Two people communicate by e-mail, exchanging pleasantries and creating a friendship based upon mutual interests and opinions, until that friendship blossoms into something deeper. At that point, the two feel a strong kinship and desire to take their on-line relationship further. Imagine the shock and surprise when one finds out who the other really is!!
Manti Te'o and Lennay Kekua?
Nope. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in "You've Got Mail."
I'm not sure why Te'o is being looked at as either a dupe or a wacko for establishing and growing an on-line relationship. Hasn't anyone heard of pen pals? How many of us had pen pals with which a strong relationship was created? How many of us have ongoing internet-based conversations that progress to the status of a relationship of sorts that we consider - sometimes wish - would be taken to the next step? More to the point, how many of us put thoughts out there on-line that, perhaps, we would not be comfortable to share in person?
Te'o was wrong for transforming the hoax into a lie that he then propagated. I suppose we can suspect whether he was innocent all along, but based upon what we know, I see no reason to indict him for the entire relationship. If anything, one might say that he was being more careful than many other athletes like him, many of which end up in situations they should not because they engaged in the real/physical when they shouldn't have.
I think perhaps his performance in the BCS championship game and subsequent tryouts prior to the draft (assuming he partakes) should be a better indicator of his NFL future than the mess he fell into via Mr. Tuiasosopo. As far as Manti Te'o the person...let time tell.
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