Anecdote or Reality? Te’o Case Study on how to Increase Athlete’s Value in Marketplace

In his article For better or worse, Te’o hoax will alter sportswriting posted of January 20, 2013, Tim Layden of SI observes that sportswriting and marketing of athletes is changing. Layden describes Te’o, the Notre Dame college football player, who told journalists that his girlfriend died, while she never existed in the first place.

Modern sportswriting includes many different story forms including blogs and digital media.  With so much sports information and so many different sources to cover them, “mythmaking” is becoming a common practice. Just look at the Joe Paterno, Lance Armstrong and Te’o lessons – lots of publicity and endorsements in the beginning and what at the end?

Nowadays, sports celebrities are expected to have a story to tell. Stories for athletes are essential to create and increase value of the celebrity in the marketplace and to have more publicity and endorsements. Think of an interview and how we often take “he said” statements for granted. Most times these statements are not witnessed or recorded, they are not facts but anecdotes. What is left for the readers? Beware of anecdotes and read critically.