Giovanni Strassini - the Buckeye that never was

[knapplc]

Our mates over at BuckeyePlanet have been having a fun week. Last week someone registered and posted a thread about Giovanni Strassini, a Buckeye from the 1970s who's been hanging out at the Charlotte, NC Buckeye Alumni chapter. He's participated in autograph sessions, he's done photos with fans, all celebrating his Buckeye career, which includes catching a TD pass in the 1976 Rose Bowl.

Only problem is, he doesn't exist.

All it took was on spark of controversy and the sleuths at BP quickly blew this up to a conflagration, and the thread of discovery is epic. If you have half an hour it's worth the read: LINK

 

[ShawnWatson]

Yahoo picked it up

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/man-claimed-years-ohio-state-american-tight-end-191626603.html

 

[ShawnWatson]

I just burned two hours reading that whole thread. That guy is a sociopath in every sense of the word.

 

[Creed]

I bet some cougar Buckeye fan in NC slept with him thinking he played football for OSU.

 

[NUance]

/ pic from the Buckeyeplanet thread. LINK

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

 

[Ratt Mhule]

HAHA every time someone types "sh#t" on that website [Mark May] is filtered in

 

[Flood]

I spent (way too much!) time checking it out. The whole thread is equal parts disgusting and fascinating.

The poser fellow just would NOT let it go. It ranges from pathetic to absolutely hilarious as he appears, reappears, and then appears with a new alias at least three times I could count. They dismantled him very thoroughly. He finally speaks on the phone with a BP founder and the story gets even crazier. However, the account of this call doesn't appear until about page 55 or so, so you're in for a long read. Be bored or patient.

Either way, the short story is this: Former felon gets outed as OSU impostor who claimed to play under Woody, along Archie, and sticks to his story until the bitter end before being trampled underfoot by the internet.

 

[Coqui]

/ pic from the Buckeyeplanet thread. LINK

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

He was found out within minutes of it being posted there.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

I think Gene Smith conjured him up from the start.

 

[NUance]

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

He was found out within minutes of it being posted there.

The yahoo article LINK says Giovanni Strassini pulled the scam off for a couple of years, presumably at Buckeye functions of a Charlotte-based tOSU fan group. And it wasn't the Buckeyeplanet forum that finally discredited him. The BP thread I linked to was JustinAgs first post. He joined BP so he could spread the news of what he suspected. In response, Buckeyeplanet (the mod Clarity) initially suspected JustinAgs might be some sort of troll. So, no, Giovanni Strassini was not exposed within minutes by BP.

tOSU got pwned. :lol:

--------------------------

 

[Coqui]

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

He was found out within minutes of it being posted there.

The yahoo article LINK says Giovanni Strassini pulled the scam off for a couple of years, presumably at Buckeye functions of a Charlotte-based tOSU fan group. And it wasn't the Buckeyeplanet forum that finally discredited him. The BP thread I linked to was JustinAgs first post. He joined BP so he could spread the news of what he suspected. In response, Buckeyeplanet (the mod Clarity) initially suspected JustinAgs might be some sort of troll. So, no, Giovanni Strassini was not exposed within minutes by BP. tOSU got pwned. :lol:

I'm confused. The 2nd post in the thread says he didn't play for Ohio State. How much faster could you get? Yes, he masqueraded at a Charlotte based alumni group. That doesn't mean they're all football fans, and no I can't explain why they didn't do their due diligence. However, I specified the forum....which he was outed within the 2nd post. The 3rd post already refuted more with actual information.

 

[NUance]

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

He was found out within minutes of it being posted there.

The yahoo article LINK says Giovanni Strassini pulled the scam off for a couple of years, presumably at Buckeye functions of a Charlotte-based tOSU fan group. And it wasn't the Buckeyeplanet forum that finally discredited him. The BP thread I linked to was JustinAgs first post. He joined BP so he could spread the news of what he suspected. In response, Buckeyeplanet (the mod Clarity) initially suspected JustinAgs might be some sort of troll. So, no, Giovanni Strassini was not exposed within minutes by BP. tOSU got pwned. :lol:

I'm confused. The 2nd post in the thread says he didn't play for Ohio State. How much faster could you get? Yes, he masqueraded at a Charlotte based alumni group. That doesn't mean they're all football fans, and no I can't explain why they didn't do their due diligence. However, I specified the forum....which he was outed within the 2nd post. The 3rd post already refuted more with actual information.

Yeah, AFTER the guy JustinAgs joined BP so he could bring this to their attention. JustinAgs discredited Giovanni Strassini. Not Buckeyeplanet. He joined BP to let them know what he suspected. At least that's my understanding of this somewhat embarrassing Bucknut debacle. :lol:

 

[Coqui]

Ha ha! What an awesome story! Giovanni Strassini paraded as an All-American for months, perhaps years. Stupid Buckeyes. I'll guarantee you that if some fake Husker posted here claiming to be an All-American he would be exposed within minutes.

He was found out within minutes of it being posted there.

The yahoo article LINK says Giovanni Strassini pulled the scam off for a couple of years, presumably at Buckeye functions of a Charlotte-based tOSU fan group. And it wasn't the Buckeyeplanet forum that finally discredited him. The BP thread I linked to was JustinAgs first post. He joined BP so he could spread the news of what he suspected. In response, Buckeyeplanet (the mod Clarity) initially suspected JustinAgs might be some sort of troll. So, no, Giovanni Strassini was not exposed within minutes by BP. tOSU got pwned. :lol:

I'm confused. The 2nd post in the thread says he didn't play for Ohio State. How much faster could you get? Yes, he masqueraded at a Charlotte based alumni group. That doesn't mean they're all football fans, and no I can't explain why they didn't do their due diligence. However, I specified the forum....which he was outed within the 2nd post. The 3rd post already refuted more with actual information.

Yeah, AFTER the guy JustinAgs joined BP so he could bring this to their attention. JustinAgs discredited Giovanni Strassini. Not Buckeyeplanet. He joined BP to let them know what he suspected. At least that's my understanding of this somewhat embarrassing Bucknut debacle. :lol:

Yes. JustinAgs posts that he's never heard this guy. He asks if anyone has ever heard of him. After that, other members (not me) find out all this information about this guy. The discrediting happens in that thread, but the doubt did not begin on BP because no one had ever heard of him. Not sure how the forum not knowing someone was masquerading as a Buckeye before it came to their attention means that the forum wouldn't have found out, because as soon as a thread about the guy was made, it was found out and confirmed.

I could be telling people here that are Nebraska fans that I played there, and I guarantee you some would fall for it. Doesn't mean that as soon as you guys found out, it wouldn't be refuted.

 

[NUance]

Yes. JustinAgs posts that he's never heard this guy. He asks if anyone has ever heard of him. After that, other members (not me) find out all this information about this guy. The discrediting happens in that thread, but the doubt did not begin on BP because no one had ever heard of him. Not sure how the forum not knowing someone was masquerading as a Buckeye before it came to their attention means that the forum wouldn't have found out, because as soon as a thread about the guy was made, it was found out and confirmed.
I could be telling people here that are Nebraska fans that I played their, and I guarantee you some would fall for it. Doesn't mean that as soon as you guys found out, it wouldn't be refuted.

Nonetheless . . .

________________________

 

[BOJ]

I think perhaps the whole learning experience is that some people just don't know when to stop, or are beat, or whatever term may be appropriate.