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Well, the flip-flop saga continues. Most of the wire services have picked up on his latest flip-flop - that it was in fact a booster from GT that offered the money. The good news is that most stories have a headline indicating that the offer may have been a joke, which comes directly out of Telfair's mouth as well.. Here is Telfair's latest quote:
"I was approached by a man who claimed to be associated with the Georgia Tech program and he offered me money," the Portland Trail Blazers rookie point guard said. "I dismissed the offer. I never had contact with Coach (Paul) Hewitt or anyone from the Georgia Tech program regarding this incident, nor was I ever approached by anyone or offered anything at any other time.
"To this day, I'm not sure if it was a joke. I wish Coach Hewitt and the Georgia Tech program nothing but success."
Alrighty then. So the conclusion we would draw is that this is a 16-17 year old kid from the streets of NY trying to show a little bravado by telling a story about how he was offered money? Very plausible if you ask me. And of course you have a powerful publishing company out to sell books.
Here's are some of the headlines around the country for the same story:
TELFAIR SAYS OFFER MAY HAVE BEEN A JOKE
ROOKIE: MONEY OFFERED BUT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SERIOUS
TELFAIR - WAS IT A JOKE?
TELFAIR HINTS AT JOKE
TELFAIR QUESTIONS OFFER NOW
"Player Changes Story on Georgia Tech"
TELFAIR REVERSES COURT
TELFAIR BACKS GA.TECH BRIBE STORY BUT QUESTIONS SINCERITY
This from those tools at the USA Today who printed this story on their front page so they could support their tool column writer O'Connor, who is trying to sell some books.
TELFAIR ADMITS TECH BOOSTER OFFERED CASH
I threw this story in to show you the manipulation and selective reporting by parts of the media. The New York Post reported Telfair's comments, but totally neglected to mention that he said he thought it was a joke. Of course, the New York post is one level above pond-scum in terms of journalistic reputation... Well, maybe they are not one full level above pond scum yet, but they aspire......
Now, here's the problem I have with our local media. The Atlanta Journal Consistition has been front-and-center in their irresponsible journalism spreading false information. They are at the heart of the problem. Their initial headline on today's story was "Telfair: Money Offered to Attend Tech". However, now that they see all the other news services picking up on the "joke" part of the story, they changed the headline to "Telfair Wonders if Offer Was a Joke". How do I know this? Well, first I saw it yesterday online. Second, google still has the old title cached in their search engine.
Lastly, here is a story on Ian O'Connor for you reading pleasure.
ALL YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT IAN O'CONNOR