I Did Not Hold Back While Talking To The Head Coach Of Bishop Sycamore
Like a lot of you, I watched the HBO documentary "BS High" over the weekend and was aghast. If you haven't seen the doc, it goes into great detail about the head football coach and founder of Bishop Sycamore, a football first high school. The documentary at first highlights how the football team was ill-equipped to handle some of the games they played against (including a game against IMG Academy on ESPN).
The documentary took a dark turn when it showcased the ways Johnson scammed numerous businesses. It got even worse when you saw the team play a game on a Friday and then back again that same Sunday...all without a trainer on staff. It was terrible. Students on the documentary said they didn't take classes or even have a true brick and mortar school. Near the end, people told stories about how Johnson ran over a gaggle of geese and beat up a homeless man for breaking into his car. Johnson also was accused of domestic abuse. It was a one of the most depressing sports documentaries I've ever seen.
Yesterday, Doogs was able to land "The Matchmaker" Joe Maimone from the doc to come in studio. He did defend Johnson's "heart being in the right place" but not all of his actions. I did think that seemed bizarre and pushed him on it. I do give Maimone for coming in and having the discussion even though we did disagree.
After that interview was over, Maimone said that we could get Roy Johnson on air. Doogs, to his credit, jumped on that information and worked all night securing the interview with Johnson for today. A+ job by Doogs landing both of these guests at a time when the documentary is so newsworthy.
We had Johnson on Picks Central today, and to his credit, nothing was considered off-limits. He didn't hang up or run away even when we asked some tough questions. I do obviously disagree with his actions but you do have give someone props for facing some music. That's the last nice thing I'll say about Roy Johnson.
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We all did the best we could to ask questions that people watching the documentary would want to ask. I do feel very strongly that kids and their hopes and dreams are especially things that as adults we need to protect. That anyone would manipulate that at all is especially shitty. I feel very strongly that Roy Johnson should never work with children again.
Actions speak much louder than words. He seemed to accept that he had done things wrong when he was talking to us. But he also didn't offer any real plans to make these wrongs right. He needs to figure out a way to pay back those he has harmed. Unfortunately, it seems his focus is on getting Bishop Sycamore back up and running.
Check out the full episode of Picks Central here. Marty, Big Ev, Smitty and I all asked Johnson many more questions and some of the answers were really interesting.