How did a phony Ohio high school end up playing on ESPN earlier this year?



Humiliation for ESPN: School was fake


… ESPN should be embarrassed for their lack of judgment


Back in August, ESPN humiliated itself with a high school kickoff program that featured a team that did not exist. 


Seriously. 


The school was a scam, and ESPN fell for it hook, line, and anchor. 


Last week, after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked for an investigation of the school, the state department of education issued a report that made clear that this school was a “scam,” conducted no classes, had no actual school building, but yet convinced a national media outlet that it did exist. 


The football “kickoff”


The game was sponsored by GEICO, but even the announcers questioned whether or not the school was for real. 


Here is some of the background,


The report was issued late last week,


The Ohio Department of Education said Bishop Sycamore High School is "a scam" and was a way for students to play football in hopes of increasing their chances of playing at the college level.


The department detailed its findings in a 41-page report released Friday. It began investigating the school in August at the request of Gov. Mike DeWine after concerns were raised over a blowout football game between Bishop Sycamore's team and Florida powerhouse IMG Academy.


IMG Academy beat the school 58-0 in a game that was broadcast on ESPN as part of the network's GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff series. During the game, ESPN’s own announcers questioned the matchup and raised concerns about the school's legitimacy.


Tyren Jackson, who was described as the school’s head coach, previously spoke out about the controversy, telling NBC affiliate WCMH of Columbus that Bishop Sycamore was “not a school.”


“That’s not what Bishop Sycamore is, and I think that’s what the biggest misconception about us was, and that was our fault. Because that was a mistake on paperwork,” he said in September.


Minyvonne Burke, “School behind mysterious Ohio football team that played on ESPN is a 'scam,' officials say,” NBC News, December 18, 2021


A mistake in paperwork?


What is it?


In short, it is a scam, as the department of education has found. In short, they found that the “students” never attended school,


Many questions have surfaced after a Columbus-based high school football team played Sunday night in a nationally televised game on ESPN.


The contest between Bishop Sycamore and Florida’s IMG Academy at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton was a blowout, with IMG Academy winning 58-0. 


Questions were raised by announcers during the broadcast about the legitimacy of Bishop Sycamore.


“Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division I prospects on their roster. To be honest, a lot of that we could not verify,” one commentator said.


Following the game, multiple outlets reported that Bishop Sycamore also had played a game Friday night in western Pennsylvania.


Here's what we know about Bishop Sycamore:


10 Investigates has discovered that Bishop Sycamore is not listed as a charter school with the Ohio Department of Education.


Last year, it was listed as a “non-charter, non-tax supported school.”A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education wrote in an email that: “As of last Friday Bishop Sycamore had not submitted an annual notification to be listed with the Department as a Non-chartered, Non-Tax school for the 2021-22 school year. They have until 9/30 to do so.”


Documents provided by the state from last year show the school planned to use a “blended attendance and learning model” and that both “online and traditional learning.”


Bennett Haeberle, WKYC Columbus, August 31, 2021


In short, a scam, and ESPN should be ashamed for falling for it. The scam was pushed by a marketing group, and ESPN likes to think “Outside the Lines.”


Instead, it humiliated itself.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr. Chet Beres, M.D., the quarterback who gave of himself to so many people: Some Lilly Raiders who will not be with us on Saturday

Image
Chet Beres was a special human being … The 1968 championship QB is calling audibles from heaven On a few nights in late October 2010, I slept overnight at the Conemaugh Hospital palliative care unit. My brother, Father Jim, was clinging to life at the end of a long battle with cancer, and this unit was designed to make life easier for those in the final stages of disease — and for the families who wanted to spend their last days with their loved ones. It was at that time that while wandering through the hall, I noticed a plaque on the wall that warmed my heart, albeit in a sad way.  The palliative care unit was dedicated to Dr. Chet Beres, M.D., an advocate for those in hospice care. My mind flashed back to the Lilly Raider quarterback on the 1968 championship team, a young man who was bright, exuberant, and so popular with his teammates.  Chet went on to college at Pitt and to medical school after graduating from Penn Cambria. We knew that he was bright, but we also knew that he had c
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably, he
Read more

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-point loss was the to
Read more