Trust, But Verify
Jonn’s written before many times about guys using photos of fake military IDs and stories to con unsuspecting women online. For any such approach, the title of this story is generally good advice.
It’s damn good advice regarding any online relationship, period. And guys take note: as the case of Manti Te’o and his phantom girlfriend shows, that advice is not just for the ladies. (There is some thought that Te’o may have been a part of the hoax vice a victim. The matter is under investigation.)
“Doveryai, no proveryai“, people – “doveryai, no proveryai“.
Category: Pointless blather, Who knows
“There is some thought that Te’o may have been a part of the hoax vice a victim.” There is some thought? There is also a great deal of innuendo, speculation, backbiting, resentment, and foolishness. For me, this can be placed either in the “Soap Opera” cubby hole or the one labeled “Who Gives a Rat’s Ass.” But, hey, that’s just me. And in honor of full disclosure, yes, I rooted for the Irish over ‘Bama.
My opinion? Who gives a rats ass?
Has anyone ever bought something online, and been disappointed with the product when it arrived in the mail? Well, that’s kind of what you get for not actually seeing it in the first place. You never really know what you’ll end up with.
This whole thing is our society’s way of exposing someone else’s reality – no different from “Real Housewives”, “Jersey Shore”, and that sort of nonsense.
Te-o has been labeled ‘naive’ by several people who know him well.
This is the reason parents need to keep a close eye on what their offspring are doing online, and with whom.
It’s also the reason you don’t order online, you order over the phone and verify that there is a bricks and mortar address for something.
2/17 Air Cav: yeah, it is kinda soap opera-ish. My only intent was to point out that guys weren’t immune to being hoodwinked online relationships and needed to be careful too. Te’o’s case seemed to be a good example one such hoodwinking (maybe).
Oh, and for what it’s worth: “Roll Tide”. (smile)
What’s the difference between Alabama and Notre Dame?
Alabama player’s girlfriends are REAL. Seriously, it matters not a whit to me, but T’eo just fell WAY down the board come draft day. Character does matter, or at least it might. If he’s so naive to belive this, he’s screwed. If he was part of the hoax, he’s screwed.
Either way, he’s screwed.
I met my wife online…so not every online transaction ends poorly (or, perhaps it did for my wife you’ll have to ask her opinion). It is like every thing else in life, be skeptical.
Too many men and women are seeking a partner, and they want to believe that every word they read sent them by a mysterious stranger is true. I know it’s difficult to enter every transaction of emotion with a high dose of skepticism, but in the long run it might be safer. And probably depressing at some times while you discover how many folks are full of sh1t….
@ 5. Teo aside, character matters to the NFL? Hell, they’ll take all sorts of nogoodniks if they have quicks, speed, hands, size or whatver else the GM thinks will help the team get to the Big Show. Character is a consideration, I’ll grant you that, but it’s the last info item on the checklist and is trumped by every other item on that list. 6’4′, 245, 4.4 40, great vertical, catches everything within 10 feet of him, shoplifted at 18 and was twice accused of sexual assault. Whaddaya call a guy like that? A first round draft pick.
2/17 Air Cav: yeah, such a hypothetical player might still go in the 1st round. But it would cost him many spots in the round – and, given the NFL’s rookie pay scales, mucho dinero. For an example, look at Randy Moss. As I recall, he was drafted in the latter part of the 1st round precisely due to such character issues. He was probably top-5 in talent.
@8. Yes, and he is still playing in the NFL, albeit for (I believe) his 5th team.
@7 That’s why NFL stands for national felons league….it’s also a great reason not to buy into the nonsense that surrounds athletes as role models….it’s been one of the great mistakes of our nation in my opinion that celebrity through a lucky accident of genetics at birth (athletes, or actors) is hardly a reason to promote someone to a role model status.
With the ever more popular reality show celebrity I wonder if we have finally reached that tipping point where you the majority of our celebrity role models will be drunks, drug addicts, liars, fornicators, and reprobates….not a surprise our children tend to not be interested in the hard work that science and engineering require when all you need to be famous is to be a world class 4sshole and have a camera follow you around. And the society we live delivers non-stop updates about these “celebrities” as though their actions, words, and lives matter at all…
2/17 Air Cav: true, and so are a number of other guys with athletic talent and major character issues. But all of them have made much, much less than they would have made otherwise. See Jones, “Pacman”, and Vick, Michael (who in fairness seems to have turned his life around). It’s called taking a calculated risk – pay them less and structure the contract accordingly, then dump them if they become more trouble than they’re worth.
Teams will take a chance on talented players with borderline character. But that borderline character does cost them. And some (Rozier and the running back from Ohio State who got in legal trouble) just never pan out despite having major talent.
@10. But for that fornicators part, I’m with you 100%!
@10 – I think our culture has almost reached that tipping point. Folks know more about the shenanigans of the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton than they do with subjects that really matter… the ones that affect this country over the long term.
It’s a sad state of affairs.
His stock is falling because no one wants to draft the next Demetrius Underwood.
Pretty sure if I was a star college athlete…I wouldn’t have to resort to “on line romance”
Just sayin
@12 I am using the term as adulterers….but I suspect you knew that (smile)….I am just saddened that so many people devoid of character have become the celebrities that the media constantly exposes our youth to each day.
It is interesting to me that the very same people who will tell you that the media doesn’t negatively influence our children will also tell manufacturers that the media can and does influence young people regarding buying decisions….so which is it, does it influence only for consumer product purchases but is completely devoid of any influence in behavior or does it in fact have an effect based on exposure with influencing behavior beyond purchasing?
I am not suggesting that a bad horror film makes a kid become a mass murderer, but I am suggesting that a constant exposure to explicit violence and people like the Lohans, Kardashians, and “real” housewives has an effect on an impressionable mind that results in a societal acceptance of disruptive, negative behavior. The benefit of which is readily apparent across our nation today.
@16. Yes, I was kidding regarding the fornicators. By the way, I just asked my wife the other day, “Who are the Kardashians?” Unfortunately, she knew.
His stock is falling because no one wants to draft the next Demetrius Underwood.
Or Brian Bosworth. Sadly for T’eo, this was his first REAL exposure to a national spotlight last week, and to say he didn’t play very well would be kind.
I met a young fellow the other day who was at a meeting with a group of us about a store being built in the area.
He was clean, head shaved and stood at parade rest while giving his speech about the store indicated he was a former Marine or a Marine.
After the meeting I walked up to him thinking maybe he was in one of the son’s or nephews outfits and asked him if he was a Marine he said yes and I asked him where he was stationed and that I was a former Marine.
He did not answer and said he was going outside and he then left!
I said WTF? I never saw a former or current Marine do that to a fellow Marine.
Either the Marines don’t make them like they used to or…..well you get the idea.
@19. eah, I saw a guy standing near a food store wearing a USMC basball cap and holding a sign saying something about Veteran. He was well fed, healthy looking, had a new haircut and a trimmed goatee, and his clothes were clean. In short, aside from making a spectacle of himself, he seemed squared away. I stopped and mentioned a DD 214 to him. He hesitated and I repeated myself. He was total BS.