Deadspin: Is an ESPN columnist scamming people on the Internet?

BDC99 · May 2, 2012

I find this story fascinating. This young woman is supposed to be an expert gambler, somehow swings a job with ESPN then tries to build her own site while still working for ESPN. Meanwhile they are conning young successful bloggers into giving away their sites while using the ESPN name. Fell bad for the poor kid who lost his NBA Memes site. What a couple of scumbags these people are. And Sarah Phillips' reputation is completely ruined. Not sure where she can go from here.

da man · May 3, 2012

mythirdalt said:

PaperClip529 said:

derwood said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

Double Down said:

(One) moral of the story:

Any scenario that involves an attractive female on the Internet cannot be vetted thoroughly enough, and your default position, whether you are a high level editor or partial owner of a parody Willie Wonka Twitter account, should be: Is this a scam?
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This is a great point. It just blows my mind that ESPN would hire someone to write for Page 2 without ever meeting them in person if no one else there had ever met her.
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How did they pay her? At the very least she had to fill out tax documents.
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This is the one question that I want an answer to. I did a freelance story for ESPN once (it was only a 500-word game story) and I had to fill out four pages of paperwork in order to get paid. Was ESPN leaving money in an envelope at some random park?
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She's a real person. It just appears her Indian buddy was doing a lot of the writing. And scamming.
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That's unpossible. Indian buddies are faithful companions.

Johnny Chase · May 3, 2012

Surprised nobody has mentioned this tidbit from the latest deadspin article -

One reader—Chris, from Eugene—said Prasad and Phillips first met when Prasad was a senior in high school, and she was an eighth grader (and still in middle school). They started dating not long after, said our source.
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http://deadspin.com/5907081/sources-sarah-phillips-and-nilesh-prasad-picked-games-together-scammed-people-together-got-fired-from-t+mobile-together

TyWebb · May 3, 2012

On top of the Catfish vibe I'm getting from this story, I'm also getting a Social Network vibe, only Zuckerberg, in this case, is a hot girl.

Get David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin on the phone immediately.

Big Circus · May 3, 2012

Vince Young gets scammed:

http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2012/05/the-internet-is-for-scams.html

Mizzougrad96 · May 3, 2012

"Hey, I'm a degenerate gambler and I want to work for ESPN!!!"

"Yeah, you and everybody else..."

"But I'm a hot chick!!!"

"YOU'RE HIRED!!!"

Pancamo · May 3, 2012

mythirdalt said:

PaperClip529 said:

derwood said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

Double Down said:

(One) moral of the story:

Any scenario that involves an attractive female on the Internet cannot be vetted thoroughly enough, and your default position, whether you are a high level editor or partial owner of a parody Willie Wonka Twitter account, should be: Is this a scam?
Click to expand...

This is a great point. It just blows my mind that ESPN would hire someone to write for Page 2 without ever meeting them in person if no one else there had ever met her.
Click to expand...

How did they pay her? At the very least she had to fill out tax documents.
Click to expand...

This is the one question that I want an answer to. I did a freelance story for ESPN once (it was only a 500-word game story) and I had to fill out four pages of paperwork in order to get paid. Was ESPN leaving money in an envelope at some random park?
Click to expand...

She's a real person. It just appears her Indian buddy was doing a lot of the writing. And scamming.
Click to expand...

When I first read this comment, I thought you were referring to Hoppes.

Mizzougrad96 · May 3, 2012

I did too, if only for a second or two...

HappyCurmudgeon · Jun 8, 2012

Dick Whitman said:

Mizzougrad96 said:

dooley_womack1 said:

I think with Hoppes, the mass of love here cowed detractors into silence. Now, the critics have cowed the supporters into silence
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I don't think that's the case at all. I think he's always been someone who is very polarizing. I've always liked Lynn and he's given career breaks to more than one of my friends, who all swore by him when he was in Orlando. By the same token, it's never been a secret that many of the writers who were in Orlando when he arrived didn't care for him and felt he favored the writers he hired. That's the case at most papers.

He also posted here under his own name and there's always been an insane level of interest in the Sentinel on this board, largely because there was so much turnover there for such a long time.

But, if you look at the list of people he hired when he was in Orlando, it's pretty damn impressive.

That said, the video tour of his office is one of the worst things I've ever seen and if he hired this person to write for Page 2, he may have a hard time coming back from that.
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The turnover portion of Mizzou's post accounts for a lot of it. There was a lot of turnover there, plus, unlike a lot of other metros, they would publicly post their openings. That's a perfect storm for SportsJournalists.com, back in the day.
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I give Lynn credit, few people have done a better job of milking Van McKenzie's career achievements.

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Deadspin: Is an ESPN columnist scamming people on the Internet?

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