Bishop Sycamore Fraud

[BrownerandFry]

You do realize that the Ohio High School Athletic Association has not accepted Bishop as a member, right? They set the rules accordingly. OSHAA did everything to blackball them. This isn't an OSHAA problem. Find someone else to flog.

EDIT - Also worth nothing that after COF Academy failed/was forced to close (the precursor to Bishop), OSHAA proposed a rule change forcing members to only play OHSAA teams. That provision was floated to the 800 schools making up OSHAA and it never was implemented.

They should have raised a stink to high heavens and protested Sycamore's presence and RATTED THEM OUT to

Cops, FBI and whomever else.

Simply they did not do enough, as evidenced by Sycamore and their criminal coach appearing on ESPN

I choose who to flog. you can make all the excuses for enablers you want.

 

[Ndaccountant]

They should have raised a stink to high heavens and protested Sycamore's presence and RATTED THEM OUT to

Cops, FBI and whomever else.

Simply they did not do enough, as evidenced by Sycamore and their criminal coach appearing on ESPN

I choose who to flog. you can make all the excuses for enablers you want.

Facts are important.

1) OSHAA investigated and actively told all schools NOT to play them. But under OSHAA guidelines, they do not control regular season schedules. Schools were made aware and still decided to play.
2) The precursor to Bishop was COF Academy, basically run by the same set of individuals. After the OSSHAA investigation into that school, the Ohio Department of Education revoked the schools listing as a state recognized "non-charter, non-public school that does not receive state taxes". The school eventually closed, reorganized, at came to be known as Bishop. But the reason for the closure wasn't action taken by ODE, but more so the flack from a church that COF hinted they were affiliated with (which as a lie).
3) Since the school is not receiving state funds and is not part of OHSAA, there is literally nothing else they can do on their own. It's up to the individual schools playing them to cancel.
4) That all said, the most likely outcome is that the school founders will end up in jail. As of right now, there are numerous lawsuits against him and Bishop for unpaid expenses (bank loan default, hotel bills unpaid, etc.).

In a sense of irony, the publicity he is receiving on this is most likely going to be his undoing. But that doesn't stop him from doing it again with another "new school" in Ohio or any other state with similar educational laws. But at the end of the day, outside of unpaid bills and perhaps breach of contracts, what makes you think the FBI or "cops" would have anything to shut the operation down? You don't think that OHSAA has been trying?

 

[BrownerandFry]

Facts are important.

1) OSHAA investigated and actively told all schools NOT to play them. But under OSHAA guidelines, they do not control regular season schedules. Schools were made aware and still decided to play.
2) The precursor to Bishop was COF Academy, basically run by the same set of individuals. After the OSSHAA investigation into that school, the Ohio Department of Education revoked the schools listing as a state recognized "non-charter, non-public school that does not receive state taxes". The school eventually closed, reorganized, at came to be known as Bishop. But the reason for the closure wasn't action taken by ODE, but more so the flack from a church that COF hinted they were affiliated with (which as a lie).
3) Since the school is not receiving state funds and is not part of OHSAA, there is literally nothing else they can do on their own. It's up to the individual schools playing them to cancel.
4) That all said, the most likely outcome is that the school founders will end up in jail. As of right now, there are numerous lawsuits against him and Bishop for unpaid expenses (bank loan default, hotel bills unpaid, etc.).

In a sense of irony, the publicity he is receiving on this is most likely going to be his undoing. But that doesn't stop him from doing it again with another "new school" in Ohio or any other state with similar educational laws. But at the end of the day, outside of unpaid bills and perhaps breach of contracts, what makes you think the FBI or "cops" would have anything to shut the operation down? You don't think that OHSAA has been trying?

Well, at times like this, I usually rely on Yoda:

Luke: Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally different.

Yoda: No. No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.

Luke: All right, I'll give it a try.

Yoda: No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.

How did St. Ignatius play them? Or is that a Catholic jurisdictional thing.

Power is using a bully pulpit, like C. Nick Saban has for vaccination in Alabama, to get the word out and "salt the fields."

"It's up to the individual schools playing them to cancel."

My goodness, that even shames Pontiius Pilate,.

I heard a rumor that there are tv, radio and print outlets in the state of Ohio. the "association" should have gone on, or for that matter gotten Fickel and Ryan Day on a press conference denouncing the whole COF/Sycamore scam.

But I guess if you're comfortable giving the adults a reason to wash their hands, so be it.

 

[Ndaccountant]

How did St. Ignatius play them? Or is that a Catholic jurisdictional thing.

I answered that in a previous post. Iggy played them as a scrimmage more or less, in a Covid stricken season (game meant nothing to the playoff standings in Ohio thanks to OHSAA rules). Iggy canceled their game when the school was COF Academy once it was known the school was a scam. Iggy was presented with a choice to play the game or take a bye (while all other schools had multiple games under their belt at that point).

Iggy is accountable for Iggy's decision to play.

I heard a rumor that there are tv, radio and print outlets in the state of Ohio. the "association" should have gone on, or for that matter gotten Fickel and Ryan Day on a press conference denouncing the whole COF/Sycamore scam.

But I guess if you're comfortable giving the adults a reason to wash their hands, so be it.

So you want Ryan Day to do what? Call a press conference or use time after practice to talk about a high school coach lying? Because Saban used his position to influence help with a literal life and death situation? That situation is like comparing Whiskeyjack to Koon.....they have no business being compared. Not to mention that the "scam" isn't terribly unique. Coaches lie about their players all the time. The only thing unique here is that size of the embellishment and the fact the coach syphons money from the school. Sadly, this situation plays out across this country, there are many instances of coaches pocketing money from athletic support funds.

It's strange to me that you are blaming toothless administrators but not the dozens of high school AD's and HC's that willingly played these guys. IMG played them twice!

 

[Irish#1]

Facts are important.

1) OSHAA investigated and actively told all schools NOT to play them. But under OSHAA guidelines, they do not control regular season schedules. Schools were made aware and still decided to play.
2) The precursor to Bishop was COF Academy, basically run by the same set of individuals. After the OSSHAA investigation into that school, the Ohio Department of Education revoked the schools listing as a state recognized "non-charter, non-public school that does not receive state taxes". The school eventually closed, reorganized, at came to be known as Bishop. But the reason for the closure wasn't action taken by ODE, but more so the flack from a church that COF hinted they were affiliated with (which as a lie).
3) Since the school is not receiving state funds and is not part of OHSAA, there is literally nothing else they can do on their own. It's up to the individual schools playing them to cancel.
4) That all said, the most likely outcome is that the school founders will end up in jail. As of right now, there are numerous lawsuits against him and Bishop for unpaid expenses (bank loan default, hotel bills unpaid, etc.).

In a sense of irony, the publicity he is receiving on this is most likely going to be his undoing. But that doesn't stop him from doing it again with another "new school" in Ohio or any other state with similar educational laws. But at the end of the day, outside of unpaid bills and perhaps breach of contracts, what makes you think the FBI or "cops" would have anything to shut the operation down? You don't think that OHSAA has been trying?

I thought I had read they have played schools in other states? If so, maybe some interstate law(s) come into play? Heard on the radio the coach has been fired. Also a reporter in Ohio spoke to several former players and their parents. Bishop was making promises they never kept. They realized pretty quickly this was a scam being run by a con man.

 

[BrownerandFry]

I thought I had read they have played schools in other states? If so, maybe some interstate law(s) come into play? Heard on the radio the coach has been fired. Also a reporter in Ohio spoke to several former players and their parents. Bishop was making promises they never kept. They realized pretty quickly this was a scam being run by a con man.

yeah, it seems there was a federal nexus, and given that the kids were not fed and stealing food from Kroger's you can even begin to start waving criminal conspiracy at them.

RICO, invented by Robert Blakey formerly at ND LAW.

ESPN has sunk without trace, they are as scummy as IMG. I mean hypocrisy is something else. How can grown men talk about "amateur sports" and allow IMG to even exist.

I love the old legal doctrine of "respondeat superior" Fish rot from the head, and whoever aided and abetted in this disgrace should be removed immediately and permanently.

But the corruption is unbelievable. Irish 1, are you familiar with the saga of Rush Propst.? Bigamist, as in bigamist, who got in trouble in Alabama,then wound up being the head coach at famed Valdosta high. All those good Evangelicals knew about Propst's piggish bigamist past, and yet they turned the ol'"blind eye."

The coach got fired, yeah. Blah blah, find a scapegoat.. but what of the enablers?

 

[Ndaccountant]

I thought I had read they have played schools in other states? If so, maybe some interstate law(s) come into play? Heard on the radio the coach has been fired. Also a reporter in Ohio spoke to several former players and their parents. Bishop was making promises they never kept. They realized pretty quickly this was a scam being run by a con man.

Coach got fired, yes. But you have to understand the circular nature of it all.

The head coach was Roy Johnson. He was fired by the DL coach, who is also the director of Bishop. That is Andre Peterson.

Prior to being head coach at Bishop, Roy Johnson was one of the founding members of COF Academy in Columbus. His partner was Jay Richardson.

COF Academy portrayed itself as being a financial extension of a church, called African Methodist Episcopal Church. The were organized under a company called Richard Allen Group. However, Richard Allen Group was not affiliated with the church and was actually a shell company founded by Johnson and Richardson (who played at OSU BTW). They were able to secure a $100K loan from a local bank portraying themselves as AME church. The loan was never re-payed. But the church caught wind of it and took action to make sure everyone knew that these guys were not affiliated with the church. Since the school had portrayed itself as being affiliated with the church, it was forced to close up shop.

There are / were numerous lawsuits pending against Johnson, Richardson and the Richard Allen Group. From all accounts, Richardson cut ties after COF Academy was closed. Johnson couldn't try the scam again as being the front man, so he laid low.

Andre Peterson had a son who played for COF and wanted to continue the "mission". He learned from Johnson how to replicate COF and did so (since Johnson couldn't really be affiliated and still secure funding). That is why Peterson is the director of the "school" and hired his good friend Roy Johnson to be the head coach.

The only way to keep the school going at this point is to fire Johnson as head coach. But it's his organization and idea that created Bishop in the first place.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

National media - "there isn't even a Bishop named Sycamore"
Me = "Excuse me?!"

 

[ab2cmiller]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/patrickmccaff22/status/1433194882605191172[/TWEET]

 

[Rogue219]

I never want to hear another Manti T'eo joke ever again.

 

[Irish#1]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/patrickmccaff22/status/1433194882605191172[/TWEET]

That's priceless.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1435288536802992129[/TWEET]
Seems legit

 

[Henges24]

The definition of "we did not come here to play school"

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

 

[Reaper97]

The problem with that is they are just giving that guy what he wants, more attention.

They should have done an investigative piece instead & nailed him.
But they made him the star of it & gave him a platform to sell himself more.
And everyone knows he is a pathological liar, so when he is asked questions that actually could get him in trouble, he will just lie about it.
And he will say, “I told you guys the truth about all that bad stuff, so you can trust me…”
And that is how he will get away with the really bad lies, by giving in a little on the regular lies.
And he will come away more famous after this.
99.99% of people forgot about this & no one remembers him.
Now they just gave him another platform…

 

[AKRowdy]

I actually watched this team play my alma mater. It was a crazy sight to see. Literally no uniforms or pads until 5 min before game time and they were sharing helmets. Never seen anything like it.

 

[Bluto]

What could go wrong with privatizing education…lol.

 

[T-Boone]

I find the story funny. I see no harm done.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

The problem with that is they are just giving that guy what he wants, more attention.

They should have done an investigative piece instead & nailed him.
But they made him the star of it & gave him a platform to sell himself more.
And everyone knows he is a pathological liar, so when he is asked questions that actually could get him in trouble, he will just lie about it.
And he will say, “I told you guys the truth about all that bad stuff, so you can trust me…”
And that is how he will get away with the really bad lies, by giving in a little on the regular lies.
And he will come away more famous after this.
99.99% of people forgot about this & no one remembers him.
Now they just gave him another platform…

Wait, you've seen this already?

 

[Reaper97]

Wait, you've seen this already?

No.
I read about it and the person who wrote the article had been given an advanced showing.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

No.
I read about it and the person who wrote the article had been given an advanced showing.

Is there a link to the story?

I would hope this isn't painting the guy in a flattering light.

 

[Reaper97]

Is there a link to the story?

I would hope this isn't painting the guy in a flattering light.

No, but as you could see in the preview, he is openly embracing the spotlight & not admitting to any wrong.
Reminds me of LaVar Ball. How he loved the spotlight & even though everyone hated him, he just smiled & said outlandish things to build his brand.

 

[Reaper97]

Is there a link to the story?

I would hope this isn't painting the guy in a flattering light.

Also, the show was part of the Tribeca Film Festival so the review is from that.

Interestingly, the Johnson guy was paid to make this.
Michael Strahan’s production company made it.
A court ruled that they couldn’t pay Johnson for the documentary, so Strahan paid him for “the rights to his life story” which include Bishop Gorman.

So the dude got paid to participate.
And he uses the fact that he sold his story as an excuse to not have to answer questions to others, since he is not legally allowed to under the contract agreement.

Here are quotes from the director about it;

Free also said the film features over 30 hours of interviews with disgraced former head coach Roy Johnson, but he wants viewers to feel sympathy toward the kids and parents who were impacted by the fake school.

“We weren’t just dealing with a ragtag, like, scruffy football team that was like trying to bad news bears their way into, you know, beating IMG. It was a lot deeper,” he said.

“…”(Johnson) has this charm about him. That is a powerful tool that he used to make all this happen to begin with,” Free said.

But Free said that charm quickly faded away for he and the production team as he and the team interviewed the players, parents and others who were impacted by Johnson’s actions.

…Free said the film explores how the coach took advantage of the players who had big dreams and aspirations, and used them for his own benefit.

“Every pre-interview we did with kids or parents, it was just horror story after horror story of things we couldn’t even put in the movie,” Free said.

Free said Johnson was open during the time he was interviewed and candid, even when he probably shouldn’t have been. Free also said he was surprised Johnson didn’t walk out of the interview at times.


“If you tell (Johnson) there’s a camera and a microphone, he will show up because he has a story to tell and he wants to tell it. I’m like, ‘there’s no way this guy wants to or should be in front of a camera,’ and at every stage he is,” Free said.“

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

No, but as you could see in the preview, he is openly embracing the spotlight & not admitting to any wrong.
Reminds me of LaVar Ball. How he loved the spotlight & even though everyone hated him, he just smiled & said outlandish things to build his brand.

Where did you read this article? who is the author?

 

[Reaper97]

Where did you read this article? who is the author?

Did you see my second post.

It’s from the viewing at the Tribeca Film Festival.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Did you see my second post.

It’s from the viewing at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Forgive me, but I'm still confused. You said you read this. I'd like to read it as well. Where can I read what it was that you read?

All apologies if I'm not making sense.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

'BS High' Bishop Sycamore doc trailer shows off Roy Johnson's (paid-ish) participation: 'Did I break a law?'

The most fascinating part of Bishop Sycamore doc "BS High" may be how it handles coach Roy Johnson. A trailer gives some insight.

awfulannouncing.com

Here we are.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I find the story funny. I see no harm done.

Unfortunately, not the case. The people responsible ultimately took advantage of many troubled inner city black kids from broken homes and did it because they knew they could. They hid under the guise of being a private religious school and knew that no matter what they did nobody was really going to be able to do anything about it. Ohio's Governor launched an investigation and what came of it was a 79 page dossier that basically said there wasn't anything they could do about what was done.

I watched the HBO documentary. Roy Johnson doesn't portray himself as a decent person in any way shape or form. This isn't a Swamp Kings puff piece for him whatsoever. I don't see how anyone of decency and sound mind could watch this without determining that he is an asshole to the point that you almost have to wonder if there are mental health issues here. LIke a lot of people in our society today, he's not a very good crook or liar. He's a terrible person in plain sight that ultimately moves along because he's not breaking actual laws and plays on the margins exploiting loopholes.

The second part of it is that high school football is generating a lot of money in this country. That's money made off the backs of minors who are under the age of 18 playing cross country games on ESPN, etc. The only reason Johnson got caught was they played IMG on ESPN. That's it. A much smarter and more organized con artist is probably getting away with this already or could get away with it moving forward.

Prep sports powerhouse IMG Academy to be sold for $1.25 billion: What does it mean long term?

From an athletics standpoint, nothing is expected to change in terms of day-to-day operations and setup at IMG’s Bradenton campus.

theathletic.com

You will have to assume that there is going to be more of this.

 

[notredomer23]

Life Christian Academy coach: We're going to play Bishop Sycamore

Life Christian Academy is schedule to play Bishop Sycamore, the team at the center of HBO documentary "BS High," a coach says.

richmond.com

They're back

until they're not

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

We live in truly stupid times.