The Replacements 2?

You’ve Been Punked! ESPN that is. IMG and Bishop Sycamore. Epic marketing failure or marketing genius depending how you look at the situation. Perhaps a movie deal in the works? Because let’s be real. Everyone is talking about Bishop Sycamore. Fake school or not. Rumor is some of the kids on the team are 20 years old. And fresh out of jail. According to sources the team could not fly from Ohio to Florida because of outstanding arrest warrants on several staff and players including an active arrest warrant on Coach Roy Johnson for domestic violence. Although not confirmed, word is Johnson was also investigated by the U.S. Secret Service for financial fraud related to his role in the creation of COF Academy, the “school” that was shut down previously and replaced by Sycamore. The movie The Replacements comes to mind. 

Paragon Marketing has its tail between its legs. It arranged the game to be aired on ESPN. They should be ashamed and have admitted they fell short here. No one did their due diligence to confirm the veracity of Bishop Sycamore’s representation to ESPN of their players’ skills and stats in the matchup against IMG. I guess the Ohio Department of Education never got wind that Sycamore was playing IMG on ESPN? If they had, I assume they would have stepped in to further investigate. 

Most importantly, Bishop Sycamore’s  Coach Johnson admitted his players had played in two games just prior to the IMG game, which in my opinion put his players at high risk of injury and his actions can be deemed complete reckless disregard to his athletes’ well-being. ESPN admitted they would not have aired the game had they known that Sycamore had just played on the Friday before the Sunday game. 

If Paragon Marketing or ESPN had performed their due diligence they would have found that head coach Sycamore Johnson was investigated for fraud relating to the creation of this alleged charter school, was involved in a domestic violence court case, and had defaulted on several loans. Basically he has a very shady past. Johnson promised ESPN his team had D1 prospects. The Sycamore Athletic Director defended their position telling ESPN to show up on signing day and they would see D1 signees. Show up where? The address listed on Max Preps takes you to a housing duplex and library. Forget about a website. It’s down. And who the heck is/was Bishop Sycamore? Apparently he is a fictional bishop. 

Can’t wait for the sequel. The Replacements 2 perhaps?