Jaded- My Manti Te’o Story

Jaded.

That pretty much sums up how I feel at this point. In the past, I've been accused of having many words, but nothing to say. And while I can easily defend myself against that statement, I find it ironically fitting at this moment. This is what happens after you reach a certain point where you can no longer listen, read, or talk about a subject with any passion, interest, or knowledge because the intake was too much, too out of control, and too mind-numbingly "what the fuck" for the brain and heart to process.

This brings us to the Te'o girlfriend hoax story. After the news broke on Wednesday, I was on Twitter and had some fun with it for a while. When I say, "fun" I actually mean coping with bad news through humor, snark, and general OMGZ. It's what myself and the rest of the ND Twitterati do in times like these. After I was done with all of that, I fully intended to write something that night. That's what we, as bloggers, are supposed to do. Right?

Not for me. I wish I could say that logic told me to wait because the proverbial tip of the iceberg was only shown that day, but then I would be a liar- at least for that night. No, in fact, my very real wife and I got into a very real argument that lasted through the night and well into Thursday night, and when those things happen, you gain some perspective on things, like what is important and what is not so important.

What is important, is knowing as much as you can about something before forming a concrete opinion. Before chaining yourself to an argument, you really should understand what exactly you are arguing.

Obviously, the Notre Dame community and more especially those who talk, report, and cover Notre Dame Football are guilty beyond reasonable doubt of doing that with Charlie Weis, Brian Kelly, the Declan Sullivan death, the tragedy of Lizzy Seeberg, a blowout loss to Alabama in the BCS National Title game, and now with the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax. In fact, it amazes me how much those other topics were discussed in the recent days as if they were all a part of some mythical plot by the administration.

So, here I am, jaded. Barely excited that Notre Dame just had its best season in 20 years. Barely excited that National Signing Day is a few weeks away. Barely excited that soon it will be spring and the 2013 campaign will begin. So here I am, with a lot of words, but really nothing to say.

Let me change that a bit.

After hearing pretty much all I have needed to hear about the subject, I fully believe Te'o was indeed "catfished." However impossible it is for some to believe that, it appears to be the truth. Now, of course there are some lies by Te'o on this matter. I won't call them "untruths" because that's just putting lipstick on a pig. They are still lies. However, the lies weren't a part of continuing and managing the hoax, they were because he was embarrassed of the entire situation.

Wow. A college kid embellishing about his girlfriend. Shocker. And you know what, that's all that is from Te'o's side of the table.

He was the victim of being too trusting, too naive, and too much in need of a connection- whatever that connection may be, while he is living his life in the spotlight in an environment that was totally foreign to him from his previous 19 years of life. Shocker.

And that's it from me. I believe Manti Te'o. I believe the media (mainstream & bloggers) have absolutely fucked this whole thing up from the beginning. I'm proud that Jack Swarbrick has stood firmly behind Te'o and I'm relieved that Te'o finally told his side to perhaps the best person available for this type of thing in Jeremy Schaap. I'm exhausted from an amazing season and the train wreck that has been 2013 thus far. I want to say that I "can't wait" for the 2013 season to begin, but as of right now, I can wait. I need the wait. I need to clear my mind and reboot.

I'm jaded, but I ain't faded.