the type of thing we like talking about.

Spring practice has been good for the Boilers though, at least from an injury standpoint. Sure, guys are banged up a bit, but that happens...there doesn't seem to be a major injury in the pipe.  And for the first time in forever, Purdue has two healthy QBs to square off in the Black/Gold game who have both started in and played significant games while at Purdue.  Who they will be throwing to though, is a different story.

For the second-straight season, depth at WR is a question mark.  Sure, Gary Bush, Antavian Edison and OJ Ross have caught a decent amount of passes, but depth and consistency remains a concern.  I still am not positive of what to expect from Ross.  He's got great speed and overall athleticism, but he ran lazy routes at times and gave up on plays.  I've always like Gary Bush as a solid option and Edison can do everything...and in spite of his lack of size, he's been very durable.

After these three, a BS favorite, Tommie Thomas has seen a lot of snaps with the 1s in the Spring.  In case you don't remember, Thomas has ping-ponged back and fourth from offense do defense and now back to offense, but should be on the two-deep come the fall.  I think we'll see Thomas play a role similar to what Gravesande did last season...but Thomas is a different guy in that he's an emotional leader and his teammates rally around him a bit.  Gravesande tended to do his job a bit more quietly.

Shane Mikesky (87), the budding track star and RS Frosh-to-be has shown an ability to go up and get the jump ball in practice so far...but admits he needs to work on strength before he can be an every-down WR in the B1G.  He's built a bit like Jonathan Standeford...and has a similar deceptive speed about his with his long strides.  ChuckT, Charles Torwudzu (17), should also make a bit of noise as he tries to be a possession receiver for TerBush and Marve...His size and strength might help him find the field.

Raheem Mostert, arguably the most exciting player on the on the team, will also try to work his way into becoming a consistent WR...but I see him as a perfect back-up for Edison as he's able to come out of the backfield, play flanker or wideout.  Ishmael Aristide (22), who along with Rob Henry just missed becoming leader of the free Purdue world last week, is working toward becoming a WR after switching from defense.

The WR position is one I'll be watching more-closely than any other this coming Saturday as LBD and I enjoy our final taste of Purdue football until August/September.  Hopefully, the OLine can protect Marve and TerBush enough that we get to see a somewhat-normal offense.

McRoth

Brush with Local Talent
When I say McKinzie Roth, most of you would probably say, "Lawfirm?" And you might be correct.  But, Roth is actually a local spokeswoman who I've been a fan of for a few years...If you're in Indy, you might know her as the Andy Mohr Ford girl? No matter. I shared this story with my wife, and she was about as impressed as you guys are about to be.

I was at the gym last week and almost ran into her...while she wasn't wearing a catsuit, she was still pretty impressive in person...good for her and her boyfriend/husband.

IndyStar Bias Shows Itself (again)
If you read the IndyStar regularly...what's wrong with you? If not, you might not have seen this.

We all know that the Star has a white-hot, undying love for all things IU...but what you might not know is that they'll shill for IU even when the opportunity isn't really there.  To the Star's chagrin, Yogi Ferrell didn't win Indiana's Mr. Basketball, but, MSU super-talent Garry Harris did.

So the Star wrote a piece about Mr. Harris' accomplishment...and seemed to focused on the guy that finished second.  Click here to check it out.

Also in the article, Ronnie Johnson is mentioned as a member of this year's Indiana All-Star team...along with a bunch of other names that you'll see playing D-1 basketball next season. Iowa, Butler, IU, Michigan, Purdue and others all found a gem in this year's talented class from Indiana...But I really like the guys coming to God's country next year- Have I mentioned that?

IndyCar
Because I can, I will mention IndyCar.

The new chassis heads to another road course this weekend- this time it's Long Beach...Here's to a race like what we saw at Barber with plenty of passing and action at the front of the field.

The cars will be coming to Indy, this time to prepare for the greatest spectacle, the second week of May...with practice beginning on May 13.  Hopefully they'll be up above 220 at that point at the the 2.5 mile oval...but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm one of the people that was clamoring for a new chassis...so I'm not complaining.  But, the DW12 will look a lot better going faster than it does hovering around 215 as it did at last week's practice.

Monday Gumbo

The final Four is set as everyone knows- Ohio State v. Kansas and Kentucky v. Louisville.

A couple things you might want to take note of...just for future reference.  First, most obviously, only one #1 seed made the final weekend of the tourney.  J noted on Twitter how many of EsPN's pundits had at least two #1s...some had four; and these are the experts, right?  As much as it feels good, always resist the urge to go chalk...unless you're talking women's basketball.

Sidenote: J and I aren't women's basketball fans...and this is just one of the reasons.  Not only does the women's tournament seems to run according to seed almost always, BUT, massive blowouts in the round of 16 happen regularly. There were 27 and a 44-point discrepancies this weekend in the women's tourney...and neither of those was because a Cinderella made it through.  Only two of the eight games were single-digit games...Plus, not one lower seed won a game.  That will leave the women with a final eight of 1v.2...times four. You won't hear us tell you what to do on this site- if you like the women's game, watch to your heart's content; but we won't be.

Back to the men's game.

Moral Victories Stink
In 2012, for the fourth year in the last five, Purdue was knocked out of the tourney by an eventual FF team...the only exception was Xavier.  Two of those three (this year is yet to be decided, obviously) were eventually crowned national champs.

For me though, that says two things- One, timing is everything.  If your squad plays the wrong team at the wrong time (read as VCU), it's tough to overcome that. Second, there's no solace in losing to anyone, even a team that wins the championship.

Thoroughbreds
If you take a glance at the teams that made the final four, it's no surprise that talent reigns supreme; almost always does.  But almost all of this year's FF teams have length- good height and long arms...coupled with athleticism.  The team that has been the best on paper all year, Kentucky, has a line-up that would make many NBA teams jealous.  They have size, they have length, they have athleticism...plus almost the entire team shoots their free throws in the 70% range or higher...and they get to the line a lot.  In other words, they do it all well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Kentucky's pros will finally bring all-around good guy, Calipari, his first national title.

And to clarify...again (because this is something that doesn't seem to come across via Twitter).  Just because we think someone will win the national title, doesn't mean we like or root for that team.  Of the remaining four, I'll be pulling for Kansas...mainly because I don't want to see aOSU, Kentucky or Louisville win it.

Good Journalism
On late Friday night/early Saturday morning, Butler's Brad Stevens' name started lighting up Twitter.  Rumors of a 21-28 million dollar contract offer from Illinois came first and then, of course, news guys started saying Stevens would be announced as the new Illini coach on Saturday.

Stevens quickly denied ever being offered a contract...and a day later re-affirmed that he'd be staying at Butler.

For those of you keeping score at home, Illinois has been turned down by Smart and Stevens...next up, they'll probably offer Ohio's coach, Groce, college basketball's most-recent "it" name. Since he's only had four years at Ohio, hasn't planted deep roots, and Illinois will offer to quintuple his salary, I think he'll be the guy that takes Weber's place in Champaign.

Groce graduated from Taylor, and later coached under Matta at Butler and aOSU (and a few other stops as well).

Football Scrimmage
This time of year is always tough to tell what's really going on with Purdue's football team as Hope keeps practices and scrimmages locked-down.  But here's a quick report for those of you who haven't put the pieces of info together that's available.

The QBs (Marve and TerBush, specifically) have looked good as has the new-look offensive line.  But, in spite of that, the defense still won Saturday's scrimmage.  That's understandable as it always takes offenses a bit longer to get in sync...then again, this is a defense that is showing new looks and has a coaching staff comprised of a lot of new guys.

What we do absolutely know is there have been no major injuries...the best info that can come out of Spring football practice.

Hineys!

We're not usually one to simply do a link dump -- other dumps are fine, however -- but I saw this story and pretty funny (and appropriate) take from With Leather on NBC's beach volleyball hand signals coverage and had to share.

From the WL post:

"I'm guessing hand signals are only used in women's volleyball, because the entire gallery is pictures of women players flashing the hand signals. It's a valuable addition to the serious discussion of women's beach volleyball, one that will only be defiled and defamed by villainous bloggers and blog commenters who talk about the women's buttocks that were accidentally captured in the photographers' lenses.

I say, those photographers and the mainstream media are journalistic heroes just trying to pass along information! It's a shame the way blogs denigrate the majesty of online journalism!"

Heh, amen to that.