It must be hard for NFL coaches to come up with fresh motivational techniques. You can't just slap a "Play Like A Champion" banner above the door or put some mean things that an opponent said about your quarterback on the bulletin board anymore. Those tactics are played out, and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh knows that you have to go deeper if you want to fire up some football players. So how did he go about motivating his squad before its first playoff game? He put each of his players' high school photo and scouting report above their lockers, of course. From the Los Angeles Times:
Coach Jim Harbaugh had a laminated sheet made for each player during wild-card weekend, which the 49ers had off, then surprised the players with them when they reentered the locker room after a meeting.
The scene was like the day high school yearbooks are distributed, with players going from locker to locker, checking out what their teammates looked like as kids, comparing notes on who had a higher national player ranking, or who was ranked higher in his particular state.
Man, that project sounds like it required a lot of legwork. You should feel bad for whatever intern had to put those sheets together. Now, exactly what kind of motivational lesson the players are supposed to glean from these pictures is unclear. Perhaps they are supposed to ponder how far they've come as players and men. Or maybe they're supposed to recall and channel the youthful vigor they once had for the game. The meaning of the photos seems to be open for interpretation:
Harbaugh declined to elaborate on why he had the photos made, but team spokesman Bob Lange said the coach "wants the players to be able to interpret the reason for it in any way they want."
So, how's that working out?
"Reminds me of how bad I [stunk] when I was in high school," said defensive tackle Ray McDonald, who was unranked in his home state of Florida.
Asked to describe that kid in the picture, the dreadlocked McDonald said: "Young. Didn't know a lot back then. Wet behind the ears. Different hairstyle - had braids, not dreads - about 50 pounds lighter. Probably a little faster than I am now."
If you don't know what a Sandy Hook Truther is, take a moment to read Max Read of Gawker's illuminating look into their strange world. Basically, they are people who believe that the Sandy Hook shooting was actually some kind of elaborate hoax perpretrated by the government, because everything is an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the government in the eyes of these crazies. YouTube videos alleging such a hoax have been popping up all over the internet, poisoning the minds of people like Washington Nationals center fielder Denard Span.
I was watching some controversial stuff on YouTube about the sandy hooks thing today! It really makes u think and wonder
This Manti Te'o business is on everyone's mind, including Darnell Dockett's. The Arizona Cardinals defensive end is sympathetic to Manti's situation, and has some interesting ideas on how to cheer Manti up:
@mteo_5 bro we all make mistakes, fuck it, Mann lets just go to KOD and ill find u what u looking for. You like midgets got a bad one 4 you.
"KOD" is an acronym for King of Diamonds, the strip club that Dockett is known for inviting people to. There are worse places than a strip club in which to drown one's sorrows, but we're not really sure what to make of Dockett's offer to find Manti a "midget." Maybe he knows something else that the rest of us don't.
Our long national nightmare is over. Lance Armstrong's pre-recorded interview with Oprah just aired, and Armstrong flatly admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. Oprah began the interview with a series of yes-or-no questions about whether or not Armstrong had used a variety of PEDs during his career. The answer to each question was a simple, "Yes." He went on to say that he had not doped since 2005.
Boom, or something.
The interview went on for what felt like an eternity after that, and Armstrong was fairly contrite throughout. Oprah made him watch video clips of himself denying that he ever used performance enhancers and admonishing others for questioning the legitimacy of his Tour De France victories. Armstrong referred to himself as a "jerk," an "arrogant prick," and a "bully." All of this was said in front of two conspicuous glasses of water with bendy straws.
Armstrong did refuse to refer to himself as a "cheat," however, saying that he saw himself as having competed on a "level playing field," which is an entirely reasonable thing to say. He also adamantly denied calling Betsy Andreu "fat." Boom, again.
The best part of the interview was when Armstrong said that he had sued so many people that he couldn't keep all of his lawsuits straight in his head. I mean, who doesn't get bogged down trying to remember all of the vindictive, potentially life-ruining lawsuits that they've brought against people who were just trying to tell the truth? Been there!
They talked about a lot of other stuff, and I got bored and stopped listening after a while. You can catch a replay of the interview here, if you're so inclined. Part two airs tomorrow. Yay?
Manti Te'o's uncle Alema Te'o went on The Zone Sports Network last night and spoke to radio hosts Scott Garrard and Riley Jensen about the Manti Te'o-Lennay Kekua story that we broke on Wednesday. Alema didn't have much to say about Manti, but he did offer some personal insight into the character of Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who had falsely presented himself as Lennay Kekua.
Alema recalled meeting Ronaiah in a hotel room just before the Notre Dame-USC game in November. During the interview, Alema talked at length about how he thought that Ronaiah was a "bad rat" from the moment he met him. Alema claims that Ronaiah lied to him about helping to organize Troy Polamalu's football camp. Alema says he immediately knew that Ronaiah was lying, because he himself was in charge of running Polamalu's football camp, and he had never heard of Ronaiah before. Alema says he didn't say anything at the time because he didn't want to cause trouble, although he did express his concerns about Ronaiah to Manti's father at a later date.
The weirdest part of Alema's story involved a 9-year-old girl that Ronaiah had brought to the hotel room with him. Ronaiah allegedly introduced the girl as Lennay Kekua's cousin and someone with whom Manti had spoken on the phone numerous times before while Lennay was in the hospital. But Alema claims that she was actually Ronaiah's little sister, and that Ronaiah was "almost guarding her...not letting her speak for herself" while she was in the hotel room.
Alema's suspicions were raised further when Ronaiah began talking about a fundraising effort that he was spearheading. According to Alema, Ronaiah told him that he was creating a foundation to raise money for leukemia victims and was currently trying to raise money for a friend of Lennay's who had been diagnosed with leukemia and needed money to pay for his tuition at Stanford. Alema believes that Ronaiah was somehow trying to get money out of Manti.
Garrard and Jensen did ask Alema if he could explain why Manti and his father had previously stated that Manti and Lennay had met in person. Alema answered by saying that he wouldn't be surprised if Ronaiah had in fact hired a girl to pretend to be Lennay and sent her to meet with Manti in person. Alema said he did not believe that Manti had any part in perpetuating the hoax, and pointed to Ronaiah as the villain of this story:
Ronaiah Tuiasosopo is a liar, he concocted the whole thing, he misrepresented whatever program that he was trying to get across to Manti, and shoot, he lied every step of the way. I don't feel it's beyond him to hire somebody or bring somebody in to play the role of Lennay to get Manti to buy into this deal.
Oh dear. What can one even say about this video, created by the Baltimore police department in anticipation of this weekend's AFC championship game between the Ravens and the Patriots? It's got everything that a terrible hype video needs: "Seven Nation Army" playing the background, bad camera angles, old people embarrassing themselves, people being very uncomfortable on camera, and cop rap. Every bad YouTube video should include a rapping cop.
Be sure to watch all the way through to the ending, when Ray Lewis makes an appearance and relays the following message to the Baltimore PD:
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the Baltimore Police Department. There is no me without you.
Careful, Ray. The Atlanta police department might get jealous.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, citing a source "close to the Te'o family," has the particulars of a phone conversation between Manti Te'o and "Lennay Kekua" in December, three months after "Lennay" had supposedly died.
Manti Te'o has told family and friends that the woman who was the voice of his fictitious girlfriend "Lennay Kekua" called him in December and said she had to fake her own death months earlier to elude drug dealers, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser has learned.
The woman, who has yet to be identified, tried to re-engage a relationship with Te‘o months after she supposedly had died of leukemia in early September, the Notre Dame All-American linebacker has told the people close to him. The account was shared with the Star-Advertiser by a source close to the Te‘o family.
According to the account, Te'o asked the woman to transmit a photo to him with a date stamp, which she did, but this did not allay his suspicions and he later told his family and Notre Dame officials about being scammed.
Presumably, this is the same Dec. 6 phone call that Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick referenced during his press conference on Wednesday night, although the Star-Advertiser avoids making a direct connection.
At some point during every Nuggets home game, team mascot Rocky attempts to make a backward, half-court shot. The crowd gets into it, the scoreboard operator puts Rocky's half-court shooting percentage on the jumbotron for all to see, and Rocky hams it up on the rare occasion that he sinks one. It's kind of a thing.
Russell Westbrook, however, has no time for such tomfoolery, and decided to troll the entire Pepsi Center during last night's Thunder-Nuggets game when he goaltended a half-court attempt from Rocky that looked like it had a good chance of going in. A few minutes later, Westbrook added insult to injury by sinking a game-tying three-pointer that sent the game into overtime. Karma eventually won out, though, as the Nuggets came away with a 121-118 victory.
OK, before we go any further, we have to address Michael Phelps's new look. Apparently, Phelps has been hanging out in a lot of coffee shops and going to a lot of Japandroids concerts since the summer Olympics. Or perhaps he's just a really big fan of that crazy guy who used to edit Gawker.
Phelps, a Baltimore native, was on the Ravens' sideline during last night's AFC Championship game, cheering on his hometown team. After the game, in an interview with Yahoo Sports, Phelps revealed that Ravens middle linebacker and master of the cryface Ray Lewis was responsible for inspiring him to compete in the 2012 Olympics. You can watch the entire interview here, but here's what Phelps had to say about Lewis:
I think he's probably the most inspirational person I've ever met in my entire life. A lot of people don't know this, but he was one of the biggest reasons why I came back for four more years. Just some of the things that we have talked about, and he's helped me get through, I can't be more happier.
So, the greatest Olympian in American history wouldn't be what he is today if it weren't for Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis is America.
Welcome to a special edition of Dead Letters, featuring every angry email that was sent to us in the days since publishing our Manti Te'o story. We should take this moment to remind you that all emails to Deadspin and its editors are on the record unless otherwise specified. Now for your letters.
Subject: With regards to the Te'o story...
From: Timothy Pezanko
To: Deadspin staff
I'm not sure when I grew tired of the repetitive "so-and-so deserves to be taken down" bit your site likes to propagate, but it was somewhat obvious when you went for Favre-Sterger. Ok, I get it, Big name hero is a dick to some younger girl.
I compare it to what's happening now with your persecution of Te'o. You act like he stole a crippled kid's porridge. Yet you should only be navel gazing, for you lacked the ability to back-check the story at the time, instead of waiting 4 months to do your homework. Were you lazy? Wouldn't this have made more sense to release before the BCS game? Your site has shown a clear disdain to our school for years now; frankly, I find it surprising that you would sit on this story so long.
I'm not here to defend him; he can do that himself at the combine, which none of us will ever be invited to.
I'm just here to point out that you're all on a blog for a reason; frankly, I hope that someday you can aspire to bringing a positive light to the sports world, instead of trying to drag everyone down to a Favre-dongshot level. Also, you owe it to your readers to present both sides of the story. You have so far bombarded the reading public with "Te'o made up a fake girl friend and was complicit in it" without bothering to offer a take on the "ESPN just found out that Te'o was 100% innocent of it and got conned by a group of people."
This is why no one will ever take you seriously as a news organization.
Sincerely,
Tim Pezanko
Dillon Hall, Class of 2003, University of Notre Dame
(Should I forward this to Denton? Or did he get pushed out with AJ?)
From: Tom Scocca
To: Nick Denton
Dear Nick,
Timothy Pezanko here has some concerns about our coverage and some thoughts about the overall tone of the site. Wanted to make sure to share them with you.
Tom
From: Nick Denton
To: Tom Scocca
Publish the letter.
Subject: Te'o
From: Mark Cunningham
To: Deadspin staff
Here's a tip:
If you don't have the facts don't run with the story, because you guys are looking like fools. Or is that what Deadspin does- puts a story out there and see if it sticks? One other thing, whoever was on CNN doing the interview, you looked like a fool and couldn't even backup your facts in this story. Did you have marbles in your mouth. If you think your a news outlet make sure you deliver the correct news or you'll always be Deadspin.
Subject: big Manti tip
From: thebellabar
To: Deadspin staff
here is a tip
befor you ruin a person life. try to make sure you got the story right. You guys at dogspin.co have zero credility now... you have zero proof that teo had anything to do with the story you broke. You got NOTHING
what a joke
adios aholes
From: Isaac Rauch
To: thebellabar
Hello,
We appreciate your e-mail but must inform you that this isn't the address for dogspin.co. This is the address for Deadspin.com.
All the best,
Isaac
Subject: Manti Te'o Reporting
From: Matthew Rupp
To: Deadspin staff
I think this qualifies as a "tip." After gathering all the available information regarding the Manti Te'o story, I'm 80% certain you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. And, after watching John Koblin on CNN today, I'm 100% certain he's an idiot. So, Tip #1 is to get your facts straight before you ruin lives and Tip #2 is not to let this Koblin guy speak in public.
Subject: confession
From: "Ronaiah Tuiasosopo"
To: Deadspin staff
This is my side of the story...
I am gay and so is Te'o. He was in on it and I was covering for him the whole time.
I will be happy to answer any questions via email only.
Subject: manti te'o
From: Mark S. Prill
To: Jack Dickey
This is to Jack Dickey. Are you Gay? I am going to send this to you as often as I can and on as many media sites as possible until someone else sees it and then starts asking you that question as if it were the truth. Then, you will be "gay by association." That's exactly what you are doing to Manti T'eo...digging for dirt that isn't even there, but keeping the doubt alive. Trying to make him seem guilty before the evidence is in. I can only imagine why you are doing this! Perhaps because you are one of those Notre Dame haters (oh, they're out there.) In similar kind, I'm presenting the "Gay" angle because I've seen your interview on TV and you seem ...."suspect."
You guys seem to think if you keep "it" out there enough, it will make it true. Some "big cover up" to disgrace Notre Dame. I only see a young college kid, a football player (probably not that bright or experienced) who got taken for a ride, lied to his family about how he met some girl (wow...a college kid who isn't very knowledgeable in life lying to his parents about how he met someone...news at 11...I must have lied to my parents 100 times in college...oh...maybe you never went to college) and then decided to not tell the media about it when he found out something was awry.....as per the University's suggestion to him because, guess what?...none of your business. You don't have to be told the truth! I loved hearing that exact same response from the attorney on "Good Morning America." The media didn't require the truth, a lie or anything. There is no law broken because he lied to his parents about how he met her. There is no law broken that there was no girlfriend...even IF he knew there wasn't one. In fact, that sounds like "A Weekend At Bernies" part 5 or "Animal House" or "American Pie" or ....well, you get it...a comedy about some stupid college kid who made up a story about having a gorgeous girlfriend that didn't exist!!!! Not some criminal, deception the University Of Notre Dame has perpetrated, thus tainting it's image!!! So, even if this were true...why are you giving it the attention it doesn't deserve? I sense that you belong to "Notre Dame Haters, NOT Anonymous," because you are being obvious.
The "media" does not have the right to know everything...even "the truth." You may WANT to know it, but you don't have a right to know it. And don't say the kid is a "role model" and should be forthcoming of all things in his personal life. No child— kindergarten, grade school, high school or college should have that onus. Manti is still a kid...a college kid too busy with school AND football to probably even travel to Hawaii to see a girlfriend. Did it ever occur to you he might be that busy? School AND football...Notre Dame curriculum AND Notre Dame football? And I'm not even sure ADULTS should be "role models." (especially athletes!!!) We are human...we make mistakes.
In this case, it appears Manti Te'o 's only mistake was being naive....ok...stupid. Give the kid a break. He broke no law, one way or the other. And the "other" right now...from evidence and what he has said in interview and from what others have relayed suggests he had nothing to do with it. I had a relationship with a pathological liar for over 8 months when I was in my 30's and believed a LOT because of how well concocted the scam was. Sociopaths/ pathological liars are very good at what they do. You need to be better at what you do and not speculate or perpetuate titillating gossip and " what-ifs." PLEASE let this unfold without your prejudice. It seems to me you have a little of that on your agenda. You have forum that is accessible to many. Use it wisely. Mark S. Prill
Subject: Dead Spin
From: Jon
To: Deadspin staff
With regard to recent reporting I have it on 80% certainty that the Deadspin site is dropping the spin from it's name and will now simply be Dead. Thanks.
Subject: Manti Te'o
From: Kevin McCarthy
To: Deadspin staff
Deadspin = Deadwrong!
Hacks
Kevin
Eugene,OR
Sent from my iPad
Subject: Te'o tip
From: Mike J. Ryan
To: Deadspin staff
Here's a tip…this guy in the video is a smarmy idiot. You folks should be ashamed…but in today's world of so-called journalism I doubt that. Just shameful.
Mike Ryan
Senior Vice President | Principal | Central California
Office/Office Warehouse Properties Group
Lic # 01099109
Colliers International
7485 North Palm Avenue, Suite 110 | Fresno, CA 93711 | USA
www.colliers.com
From: Tom Scocca
To: Mike J. Ryan
I'm not sure you know what "smarmy" means, here.
From: Mike J. Ryan
To: Tom Scocca
I absolutely know what "smarmy" means. He defines it further for those unsure of the definition in that video. And, I also know what "honest reporting" means. A definition foreign to your and his ilk. You're trifles.
From: Tom Scocca
To: Mike J. Ryan
No, see, THAT'S smarmy, right there.
Subject: The ESPN interview has made Deadspin look like total liars.
From: Chris Hegedus
To: Deadspin staff
Maybe you all should of checked your facts before trying to ruin Te'o. Burke and the fat guy with man-titties should be held accountable and lose their jobs over your bullshit story.
I hope Notre Dame's lawyers sue your 2nd rate "news" website, causing Deadshit to file for bankruptcy.
You fucking lying assholes.
From: Tom Scocca
To: Chris Hegedus
Thanks for writing. Are you the documentary filmmaker Chris Hegedus or a different one?
From: Chris Hegedus
To: Tom Scocca
By the way, are you the fat dude from Deadspin they keep showing on TV? One of the guys who "broke the story"? The one who has bigger tits than Pamela Anderson?
Join a fucking gym.
In the meantime, go down to Walmart and pick yourself up a bra.
From: Tom Scocca
To: Chris Hegedus
So you're not the filmmaker, then?
Subject: Your "80%" source?
From: Duane Blaine
To: Deadspin staff
May you rot in hell for ruining the life a a decent kid...and disparaging a fine University.
Subject: no subject
From: Michael Jeary
To: Deadspin staff
you look like a douche on tv. Um...um..i like balls....um..tao..um.um
Subject: Te'o Headline
From: Mike Hoffman
To: Deadspin staff
Dear Deadspin,
Please forward this to the idiot responsible for the front-page headlines (or Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey, if they chose the headline below):
ESPN Reports Ronaiah Tuisosopo Confessed To Te'o Hoax In December. Was Te'o Involved? Evidence Varies
A clarification is in order. The phrase "evidence varies" could not possibly make less sense. The evidence does not, and cannot vary. Either Te'o was involved or he wasn't: one and only one of those statements can be true. And if you have "evidence" of the false statement, then it's not evidence. I would think that any outlet claiming to produce something that can be called "journalism" would know that — even the sports equivalent of TMZ (unlike ESPN, I don't mean that as a compliment).
On the other hand, congratulations on being so trigger-happy about breaking stories with insufficient evidence that you were able to be first on the scene for this one. I'm sure no innocent people ever get hurt by your shock-and-awe style of, ahem, journalism.
Sincerely,
Michael Hoffman
Subject: What's the requirement for being a reporter, writer or editor at Deadspin — high school GED or equivalent?
From: Bob Powers
To: Deadspin staff
[no text]
From: Tom Scocca
To: Bob Powers
Nope, no educational requirement whatsoever. We'll consider all candidates. Check here for job openings: http://gawker.com/jobsatgawker/ — and thanks for your interest!
From: Bob Powers
To: Tom Scocca
No, that was a joke. I just saw a replay of John Koblin's performance on CNN. As a professional, you all should be embarrassed both by his performance (probably the worst interview that I've ever seen on live television) and your coverage of the entire Manti Teo saga. Yes, you broke the story, but you made a lot of false assumptions about a kid with great character based upon the comment of 1 kid who was 80% sure that Manti was involved. Is that the new standard of journalism in your on-line world? Can I make up a story and you rush to judgement on anyone due to my one statement.
Where is the proof? There is none, so those innuendos should not have been printed. That's why John looked like such a fool when they asked him to provide "proof" that Teo was involved….there is none.
From: Tom Scocca
To: Bob Powers
Out of curiosity, who is banging away at this 80-percent business today? We keep getting emails about it, sometimes with "irish" in the handle-is it a message-board thing now?
I ask because when the story broke, most people were taking the quote at face value: here's one person speculating and being open about his degree of uncertainty. It's not just people who were Te'o's defenders-even people who were taking glee in the story and blaming Te'o weren't waving that particular quote around much as something dispositive.
Now people seem to be trying to convince each other that the story pivoted on that, which it didn't. The story pivoted on the fact that the girlfriend never existed.
At this point, the question seems to be whether, while Te'o was spending months spreading a bunch of misrepresentations and falsehoods about his relationship with her, he actually knew she was fake-that is, whether his own hype campaign was a separate hoax from Tuiasosopo's original hoax. It certainly could have been, but it's going to take a lot more sifting through the evidence.
At any rate, nobody here is really sweating it if anyone didn't do well on TV. TV's hard to do.
Subject: Teo
From: JDineen103
To: Tim Burke
If only journalists put this much energy into outing the crimes that led to the death and subsequent coverup of the four Americans killed in Benghazi....rather than dethroning an outstanding young man
Subject: Why so soft on Schaap?
From: John Ziegler
To: Dom Cosentino
Are you guys gathering ammo for the destruction Schaap deserves or are you guys in now full face saving retreat? You can't have it both ways. Unless Schaap is destroyed, you guys are going to look bad here.
Best
JZ
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Subject: hey shithead
From: Matt Marinovich
To: Dom Cosentino
what's the point of the article? to set up the sickeningly lame comments of your pathetically built-in audience? offer a response or two in the comments you fucking coward
Sent from my iPhone
Subject: Present all the facts next time
From: Andrew Fair
To: Tim Burke
Congrats. You "broke" the Te'o story. In your haste, though, you failed to fairly present all the facts. You do realize that ESPN held this story because of too many uncertainties.
While you never say it you no doubt imply that Te'o was involved in the hoax. Look at your headline! Your source? It seems a "friend" of Te'o's who was "80 percent" sure he knew. Really? Whatever happened to more than one reliable source? Did you even talk to ND or fellow teammates? You buried the cat fish angle but that is a very real possibility. ND investigators reportly have proof. Did you know that this "woman" called Te'o on the 26th? Did you know lots of people fall victim to cat fishing? Did you know her name is backwards for the Hawaiian word for leukemia? These seem like important facts.
Maybe he was in on it, but to imply he was without presenting all of the facts is reckless. Frankly I'm growing increasingly wary of the social media urgency relegating journalistic integrity and innocent until proven guilty to the dust pan of history. Maybe Te'o is a confused soul or maybe he is a victim. If the latter shame on you for ruining his reputation.
Subject: Your extreme effort
From: Adam Szabo
To: Tim and Dickey
Maybe you should place more focus and energy on topics that are more important rather than embarrassing a young man. I think your reporting is sick, selfish and misleading. The only thing you appear to be trying to accomplish is embarrassing and hurting Manti and his family.
I think you both should be ashamed of yourselves and I hope overtime you look in the mirror one day and realize you truly embarrassed and caused additional hurt to good person.
Report that.
With no respect intended,
Adam K Szabo
Subject: ND
From: Sky Brown
To: Tim Burke
Idk man. It seems to me, a viewer of the Today show, that you were trying harder to make a name for yourself and your online rag than the ND football player. Looking forward to seeing how thus turns out.
Sky B
Subject: Notre Dame liar
From: Robert Bowie Johnson
To: Tim and Dickey
Why don't you do a similar story about the many fake people in Obama's life?
RBJ
Subject: You are trash
From: Peter Van Brunt
To: Tim Burke
[no text]
Subject: no subject
From: Matthew Frawley
To: Tim Burke
hope they sue your ass for libel.
Sent from my iPad
Subject: Hey
From: Michael Tigue
To: Tim Burke
What happened to your headline story?
Where's all the biased slams against Teo?
Wondering if you have the integrity to apologize for the crap you spun?
Or, if that investigative journalistic horseshit you pitched is really just tabloid bullshit.
Way to defame a truly fine young man.
Be sure to hold your head high
Subject: no subject
From: Matthew Frawley
To: Tim Burke
I'm 100% sure your a fucking idiot!!! Check your "facts" next time you HACK!
Sent from my iPad
Subject: 80% Sure
From: Michael Quigley
To: Tim Burke
You need to start looking for another job. You suck, you're irresponsible, and it must hurt every day when you shave and look in the mirror at a fraud. Have fun living in mom's basement and serving lattes at Starbucks douchebag!
Subject: news tip
From: Brian Kronewitter
To: Deadspin staff
Deadspin should do a story about journalistic integrity and being prepared for interviews. Here is a link that should get you started.
Subject: Teo
From: Bryan Cullen
To: Jack Dickey
Apology for the pushing the theme that he orchestrated the whole thing for publicity? Not holding my breath. Any dishonesty he had was embarrassment about the nature of the relationship – not the existence of one. Don't you think based upon the ridicule he is receiving that he may have been right about that?
Next article about going into the personal lives of college athletes that don't go class and have a bunch of babies out of wedlock. No dishonesty there.
Bryan C. Cullen
Managing Director – Agency Loan Originations
Centerline Capital Group
Subject: Manti
From: Daniel Maloof
To: Jack Dickey
It's pretty interesting how much you pretend to know/imply having not personally talked to or heard from literally anyone involved in the story. You're honestly writing as if you're a Fox News columnist attempting to spin a positive economic report. In other news, I'm looking forward to your "JJ Watt played a great game this week" column after the Pro Bowl.
Subject: Congrats
From: Kyle Swatkowski
To: Jack Dickey
You took down a naive Mormon kid. Good deal. Stick to Espin.
Kyle Swatkowski
Subject: No subject
From: Judee Flick
To: Jack Dickey
I'm confused. You're investigation consisted of gathering everything written about the relationship from TV, and print media then comparing the dates and facts what each of them said or printed, showing what exactly? That the media get's it wrong?
Anyone on Twitter or Facebook, etc. knows that you can be whoever you want to be. Because Manti believed or wanted to believe doesn't make him a liar, it's just makes him a love struck guy. And quoting a friend who is" 80% sure Manti was 'in on it" is journalism?
Your article insinuates that this was all a fraud with no proof. What will you do if you are wrong? Say I'm sorry in fine print?
Disgraceful.
Subject: "journalist" my ass
From: Trevor J. Medeiros
To: Jack Dickey
I hope you and your little fag anti-Notre Dame partner in crime get cancer and die a slow and painful death. On the underwear that is the dying world of scumbag, tabloid journalism, you and your retarded lover are nothing more than irrelevant and minute shitstains. Fuck you both and your families.
have you seen this: https://mobile.twitter.com/ceeweezy51?p=s
Subject: nice job!
From: Moni Bulloni
To: Jack Dickey
Are you two sock puppet hacks happy now?
Teo's a fraud and a dope – big fucking deal!
You've gone viral courtesy of Drudge – again, big fucking deal!
I hope you've exercised your anti-Notre Dame, anti-Catholic, anti-Mormon demons and will now get down to real and meaningful investigative reporting.
What say you fudge-packing jackwagons expend just half as much effort exposing obama's fraud, pathological lies, and high crimes?
Or is it, little timmy, that ‘bubbaprog' is leftist code for "I'm a progressive in love with BJ Clinton", and the other douchebag is too busy jack[ing] his dickey to videos of dear leader maobama spewing lies and shitting on the Constitution?
Enjoy your 15 minutes, cocksuckers!
The Koblin letters
Wanna see a choke? This is me Albert Brooksing all over Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room, the CNN appearance mentioned in all the emails up there. Apparently, repeating the proper pronunciation of "Ronaiah Tuiasosopo" in the mirror is not the proper way to prepare for a TV appearance. Thanks to whoever put this on YouTube; thanks to Barstool Sports for posting it; and thanks to all of you for writing such kind letters.—John Koblin
Subject: No subject
From: Matthew Frawley
To: John Koblin
'm 100% sure your going to get sued for libel. You looked like you
were sweating during your CNN interview. Looks like your claim is
starting to unravel. Bwahhhhhaaaa
Sent from my iPad
Subject: That was an interesting interview you gave on CNN
From: wiz3dfx
To: John Koblin
Ummmm...will you post that on your website, please?
Or do you reserve your snark only for others concerning the Manti Teo story?
And just because you got a tip, doesn't mean you are Woodward and Bernstein. Get a hold of yourselves and try and try a little harder.
Or just stick to the re-posting of YouTube videos.
Subject: Nice job
From: Michael Quigley
To: John Koblin
Thanks for the hilarious CNN interview. You demonstrated what an
amateur hack looks pretending to be a "journalist". You're a fraud
and you know it buddy. Come out of the closet and admit you suck.
Subject: Bravo
From: James Murphy
To: John Koblin
Hey John,
I took the liberty of forwarding the video to Tosh.O. Wouldn't that
be great if it makes one of their episodes?
After watching her husband's team lose the AFC Championship game, Anna Burns Welker, wife of Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, decided that it would be a good idea to comment on the game via her Facebook page. Anna Welker began her message by offering support to her husband and his team, which is a nice thing to do. She ended her message by making personal attacks against Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, which is not a nice thing to do.
Proud of my husband and the Pats. By the way, if anyone is bored, please go to Ray Lewis' Wikipedia page. 6 kids 4 wives. Acquitted for murder. Paid a family off. Yay. What a hall of fame player! A true role model!
The post has since been deleted, but thanks to The Big Lead, a blurry screencap survives:
By the way, if anyone is bored, please go to YouTube and search "Wes Welker dropped pass."
I'm deeply sorry for my recent post on Facebook. I let the competitiveness of the game and the comments people were making about a team I dearly love get the best of me. My actions were emotional and irrational and I sincerely apologize to Ray Lewis and anyone affected by my comment after yesterday's game.
It is such an accomplishment for any team to make it to the NFL playoffs, and the momentary frustration I felt should not overshadow the accomplishments of both of these amazing teams.
Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver passed away last Friday, and that makes us very sad. What makes us very happy, however, is the video above, which features Weaver going absolutely crazy on a first base umpire who had just called a balk on the Orioles' pitcher.
If you pay close attention, you'll notice that despite the filthy nature of Weaver's rant, he never curses directly at the umpire. One of the tenets set forth by Weaver in the wonderful book Weaver on Strategy is to never curse directly at an umpire. You can tell them that they are trying to fuck you, but you can't call them fuckers.
Here is the lede from Adrian Wojnarowski's story on last night's Lakers-Bulls game, which ended in a 95-83 victory for the Bulls:
Everyone else on these Los Angeles Lakers had showered, dressed and bundled themselves to march out into the coldest night across the past two winters here. As the clock lurched past midnight in the losing locker room, the team bus gone, Kobe Bryant still wore his purple and gold jersey inside a tiny cubicle.
Just let that image wash over you for a moment. We've always known that Bryant has certain sociopathic tendencies, but this is just weird and depressing. Imagine what it must have been like for the poor locker room attendants who had to clean up while Bryant just sat there, jammed in his locker, contemplating the brushfire that his season has become.
Later, still in the wee hours of the morning, Bryant sent out this terrifying tweet:
It's tough to blame Bryant for suddenly turning into Jack Torrance, though, because his Lakers team really is a miserable thing. Last night's game was unwatchable, a fact that had a lot more to do with the Lakers' ineptitude than it did the Bulls' grind-it-out style of play. Dwight Howard spent the night getting the ball slapped out of his hands while lurching around helplessly in the paint. Steve Nash made his usual, probing forays into the lane, only to find that there was nothing to be done once he got there. Pau Gasol, having been banished from the starting lineup, managed to shoot an air ball while engaging in his usual routine of floating around on the perimeter. Earl Clark played 35 minutes and shot a three-pointer. And of course, Bryant was left to heave ill-advised shots each time the offense stalled.
The Lakers still have 41 games left to play, and at this point that seems like bad news more than good news. If only we could go back to happier, simpler times.
The two-minute video clip above is taken from a much longer video, in which Jim Harbaugh imparts his wisdom of the quarterback position on an assembly of quarterback coaches. The entire video is over an hour long, but we've cut it down to the most entertaining portion for the sake of your amusement.
Right on the center's asshole. That's where Jim Harbaugh says the quarterback should put the knuckle of his pointer finger before the snap. He says this repeatedly, as if there isn't a more common thing a person could say. I like cats, but I'm really more of a dog person. A good quarterback should put the knuckle of his index finger right on the center's asshole.
A new study, published by researchers at UCLA in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, shows evidence that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) can be detected in living patients via positron emission tomography (PET) scans. CTE is a particular type of brain damage that causes depression, memory loss, and dementia, and has been found to have afflicted a number of former NFL players. It was recently discovered that former NFL linebacker Junior Seau had CTE at the time of his suicide. Until now, CTE could only be detected through post-mortem examinations, making it impossible to predict or manage symptoms.
The UCLA study consisted of an examination of five former NFL players: 59-year-old Fred McNeill, 64-year-old Wayne Clark, and three other unidentified players ages 73, 50, and 45. All five players were given an intravenous injections of a chemical marker that is designed to bind with and illuminate tau protein deposits, a signature of CTE, on a PET scan. All five players were found to have tau buildup in their brains after undergoing a scan.
Because the study was conducted with such a small group of participants, further studies will be necessary to determine whether or not CTE can be consistently identified in living patients.
This past weekend, wealthy golfer Phil Mickelson took some time during a press conference to express his displeasure with the current federal and state tax codes. Like Gerard Depardieu, Mickelson finds the burden of being a multi-multimillionaire in a confiscatory socialist political system too much to bear. Here's the relevant portion of the transcript:
Q: When you're asked about Stricker's semi-retirement, with the political situation the last couple months ... what did you mean by that? Do you find it an unsettling time in a way?
Phil Mickelson: Well, it's been an interesting offseason. And I'm going to have to make some drastic changes. I'm not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I will be making some drastic changes.
Q: Meaning leaving from California?
Mickelson: I'm not sure.
Q: Moving to Canada?
Mickelson: I'm not sure what exactly, you know, I'm going to do yet. I'll probably talk about it more in depth next week. I'm not going to jump the gun, but there are going to be some. There are going to be some drastic changes for me because I happen to be in that zone that has been targeted both federally and by the state and, you know, it doesn't work for me right now. So I'm going to have to make some changes.
Q: So why do you say next week? What is going to happen so drastic next week?
Mickelson: No, but I'll probably be in the media center and I'll probably be a little more open to it because San Diego is where a lot more things, it's where I live, it's where the Padre thing was a possibility, and it's where my family is. And it just seems like a better fit than right here off of 18 on Palm Springs.
Q: Is it a stance that you are taking because on the one hand, you've made a lot of money, and no matter how much they take out, you are left with a lot of money?
Mickelson: Yeah. I'll probably go into it more next year or next week. But if you add up, if you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate's 62, 63 percent. So I've got to make some decisions on what I'm going to do.
These comments came on the heels of Mickelson expressing similar distaste for the amount he is taxed when he was asked about the retirement of fellow golfer Steve Stricker, which is what the reporter who asked the first question above was referencing.
According to Forbes, Mickelson raked in about $48 million last year, making him the seventh highest-paid athlete in the world. But all those taxes! We reached out to a friend who knows about these kinds of things to try and figure out just how bad we should feel for Mickelson.
Mickelson might be including property tax, sales tax, etc. into his number, so it's not a straight-forward answer.
For just his income however, the ~60% is definitely on the high side if you consider a really rough calculation on $48 million (the # used in the Forbes article) of self-employment income.
Federal taxes — $48M less state tax deduction $6.4 million and 1/2 of SE taxes = $41.6 * 39.6% = $16.1 million
State taxes — $48M * 13.3% = $6.4 million
SE taxes — 113,700*12.4% + $48M*2.9% + $48M*0.9% = $1.8 million
Like I said, a really rough calc and it puts him at a rate of about 50% ($24.3M/48M). This doesn't take into consideration the extreme likelihood that a portion of his income is taxed at capital gains rates which are much lower than 39.6% and the fact that he'll have lots of deductions to take on his self-employment income (travel, employees etc.), plus other itemized deductions like mortgage interest and charitable contributions that would push his rate lower.
There's a reason Tiger's home for tax purposes is Florida.
Hope that helps.
Huh. So, not only was Mickelson's 63 percent claim on the high side, it's also likely that he's not actually paying the full tax rate on all of his income. Regardless, the worst case scenario for Mickelson still leaves him with $24 million. Poor guy. He can't even afford to buy a share of a baseball team anymore!
Today, Mickelson issued one of those half-hearted, non-apology apologies for his comments. You can read it here, if you feel like rolling your eyes.
Someone finally got around to telling Bill Callahan that two of his former players have accused him of throwing Super Bowl XXXVII, and he is not happy. Here's a statement that Callahan released via NFL.com in response to accusations by Tim Brown and Jerry Rice that he lost the Super Bowl on purpose so that former Raiders and then-Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden could get a ring:
I am shocked, saddened and outraged by Tim Brown's allegations and Jerry Rice's support of those allegations. To leave no doubt, I categorically and unequivocally deny the sum and substance of their allegation. To suggest otherwise, especially at this time when it involves the Super Bowl, is ludicrous and defamatory.
Any suggestion that I would undermine the integrity of the sport that I love and dedicated my life to, or dishonor the commitment I made to our players, coaches and fans, is flat out wrong. I think it would be in the best interests of all including the game America loves that these allegations be retracted immediately.
Now Rice and Brown are in a position where they either have to retract their allegations as Callahan requested, or double down on their wild claim. Personally, I just want this saga to go on long enough that eventually Jon Gruden has to get involved. We need to know if THIS GUY Bill Callahan is really the type of guy who would throw a Super Bowl.
The hazing in the video above isn't quite as exquisitely hilarious as what Delonte once offered us, but it still merits our attention, mostly because it features Big Baby Davis repeatedly saying, "peanabuttahjelly." Apparently, Orlando Magic rookie Andrew Nicholson failed to bring Big Baby his pre-game peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which was cause for Big Baby to interrupt Nicholson's interview and demand some answers. Pay close attention at the eight-second mark, when you can see genuine terror flash across Nicholson's face. Lesson learned, rook.
It must be hard for NFL coaches to come up with fresh motivational techniques. You can't just slap a "Play Like A Champion" banner above the door or put some mean things that an opponent said about your quarterback on the bulletin board anymore. Those tactics are played out, and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh knows that you have to go deeper if you want to fire up some football players. So how did he go about motivating his squad before its first playoff game? He put each of his players' high school photo and scouting report above their lockers, of course. From the Los Angeles Times:
If you don't know what a Sandy Hook Truther is, take a moment to read Max Read of Gawker's 
You forgot Jack Dickey, you dolt.
This Manti Te'o business is on everyone's mind, including Darnell Dockett's. The Arizona Cardinals defensive end is sympathetic to Manti's situation, and has some interesting ideas on how to cheer Manti up:
Our long national nightmare is over. Lance Armstrong's pre-recorded interview with Oprah just aired, and Armstrong flatly admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. Oprah began the interview with a series of yes-or-no questions about whether or not Armstrong had used a variety of PEDs during his career. The answer to each question was a simple, "Yes." He went on to say that he had not doped since 2005.
Manti Te'o's uncle Alema Te'o went on 
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, citing a source "close to the Te'o family," has 
OK, before we go any further, we have to address Michael Phelps's new look. Apparently, Phelps has been hanging out in a lot of coffee shops and going to a lot of Japandroids concerts since the summer Olympics. Or perhaps he's just a 
![Wes Welker's Wife Took To Facebook To Say Some Unkind Things About Ray Lewis [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18c7tg03i5q6yjpg/medium.jpg "Wes Welker's Wife Took To Facebook To Say Some Unkind Things About Ray Lewis [Update]")
After watching her husband's team lose the AFC Championship game, Anna Burns Welker, wife of Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, decided that it would be a good idea to comment on the game via her Facebook page. Anna Welker began her message by offering support to her husband and his team, which is a nice thing to do. She ended her message by making personal attacks against Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, which is not a nice thing to do.![Wes Welker's Wife Took To Facebook To Say Some Unkind Things About Ray Lewis [Update]](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18c7t0tjsl0jrjpg/medium.jpg "Wes Welker's Wife Took To Facebook To Say Some Unkind Things About Ray Lewis [Update]")
Here is the lede from 
A new study, published by researchers at UCLA in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, shows evidence that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) can be detected in living patients via positron emission tomography (PET) scans. CTE is a particular type of brain damage that causes depression, memory loss, and dementia, and has been found to have afflicted a number of former NFL players. It was recently discovered that former NFL linebacker 
This past weekend, wealthy golfer Phil Mickelson took some time during a press conference to express his displeasure with the current federal and state tax codes. Like Gerard Depardieu, Mickelson finds the burden of being a multi-multimillionaire in a confiscatory socialist political system too much to bear. Here's the relevant portion of the transcript:
Someone finally got around to telling Bill Callahan that two of his former players have