50th Super Bowl thread

[MartintheMopMan]

I agree that Cam talked wayyy too much.  But I'm honestly so tired of hearing about how much of a "class act" Manning is.  He TEABAGGED a female trainer while at Tennessee. Got his rectum on her face too.  If that had happened in 2016...  

 

Manning, while being examined by a female trainer, pulled down his shorts as she bent over behind him to examine his foot to determine why it was hurting,^[238] and she has claimed he then  sat on her face and proceeded to rub his anal area and testicles on her face until she pushed him up off of her...According to a court filing by the trainer's attorney, she reported Manning's actions to the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Knoxville within hours...Despite Manning's denial, at least one eyewitness confirmed the trainer's account.^[240] In court documents filed by her attorney, the trainer also claimed that Manning later taunted her by re-enacting the incident on two occasions, called her a "*****" when she attempted to give him a drug test, and threw a pen across the room that he was supposed to use to sign and date the drug test sample.^[239] The trainer later settled with the university for $300,000 for its alleged failure to properly handle the actions of Manning and others in various incidents, and she agreed to resign from the school.^[238]...   as a result of the "vulgar mouth" comment, the trainer was demoted from her job as Program Director at Florida Southern College.^[240] The trainer sued for defamation, resulting in an undisclosed settlement in 2003 and a court-ordered gag on Manning and the trainer ever talking about the settlement or each other again....In 2005, Manning was forced to re-settle again after violating the court's gag order by further discussing the incident and claiming she had taken advantage of him in an ESPN documentary special program about him.

Oh, well at least it's not all based on allegations of one party who was actively engaged in a lawsuit against Manning and then assumptions based on a closed settlement on a different issue.

 

I mean, one of those cites goes to The Inquisitr.

 

I don't care about Peyton, so either way, but anytime the source is a plaintiff's complaint (or defendant's response) then that is not a real source. A document intentionally written to highlight the worst allegations is not a reliable way to determine facts. Ultimately, the lawsuits filed were an employment dispute and a defamation suit, so even if settlement was conclusive, it would not actually tell anything about whether the incident occurred as Manning said or as the trainer said.

 

Granted, against a public figure who needs more than a complaint and a settlement? You can use your complaint to feed news agencies, use those stories to write wikipedia entries, feed those entries to the news, and then just crucify them in the court of public opinion. The instant nature of the internet and people's total willingness to believe anything reported by a vaguely reliable looking source without ever looking for or reading corrections or contradictions means going through with the actual lawsuit is unnecessary and outdated. If it fits people's narratives, they'll believe it no matter what.

 

For the most obvious controversial examples look no further than anti-vaxxers or birthers, but the more subtle versions are far more insidious and damaging to our society. For an example of when the accused threw a ridiculous amount of money at the situation (and the accuser could not just settle away because of a criminal case) see the Duke Lacrosse Scandal. Generally, a good rule of thumb is if something criminal occurred, see if criminal proceedings are taking place as well. If not, increase your suspicions. If so, see how they turned out.