So many things wrong about this IMG blowout on ESPN

[Perspective]

Just read this short article:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/espn-high-school-football-blowout-bishop-sycamore-img-academy-000431265.html

Or, if you want the Reader's Digest (or in this case, Twitter) Condensed Version, here it is:    "This is what happens when ESPN gets duped into airing a high school football game between the most talented team in the country and an online charter school nobody has heard of, went 0-6 last year, and lied about its roster to get on TV."   And this didn't even include the most telling aspect -- that IMG's opponent played another game two days prior!

Who's responsible for this fiasco?  ESPN?  Paragon Marketing Group?  Bishop Sycamore?  IMG? 

[Nulli Secundus]

1 hour ago, Perspective said:

Just read this short article:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/espn-high-school-football-blowout-bishop-sycamore-img-academy-000431265.html

Or, if you want the Reader's Digest (or in this case, Twitter) Condensed Version, here it is:    "This is what happens when ESPN gets duped into airing a high school football game between the most talented team in the country and an online charter school nobody has heard of, went 0-6 last year, and lied about its roster to get on TV."   And this didn't even include the most telling aspect -- that IMG's opponent played another game two days prior!

Who's responsible for this fiasco?  ESPN?  Paragon Marketing Group?  Bishop Sycamore?  IMG? 

IMG was actually the vic(tim, tor) looking to play a game and continue to increase their exposure.  That lopsided affair could have involved any number of highly talented programs across the nation and the outcome could've potentially been just as ugly.  

BS (Bishop Sycamore, not the other BS although it applies) self proclamation of personnel for the sake of boosting their own reputation should have been caught.  Again, where were the checks and balances?  Has anyone on this board been able to tell an institution of higher learning that you achieved a certain scores on the SAT, ACT and give them your GPA and actually have those institutions take you at your word to gain admission?  Hell No!  All that stuff has to be verified from trusted verifiable sources.  Enter ESPN and Paragon.  They are both guilty of lack of due diligence in a rush to get ratings while overlooking obvious red flags caused this debacle. 

I'll end with Awful Announcing.  As I skimmed the article operating on just an hour of sleep, I initially thought Awful Announcing was a reference to awful game announcing, not the actual name of the company.  I laughed my ass off.  I'm still laughing.....

All this could've been avoided with a quick google search.

[peezy28]

2 hours ago, Nulli Secundus said:

IMG was actually the vic(tim, tor) looking to play a game and continue to increase their exposure.  That lopsided affair could have involved any number of highly talented programs across the nation and the outcome could've potentially been just as ugly.  

BS (Bishop Sycamore, not the other BS although it applies) self proclamation of personnel for the sake of boosting their own reputation should have been caught.  Again, where were the checks and balances?  Has anyone on this board been able to tell an institution of higher learning that you achieved a certain scores on the SAT, ACT and give them your GPA and actually have those institutions take you at your word to gain admission?  Hell No!  All that stuff has to be verified from trusted verifiable sources.  Enter ESPN and Paragon.  They are both guilty of lack of due diligence in a rush to get ratings while overlooking obvious red flags caused this debacle. 

I'll end with Awful Announcing.  As I skimmed the article operating on just an hour of sleep, I initially thought Awful Announcing was a reference to awful game announcing, not the actual name of the company.  I laughed my ass off.  I'm still laughing.....

All this could've been avoided with a quick google search.

Nope, IMG is complicit here... They actually PLAYED BS last year and blew them out and knew exactly what they were... They still signed them up again and let the TV broadcast go on knowing what it would be.  ESPN and Paragon should be ashamed for not using a SIMPLE google search to see that this team was not who they said they were.

Lets not even forget this team played a game on FRIDAY NIGHT and got beat by a small private school then played IMG less than 48 hours later.  The coaches put kids at risk for exposure... They got exposure but not the good kind... ESPN did not even have a roster with names so none of their kids are even known... The Pop Warner championships are better put together than this muckrackery. 

 

 

[PinellasFB]

47 minutes ago, peezy28 said:

Nope, IMG is complicit here... They actually PLAYED BS last year and blew them out and knew exactly what they were... They still signed them up again and let the TV broadcast go on knowing what it would be.  ESPN and Paragon should be ashamed for not using a SIMPLE google search to see that this team was not who they said they were.

Lets not even forget this team played a game on FRIDAY NIGHT and got beat by a small private school then played IMG less than 48 hours later.  The coaches put kids at risk for exposure... They got exposure but not the good kind... ESPN did not even have a roster with names so none of their kids are even known... The Pop Warner championships are better put together than this muckrackery. 

 

 

Exactly what I thought about this.  It wasn't like IMG was duped since they actually played them last year too.  IMG is just about showcasing their players on ESPN and it doesn't matter whether its a crap team like this or a ranked team, they just go on cruise control and barely break a sweat.  I know they have lost in previous years to Mater Dei and SFA, but that still doesnt make their team not a farce of high school football.  They have 20 ESPN300 players on their team.  I think only maybe the top 5 college teams can even have a chance to sign that many ESPN300 players in a single class.  IMG is horrible for the beautiful sport of HS football.

[gatorman-uf]

Sadly IMG is the future of sports and I hate it. Eventually, we will get a couple of schools in every region of the country that IMGs. We already are doing this in basketball, baseball/volleyball/soccer will be next. The only thing that keeps those sports from already having it, is that there are big "travel" ball programs that have invested into making those sports big outside of the school setting, football has never really had that. Once players/agents figure out how to get some of that NIL money for high school kids, just wait, there will be an IMG everywhere. The only difference is that IMG started for years as a tennis/golf academy school. Built up an infrastructure and then went all in on football. 

As for Bishop Sycamore, we have talked before that "new" school should start further down the classifications because they don't have a winning culture. An online-charter school with two years existence is not going to have a winning culture either. While IMG deserves some blame (fool me once, etc), ESPN should be taken out to the woodshed for this kind of tomfoolery. They are trying to do HS sports on the cheap. You want a marquee match-up pay for it.

Paragon Marketing is also to play for this. They are one of those companies who put together the "National Championships" in basketball, but it really only ever includes the IMG type schools for basketball. 

 

If ESPN was for real about this for , then they should: 

Bring one of those North NJ Catholic teams to play Aquinas or IMG, or better yet, do a rivalry game. I don't even care the level of play.
Pahokee vs Glades Central
Dillard v Boyd Anderson
Northwestern v Central/Jackson/BTW or whoever the Soul Bowl is considered to day
Any game out in the panhandle with some of the mid-size rural schools. 

ESPN does this because they want stars, not teams. Senior Tim Tebow of Nease moves the TV needle, and a solid Bartram Trail/Raines team does not. ESPN should be showing the pageantry of high school football. Show me the 300 person marching band at a Texas High School, show me the BBQ, the tailgating. Take me to the hole in wall BBQ/hamburger place where the entire town eats before the game. Interview the graduate from 1968 who hasn't missed a game other than for his brother's wedding in California (which he cusses at him every time for missing that game). 

ESPN treats high school sports like they are filming for ESPN the Ocho. And I get it, LLWS has some sentimentality to it and it really is just a cool way to see kids experience athletic success. So they send big name announcers, they put on a high level production of it. But high school sports? ESPN mails it in, everytime.

ESPN has a chance to improve this weekend on ESPN U, Friday Night at 8 pm Lake Gibson at Valdosta, while Valdosta is exactly the type of school that should be highlighted, Valdosta has not been in the news for anything good with the firing of Coach Probst. I am willing to bet that most of the pre-game conversations will focus on that. 

[DisabledAccount]

3 hours ago, gatorman-uf said:

Sadly IMG is the future of sports and I hate it. Eventually, we will get a couple of schools in every region of the country that IMGs. We already are doing this in basketball, baseball/volleyball/soccer will be next. The only thing that keeps those sports from already having it, is that there are big "travel" ball programs that have invested into making those sports big outside of the school setting, football has never really had that. Once players/agents figure out how to get some of that NIL money for high school kids, just wait, there will be an IMG everywhere. The only difference is that IMG started for years as a tennis/golf academy school. Built up an infrastructure and then went all in on football. 

As for Bishop Sycamore, we have talked before that "new" school should start further down the classifications because they don't have a winning culture. An online-charter school with two years existence is not going to have a winning culture either. While IMG deserves some blame (fool me once, etc), ESPN should be taken out to the woodshed for this kind of tomfoolery. They are trying to do HS sports on the cheap. You want a marquee match-up pay for it.

Paragon Marketing is also to play for this. They are one of those companies who put together the "National Championships" in basketball, but it really only ever includes the IMG type schools for basketball. 

 

If ESPN was for real about this for , then they should: 

Bring one of those North NJ Catholic teams to play Aquinas or IMG, or better yet, do a rivalry game. I don't even care the level of play.
Pahokee vs Glades Central
Dillard v Boyd Anderson
Northwestern v Central/Jackson/BTW or whoever the Soul Bowl is considered to day
Any game out in the panhandle with some of the mid-size rural schools. 

ESPN does this because they want stars, not teams. Senior Tim Tebow of Nease moves the TV needle, and a solid Bartram Trail/Raines team does not. ESPN should be showing the pageantry of high school football. Show me the 300 person marching band at a Texas High School, show me the BBQ, the tailgating. Take me to the hole in wall BBQ/hamburger place where the entire town eats before the game. Interview the graduate from 1968 who hasn't missed a game other than for his brother's wedding in California (which he cusses at him every time for missing that game). 

ESPN treats high school sports like they are filming for ESPN the Ocho. And I get it, LLWS has some sentimentality to it and it really is just a cool way to see kids experience athletic success. So they send big name announcers, they put on a high level production of it. But high school sports? ESPN mails it in, everytime.

ESPN has a chance to improve this weekend on ESPN U, Friday Night at 8 pm Lake Gibson at Valdosta, while Valdosta is exactly the type of school that should be highlighted, Valdosta has not been in the news for anything good with the firing of Coach Probst. I am willing to bet that most of the pre-game conversations will focus on that. 

Lake Gibson is playing Lowndes not Valdosta

[Perspective]

OMG, this IMG story just keeps getting better, LOL. 

"Even more concerning, ESPN later confirmed that the Ohio High School Athletic Association doesn’t recognize Bishop Sycamore as a legitimate high school and that the school’s “physical location, practice facilities, and roster eligibility could not be verified.”

The tale of Bishop Sycamore grew even more disturbing on Monday afternoon. According to a report from Complex, the team’s head coach, Roy Johnson, allegedly has an active arrest warrant for fraud charges. In addition, some of the players on the Bishop Sycamore team are said to have already graduated high school and played in junior college in past years."

Source:  https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/football-world-reaction-latest-bishop-sycamore-developments

[Dan in Daytona]

Multiple threads, accusations, articles, villains, and more. If you got time, it's all there......below  

 

https://www.prepgridiron.com/forum/2-varsity-forum/

[DarterBlue2]

39 minutes ago, Dan in Daytona said:

Multiple threads, accusations, articles, villains, and more. If you got time, it's all there......below  

 

https://www.prepgridiron.com/forum/2-varsity-forum/

In the Wild, Wild, West!

[Perspective]

Shock of all shocks, the head coach for Bishop Sycamore apparently was fired (or resigned) today. 

Has anyone else noticed the appropriateness of the team's initials?    B.S. 

[peezy28]

On 8/30/2021 at 2:32 PM, PinellasFB said:

Exactly what I thought about this.  It wasn't like IMG was duped since they actually played them last year too.  IMG is just about showcasing their players on ESPN and it doesn't matter whether its a crap team like this or a ranked team, they just go on cruise control and barely break a sweat.  I know they have lost in previous years to Mater Dei and SFA, but that still doesnt make their team not a farce of high school football.  They have 20 ESPN300 players on their team.  I think only maybe the top 5 college teams can even have a chance to sign that many ESPN300 players in a single class.  IMG is horrible for the beautiful sport of HS football.

Hold up we got another Pinellaser on the board.. and a PHUH PERSON TOO YUCK! LOL just joking man just trying to figure out if I know you because Peezy knows everyone in Pinellas lol.

[PinellasFB]

1 minute ago, peezy28 said:

Hold up we got another Pinellaser on the board.. and a PHUH PERSON TOO YUCK! LOL just joking man just trying to figure out if I know you because Peezy knows everyone in Pinellas lol.

Hmm Im a long time lurker on this board but finally decided to start joining the conversations this year.  Dont know a Peezy.    I live next to PHUHS so gotta support the local school even if they are typically athlete-challenged compared to the rest of Pinellas.  Plus my oldest just started playing for them this year, his first year of HS.  I've followed all of FL high school football, though, for decades and went to Charlotte HS back in the day.  

[peezy28]

21 hours ago, gatorman-uf said:

Sadly IMG is the future of sports and I hate it. Eventually, we will get a couple of schools in every region of the country that IMGs. We already are doing this in basketball, baseball/volleyball/soccer will be next. The only thing that keeps those sports from already having it, is that there are big "travel" ball programs that have invested into making those sports big outside of the school setting, football has never really had that. Once players/agents figure out how to get some of that NIL money for high school kids, just wait, there will be an IMG everywhere. The only difference is that IMG started for years as a tennis/golf academy school. Built up an infrastructure and then went all in on football. 

As for Bishop Sycamore, we have talked before that "new" school should start further down the classifications because they don't have a winning culture. An online-charter school with two years existence is not going to have a winning culture either. While IMG deserves some blame (fool me once, etc), ESPN should be taken out to the woodshed for this kind of tomfoolery. They are trying to do HS sports on the cheap. You want a marquee match-up pay for it.

Paragon Marketing is also to play for this. They are one of those companies who put together the "National Championships" in basketball, but it really only ever includes the IMG type schools for basketball. 

 

If ESPN was for real about this for , then they should: 

Bring one of those North NJ Catholic teams to play Aquinas or IMG, or better yet, do a rivalry game. I don't even care the level of play.
Pahokee vs Glades Central
Dillard v Boyd Anderson
Northwestern v Central/Jackson/BTW or whoever the Soul Bowl is considered to day
Any game out in the panhandle with some of the mid-size rural schools. 

ESPN does this because they want stars, not teams. Senior Tim Tebow of Nease moves the TV needle, and a solid Bartram Trail/Raines team does not. ESPN should be showing the pageantry of high school football. Show me the 300 person marching band at a Texas High School, show me the BBQ, the tailgating. Take me to the hole in wall BBQ/hamburger place where the entire town eats before the game. Interview the graduate from 1968 who hasn't missed a game other than for his brother's wedding in California (which he cusses at him every time for missing that game). 

ESPN treats high school sports like they are filming for ESPN the Ocho. And I get it, LLWS has some sentimentality to it and it really is just a cool way to see kids experience athletic success. So they send big name announcers, they put on a high level production of it. But high school sports? ESPN mails it in, everytime.

ESPN has a chance to improve this weekend on ESPN U, Friday Night at 8 pm Lake Gibson at Valdosta, while Valdosta is exactly the type of school that should be highlighted, Valdosta has not been in the news for anything good with the firing of Coach Probst. I am willing to bet that most of the pre-game conversations will focus on that. 

Bro your absolutely right their broadcasts are TRASH. Its all about "This team has blah blah ESPN 300 players" literally we real HSFB fans DONT GAF!  I would much rather see a GAME between 2 really good teams maybe rivalries at a home stadium with 10K people there with the elements you mentioned... Its sad all these neutral side 1pm Saturday afternoon 30 seat empty stands games...

 

ESPN F****** SUCKS!!!

 

I saw the NFL network had a game from Texas I need to go look at that and see how they did I recorded it.

[peezy28]

17 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

Lake Gibson is playing Lowndes not Valdosta

Lake Gibson also lost to Lake Mary... I am guessing they got some ESPN 300 kid so they got the nod for the game.

[peezy28]

5 hours ago, Perspective said:

OMG, this IMG story just keeps getting better, LOL. 

"Even more concerning, ESPN later confirmed that the Ohio High School Athletic Association doesn’t recognize Bishop Sycamore as a legitimate high school and that the school’s “physical location, practice facilities, and roster eligibility could not be verified.”

The tale of Bishop Sycamore grew even more disturbing on Monday afternoon. According to a report from Complex, the team’s head coach, Roy Johnson, allegedly has an active arrest warrant for fraud charges. In addition, some of the players on the Bishop Sycamore team are said to have already graduated high school and played in junior college in past years."

Source:  https://thespun.com/more/top-stories/football-world-reaction-latest-bishop-sycamore-developments

Dude you should see the article from the kids

https://www.complex.com/sports/bishop-sycamore-high-school-player-interview/part-2?utm_campaign=sportstw&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

 

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/what-it-was-like-being-a-parent-of-a-bishop-sycamore-player.html

 

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/we-learned-more-about-how-bishop-sycamore-ended-up-playing-on-espn-and-its-only-getting-shadier.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[peezy28]

5 hours ago, Dan in Daytona said:

Multiple threads, accusations, articles, villains, and more. If you got time, it's all there......below  

 

https://www.prepgridiron.com/forum/2-varsity-forum/

Oh is this that national board?  So they knew about this school for a while...Sorry can't click on the link if its THAT board.  Burn me once shame on you burn me twice shame on me.  I think I told you all what happened last time I tried to venture over.

[peezy28]

4 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

In the Wild, Wild, West!

Oh it is that... No more Identity fraud for me... those F ers got me once.

[peezy28]

46 minutes ago, Perspective said:

Shock of all shocks, the head coach for Bishop Sycamore apparently was fired today. 

Has anyone else noticed the appropriateness of the team's initials?    B.S. 

Yes LMAO.  I am just waiting for the other teams to cancel the games against them.

[peezy28]

8 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

Hmm Im a long time lurker on this board but finally decided to start joining the conversations this year.  Dont know a Peezy.    I live next to PHUHS so gotta support the local school even if they are typically athlete-challenged compared to the rest of Pinellas.  Plus my oldest just started playing for them this year, his first year of HS.  I've followed all of FL high school football, though, for decades and went to Charlotte HS back in the day.  

Interesting, there is at least one person I don't know in Pinellas LOL.  Keep posting I think its just me and you from the Peninsula on the Peninsula... I have been around the boards since the beginning of time it seems or like 2000 when I graduated HS lol (Dunedin).

[peezy28]

13 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

Hmm Im a long time lurker on this board but finally decided to start joining the conversations this year.  Dont know a Peezy.    I live next to PHUHS so gotta support the local school even if they are typically athlete-challenged compared to the rest of Pinellas.  Plus my oldest just started playing for them this year, his first year of HS.  I've followed all of FL high school football, though, for decades and went to Charlotte HS back in the day.  

If you went to Charlotte HS between now and anytime in the last 30 40 years lol you may be familiar with @Silver King  He doesn't post here much.  He mostly posts on Flavarsity.  But he has had 3 sons play for the Tarps and I believe after he retired as a boat captain he started teaching at Charlotte... He also played for the school.  If your familiar let me know.  His name (real name) is well known in those parts.

[PinellasFB]

11 minutes ago, peezy28 said:

If you went to Charlotte HS between now and anytime in the last 30 40 years lol you may be familiar with @Silver King  He doesn't post here much.  He mostly posts on Flavarsity.  But he has had 3 sons play for the Tarps and I believe after he retired as a boat captain he started teaching at Charlotte... He also played for the school.  If your familiar let me know.  His name (real name) is well known in those parts.

I graduated in the 80s.  If he played then I might actually know his name.  I definitely have kept tabs on CHS football since I left.  Love me some Tarpons!

[DisabledAccount]

1 hour ago, peezy28 said:

Lake Gibson also lost to Lake Mary... I am guessing they got some ESPN 300 kid so they got the nod for the game.

They have 2 5* DBs including Sam McCall who's a FSU commit I believe

 

Lowndes gave up 34 points at home to some school called griffin

 

I think Lake Gibson can win that 

[Nulli Secundus]

4 hours ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

They have 2 5* DBs including Sam McCall who's a FSU commit I believe

 

Lowndes gave up 34 points at home to some school called griffin

 

I think Lake Gibson can win that 

Griffin, GA is just south of Atlanta.  They're far enough away from the metro to be considered country but close enough to reach all the big city amenities, LOL.  Average team for most part.  Griffin was able to score more points this season than last.  That may not be a good thing for Lowndes.  LG historically finds ways to win on the road.  This game may define the rest of the season for the Braves.  If they don't win on Friday, they're really going to catch hell in Polk County.

[Mr. 727]

7 hours ago, peezy28 said:

Interesting, there is at least one person I don't know in Pinellas LOL.  Keep posting I think its just me and you from the Peninsula on the Peninsula... I have been around the boards since the beginning of time it seems or like 2000 when I graduated HS lol (Dunedin).

You're not alone. Another Pinellas guy here 

[Dan in Daytona]

7 hours ago, peezy28 said:

Oh it is that... No more Identity fraud for me... those F ers got me once.

How come I don't know that story. PM, text, or call me. You got beat ?  Too funny, damn country ass Rattler.