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

[Pilot]

The only thing I want to know out of all this is...what was "Sarah's" endgame in all this? Did they expect not to get caught...when would they "retire" from the biz? How much longer would they have tried this scam?

even if this is the worst that can happen, I bet the ride was worth it.

The "worst" could be jail time for lying about their identity. I don't think that will be worth it.

Oh yeah, that part. Sorry, I was thinking mostly of the getting to ESPN part.

If you started a fake name on a gambling site and all this crap started happening, well, yeah, you'd go with it, I think.

 

[vivbernstein]

Great take by Clay Travis:

http://outkickthecoverage.com/sarah-phillips-and-the-big-con-of-internet-sportswriting.php

 

[VJ]

You've got to think Hoppes is in trouble simply for hiring someone who opened ESPN up to potential litigation like this. She/he was defrauding people with an ESPN column as her credibility.

 

[YGBFKM]

You would think, yes.

 

[TigerVols]

Has more work ever been expended on a story to less purpose?

My thoughts exactly. Good grief.

 

[TigerVols]

(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?

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.

They hired me...ran my stuff verbatim on Page 2 many times, and some of it was pretty out there, without ever asking for my sources (which did exist, BTW), and only knew me from friends-of-friends. When it comes time to feed the beast, sometimes what's on the menu is not always healthy.

 

[YGBFKM]

If only it fit a narrative.

 

[mustangj17]

Has more work ever been expended on a story to less purpose?

My thoughts exactly. Good grief.

Disagree, Facebook pages with 800k likes and Twitter accounts with 60k are expensive property worth thousands of dollars. The fact that ESPN employed someone that stole those items would be no different than an employee robbing a bank.

 

[YGBFKM]

Where's the political angle?

 

[mustangj17]

This shows just how impossible it is to actually monetize Facebook and Twitter, and how desperate people are to turn it into a lottery ticket.

It's actually not that hard to monetize Facebook. The Deadspin story showed how a 19-year-old was making a couple hundo by creating an NBA memes page. Imagine what he could do with it full time. There is money to be had if done right.

 

[TigerVols]

Great take by Clay Travis:

http://outkickthecoverage.com/sarah-phillips-and-the-big-con-of-internet-sportswriting.php

It was pretty good until he posted the porker video at the end.

 

[king cranium maximus IV]

This shows just how impossible it is to actually monetize Facebook and Twitter, and how desperate people are to turn it into a lottery ticket.

It's actually not that hard to monetize Facebook. The Deadspin story showed how a 19-year-old was making a couple hundo by creating an NBA memes page. Imagine what he could do with it full time. There is money to be had if done right.

(I know, not really. But I can't keep from being reminded.)