BS High/HBO

BISHOP SYCAMORE COMMITTED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY 

If you have never heard of the "sports team" that was Bishop Sycamore, I will provide a mere summary but I recommend to watch this video as well as the HBO documentary I just watched called "BS High". Bishop Sycamore, created by the feller imaged above named Roy Johnson, started this massive scam that was called a "hybrid prep and high school" according to him that led many young impressionable minds to believe they were recruited by Johnson for their football talents and were reeled in with the  false advertisement of "we are here to help you play Division 1 football" as said by Roy Johnson and his staff. Bishop Sycamore and the story behind it has been the talk of the sports world as it should be. It is easy to currently make a mockery of the idea behind Bishop Sycamore and the wrongdoings by Roy Johnson, but this should really be studied thoroughly so that it never repeats itself or is at least stopped much earlier.

I myself have never played a lick of organized tackle football. When I was in high school, I was never a highly touted athlete looking to play college sports. I never once had to deal with the uncertainties that comes with being a student athlete just looking to play at the next level. But, I can relate to coming from a broken home using high school sports as an outlet. But, I am now a high school basketball coach looking to do any and everything I can to get my athletes to the next level. It is an honor and blessing to be called coach, at any level. A coach is someone that a young person spends the most time with other than their parents. To have that privilege, we must honor thy name. It is a privilege to coach anything, not a right. I am aware of the many facades that comes with high school sports and recruiting. I am blessed to be raised well and to go on and  execute on what is right and what is wrong. In the case of Bishop Sycamore, it has nothing to do with football but rather being morally sound. 

Roy Johnson, as egotistical as it gets, is getting exactly what he wanted: people saying his name and talking about Bishop Sycamore. There are so many immoral things that Johnson has done throughout the years I am not sure where to start. But, let's just begin with what was just before Bishop Sycamore, which was called "Christians of Faith" Academy. COF Academy was an arm of the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. Of course with any business, you need funding for supplies and equipment. Roy Johnson attempted to take out loans--that he knew he would not pay back-- and put them in the church's name or even his own late mother's non profit organization's name. This is a disgrace to the Christian community and what we hold true. Johnson used the church and the Christian name in vain for his own personal gain. Actions will always speak louder than words. Johnson's acts have not once been that of a Christian, but rather a fool. That is when the church disavowed any relation to the team which is when Roy decided to rebrand into Bishop Sycamore. Roy Johnson does stand at an estimated total of three hundred thousand dollars of debt in unpaid fees such as hotel rooms and loans. Though contractually Bishop Sycamore did agree to abide by Ohio High School Sports Association, but since the "school" was classified as a religious school he technically by the rule book did not commit any crimes. Though his reputation should be as shattered as it gets. 

The recruiting world in my eyes is as dicey as they come. Sometimes scouts actually do hold true to their word on what they say to these young athletes. Examples like Bishop Sycamore are one of the worst. Roy Johnson called himself a coach and was advertised as a head coach of a football program. Bishop Sycamore's target demographic were kids that did not have any other offers to play college football, did not have the grades to get into their desired college, or came from a broken home and was sold on the opportunity that was to continue their football career. A vast majority of Sycamore's players were black. I only mention this because Johnson knew he was able to take advantage of the young, impressionable, and lack of knowledge that was the average athlete in a bad area just looking to make it out. These kids were just looking to get out of a bad situation and provide for their families. Johnson told these kids they were being recruited to a program that was to continue their education while playing at a great athletic program that is going to get them into a Division 1 football program. Heck even the basic things such as pre and post game meals, safe living spaces, safe travels, etcetera. Sycamore would advertise a dream school which consisted of an indoor and outdoor practice facility, huge ponds for fishing, just the whole nine yards. Of course it was all a pipe dream. But in the mind of these kids who come from a broken home with no future in sight, anything in their eyes was better than sitting at home. If there was any chance to continue their football career, they were going to take it. 

The day to day living of these athletes was a disgrace to hear. The ideology of the student-athlete was completely thrown out of the window by Roy Johnson. These athletes were looking to improve or maintain their gpa and continue to seek education so that they can prepare for their SAT and ACT tests. Sycamore failed to help in any way. In the documentary, athletes say they rarely if ever actually had school. Even saying there were zero teachers despite. There was one instance where Johnson told his players they were going to have school as a local university's library. The next day the players then went to the library to then find out the doors were locked and it was yet another lie. During the football season, the hotels these players were staying at were never paid for by Johnson as he often would just leave them unpaid or put it on someone else’s name without their permission. The players even got evicted and would have to move from complex to complex as Johnson never paid for rent. As the documentary stated they would live in a place on average for only just three months before getting evicted. To make matters even worse, these players would get kicked out of the local Walmart's as they felt the need to steal pre-made meals and drinks from the store in order to survive. It does not even end there. In the midst of the post-pandemic era, Johnson had already begun taking advantage of the pandemic and how it had left some in confusion of their next step in athletics. Johnson encouraged and taught many of his players how to commit the infamous Payment Protection Program loan scam that was only meant for small businesses during the pandemic. The HBO documentary states how dozens of Bishop Sycamore players committed these scams, which put these players into thousands of dollars of debt. So Roy Johnson was building the conman and the thief with the horrible living conditions in these players rather than a student athlete. For all of this to go along as long as it did is sad. 

ESPN

I can not think of a more recent atrocity than what has been Bishop Sycamore. So for they have only exemplified having zero disregard for their athletes and only caring about themselves and money. I have failed to even mention yet that these players also had a tuition to attend the school that was around twelve thousand dollars. Being a "religious school" it gave Sycamore the ability to not be against the law. Though it still had to abide by Ohio High School Sports Association rules, the OHSSA could not
regulate them. Diving into the infamous Bishop Sycamore vs IMG academy game that was aired live on ESPN, Sycamore committed yet again many sickening acts in my eyes. This game was less than forty-eight hours before their previous game which alone is just unheard of. In the documentary Johnson tries to negate the fact that it was against the rules of playing his football players back to back games by saying "where in the rule book does it say that? was it against the rules? no". Football is a direct bang-bang contact sport. No one in their right mind is playing back to back games. Let alone the second half of that back to back being to a prestigious school such as IMG Academy looking to dominate. Two Sycamore players tore their ACLs in this game. The "school" had zero athletic trainers on staff, rather only a now very concerned team mom. The second player who tore his ACL, told the coaches "I heard something pop", the coaches responded "If it does not hurt keep playing". The player later found out he tore his ACL and played through it without any stoppage. Sycamore's quarterback, being hit nonstop by IMG's elite defense, noticeably threw his shoulder out of the socket yet almost played through it if it wasn't for his mother--the team mom--benching him for the team's backup quarterback which was the teams starting defensive back. Johnson and his coaching staff had a complete disregard for its players and was just happy to be seen on national television playing against IMG Academy. Whether they actually played any football or win or lost the game they did not care, in their eyes since they got to play on ESPN against a big school they had won. These thus creates and brings about an even bigger problem within the sports world.

In Roy Johnson's eyes he is some genius. In his eyes he brought in kids from poor neighborhoods and gave them a place to continue their football career when they had no other option. In his eyes he did not break any law or rules. In his eyes he has won and his plan was a success since he got to be featured in a HBO documentary and got to play against IMG Academy on ESPN. That there is the problem. It is only in his eyes. What about the many parents Johnson has now lied to, as they trusted this man in sending their sons away for months believing they'd be well fed, safe, and have a place to continue their football career? What about the players he falsely sold many pipe dreams to that now have to make an even bigger comeback from being embarrassed and laughed at as many ask how could they even believe anything Johnson told them? What about the life risk you put the players in every game and practice without them having proper equipment or an athletic trainer? What about the harms way you put these players in leading them to steal, commit PPP loan scam, and live in a hostile environment? You can not call yourself a coach doing these such acts. The only good I can think of in this situation is these players still get to live to see another day. They can't get the time they wasted back. The embarrassment on their name may wash away, but the time they will never regain. The trauma caused that now may have them to have serious trust issues will now need to be regained. For Roy to sit back and try his best to negate everything he has done and not take accountability is sad. If he has any sort of real love or desire for coaching and the betterment of athletes, I believe it is best for Johnson to seek out professional help. Especially if he does not understand the magnitude of his actions. In the documentary, his mannerisms, body language, and the way he said things all led me to believe that is a man in dire need of professional help. As men we should not be proud of keeping our emotional traumas to ourselves and keeping it in like poison. As many things have gone wrong with Bishop Sycamore, putting the players safety in harms way could have been much worse and devastating. The only thing Roy Johnson and anyone that works with him has showcased is they only care about themselves and publicity. Sports are not just for notoriety. The game that people love today should not be allowed to be played in vain. For these kids that is their dream to play in the NFL and coming out of broken homes, Johnson took that and manipulated it for his own advance. 

I end this with a Bible verse that immediately came to mind after watching that documentary. Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Take that for what you will.