As we know, there has been some controversy around Notre Dame star linebacker Manti Te’o. Te’o's girlfriend, that died the same day his grandmother did of Leukemia, was a hoax. He was a victim of what they call “Catfish”. Now the question is whether he was apart of the hoax or he was just that gullible to be duped for 3 years. Either way it goes, it doesn’t look to be a positive thing for this young man. His draft stock was already spiraling down after he was nonexistent in the National Championship game against Alabama, now it will continue to drop because the NFL will now question his character. He came on Katy Couric this past week and admitted to lying about the situation after he learned that it was a hoax in December. He said that with the national spotlight on him, he didn’t want to bring up the fact that he was deceived before the biggest game of his life. Still though, it seems a little odd that he didn’t know. He was with this woman for 3 years and never saw her face or met her but still confessed that he was madly in love with her. I don’t understand how people fall in love over the internet if you cannot at least see the person (skype, facetime, etc), but hey to each his own.
Lance Armstrong has had his share of lies himself. In an interview with Opera, he admitted to taking steroids. This after filing civil suits against the people who accused of taking steroids and after lying about it for so long. Why he decided to come clean, guilty conscience maybe. For all the positive things he did for the cancer community and Livestrong, it came at a cost, and in order to gain notoriety and fame, he believed he had to be the face of his sport so he took steroids. The backlash for this announcement is serious. Some people are calling Armstrong selfish, evil, or a bad person. But there are others who have gone through or is still going through cancer that feel that outside the sport of cycling he still did something very positive for them in the cancer community. Livestrong is such a strong organization that it can be hard to be too negative toward Armstrong. But he was very selfish and everyone has their opinion about the matter, what is yours?
Lastly, the Superbowl is upon us and we have a Harbaugh showdown. This is the first time two brothers coach against each other in a championship game, and it should be a good one! Their two teams are somewhat similar: strong defense that plays physical, a strong run game, and great weapons on the outside. The only difference is the quarterback position. Joe Flacco is a proven playoff winning quarterback, despite the fact that he is sporadic throughout the season and self proclaimed himself to be elite. Flacco has impressively beaten the top two teams in the NFL the past two weeks (Broncos and Pats) and seems determined to win a Superbowl to solidify his name among the elite quarterbacks, but is this the real Flacco or is he still Flucco. Either way it goes, with Ray Lewis on your side, its hard to rout against them and their magical run.
Other the side, Kaepernick is turning into the quarterback you cannot stop. He can run and throw very well. So far, he is proving that Jim Harbaugh was right by naming him the starter over the game manager Alex Smith. He opens up the offense so much more for the Niners and creates a new dynamic. This year, we have seen a new breed of quarterbacks running the read option/pistol offense and being successful. Is this just a fad like the Wildcat once was or will this type of offense start to dominate the NFL? One thing for sure is if Kaepernick can lead the 49ers to a Superbowl victory, I guarantee more teams will draft athletic quarterbacks to be a dual threat.
Well here are our thoughts on these topics:
Pingback: Headlines for the Superbowl | S.H.E.D.AVENUE·