There have been many strange stories in sports history with layers of intrigue, but few have swept the country quite like the one that began a year ago today.
August 29, 2022 marks the first anniversary of the infamous IMG Academy vs. Bishop Sycamore game. It was a nationally televised high school game believed to be between two relatively evenly matched schools.
Instead, the game was a blowout, with IMG Academy leading Bishop Sycamore 37-0 at halftime before winning 58-0. The game was so one-sided that ESPN’s networks began questioning Bishop Sycamore’s legitimacy as a respected high school program.
These questions quickly manifested themselves in a scandal that would stun the entire sporting landscape. Within days, inquiries were made into the school’s legitimacy and it was soon revealed that the whole thing was basically a huge scam.
In the weeks and months that followed, Bishop Sycamore became a national meme. And fans took to Twitter to celebrate the incredible story and revel in the memories:
In the weeks and months since that fateful match, all sorts of strange details have come to light.
Apparently, Bishop Sycamore sometimes played full football games twice in three days. They would brag about having four- and five-star high school prospects in their ranks, when in fact they had about a half-dozen players who were in their 20s with kids.
The organization’s founder, athletic director and head football coach, Leroy “Roy” Johnson, was revealed to be an active warrant on charges of “fraudulent misrepresentation, proselytism and unjust enrichment”.
There are far more wild details to this scandal than can fit into a single day’s reading. But the memes will likely endure forever.
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