So what was Conradt thinking Wednesday when he lifted a template off The Oklahoman’s web site, newsok.com, wrote and pasted a bogus story about the Sooner pair’s arrest on cocaine distribution charges, then posted it on a message board?
The 36-year-old Conradt says he wasn’t thinking.
“I want to express my deepest apologies to the families,” Conradt said Wednesday night, after his story was reported as fact by at least two Texas radio stations. “That’s the thing I’m regretful about. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
An apology might not be enough to sooth this over.
“I’m going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law,” said Kevin Jones, Landry’s father. “I’ve got deep enough pockets to do it.”
Oklahoman publisher David Thompson said, “When this was brought to our attention, we took immediate action. Through our technology and news teams, we tracked him down and told him to cease and desist. We take this very seriously and will consider legal action.”
OU associate athletic director Kenny Mossman said the hoax is just the latest in a disturbing trend.
“We feel it’s real unfortunate how many things have germinated from an anonymous starting point that are unfounded, untrue and, as this story proves, hurtful,” Mossman said.
“Coaches and players are berated, and nobody attaches a name to it. The Internet has enabled a lot of this kind of thing to happen, and it’s really disappointing.”
Conradt said he was on a Nebraska message board when some OU fans began writing smack.
“I just wanted to get ‘em all riled up, I guess,” Conradt said.
He googled Sooner sports and came across the newsok.com template and says he didn’t even realize it was The Oklahoman’s web site.
“It was a bad decision,” Conradt said. “When I got home, I got on my computer, one of the moderators on the Oklahoma site emailed me and said some Oklahoma people are upset about this. That’s when I took it down.”
Kevin Jones said he received a couple of frantic calls after the hoax spread across the Internet.
“I knew it was a prank thing right away,” Jones said. “Anybody that knows Sam or knows Landry knows the story wasn’t true to begin with. But when radio stations down in Houston and Austin report it, it’s very hurtful.
“Why would somebody be so malicious about it? Don’t know why someone would trample two kids like this. I was just dumbfounded. People need to learn from this.”
Kelly Dyer Fry, vice president of news and information for OPUBCO Communications Group, said users can determine if a story comes from the newsok.com server by the URL. If numbers precede “newsok.com,” the link originated elsewhere.
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If someone falsely accused my son of distributing cocaine, had it printed up, and it was reported on in a major media market as being factual, I would do everything within my power to nail the sob that did id. And that is assuming my son was just a normal college kid. We talk about holding college athletes to a higher standard all of the time, yet why should they be held to a lower standare here? Sue his ass...that's all that can be done.
Mr. Conradt is not a Nebraska fan. He does not
represent Nebraska when he resorts to something
like that. I grew up and lived in NE for 25 years.
Oklahoma was my second favorite team when it wasn't
playing Nebraska. I hope he gets what he deserves.
EMBARASSING!!
The guy is very apologetic as soon as he figures out he's been traced and people know who he is. I wonder if he would have been so if he had remained anonymous. I would expect that his employer would at least give him a formal warning for bringing the University of Texas in a bad light. Certainly, there needs to be some kind of example of him made or otherwise this kind of behaviour will continue. I mean really 18 year old hackers are punished for their work - this guy is 36 and should know better. Doesn't say a lot for the UT IT department if this guy is in a management position if he thought he could do this without being traced.
Whether it was illegal or not it was very poor judgement, and as I see it he did intend to "intentionally inflict damage" to these young men stupid as it was and if you don't believe that then you may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer either. Too bad that people can do something dumb and get away with it, like I said before, if it was you or your family that was being defamed you might not think that it's just a hoax or a joke. Maybe you should just put yourself in the other person's shoes.
If I'm not totally mistaken, the first amendment allows people the freedom of speech and the press, and lible requires an attempt to intentionally inflict damage *and* the credibility to do so.
It was a hoax news story he posted on a web site. I fail to see how *he* did anything stupid. People photoshop pictures all the time, and this is no different.
Now, those two radio stations in Texas that broadcast the story, they did something stupid. If there's a lawsuit to be had, it'd be against them. Leave the guy alone, he didn't do anything illegal or wrong (regardless of what he says upon reflection and threats of lawsuits)...
I have completely lost all respect for Berry Tramel, claiming that if you’re on a message board you’re part of the problem. Nobody is falling for it Berry, you’re just bitter that people can now actually talk back and point out your flaws a tripe, it has nothing to do with the Nebraska hoax. You just want to set on your high horse and consider your opinion as gospel. Why don’t you just go tell your Mommy that people are being mean to you. Geeze what a crybaby!
What the guy did was wrong and he will get punished in some ways, but really, its just trash talk taken too far. These guy's reputations were hurt for about 5 minutes. Hardly huge damages. It will be much like when tabloids get sued for slander, except I doubt this guy has the kind of money they have. In the end, its not really a big deal all around. We Sooner fans could stand to lighten up a little. Non-fans should consider the shortcomings of fans and players at their own schools before throwing stones.
The OSU, Nebraska, and Texas fans that think this is funny, or no problem-no one wasf hurt need to first think about how they would feel if it was one of their teams players whose reputation was (stupidly or not) attacked. It wasn't funny, it wasn't cute and it only reflects how small these other teams fans are...I believe that there should be some consequences, people need to know that they canNOT discredit someones reputation and get on with their lives and no problem. I know that Coach Stoops is a disciplinarian and these things are life changing, ugly, mean actions.
First off, there will be no jail time. Only the district attornies and such can prosecute, not fathers. Also, Bradford's family, as far as I know, has not said they will sue. I admit that Jones' dad came off sounding silly with his "deep pockets" statement, but if it was my son I would definitely make this guy face the music, even if it was just community service. All in all, I think all teams have classy fans and then they have the ones that discredit them, like toby and others. Nebraska has some of the best, but this proves that even they have some that don't represent the university very well.
Jail? No. Damages? Yes. Though it will be hard to prove they amount to very much until Bradford drops to the second round. Bradford, Landry, and OU would be best served by letting this drift away and not prolonging it in court trying to get some ridiculous sum out of a guy that clearly is not very wealthy.
Thankfully this story was quickly handled before it got too bad.It shouldn't matter if you are husker fan or ou hater, this guy did several wrongs and should be punished accordingly.Thank you
Ok, I can see the copyright issues there, but is it necessary to send the guy to jail? How many message boards to you go to where some teams overzealous fans are saying that "all your guys are on steroids" or "your nothing but a bunch of thugged out girlfriend beaters". So I ask you, what's the difference? Maybe you should take Callahan to court for calling you all "f'n hillbillies".
So now I guess we are all under oath when we post on a message board. The only "FRAUD" that happened was that he was posing as an intelligent husker fan.
How Jordan? A fabricated story was on the internet for a few hours and then it was publicly announced that it was a fabrication. I don't think the NFL is going to look back two years from now and think, "you know maybe this guy really is a hard core drug dealer. Not signing him!" That is such BS!
Never be a sooner- This kind of defamation isnt just a joke. NFL teams take this stuff seriously before drafting a player. This would be a major red flag if they are lucky enough to be drafted. Teams might think "where there is smoke there is fire." Potentially it could hurt their draft stock and cost them millions of dollars.
ken, this person is not being threatened with jailtime. slander and libel are torts, which means they are handled in civil suits. and for the record, he has opened himself up to potentially severe liability. and this is not as simple as a joke. this is FRAUD, as well as a copyright violation for stealing the newsok.com web template. this is not something that the players, the school, or the paper should just "let go." the internet is great, but it's important that people aren't allowed to flout the law just because something was posted on the internet rather than published in a more traditional manner. what mr. conradt did violated the rights of a lot of people, and such unlawful conduct must be treated seriously.
woman in okc, Oklahoma City - Jul 10, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I'm a lifelong Nebraska Fan and have always considered OU the seconds best program in the Big 12, definetly the best in the Big12 South. I am ashamed that a Nebraska fan would do something like this. I hope he gets prosecuted. What happenned to one of the greatest rivalries in college football? I've met so many OU fans who would never disrespect Nebraska and I know most Nebraska fans would never disrespect OU. Unfortunately, their are idiots everywhere out there. Maybe this guy has been in Texas too long and forgot how he was raised?
Oh, gimme a break. Sure, it's slander (or is it libel?). Is there anyone out there, seriously, who would want to go to jail for being stupid? Just like Oklahoma - where everyone who makes the smallest mistake goes to jail. Let it go.
Isn't this the same type of thing tabloid magazines do to celebrities on a daily basis? Should we sue them for every story they make up?? Sam and Landry have chosen to be in the national spot light by playing football for a nationally known team they should know they may have to deal with ridiculous,crap like this. Every research paper I ever did in college my professors always stressed that the majority of information on the internet is not from a reputable source. So how did what this GUY post so tramatically affect the two quarter backs?? For what a half of a day maybe people that didn't know them thought they might be drug dealers??? Who cares?? Now that it has come out as a hoax more people are going to read about the whole ordeal and know that they are both upstanding young men. Then if they take the high road and do nothing they look like the classier bigger people. So actually they come out better than when no one knew anything about them. Plus if Kevin Jones sues this GUY what is he going to get from him, most likely nothing! Just a lot of wasted time, money, and maybe grief for Landry by people ragging him about his daddy having to fight for him.
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represent Nebraska when he resorts to something
like that. I grew up and lived in NE for 25 years.
Oklahoma was my second favorite team when it wasn't
playing Nebraska. I hope he gets what he deserves.
EMBARASSING!!
It was a hoax news story he posted on a web site. I fail to see how *he* did anything stupid. People photoshop pictures all the time, and this is no different.
Now, those two radio stations in Texas that broadcast the story, they did something stupid. If there's a lawsuit to be had, it'd be against them. Leave the guy alone, he didn't do anything illegal or wrong (regardless of what he says upon reflection and threats of lawsuits)...
So now I guess we are all under oath when we post on a message board. The only "FRAUD" that happened was that he was posing as an intelligent husker fan.