Manti Te'o Hoax Could Happen to Anyone or: (How I Was Hoaxed by 'Loy Allen Jr.')

The story about Notre Dame Fighting Irish star linebacker Manti Te’o and his dead girlfriend being a hoax that was broken by Deadspin yesterday is certainly one of the strangest and weirdest sports stories I’ve ever heard and I know that it’s likely bound to only get stranger and weirder. I say that because it’s still to be seen whether or not Te’o was, in fact, duped by an incredibly cruel joke as he’s stated in his written response or if he actually played a knowing role in the hoax.

Notre Dame officials believe based on their response late Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 16) that Te’o was innocent and merely the butt of a cruel joke. However, the Deadspin article leads readers to believe that Te’o could’ve easily had a hand in perpetrating the hoax, along with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. I don’t really have a complete assumption at this time, but I wouldn’t be surprised, though certainly disappointed, if Te’o was in on the entire thing from what I’ve read. However, I can say unfortunately from firsthand experience that if what happened to Te’o was indeed a cruel hoax that it’s entirely possible that he had the wool pulled over his eyes.

Every day in this world people are at the horrible hands of others perpetrating hoaxes against them online. I haven’t seen the movie “Catfish” or the MTV series based off of it, but from what I’ve heard the term “catfishing” apparently is the act of a person who creates fake profiles online and pretends to be someone they are not by using someone else's pictures and information as a means of deceiving others.

There are only a couple of people who know this about me (until now), I’m not even 100 percent sure my girlfriend of seven years is one of them, but about 10 years ago when I was in my mid-teens I was on the receiving end of an online hoax.

Being the big NASCAR fan that I am I frequented a NASCAR message board called Driver Insider, where I would spend a great deal of time discussing and conversing about all sorts of NASCAR topics with other hardcore fans around the country. Myself, and all of the other posters on the message board, soon became enamored with one poster who, I can’t remember his username, but had us all convinced that he was Loy Allen Jr.

Loy Allen Jr. was a mostly unsuccessful NASCAR driver from the early to late ‘90s, who is most famous for two things: becoming the first ever rookie driver to qualify on the pole at the 1994 Daytona 500 and a devastating crash at Rockingham Speedway in 1996 which severely injured his neck and pretty much put an end to any major career plans.

Today, and even 10 or so years ago, Loy Allen Jr. was a name that novice NASCAR fans wouldn’t know and even avid NASCAR fans would have a hard time telling you anything about other than the Daytona pole and the Rockingham crash. Such an obscure name like Loy Allen Jr. made for the perfect cover, whereas other drivers would’ve led to immediate questioning and doubts over accuracy and credibility. If somebody claims they’re Loy Allen Jr. and have the knowledge and facts to back it up you’re likely going to believe them. If they claim they’re Jeff Gordon you’re simply not.

This poster claiming to be Loy Allen Jr. had us all going on the message board for the longest time, but he got to me even more because we added each other to Yahoo Messenger and would talk for hours about his “career,” NASCAR and baseball (which he claimed he was a huge fan of). We developed a friendship and he had me tricked to such an extent that I actually wrote an article about him for the sports webzine I created, edited and wrote for online called Sport Webzine. I thought this was my first “big time” interview, which really excited me.

After a little while I guess this prankster said something that one or two of the other members of the Driver Insider message board didn’t believe and they checked him on his facts and found him out to be a fraud. It bothered everybody on the message board because we had all been duped, but it probably hurt me the most because I’d been taken in so badly and even put my credibility as a writer/journalist on the line (despite only being in my mid-teens).

It’s an embarrassing, uncomfortable and hurtful experience when you trust somebody and you learn that the trust you’ve had in them wasn’t real. It’s especially worse when you realize that the person him/herself never actually existed or wasn’t who they claimed to be. It's definitely not something that bothers me much all these years later, in fact, I can't even remember the last time I'd thought of this until the Manti Te'o story reminded me of it today. But, depending on how deep you get taken in and how close of a relationship you've developed with this "person" I could easily see how it could mess someone up for a long time. 

I consider myself to be a pretty smart person and was certainly smart for my age at that time. I think many people would be calling me gullible, like they are right now to Manti Te’o. But, here’s the thing … these people do their research. They know their “character’s” ins and outs and its easy for somebody to gain another person’s trust when their back-story is as solid as these people can and do make it. I’m sure it’s even more sophisticated these days than it was back then.     

If Te’o was indeed pranked I can understand the embarrassment he feels, because you really do feel like you were played for a fool, except in his case it would be even worse because he developed an attraction and feelings for the apparition. If he was in on the whole thing he should be ashamed of what he’s done and his character will rightfully always be judged. However, if he was the “victim” here as Notre Dame officials have stated then he can join the club of the many who’ve been played for fools by online tricksters and pranksters out there getting their laughs and jollies out of making real people believe in and develop relationships with people that don’t exist or either do exist, but just aren’t who they claim to be. If this is the case his character shouldn’t be judged, because it can happen to almost anybody and you likely know people who have been hoaxed in a similar way.           

Craig Biggio is a No-Brainer Hall of Famer

3060 hits (one of only 28 plays to reach the 3000 hit plateau), .281 career batting average, 291 homers (a lot for the power lacking position of second base), 1175 RBI, 414 stolen bases, 7 times an All Star, 5 times a Silver Slugger and 4 times a Gold Glover. Those are Craig Biggio’s career statistics and accolades and they say and prove he’s a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Robin Yount, Derek Jeter, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar. Baseball-Refence.com states that those five players, four of them hall of famers and one of them a lock of a future hall of famer, are the five most similar batters in baseball history to Craig Biggio. That little factoid says and proves that Biggio is a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Rogers Hornsby, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Charlie Gehringer, Jackie Robinson, Ryne Sandberg. Those seven players are likely the only seven second basemen in baseball history that are better than Craig Biggio. So, if Craig Biggio is one of the 10 greatest players of all time at his primary position that says and proves he is a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Craig Biggio will be a Baseball Hall of Famer some day, hopefully next year, but to 32 percent of the Baseball Writers Association of America he’s not a hall of famer on the first ballot. He’s not a hall of famer today. What the Hell is wrong with those people?

Craig Biggio should have been a lock for first ballot induction into the Baseball Hall of Famer. But, for a multitude of reasons he’s not. He’s not currently a hall of famer because some writers punished him for playing in the so-called “Steroid Era,” despite their being zero evidence that he in fact used performance enhancing drugs. Some writers punished him because some writers idiotically refuse to vote for any player on their first ballot. This is why no player in baseball history has unanimously been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Not even Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams or Jackie Robinson. Some writers punished him because they don’t even believe that Craig Biggio is a Hall of Famer, which is ludicrous given all of those stats and facts I said at the beginning.

Craig Biggio was one of those hardcore, nose to the grindstone, work their butt off every day of their career type players and he was one of my favorites to watch play the game from the moment I became a baseball fan to the day he retired, in a game I had the great pleasure of viewing. You can’t tell me that Craig Biggio is not a hall of famer. But, for ignorant and ridiculous reasons, Craig Biggio is not a hall of famer in 2013.  

Presidential Election As A Sporting Event

One of the most fascinating sporting events only takes place once every four years. No, it’s not the Summer Olympics, it’s actually the Presidential Election.

I realized last night while watching the Presidential Election over the span of seven different networks that the election is broadcast much-like a sporting event.

You have two candidates, who serve as the athletes in this situation, battling each other for months culminating in this one night for 270 Electoral College votes, which effectively serves as the score. As state polls close the electoral votes go up and down for the two candidates and make it look as if one candidate is leading the election, or game in my sports analogy.

At one point last night Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had a pretty sizable lead on President Barack Obama, but later President Obama passed him and ended up winning in a landslide. This on CNN or MSNBC or Fox News is the equivalent of the Boston Celtics leading the Chicago Bulls by 20 in the first half then having the Bulls comeback to tie the game and later win by 20.

The sport of the election as broadcast on television makes it more interesting to watch and the graphics on some of the networks like CNN add to the sport of the whole thing.

Another aspect of the election that makes it seem and feel like a sporting event is the way we root for the candidates like we do our favorite athletes and teams and the way we bicker and argue about them and their politics like they are our favorite athletes and teams. I feel the same way debating conservatism versus liberalism as I do when I’m debating whether or not Babe Ruth is a greater baseball player than Hank Aaron.

The reason why is that both sports and politics bring out the most passion in people and when people are passionate about something they are going to get competitive about it.

Last night’s Presidential Election was actually one of the most competitive and interesting sporting events I’ve seen all year long. It’s almost a shame we’ll have to wait four more years for another one, but like in any sport, the rules are the rules.

Despite What Some Fans Think, Razorbacks Are Not Championship Caliber Team

Living in Arkansas all of these years has taught me one thing: Arkansas Razorbacks fans are desperately loyal.

It’s a loyalty that oftentimes leads the fandom to believe that their team is capable of doing anything and everything, which while probably fitting the definition of a “good fan”, sometimes comes off as delusional.

Razorbacks fans had good reason to believe in their team after last season when they go as high as number three in the college football rankings and only fell to the two best teams in all of college football (Alabama and LSU). Many, if not most, Razorbacks fans felt that the 2012 Razorbacks could have a shot at the National Championship, and honestly it was a feeling that wasn’t that far-fetched.

However, then came the bombshell that ended the tenure of head coach Bobby Petrino and led to the hiring of new coach John L. Smith. This scandal in itself led me to believe that any shot the Razorbacks had at a national title had been taken away. I don’t think it’s possible for any team, even one as talented as the current Razorbacks, to win right away under such unfortunate circumstances.

Not only is the head coaching change and the way it came about insurmountable, in my opinion, but I still believe that the Razorbacks are probably only the third best team not even in just their own conference, the SEC, but in their own division. Alabama is clearly a better team than the Razorbacks and LSU is likely better than the Razorbacks.

Yet, Hogs fans continue to believe in their team, which is in no way a bad thing, except that they unreasonably believe in their team. I had one Razorbacks fan say to me a few days ago that the Hogs were going to win the SEC this year, which would presumably put them in the BCS National Championship game. Winning the SEC would mean both defeating Alabama and LSU and either Georgia or South Carolina (all of which are currently ranked in the top 10 ahead of the Razorbacks).

You can see from their week one game against Jacksonville State why the Razorbacks are not a championship caliber team. While the number two (and probably soon to be number one) ranked Alabama Crimson Tide were curb-stomping the number eighth ranked team in the nation the Michigan Wolverines 41-14 the number 10 ranked Razorbacks allowed a FCS team to drop 24 points on them.

Now, I know technically a win is a win and a 25 point win is typically a very good win, but for the Razorbacks to allow a FCS (formerly Division II) team from the Ohio Valley Conference to score 24 points on them has to be considered an embarrassing win, though I haven’t heard a single Razorbacks fan yet fess up to it.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are a really good team and I expect them to have a really good season. They will likely either go 10-2 or 9-3, but they are simply not a championship caliber team and have already proven so. Fans, I know you have to root for your team, but don’t be buffoons about it.   

Dillon's Image, Reputation Will Struggle If Grandpa/Owner Keeps Stepping In

It was nice to see a little beating and banging return to Bristol Motor Speedway during Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Thunder Valley. With the beating and banding came some of the fiery tempers that once were synonymous with the racetrack.

The biggest sign that Bristol was “back” as people are saying was when the seemingly most even-keeled personality in the sport, Trevor Bayne, confronted a driver after the race finished. In the waning laps of the race Bayne and Austin Dillon were running hard side-by-side when Dillon lost control of his car and wrecked Bayne, who was running for a top five finish in a rare Nationwide Series start for him this season, due to lack of sponsorship. 

 

The incident mirrored another one involving Dillon earlier in the race when the driver of the number three Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet wrecked fellow Nationwide regular Justin Allgaier. That incident irritated Allgaier enough to slam into the side of Dillon’s car under caution. 

Bayne’s confrontation with Dillon reportedly occurred on pit road after ESPN’s telecast of the race had gone off the air. According to NASCAR reporters on the scene the two drivers engaged in a heated conversation that didn’t turn that physical, but did include each driver laying his hands on the other at different points. The angry chat was reportedly broken up after a bit when Dillon’s car owner and grandfather Richard Childress stepped in. This is the part that annoys me. 

Childress, despite being the car owner and especially because of being Dillon’s grandfather, really has no business stepping in between two kids in their early ‘20s hashing out things over an on-track incident. You’ve got to let the drivers handle themselves in this situation and what Childress did was actually a great disservice to Dillon, because it makes it seem like Dillon can’t hold his own among other driver or fight his own fights. To be a tough driver and frankly a man in the sport of NASCAR you’re going to have to learn to fight your own fights or others will push you around. 

Dillon, who is one of the more smaller and unintimidating (he oddly uses the old “Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt’s car number) drivers in the sport, is often seen wearing a cowboy hat at the racetrack, but I’ve got some news for him, having your granddaddy step in for you when the heat is on is far from “cowboying up”. Now, I know that Dillon probably didn’t call his grandfather and car owner over during the middle of the confrontation, but he definitely should let Childress know that him butting in will effectively damage his image and reputation.