It wasn’t until I received a Facebook message from a friend
of a friend asking if I could help cover a story for USA Today that I started
giving Lennay Kekua any more than a passing thought.
Of course Lennay doesn’t exist. She is the fake girlfriend
of Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te’o. She made for a great story though,
becoming the tragic love interest of one of the most popular college football
players in the country.
But instead of living happily ever after, like in all good
fairy tales, she wound up in a car accident, then contracted leukemia and died.
Te’o told Sports Illustrated and ESPN, among other reputable media outlets,
about his girlfriend’s tragic demise. They all bought it, never once stopping to
ask if she had any family members, friends or classmates who were grieving as
passionately as Te’o.
Te’o claimed he was duped. Writers and editors at Sports
Illustrated claimed they were duped. Reporters and producers at ESPN claimed
they were duped. As the hoax unraveled, a trail led to Palmdale, where the
suspected creator of the fake girlfriend lived.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a once promising football player at
Antelope Valley and Paraclete high schools, was fingered as the perpetrator of
the preposterous. I drove up the Antelope Valley Freeway in the middle of the
night in search of Tuiasosopo with the hopes he would say something to explain
why he created a fake girlfriend for Te’o, what was his motivation, and why did
he carry on with the charade for as long as he did.
I wasn’t the only one on the hunt either.
When I arrived on the cozy cul-de-sac in Palmdale where
Tuiasosopo’s family lived, a reporter from the Daily Mail in England greeted
me. From a quiet car parked on the street, I heard the subtle whispers, “Mate,
mate, do you live here?”
Well no, I was there to see if Tuiasosopo lived at one of
the houses at the end of the cul-de-sac. The Daily Mail reporter was staking
out the house for a few hours. There was an old lady in the house who answered
the door when he knocked. She told him to leave and the family had no comment.
TV news vans and a reporter from the Associated Press
arrived later that night. None of us had any luck finding Tuiasosopo. The next
day even more media members were camping out on the street. Reporters from
ESPN, Reuters, Good Morning America as well as the usual suspects spent the day
outside the Tuiasosopo house.
Whoever was tweeting from Kekua’s Twitter account promised a
statement at 11 a.m. That proved to be another joke in the same vein as the
original hoax of creating a fake girlfriend.
After two days of waiting for Tuiasosopo to offer any
comment about Te’o, Kekua or the relationship between the two, I was ready to
move on. It was clear the person or people orchestrating the hoax had no
interest in coming clean.
All we have left is to speculate on the motivation. Money?
Te’o hasn’t said he was asked for money or extorted in any way. All he has said
is that he is a victim, 100 percent, and had no role in creating the fake girlfriend.
That’s hard to believe.
Could it be that Tuiasosopo is some 20-something year old kid
with no job, no college and too much time on his hands? He and his friends,
because it appears there was more than one person pretending to be Kekua, still
have way too much time on their hands. No one from the family is talking, even
the father, Titus Tuiasosopo, a pastor at a church in the Antelope Valley.
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo has almost completely disappeared. Te’o told ESPN that he
talked to Ronaiah and he apologized. But how can anyone believe anything Te’o
says at this point?
…
Another liar whose pants are on fire is Lance Armstrong. In
an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he admitted to doping during his seven Tour de
France victories. He was the cheatiest of the cheaters in cycling. But it
wasn’t so much he lied about doping that is so offensive. It is that he bullied
and threatened anyone who questioned his claims of racing clean.
Teammates, sponsors, even cycling officials and organizers
experienced Armstrong’s furor. He sued people who accused him of cheating. He
won million-dollar settlements from people and newspapers he sued for libel and
defamation. It looks like all those people are vindicated, but still had to pay
for being whistleblowers.
Armstrong told Oprah he was sorry for cheating. It sounded
like a desperate plea from an athlete at the end of this career. His Live
Strong campaign is dying. He is losing supporters quicker than Mitt Romney on
Election Day.
Armstrong has plenty to be sorry for. But again, who is
going to believe his sincerity at this point?
…
Now for some good news. The Master’s College women’s
basketball team is having one of the best seasons in school history. The Lady
Mustangs won their first 17 games and are ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.
Their most recent victory, over Biola 59-53 on Saturday, was
their fourth in a row in Golden State Athletic Conference play.
The Master’s College women led 35-9 at halftime. But Biola
made a furious charge in the second half, outscoring the Lady Mustangs, 44-24.
Still The Master’s College women held on and won by six
points.
…
It didn’t take long for hockey fans to forgive the NHL for
the 113-day lockout that postponed the start of the NHL season for nearly three
months.
The shortened season opened to sold-out arena across North
America on Saturday. Staples Center was one of those sold-out arenas. Kings
fans, players, coaches and staff celebrated raising the first Stanley Cup
championship banner to the rafters.
Then the party quickly soured as the Kings lost to the
visiting Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, and trailed 3-0 after the first period.
Well, at least it’s a long season. Oh wait, no it’s not.
Better pick it up Kings.
Tim Haddock is the
sports director for KHTS AM 1220. He writes for USA Today, the Team USA website,
Ventura County Star, the SCV Beacon, The Santa Clarita Gazette and SB Nation. He can be reached by e-mail
at tim@hometownstation.com.
Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.
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