Just to avoid any confusion…I did not have Manti Te’o’s
girlfriend type this blog for me….
Assuming she’s real…or
fake…or a hoax…or whatever the linebacker turned Oscar Award winning actor
would have you..or Jeremy Schaap believe today ..
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| Do you know where your girlfriend is? |
10 years ago…names like Lance Armstrong, Roger Clemens, Joe Paterno, Mark McGwire, and Brett Favre(maybe)…could be
lumped into a conversation of American sports heroes…
Now the only association the quintet has with heroes would
be a guest appearance on the NBC show. (Doubtful)
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| I got it... |
Whether it’s suing others to cover up your performance
enhancing drug use, not covering up and sending those text messages to
reporters…or lying about pedophilia…modern day sports heroes are dropping like
passes to Terrell Owens.
But, it’s not just the
professional ranks…the newest scandal involving Notre Dame linebacker, Manti Te’o
is downright weird.
He had a girlfriend
he was madly in love with…love at first sight he said…..who was in a horrible
car wreck…who died of leukemia hours after his grandmother died…but then she
was a completely made up…but then she wasn’t….but then she was real but only
online and he’d never seen her…but then he was catfished…then he thought blind
date meant you never see your date…but then his friend duped him and it’s not
nice to play pranks on poor Manti…
If that paragraph rhymed
you’d think it was straight out of a Doctor Seuss book…
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| Drugs are bad... |
All while Oprah thought her interview with shamed cyclist
Lance Armstrong would lead to world domination…or at least a presidential run
in 2016…ooops…Interviewing Lance…impressive…interviewing Manti’s girlfriend…impossible…(we
think..but who knows anymore)
For whatever reason
athletes feel the need to lie. More shocking, is that it still surprises the American public.
“Why would Manti
lie?? What would he gain? He was the victim.” “No way Joe knew what was going
on at Penn State, he’s an old man.” “Brett would never send naughty texts, he
just wears Wranglers and rides around on his John Deere.” “Lance means too much
to cancer survivors to dope and lie about it.”
Guess what, cynicism aside…athletes aren’t the only people
that lie. Many of us do it in our everyday lives. “No honey…you look great in
that dress.”"It's okay sweetie...it happens to a lot of guys."
Difference is, for athletes the stakes are much higher.
Taking steroids won’t lead to a night sleeping in your bed versus the couch. They make the job easier…increase the chance
of winning and making more money. But, the fall is much harder as well. So, it
means a prepared alibi is nearby.
That doesn’t make any of their lies right (excluding Te’o
who may not be lying…or may be lying…but it’s possible he’s not…although he
could be)…it just means the days of trusting an athlete who says they’ve never
taken performance enhancing drugs…or a coach who says he’ll never leave college
for the NFL…or a player who makes up stories to become a sympathetic figure and
vault himself into collegiate folklore are as numbered as 600 foot home runs, and 7 straight Tour De France Titles.
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| Speaks for itself |
Turns out those days were about as unreal as Manti’s
girlfriend…allegedly…
| Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are exclusively those of this author and do not represent the thoughts or opinions nor are they condoned by anyone employed by or associated with KAGS or any of its affiliates. |
