Sarah Phillips

[golfitup]

Very fascinating read. It'll take a bit, but it's worth it.

http://deadspin.com/5906658

[DC Muskie]

I just read this today and I have to say...Wow.

My biggest question is...how do you hire someone that you never met in person?

[waggy]

Fired by ESPN. Hopefully they'll get a visit from the authorities in their area.

[STL_XUfan]

Very fascinating read. It'll take a bit, but it's worth it.

http://deadspin.com/5906658

I am often pleasantly surprised by the quality of journalism that can appear on deadspin.

[nkymuskie]

I am often pleasantly surprised by the quality of journalism that can appear on deadspin.

I completely agree. For covering the odd and random happenings of the sports world they are pretty good at tossing in some serious journalism every once and a while. One of my favorite articles was where they made a fake twitter to see what was the best way to be retweeted by an athlete. Not that it was particularly good research journalism, but it was a funny read. The site is definitely worth checking out a few times a week.

[SlimKibbles]

That story is messed up. The two guys that were conned in the story did more than I have been capable of when building a friendship or whatever with someone online. I'm kind of a doubting Thomas. I won't even believe that Snipe exists unless I were meet him someday.

[Titanxman04]

That story is messed up. The two guys that were conned in the story did more than I have been capable of when building a friendship or whatever with someone online. I'm kind of a doubting Thomas. I won't even believe that Snipe exists unless I were meet him someday.

I've met Snipe...no amount of therapy can ever change that.

Crazy story though. Absolutely nuts.

[DC Muskie]

Deadspin is awesome at telling us how much ESPN sucks.

[BBC 08]

More stuff on Phillips from Awful Announcing:

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/april/sarah-phillips-and-nilesh-prasad-connection-traces-back-to-sheldon-high-school.html

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/may/the-sarah-phillips-mystery-goes-way-beyond-espn-and-into-the-farthest-reaches-of-the-twitterverse.html

[blueblob06]

Some funny photos bashing Phillips are out there already on the NBA memes facebook page...
http://www.facebook.com/NBAMemes?filter=2

[Jumpy]

So, I'm still confused. Is Sarah Phillips real or not? From the article, it looks like "Sarah Phillips" is a front for the scam artist Nilesh Prasad. However, there seems to be a real woman who has been involved since "she" was signed on at ESPN. Is she a model/actress brought on to play Phillips?

Very strange story. It adds interesting insight into how normal, every day people can allow themselves to be scammed. From the outside looking in, we wonder how can anyone be so stupid to let this happen to themselves. The article, though, does a good job of laying out all the little decisions and ignored red flags along the way to show how the process was slow and deliberate on the scammer's part, offering just enough glitter of promise tha this is the real deal to allow the scamees to overlook signs of trouble.

[blueblob06]

So, I'm still confused. Is Sarah Phillips real or not? From the article, it looks like "Sarah Phillips" is a front for the scam artist Nilesh Prasad. However, there seems to be a real woman who has been involved since "she" was signed on at ESPN. Is she a model/actress brought on to play Phillips?

Very strange story.

Jumpy, I'm in the same boat as you. So much going on there. I feel bad for the 18 year old who basically lost his website to them. Hope he gets it back somehow.

[GoMuskies]

This story has quite the mix of being bizarre, interesting and incredibly unimportant.

[Jumpy]

Jumpy, I'm in the same boat as you. So much going on there. I feel bad for the 18 year old who basically lost his website to them. Hope he gets it back somehow.

What's weird is that there seems to be a real Sarah Philips that is somehow linked to Prasad. There is an address in Oregon tied to her dad and she is a registered student at Oregon. So, has her identity been stolen? Does she know that it has? Its hard to imagine that she doesn't know that "she" is writing a blog for ESPN. If she does know, why hasn't she come public with the issue? If she is in on it, why all the pictures of different women early on? So many questions, I demand answers! I DEMAND SATISFACTION!

[blueblob06]

What's weird is that there seems to be a real Sarah Philips that is somehow linked to Prasad. There is an address in Oregon tied to her dad and she is a registered student at Oregon. So, has her identity been stolen? Does she know that it has? Its hard to imagine that she doesn't know that "she" is writing a blog for ESPN. If she does know, why hasn't she come public with the issue? If she is in on it, why all the pictures of different women early on? So many questions, I demand answers! I DEMAND SATISFACTION!

All good questions.

I'm sure ESPN will try to hide this story so that we don't get that satisfaction!

[Juice]

All good questions.

I'm sure ESPN will try to hide this story so that we don't get that satisfaction!

I hate ESPN as much as the next person but from what I've read, it sounds like they were tricked as well.

[DC Muskie]

I hate ESPN as much as the next person but from what I've read, it sounds like they were tricked as well.

That's what happens when you don't meet someone in person when you hire them.

Am I wrong?

[Juice]

That's what happens when you don't meet someone in person when you hire them.

Am I wrong?

I would agree and thought it was weird as well but then I read this:


I wrote for CBS Sports for three years without meeting a single editor face-to-face. Then I wrote for Deadspin without meeting a single editor face-to-face. Then I wrote for FanHouse for six months before I met a single editor face-to-face.

Hell, I wrote and published my first book, "Dixieland Delight", for a major publisher, Harper-Collins, before I met an editor face-to-face.

In fact, the only sports writing job I've ever interviewed for face-to-face was with Yahoo Sports.



This is from a post by Clay Travis on his own blog about this whole scandal or whatever it is.

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

[SlimKibbles]

This story has quite the mix of being bizarre, interesting and incredibly unimportant.

That's an excellent way to put it.

[Kahns Krazy]

That's what happens when you don't meet someone in person when you hire them.

Am I wrong?

I doubt that is uncommon in the world of freelance writing. I know a writer who has had articles published in a number of papers and magazines, and I don't think he's met anyone from many of those publications.

"She" was writing a blog about gambling and funny pictures, if I'm reading that article right. Who really cares if it was written by her or some ghost writer that was using her name and picture?

[Ledgewood]

Who really cares if it was written by her or some ghost writer that was using her name and picture?

Thats what theyre trying to figure out. If it was just some dudes putting stuff out there using a profile of a hot ass beeyatch as a front to swindle dudes out of thousands of bucks. Which sounds like what happened. If thats the case, I'm sure this chick let them use her pictures and junk in exchange for some coin.

[blueblob06]

All good questions.

I'm sure ESPN will try to hide this story so that we don't get that satisfaction!


I hate ESPN as much as the next person but from what I've read, it sounds like they were tricked as well.
Agreed, but whenever something happens that makes ESPN look bad (or in this case, dumb), they ignore and/or avoid sharing info about it.

[Kahns Krazy]

Agreed, but whenever something happens that makes ESPN look bad (or in this case, dumb), they ignore and/or avoid sharing info about it.

I don't think that is exclusive territory to ESPN.

ESPN is a for profit entertainment entity. I don't understand when people get bent out of shape when they look out for themselves.

As Go pointed out already, this is an interesting story, but nothing more. ESPN was not involved in anything ciminal. They paid for some copy and got it. The people behind the copy appear to also be involved in some schemes that may border on criminal, but just because ESPN happened to be involved in some legitimate business transactions with the individuals involved doesn't make them look bad or dumb unless you want it to.

Charles Manson used to drink at the City View. Does that make the City View an evil place?

[blueblob06]

Agreed, but whenever something happens that makes ESPN look bad (or in this case, dumb), they ignore and/or avoid sharing info about it.


I don't think that is exclusive territory to ESPN.

ESPN is a for profit entertainment entity. I don't understand when people get bent out of shape when they look out for themselves.

As Go pointed out already, this is an interesting story, but nothing more. ESPN was not involved in anything ciminal. They paid for some copy and got it. The people behind the copy appear to also be involved in some schemes that may border on criminal, but just because ESPN happened to be involved in some legitimate business transactions with the individuals involved doesn't make them look bad or dumb unless you want it to.

Charles Manson used to drink at the City View. Does that make the City View an evil place?

I think if a company hires and employs someone who isn't who they say they are and they don't realize that, they do look dumb. I'm not wanting them to look dumb, I just think they look dumb in this scenario.

[Kahns Krazy]

I think if a company hires and employs someone who isn't who they say they are and they don't realize that, they do look dumb. I'm not wanting them to look dumb, I just think they look dumb in this scenario.

Freelance writing isn't a "hire and employ" situation. The writer writes the words and sells them to the buyer. ESPN got what they bought. They don't have to fire her, because they never hired her.

If I meet with the owner of a landscape company and he agrees to cut my grass every week but a different guy shows up every week and cuts my grass, do I care if I've met the actual grass cutter, or do I care that my grass is cut?

It would be embarrasing to ESPN if a freelancer was selling them articles copied and pasted from wikipedia, but that is not what happened here.

I'm not even sure it's been documented that Sarah Phillips wasn't the person writing and selling her writing to ESPN. So she's guilty of padding her resume.

[sweet16]

Charles Manson used to drink at the City View. Does that make the City View an evil place?

I was honestly starting to believe that I dreamt that........I have never heard anyone (until now) ever mention that and everyone I've told over the years looked at me like I had two heads.

[blueblob06]

I think if a company hires and employs someone who isn't who they say they are and they don't realize that, they do look dumb. I'm not wanting them to look dumb, I just think they look dumb in this scenario.


Freelance writing isn't a "hire and employ" situation. The writer writes the words and sells them to the buyer. ESPN got what they bought. They don't have to fire her, because they never hired her.


ESPN released a statement that they fired her after this happened. I see what you're saying though. This is trivial though so let's end on this note. Dayton sucks.

Here's an update from Deadspin this afternoon:
Updates, 2:10 p.m. (May 2):

• Ben, the 19-year-old college student who lost his NBA Memes Facebook page to Phillips and Nilesh Prasad, now has it back. Phillips returned it to him shortly after our story was posted.

• The Sports Comedy Network's Facebook page—the website that Phillips and Prasad created—is gone. It's either been deleted, or they've hidden it. The Sports Comedy Network website (and its little countdown clock) remains.

• ESPN.com editor-in-chief Patrick Stiegman provided Deadspin this comment on its hiring practices in the wake of the Phillips scandal:


Sarah Phillips provided the information necessary to contribute to us. We will review this instance and see if anything needs to be changed with our process.

[Kahns Krazy]

ESPN released a statement that they fired her after this happened.

Can you find an actual statement from ESPN that says "fired"? The only place I found (deadspin) that had a quote from ESPN was
ESPN spokesman just told me: "We've ended our freelance relationship with her."

Lots of other outlets are using the term "fired", but it's still not a traditional employer/employee arrangement.

[Jumpy]

I doubt that is uncommon in the world of freelance writing. I know a writer who has had articles published in a number of papers and magazines, and I don't think he's met anyone from many of those publications.

"She" was writing a blog about gambling and funny pictures, if I'm reading that article right. Who really cares if it was written by her or some ghost writer that was using her name and picture?

I'm sure the real sarah Philips cares that this guy used her likeness to swindle thousands of dollars from one guy and a popular web page from another. (Unless she herself was in on it, in which case why would she be so blatantly stupid?) Im sure there is a federal prosecutor somewhere in California or Oregon that cares as well. I'm sure the two guys that were taken by this rat care as well.

I get what you're driving towards, but I think it's a bigger deal than you make it to be. This person or group of people used her association with a large cable network to swindle two people. Now it comes out that this freelance writer for one of the largest online sports writing entities on the planet probably isn't real, something ESPN should have caught if they had done just a little bit of research before paying this person to write for them. Just because it's industry standard to hire writers sight unseen doesn't mean it's not lazy, irresponsible and potentially harmful.

[Kahns Krazy]

I was honestly starting to believe that I dreamt that........I have never heard anyone (until now) ever mention that and everyone I've told over the years looked at me like I had two heads.

I have no firsthand knowledge of it. It could be Urban Legend. My understanding is that the City View does not serve any tequila at all, and it's because that was Manson's drink in there.

[Kahns Krazy]

I'm sure the real sarah Philips cares that this guy used her likeness to swindle thousands of dollars from one guy and a popular web page from another..

Where did you get the information that the "real" Sarah Philips wasn't involved in this? Everything I've seen (including a video) seems to indicate that Sarah Philips was very much involved, probably with a partner or at the very least an alias.

Who do you think is in the video?

Do you think that there are people who work at P&G who have exaggerated or lied on their resumes? Should that be embarrasing to P&G, or do you as a consumer feel like you have a right to hear the whole story?

This chick was writing a blog about gambling. Now you want this to be about "one of the largest online sports writing entities " engaging in " irresponsible and potentially harmful" activities? Seriously? Federal Prosecutors?

Let me stop you before this gets to Lord of the Flies, Blood in the Water type stuff.

[Jumpy]

Where did you get the information that the "real" Sarah Philips wasn't involved in this? Everything I've seen (including a video) seems to indicate that Sarah Philips was very much involved, probably with a partner or at the very least an alias.

Who do you think is in the video?

Do you think that there are people who work at P&G who have exaggerated or lied on their resumes? Should that be embarrasing to P&G, or do you as a consumer feel like you have a right to hear the whole story?

This chick was writing a blog about gambling. Now you want this to be about "one of the largest online sports writing entities " engaging in " irresponsible and potentially harmful" activities? Seriously? Federal Prosecutors?

Let me stop you before this gets to Lord of the Flies, Blood in the Water type stuff.

You're a little too dismissive of my argument, but I'll continue anyway. Did you not read the article in the original post? There see many indicators early on that the "Sarah Philips" writing the blog posts and parting guys from their money and web sites very well might have been someone else. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the person in the video was someone other than the real Sarah Philips?

If P&G were to hire someone with specific credentials to be a public figure representing the company, then yes it would be embarrassing to them if that persons credentials turned out to be contrived.

I'm sure that federal prosecutors are interested in this case, considering someone parted two men across state lines from their money and website. Never did I intone that ESPN would be legally liable, so if you mis-read that I did, my apologies.

[LA Muskie]

You're a little too dismissive of my argument, but I'll continue anyway. Did you not read the article in the original post? There see many indicators early on that the "Sarah Philips" writing the blog posts and parting guys from their money and web sites very well might have been someone else. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, the person in the video was someone other than the real Sarah Philips?

If P&G were to hire someone with specific credentials to be a public figure representing the company, then yes it would be embarrassing to them if that persons credentials turned out to be contrived.

I'm sure that federal prosecutors are interested in this case, considering someone parted two men across state lines from their money and website. Never did I intone that ESPN would be legally liable, so if you mis-read that I did, my apologies.

I agree your theory is plausible. But I think the much more likely scenario is that she was in on the scam.

[Kahns Krazy]

Where we differ is that I don't see a blog about gambling as "a public figure representing the company".

A guy paid $2,100 for some online advertising without a contract on a now defunct website and he says he didn't get it. I sincerely hope that federal prosecutors have bigger things to worry about.

[Jumpy]

Where we differ is that I don't see a blog about gambling as "a public figure representing the company".

A guy paid $2,100 for some online advertising without a contract on a now defunct website and he says he didn't get it. I sincerely hope that federal prosecutors have bigger things to worry about.

And they also used their ties to ESPN to con a teenager out of control of a very popular web page that is potentially worth many more thousands, if not millions. There's a lot of reason to prosecute.

[golfitup]

This story has quite the mix of being bizarre, interesting and incredibly unimportant.

lol, well said.

[golfitup]

This is a great summation of this very weird story.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/may/the-sarah-phillips-mystery-goes-way-beyond-espn-and-into-the-farthest-reaches-of-the-twitterverse.html

[Kahns Krazy]

And they also used their ties to ESPN to con a teenager out of control of a very popular web page that is potentially worth many more thousands, if not millions. There's a lot of reason to prosecute.

Millions? Blood in the water! Lord of the Flies!

I don't even think the guy technically owns the web page, it's a Facebook page. According the the article, he had made a "few hundred dollars" from advertising. There is a legitimate copyright question hanging out there if he's using Getty images to generate income for himself. I seriously doubt that there is any chance that guy can convert his facebook page into cash in the thousands, much less millions.

They also gave him his administration rights back, so I don't know what kind of actual harm took place that you would prosecute.

I still don't get how this is supposed to reflect badly on ESPN. It's small time scamming.

[Jumpy]

Millions? Blood in the water! Lord of the Flies!

I don't even think the guy technically owns the web page, it's a Facebook page. According the the article, he had made a "few hundred dollars" from advertising. There is a legitimate copyright question hanging out there if he's using Getty images to generate income for himself. I seriously doubt that there is any chance that guy can convert his facebook page into cash in the thousands, much less millions.

They also gave him his administration rights back, so I don't know what kind of actual harm took place that you would prosecute.

I still don't get how this is supposed to reflect badly on ESPN. It's small time scamming.

The kid already had tens of thousands of followers Of a Facebook page without even trying. That could easily be parlayed into a dedicated site that pulls in tens of thousands a month, if he were dedicated to it. Do you realize how much money is flowing through online advertising? The hard part is catching the attention of the masses, something he had already done and the reason why he was targeted in the first place. Why do you think Facebook paid a billion dollars for a simple mobile picture app?

They gave it back so what's the harm, right? Do you think they would have given it back if this story hadn't blown up? They were in the process of doing the same thing to another guy.

Either way, this conversation is done. You're too close minded to have an actual discussion with, and frankly I'm done with your weak attempts at denigrating my position.

[blueblob06]

The kid already had tens of thousands of followers Of a Facebook page without even trying. That could easily be parlayed into a dedicated site that pulls in tens of thousands a month, if he were dedicated to it. Do you realize how much money is flowing through online advertising? The hard part is catching the attention of the masses, something he had already done and the reason why he was targeted in the first place. Why do you think Facebook paid a billion dollars for a simple mobile picture app?

They gave it back so what's the harm, right? Do you think they would have given it back if this story hadn't blown up? They were in the process of doing the same thing to another guy.

Either way, this conversation is done. You're too close minded to have an actual discussion with, and frankly I'm done with your weak attempts at denigrating my position.

Well said Jumpy

[Kahns Krazy]

The kid already had tens of thousands of followers Of a Facebook page without even trying. That could easily be parlayed into a dedicated site that pulls in tens of thousands a month, if he were dedicated to it. Do you realize how much money is flowing through online advertising? The hard part is catching the attention of the masses, something he had already done and the reason why he was targeted in the first place. Why do you think Facebook paid a billion dollars for a simple mobile picture app?

They gave it back so what's the harm, right? Do you think they would have given it back if this story hadn't blown up? They were in the process of doing the same thing to another guy.

Either way, this conversation is done. You're too close minded to have an actual discussion with, and frankly I'm done with your weak attempts at denigrating my position.

I'm sorry. You are correct. Facebook pages can be worth millions. It happens all the time. I just can't think of any offhand.

I'm also quite sure that the copyright owners of the pictures in question would have absolutely no problem with some kid hosting their material and making $10,000 a month.

ESPN is evil and I hope federal prosecuters are all up in their business over this.

[LA Muskie]

Millions? Blood in the water! Lord of the Flies!

I don't even think the guy technically owns the web page, it's a Facebook page. According the the article, he had made a "few hundred dollars" from advertising. There is a legitimate copyright question hanging out there if he's using Getty images to generate income for himself. I seriously doubt that there is any chance that guy can convert his facebook page into cash in the thousands, much less millions.

They also gave him his administration rights back, so I don't know what kind of actual harm took place that you would prosecute.

I still don't get how this is supposed to reflect badly on ESPN. It's small time scamming.
When it comes to tech and new media, I wouldn't discount the potential windfall of profits. Facebook bought Instragram -- which had never made a dime (and that's not merely no profit, that's no revenue) -- for $1 billion.

As for using Getting images, Perez Hilton (http://perezhilton.com/) has made millions blatantly using unlicensed copyrighted images under the guise of the fair use defense.

[Kahns Krazy]

There is some potential for that, but there are 10,000 pages that never make a dime for every instagram.

You might even have a hard time proving that anything criminal happened here. Business deals go bad all the time without anything illegal taking place.

I just have a different opinion of what the value of the damage done in this whole "scandal" is.

I found this brief description of the types of crimes that would raise to the "federal prosecution" level:

As a consequence of both law and practice, the crimes most frequently prosecuted by the federal government include drug trafficking offenses, organized crime, and financial crimes, large scale frauds and crimes in which there is a special federal interest such as crimes against federal officials, and frauds against the United States. In addition, there are certain crimes that only the federal government may prosecute. These include customs offenses, offenses involving federal tax matters, and crimes of espionage and treason.


I do not think the Sarah Phillips scenario is on par with that description.

[LA Muskie]

I do not think the Sarah Phillips scenario is on par with that description.
It wouldn't on its own merit a federal prosecution, although the publicity it has garnered would weigh in favor of prosecution. Federal prosecutors like to use publicity to make examples. See, e.g., the Barry Bonds prosecution. (That is not presented as an illustration of an example well made...)

[LA Muskie]

There is some potential for that, but there are 10,000 pages that never make a dime for every instagram.
In fact you're probably being far too generous. I wasn't suggesting that his site was worth anything at all. My point was simply that it only takes 1 very rich person to find value in an otherwise value-less site (or to be scared out of his wits about its potential as a competitor).

[Kahns Krazy]

The weirdest part of all this is that with the breaks that were going her way, Sarah probably had a legitimate opportunity to earn far more than she was able to scam. If she had put up some advertising on her site and actually partnered with the NBA meme guy instead of stealing his page views, there was probably a legitimate business opportunity.

Now, over the matter of a couple thousand dollars, she has no shot.