Bedlam on Baltic Avenue: 11/01/2021

FFXIV: Everytime

#FFXIV #Endwalker

Palmeiras: 2021 Copa Libertadores Winners

Palmeiras won the Copa Libertadores for the second year in a row as an extra-time goal from Deyverson secured a 2-1 win over Flamengo in an absorbing all-Brazilian final.

It is the third time the São Paulo club have won South America’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League, following victories in 1999 and 2020.

Raphael Veiga put Palmeiras ahead after five minutes in Montevideo. A counterattack started by the defender Gustavo Gómez found the right-back Mayke, who was played onside by the former Arsenal defender David Luiz, and his low cross reached was slotted past Diego Alves by Veiga.

Flamengo’s equaliser did not arrive until the 72nd minute, courtesy of Gabriel Barbosa – the scorer of both goals in Flamengo’s 2-1 win against River Plate in the 2019 final. The man nicknamed Gabigol beat Weverton in Palmeiras’s goal from close range, after being set up by Giorgian de Arrascaeta.

Nothing could separate the sides after an evenly-matched 90 minutes but it did not take long for Palmeiras to regain the upper hand in extra time as a slip by the Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira five minutes into the extra period let Deyverson in to calmly beat Alves.

Deyverson, who had only just come on in place of a fatigued Veiga, returned to Palmeiras in June after a loan to Alavés, and was in tears after his first goal in this season’s Copa Libertadores.

The result is a personal triumph for Palmeiras’s Portuguese coach, Abel Ferreira, who becomes the first European to win the Libertadores twice following victory over Santos in January. It is also the first time a team have successfully defended the Libertadores title since Boca Juniors in 2001, while Palmeiras’s success was the eighth since 2010 for a Brazilian club.

ISML 2021: Elaina On The Money, Wins Emerald Necklace

ISML 2021: Elaina On The Money, Wins Emerald Necklace

Touma Kamijou Finally Breaks Through, Wins Emerald Pendant

By Jo-Ryan Salazar

The Bedlam On Baltic Avenue

November 28, 2021

Listed as an even money favorite, Elaina finally got her International Saimoe League necklace, and it's an Emerald one. On Match Day 6 of the 2021 ISML Emerald Period, Elaina, the incumbent Speaker of the Saimoe Diet, defeated Mai Sakurajima 3161-2422 to claim the prize. Kanade Tachibana was third with 1691 votes, Rikka Takanashi was fourth with 1071 votes, Asuna Yuuki was fifth with 929 votes, Emilia was sixth with 720 votes, Ai Hayasaka was seventh with 530 votes and Chika Fujiwara was last with 347 votes.

At a 4-1 second choice, Touma Kamijou finally got his pendant, breaking Kazuto Kirigaya 2316-2110 to clain the Emerald Pendant. Taki Tachibana was third with 1540 votes, Kazuma Satou was fourth with 1169 votes, Archer was fifth with 740 votes, Saika Totsuka was sixth with 662 votes, Subaru Natsuki was seventh with 609 votes and Shirou Emiya was last with 360 votes.

Listed as a third choice by the Bedlam to win the Emerald Bracelet, Utaha Kasumigaoka prevailed over the favored Index Prohibitorum 2667-2606. Megumin was third with 1796 votes, Shiro was fourth with 1151 votes, Tsukasa Yuzaki was fifth with 919 votes, Yui Yuigahama was sixth with 773 votes, Misaki Shokuhou was seventh with 606 votes and Tooru was last with 529 votes.

Favored by the Bedlam to claim the Emerald Ring, Tomoya Okazaki defeated dark horse Kyoujurou Rengoku 2066-1730 to get over the line. Shidou Itsuka was third with 1372 votes, Joutarou Kuujou was fourth with 1061 votes, Kousei Arima was fifth with 772 votes, Edward Elric was sixth with 655 votes, Ryuuji Takasu was seventh with 523 votes and Satoshi Fukube was last with 451 votes.

In Summer Seasonal action, Keke Tang routed Nagisa Minase 3275-1698, Miyuki Shiba whipped past Catarina Claes 2386-2122, Celia Claire dominated Chise Hatori 2759-1237, Siesta thumped Saki Saki 3335-1411, Ilulu throttled Aki Shino 2461-2042, Alice took down Kukuru Misakino 2118-1752, Madoka Kaname smashed Fuuka Miyazawa 2884-1844, Milim Nava pummeled Kanon Shibuya 2487-2199 and Nagisa Natsunagi stormed past Eiko Kawasegawa 2269-1881.

Ai Kizuna is your Saimoe Virtual YouTuber of Record after defeating Nana Kagura 2486-2257, Fubuki Shirakami finished third after disposing of Nana's sister Mea 2315-1856. Also, the Visual Novel Tournament was underway.

In Visual Novel action, Atri routed Hina Komano 2831-575, Nanami Arihara drilled Kimika Tachibana 2467-834, Murasame prevailed over Monika in the 2051-1849 Upset of the Round, Setsumi Sakura defeated Emi Ibarazaki 1805-1272, Nene Ayachi powered past Miyuki Sone 2285-1241, Natsume Shiki trounced Yuri 2321-1360, Sion got past Noa Yuuki 1692-1514 and Tsumugi Wenders obliterated Hanako Ikezawa 2248-982. Atri has been tipped by the Bedlam to win this tournament.

Match Day 1 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Ruby Period is scheduled for December 3, 2021. Vote for your favorite characters at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate. And keep it right here on the Bedlam on Baltic Avenue for continuing coverage of the world's premier anime character competition, the International Saimoe League!

2021年　全日本大学アメリカンフットボール選手権準決勝　立命館大学PANTHERS vs 関西大学KAISERS

#CFB #WestJapanBowl

BoBA ISML 2021 Predictions: Emerald Match Day 6

ARENA 1 [[Elaina - 1]] [[Tachibana Kanade - 2]] [[Takanashi Rikka - 3]] [[Sakurajima Mai - 4]] [[Hayasaka Ai - 5]] [[Yūki Asuna - 6]] [[Emilia - 7]] [[Fujiwara Chika - 8]]

Over/Under: 100000
Over

ARENA 2 [[Kirigaya Kazuto - 1]] [[Kamijō Tōma - 2]] [[Satō Kazuma - 3]] [[Emiya Shirō - 4]] [[Archer - 5]] [[Tachibana Taki - 6]] [[Natsuki Subaru - 7]] [[Totsuka Saika - 8]]

Over/Under: 100000
Over

ARENA 3 [[Kasumigaoka Utaha - 3]] [[Tōru - 8]] [[Shokuhō Misaki - 5]] [[Shiro - 4]] [[Megumin - 7]] [[Index L. Prohibitorum - 1]] [[Yuigahama Yui - 2]] [[Yuzaki Tsukasa - 6]]

Over/Under: 100000
Over

ARENA 4 [[Arima Kōsei - 2]] [[Itsuka Shidō - 3]] [[Takasu Ryūji - 4]] [[Rengoku Kyōjurō - 5]] [[Edward Elric - 7]] [[Kūjō Jōtarō - 6]] [[Fukube Satoshi - 8]] [[Okazaki Tomoya - 1]]

Over/Under: 100000
Over

ARENA 5 [[Tang Keke]] Minase Nagisa

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 6 Catarina Claes [[Shiba Miyuki]]

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 7 Hatori Chise [[Celia Claire]]

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 8 Saki Saki [[Siesta]]

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 9 [[Ilulu]] Shino Aki

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 10 Alice [[Misakino Kukuru]]

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 11 [[Kaname Madoka]] Miyazawa Fūka

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 12 [[Milim Nava]] Shibuya Kanon

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 13 [[Kawasegawa Eiko]] Natsunagi Nagisa

by >=400
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 14 [[Kizuna AI]] Kagura Nana

by <=700
Over/Under: 3500
Under

ARENA 15 Kagura Mea [[Shirakami Fubuki]]

by <=700
Over/Under: 3500
Under

ARENA 16 [[Komano Hina]] Atri

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 17 Tachibana Kimika [[Arihara Nanami]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 18 [[Monika]] Murasame

by >=300
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 19 [[Ibarazaki Emi]] Sakura Setsumi

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 20 Sone Miyuki [[Ayachi Nene]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 21 Yuri [[Shiki Natsume]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 22 [[Yūki Noa]] Sion

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

ARENA 23 Tsumugi Wenders [[Ikezawa Hanako]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 3100
Under

Voter Id: 5d0a31ed-7e35-5502-b087-9bf786ab509a

BoBA ISML 2021 Predictions: Emerald Necklace and Pendant Odds

BEDLAM ON BALTIC AVENUE

2021 INTERNATIONAL SAIMOE LEAGUE

EMERALD NECKLACE ODDS

Elaina EVEN

Kanade Tachibana 3-1

Rikka Takanashi 7-1

Mai Sakurajima 10-1

Ai Hayasala 25-1

Asuna Yuuki 40-1

Emilia 50-1

Chika Fujiwara 75-1

BEDLAM ON BALTIC AVENUE

2021 INTERNATIONAL SAIMOE LEAGUE

EMERALD PENDANT ODDS

Kazuto Kirigaya EVEN

Touma Kamijoui 4-1

Kazuma Satou 7-1

Shirou Emiya 10-1

Archer 15-1

Taki Tachibana 20-1

Subaru Natsuki 30-1

Saika Totsuka 50-1

ISML 2021: Emerald Period Enters Home Stretch

ISML 2021: Emerald Period Enters Home Stretch

By Jo-Ryan Salazar

The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue

November 25, 2021

Christmas is in one month right around the world and Match Day 5 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Emerald Period is in the books. In the Female Division, Kaguya Shinomiya defeated Rikka Takanashi 1384-1247, Mikoto Misaka eased past Kurumi Tokisaki 1480-1157, Chika Fujiwara thumped Taiga Aisaka 1438-941, Schwi Dola delivered the Upset of the Round, a 1335-1075 scalp of Yui Yuigahama, Rin Tohsaka prevailed over Kuroko Shirai 1247-1175, Ai Hayasaka dominated Ruiko Saten 1434-1000, Tsukasa Yuzaki roared past Rooru 1330-1049 and Kamui Kanna defeated Iroha Isshiki 1198-1094.

Wrapping up Female Divsion play, Mai Sakurajima won a 1256-1231 thriller over Emilia, Elaina whipped past Mashiro Shiina 1512-1160, Asuna Yuuki slashed past Kurisu Makise 1507-887, Nao Tomori defeated Kei Shirogane 1216-1062, Kanade Tachibana flew past Mio Akiyama 1310-1041, Index Prohibitorum exploded past Megumin 1317-1254, Utaha Kasumigaoka got past Misaki Shokuhou 1295-1122 and Shiro flattened Shouko Nishimiya 1363-1052.

In the Male Division, Kazuto Kirigaya slashed past Subaru Natsuki 1175-902, Sakuta Azusagawa broke Touma Kamijou in a 1148-1125 nailbiter, Levi leveled Edward Elric 1096-760, Saitama punched Satoshi Fukube 1277-754, Saika Totsuka toasted Nagisa Shiota 1007-874, Tomoya Okazaki prevailed over Shidou Itsuka 962-919 and Shirou Emiya eased past Shouya Ishida 1257-799.

Wrapping up Male Division action, Rintarou Okabe took down Yuzuru Otonashi 1057-878, Riku Dola rocked Yuu Ishigami 1268-972, Yuuta Togashi silenced Taki Tachibana 1186-976, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji prevailed over Joutarou Kuujou 1053-1004, Kazuma Satou thumped Kousei Arima 1181-759, Lelouch Lamperouge rolled past Yuu Otosaka 988-887, Kyoujurou Rengoku was given the victory over Nasa Yuzaki despite a 973-973 draw, the closest race of the round and the second-ever draw in the tournament, Archer dominated Sorata Kanda 1121-918 and Ryuunosuke Akasaka won a 927-906 barnburner over Ryuuji Takasu. The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue also declares Kyoujurou Rengoku the winner over Nasa Yuzaki, as tied matches are not recognized by the Bedlam; a winner and a loser must be declared.

Keke Tang is the presumptive favorite to win the Summer Seasonal, as seen in her 1421-760 result over Miyuki Shiba but she will have competition. In other Summer action, Celia Claire defeated Catarina Claes 998-847, Nagisa Minase got off the schneid with a 1028-592 hammering of Chise Hatori, Siesta crushed Ilulu 1294-777, Aki Shino belted Alice 957-761, Saki Saki smashed Kukuru Misakino 938-681, Madoka Kaname defeated Milim Nava 1106-986, Kanon Shibuya throttled Nagisa Natsunagi 1067-787 and Fuuka Miyazawa edged Eiko Kawasegawa 798-783.

In Summer male action, Kyouya Hashiba defeated Vanitas 814-637, KImihiko Kimizuka took down Bocchan 839-643 and Akira Shiroyanagi eased past Kinji Ninomiya 767-608. Ai Kizuna is favored by the Bedlam on Baltic Avenue to defeat Nana Kagura and become the Virtual YouTuber of record. Kizuna routed Fubuki Shirakami 1230-813 while Nana defeated sister Mea 1088-801. Finally, in the Tiara consolation, Rio Futaba fiunished first with 684 votes while Rudeus Greyrat claimed victory in the Scepter consolation with 746 votes.

Match Day 6 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Emerald Period is scheduled for November 26, 2021. Vote for your favorite characters at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

Field of Schemes: Inside Ben Ferree's Three-Year Mission to Expose Bishop Sycamore

Field of Schemes: Inside Ben Ferree's Three-Year Mission to Expose Bishop Sycamore

Long before the rest of the world heard about Bishop Sycamore, Ben Ferree was speaking out about the controversial school. Why was he ignored?

Andrew King

The term “whistleblower” carries with it a certain weight. It evokes thoughts of Edward Snowden, Mark Felt and Daniel Ellsberg—insiders who took great risks to leak important information to the public. These people are rarely rewarded or revered for their courage and are often subject to ridicule, hatred and, in some cases, legal and societal repercussions.

Ben Ferree says he doesn’t quite fit that definition, though it’s not entirely off-base, either. Indeed, he’s a skeptic, a truthteller and an unrelenting tipster who got me interested in a story that snowballed into one of the biggest sports scandals in Columbus. But Ferree didn’t uncover wrongdoing that occurred behind closed doors. The things he revealed were in plain sight, easy for people to see—as long as they were willing to open their eyes.

You wouldn’t know it to look at his resume or his social media following, but Ferree is a central figure in one of the most intriguing and discussed sports stories of 2021—the rise and fall of Bishop Sycamore. The saga began in 2018, when Ferree learned about a school called Christians of Faith Academy. At the time, Ferree was the assistant director of officiating and sport management at the Ohio High School Athletic Association, the governing body for Ohio’s high school sports. The position was one of the lowest on the organizational totem pole—largely paperwork, routine phone calls and double-checking. But Ferree managed to carve out a role he found interesting: a jack-of-all-trades investigator.

COF Academy was new to Columbus, but soon the high school’s football team began to appear on the schedules of some of Ohio’s most visible programs. Ferree began looking into the school after another OHSAA official struggled to verify its enrollment, a key factor in calculating points earned for eligibility in the association’s playoffs. (A team gets more points for victories over larger schools.)

That first conversation led to three years of work, investigation and frustration for Ferree. COF Academy made its way to major programs around Ohio and beyond, leaving behind an impressive legal trail as Roy Johnson, COF coach and self-described “face” of the program, and his business partner Jay Richardson—a WSYX/ABC 6 analyst and former Ohio State and NFL football player—were sued by banks, had vehicles repossessed and outran a number of unpaid debts. No more than about 50 players were ever around at a given time, and the school never had a building or even a functional website. Students reportedly never went to class, and parents began to pull players from the program. COF officials told everyone they were backed by the local chapter of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which later disowned the project entirely.

By early 2019, the school folded, but a new one quickly took its place: Bishop Sycamore, which continued to book prime football matchups and avoided public scrutiny, even though its questionable practices didn’t change. On Sunday, Aug. 29, of this year, that anonymity ended.

On that day, Bishop Sycamore squared off against Florida’s IMG Academy, the nation’s top high school football program, on ESPN. The game was a travesty, with a profoundly overmatched Bishop Sycamore losing 58-0. Viewers railed on social media about the appalling, nationally televised spectacle. Midway through the second quarter, the score was 30-0 and Sycamore players looked exhausted. (Later, it was revealed that the team had played a game two days earlier.) The Sycamore offensive line struggled to block on nearly every play. Onlookers worried about injuries as Sycamore defenders bounced off IMG ball-carriers. In the first quarter, Sycamore put its offense on the field in a 4th and 15 and had its quarterback punt the ball, only to have it blocked into the endzone for a safety.

Since the game, reporters all over the country have written about Bishop Sycamore. Players have spoken up to tell stories of stealing from grocery stores to make up for missed meals. Numerous members of the Bishop Sycamore roster have been shown to be overage. Parents (and even students) have told horror stories of having their credit cards misused for Bishop Sycamore dealings.

None of this surprised Ferree, who spent three years sounding the alarm about the program. Along the way, he reached out to reporters, called high school athletic directors and warned coaches, even when he no longer worked for the OHSAA. And until this summer, that work was largely in vain.

But now, people are finally listening.

The first time I heard about COF Academy was in July 2018, when Ferree introduced the topic in a group chat that included me and two other friends. Our quartet attended Capital University and spent varying amounts of time around one another. But the way we really bonded was through a regular trivia team and a love of sports. With Ferree’s work, his enthusiasm for investigation and the never-ending supply of drama provided by the sports world, he never lacked for group chat material.

“Ben’s obsession with minutiae is exhausting, and he’s seemingly most interested in the details about things that literally no one else in the world cares about,” says Matt Guthrie, another member of the group. “We’ll be done talking or caring about something for days while Ben continues rambling nonsense to us. He’ll start a sentence with, ‘Did you know’ before informing us of the least-fun fact of all time that no one asked for. Ben’s curiosity in things nobody else cares about is his most definable quality.”

On that day three years ago, Ferree was frustrated. He had been spending a lot of time at work on an investigation into a new “school” (he always put it in quotation marks) called COF Academy. At that point, Ferree was armed mainly with a list of things that didn’t add up. It was, in his view, “impossible” for a school to appear in Ohio’s capital city with no background, and it was even more ridiculous that it was playing a high school football schedule made almost entirely of powerhouse programs. When Roy Johnson told Ferree the school had 750 students, he was incredulous. How could a school go from nonexistent to the size of Columbus’ Centennial High School overnight?

In spite of this, Ferree was still the only one talking about COF. Because he was a part-time journalist himself and regularly talked with reporters for OHSAA work, he was confident he could find a bigger home for the story. He started with reporters at the biggest news outlets in the state, but he was met with apathy. With nowhere else to turn, he looked to me and the group chat. The story was not immediately met with a significantly better response. “The situation was insane, but not too far outside the stuff we would normally hear in the chat,” says Steve Kall, the fourth member of the group. “It would just pop up every now and then with 100 texts that I missed while I was in one meeting.”

At the time, I was a full-time reporter for ThisWeek Community News, a group of weekly papers that covers the suburbs and neighborhoods around the Columbus metro area. (Like Columbus Monthly, ThisWeek is part of the Dispatch media group, now owned by Gannett.) I also worked in sports, covering the Columbus Crew for The Athletic. While ThisWeek employed a collection of high school sports reporters, I was not among them and was not interested in writing about high school sports. The freelance outlets I worked for were national in scope and were not a fit for a niche story about an Ohio football team. But Ferree was out of options and desperate for someone to tell the story.

“I gave it to you when everyone else passed,” he told me in September. “I think I remember selling it to you as, ‘There’s meat here. If what I think is true is true, this is a story. This is a news story.’” He didn’t see this as an ESPN story; he saw it as a CNN story. At first, I didn’t see it as much of a story at all. And then, in the same way Ferree had in previous months, I started digging into it.

The story I begrudgingly started tracking down became the most extensive coverage of my career. I wrote a variety of investigative stories covering the team, its leaders and their many legal and professional issues in 2018 and 2019. In a business much more interested in an inch-deep, mile-wide approach to news, I was fortunate to have editors who were intrigued enough to let me investigate. The story wasn’t specific to the communities I was assigned to cover, but they let me tackle it anyway.

With Ferree’s help, I began to understand COF’s modus operandi, based on his and my research and the many legal cases filed against Johnson and the school. COF opponents benefited from playing the team in a variety of ways, the simplest being that powerhouse teams in Ohio struggle to schedule anyone at all—most teams don’t want to guarantee themselves a loss. But the opponents were also promised—usually by Johnson himself—that COF would eventually be a Division I or Division II school. Because qualification for the OHSAA playoffs gives more points for wins over higher-division teams, a victory over a Division I school is valuable. And, as Ferree explained, even if the program never was certified as any division at all, it’s better for a school’s algorithm to beat a non-certified school than to beat a lower division one. All that mattered was that it wasn’t a low-points win. In turn, fledgling COF received stipends from its more established opponents—small potatoes to the large schools but a big deal for COF. (Stipends are a common practice for big programs, Ferree says.)

COF Academy eventually crumbled. A combination of Ferree’s hounding and my stories led OHSAA to deny any playoff points to victorious opponents of COF Academy, while the Ohio Department of Education revoked the school’s registration. Still, no larger outlet ever latched onto the story.

And so in the aftermath of COF Academy’s failure, Bishop Sycamore rose from its ashes. And this time, no one cared enough to ask questions, not even local news reporters. In 2019, I left ThisWeek to take a job in public relations. “I was always waiting for someone bigger to pick it up, and no one ever did,” Ferree says.

Bishop Sycamore leaders—including athletic director Andre Peterson, whose son played for the team—claimed it was founded separately from Johnson and Richardson. They spoke about doing things differently, focusing on school and football while starting fresh without involving the church. At first, Bishop Sycamore played a mostly out-of-state schedule, but the COVID-19 pandemic made scheduling games a nightmare for Ohio schools, creating an opportunity for the new school. By August 2021, the team reached its peak: the game against IMG. And who was on the sideline, getting face time on ESPN? Roy Johnson, Bishop Sycamore’s coach.

“People are saying ‘Bishop Sycamore isn’t a school,’” Johnson says incredulously during a late September interview. “Why is it not a school? ‘Well, because the kids weren’t attending classes at the address you had.’ Nobody was. It was COVID!” He feels the media coverage around the story is unfair and exaggerated. The kids are going to school for the most part, he says. And the ones who aren’t are post-graduates in the program; they don’t have to go to school.

This phone conversation occurs after reports emerged that Bishop Sycamore had fired Johnson. When asked if the reports are true, Johnson responds that he “pleads the Fifth.” After about six minutes, Johnson says he has to run. “Let me call you right back,” he says. I haven’t heard from him since.

By now, Ferree is used to people ignoring him.

When he first started investigating COF Academy in 2018, he compiled all the information he could—legal cases, evidence showing players were older than reported, the lack of classrooms or even a building—and started calling athletic directors. Despite all the information, almost no one changed their course. In its first year, COF managed to schedule Ohio powerhouses like Huber Heights Wayne, Cleveland St. Ignatius and Lakewood St. Edward, along with major programs outside of Ohio like North Allegheny and IMG Academy, a game that was later canceled. Ferree says only one athletic director took any action based on his information: Willie McGee from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. McGee thanked him and eventually canceled the game. (Reached for this article, McGee said he wasn’t interested in talking about anything related to Bishop Sycamore and didn’t remember the conversation with Ferree.)

In his stints as a sports reporter, Ferree wrote stories with the potential for impact but struggled to break into the mainstream. He covered Ohio State sports for a local blog, Columbus Wired, and broke the exclusive story of a basketball player who was suspended for drug use. No other outlet ever specified why he was suspended; no other outlet ever referenced Ferree’s story. While covering the Columbus Crew for ProSoccerUSA, a defunct offshoot of the Orlando Sentinel, he told the story of a Crew player who played a game while concussed, having never been checked by team doctors. No changes were made to MLS concussion policy and no other outlets followed up on the story.

“I always thought, ‘Man, I just don’t know what news is. My radar for what is newsworthy and what is not must just be broken,’” he says. But it wasn’t just reporters and editors who weren’t listening to him. He found plenty of ways to have his word unheeded.

The highest-profile example of Ferree’s futile warnings came in early 2018, when a bench-clearing fight broke out at a high school basketball game between Dayton Dunbar and Thurgood Marshall High School. Naturally, Ferree was tasked with investigating. OHSAA ruled that video showed several Dunbar players leaving the bench during the altercation and those players needed to serve suspensions. The school, however, declined to suspend the players. When OHSAA removed Dunbar from the association’s annual basketball tournament because of its failure to suspend those players, Dunbar sued the OHSAA in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, claiming the players in question were not involved. The case went to trial, where Ferree got his chance to showcase his blunt disposition.

“They put me up on the stand and accused me of doing a shoddy investigation,” he says. “One of the things they asked me was why I didn’t call the student’s mother to ask if her son was involved in the fight. I said, ‘Why would I waste my time? They would lie to me. People up here are lying to me right now. The head coach, principal and [athletic director] are all lying right now.’ The lawyer said, ‘So you’re going to say that under oath?’ I just said, ‘Yes.’”

Judge Michael Krumholtz disagreed, reinstating the school for the tournament. Days later, however, Ferree was vindicated when video and photos surfaced that proved he was correct. Dayton Public Schools officials made public apologies and fired Dunbar coach Chuck Taylor, while athletic director Mark Baker and principal Crystal Phillips were placed on administrative leave with pay.

Why be so brash? Why would he put himself on the line for a squabble over high school basketball? For Ferree, the more appropriate question is, “Why not?”

“I really don’t care for the politics of high school sports,” he says.

In the days before the nationally televised game against IMG, Ferree says he attempted to warn ESPN but could only reach voicemail boxes, which he assumes no one checked. Then, as the Bishop Sycamore drama unfolded before him on national television, he appreciated “announcers calling out their lies” and was somewhat surprised to see the topic explode on social media. He had spent three years trying to tell people what was happening, but “Twitter did more in three hours than I did in three years.” It was bittersweet.

Ferree wasn’t left feeling self-congratulatory or smug. If anything, Ferree says, Bishop Sycamore’s comeuppance was depressing. It reminded him of how little power he had. OHSAA is a private nonprofit; it doesn’t have any real enforcement power, and it can’t compel people to give information or subpoena a witness. To him, it’s just another layer of red tape.

“For a long time, I thought people just didn’t believe me,” says Ferree, who left OHSAA in April of this year. “Now, I think they did believe me; they just didn’t care. I did all the work; I did a good investigation, I got the right results, and I can prove it. But it doesn’t change anything. So what’s the point of knowing? If nothing is going to change, what does it matter?”

It’s tough to prove, but maybe it does matter. Beau Rugg, OHSAA’s director of officiating and sport management and Ferree’s former boss, says the organization now requires Ohio schools to play teams recognized by their state’s governing bodies, which should help remove the incentive for playing teams that aren’t real schools. As Bishop Sycamore’s story plays out, even Ferree allows himself a little hope that it will be a cautionary tale for others as schools cancel their games with Bishop Sycamore, now a national laughingstock.

At the very least, Ferree is no longer the only person talking about COF Academy or Bishop Sycamore. In the days following the ESPN game, he found himself amid a true 15 minutes of fame. He was interviewed by a host of national and local news sources and earned a shout-out from Columbus Dispatch columnist Michael Arace. “Now, everybody’s listening to Ben Ferree,” Arace’s column began. Ferree has spent hours being interviewed on camera and is now signed on to participate in a Bishop Sycamore documentary project.

For one triumphant (or annoying one, depending on your point of view) moment, the ghost of group chats past returned to my phone. “Bishop Sycamore had a game on ESPN!” Ferree messaged me and the others. As the news unfolded in the national media, our friend Guthrie got texts from other folks asking if he had seen the story. It had all come full circle. Ferree’s ramblings had finally found their audience. “I’m happy some people might start looking out for the kids, and I’m happy for Ben that someone finally wants to listen to him,” Guthrie says.

“The joke is on them, though, because he’ll surely never shut up about it now.”

Andrew King is a former ThisWeek Community News reporter who wrote a series of articles about Christians of Faith Academy, the predecessor of Bishop Sycamore.

This story is from the November 2021 issue of Columbus Monthly.

BoBA ISML 2021 Predictions: Emerald Match Day 5

ARENA 1 Takanashi Rikka [[Shinomiya Kaguya]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 2 [[Misaka Mikoto]] Tokisaki Kurumi

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 3 Aisaka Taiga [[Fujiwara Chika]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 4 [[Yuigahama Yui]] Schwi Dola

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 5 [[Tōsaka Rin]] Shirai Kuroko

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 6 Saten Ruiko [[Hayasaka Ai]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 7 [[Yuzaki Tsukasa]] Tōru

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 8 Isshiki Iroha Kanna Kamui

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 9 [[Sakurajima Mai]] Emilia

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 10 Shiina Mashiro [[Elaina]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 11 [[Yūki Asuna]] Makise Kurisu

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 12 Tomori Nao [[Shirogane Kei]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 13 Akiyama Mio [[Tachibana Kanade]]

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 14 [[Index L. Prohibitorum]] Megumin

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 15 [[Shokuhō Misaki]] Kasumigaoka Utaha

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 16 [[Shiro]] Nishimiya Shōko

by >=300
Over/Under: 2000
Over

ARENA 17 [[Natsuki Subaru]] Kirigaya Kazuto

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 18 [[Kamijō Tōma]] Azusagawa Sakuta

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 19 Edward Elric [[Levi]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 20 [[Saitama]] Fukube Satoshi

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 21 [[Totsuka Saika]] Shiota Nagisa

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 22 Okazaki Tomoya [[Itsuka Shidō]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 23 Emiya Shirō [[Ishida Shōya]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 24 Okabe Rintarō [[Otonashi Yuzuru]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 25 Ishigami Yū [[Riku Dola]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 26 [[Togashi Yūta]] Tachibana Taki

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 27 [[Ayanokōji Kiyotaka]] Kūjō Jōtarō

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 28 Arima Kōsei [[Satō Kazuma]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 29 Otosaka Yū [[Lelouch Lamperouge]]

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 30 [[Yuzaki Nasa]] Rengoku Kyōjurō

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 31 [[Kanda Sorata]] Archer

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 32 [[Takasu Ryūji]] Akasaka Ryūnosuke

by <=400
Over/Under: 2100
Under

ARENA 33 Shiba Miyuki [[Tang Keke]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 34 [[Celia Claire]] Catarina Claes

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 35 [[Hatori Chise]] Minase Nagisa

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 36 [[Siesta]] Ilulu

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 37 [[Shino Aki]] Alice

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 38 Saki Saki [[Misakino Kukuru]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 39 [[Kaname Madoka]] Milim Nava

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 40 Natsunagi Nagisa [[Shibuya Kanon]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 41 Kawasegawa Eiko [[Miyazawa Fūka]]

by >=100
Over/Under: 1800
Over

ARENA 42 [[Hashiba Kyōya]] Vanitas

by >=150
Over/Under: 1900
Under

ARENA 43 [[Kimizuka Kimihiko]] Bocchan

by >=150
Over/Under: 1900
Under

ARENA 44 [[Shiroyanagi Akira]] Ninomiya Kinji

by >=150
Over/Under: 1900
Under

ARENA 45 [[Kagura Nana]] Kagura Mea

by >=200
Over/Under: 1800
Under

ARENA 46 Shirakami Fubuki [[Kizuna AI]]

by >=200
Over/Under: 1800
Under

ARENA 47 [[Amano Hina]] Futaba Rio Beatrice Uiharu Kazari

by <=500
Over/Under: 3000
Over

ARENA 48 Aki Tomoya Hyakuya Mikaela Rudeus Greyrat [[Morishima Hodaka]]

by <=500
Over/Under: 3000
Over

Voter Id: 3f766578-a9bd-5936-8002-5dd6e988dc0e

CF Montreal: 2021 Voyageurs Cup Winners

CF Montréal are Voyageurs Cup champions for the 11th time in club history. Montréal capped off their 2021 season with a 1-0 win over Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship final Sunday afternoon.

Romell Quioto scored the cup-winning goal in the 72nd minute, allowing Montréal to celebrate a first Canadian Championship title at Stade Saputo since 2014 and clinching a place in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League.

TFC suffered a tough blow early in the game when 2020 MLS MVP Alejandro Pozuelo was forced to sub out with an injury. Ifunanyachi Achara took his place in the 16th minute.

In a battle between two teams that missed out on the Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, Montréal controlled the pace of the game, outshooting their Canadian Classique rivals 9-1 in the first half but couldn't find the back of the net.

Quentin Westberg kept his team alive throughout the final but Quioto found a way past TFC's goalkeeper with a chip from atop the box.

Jordan Perruzza had the equalizer at the end of his foot in stoppage time but the homegrown forward hit the post, sinking Toronto's chances at forcing a penalty shootout.

Goals

72' – MTL – Romell Quioto

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: After starting their season away from home in Florida due to COVID-19 restrictions, CF Montréal wrap up a grueling 2021 season with a Canadian Championship title. In lieu of an Audi 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs run, Montréal can look forward to participating in the 2022 Concacaf Champions League. For Toronto FC, 2021 is a season to forget as the club missed the playoffs and lost to their rivals in the Canadian Championship final.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Romell Quioto chipped Quentin Westberg for the decisive play, notching the Canadian Championship-winning goal.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Romell Quioto has been a crucial part of Montréal’s squad and Sunday was no different. The Honduran striker knocked at the door several times and finally found the winner.

Next up

MTL: End of season

TOR: End of season

ISML 2021 Couple Tournament Nominations: The List.

\Ban + Elaine (Seven Deadly Sins)

Yuuko Kanoe + Teiichi Niiya (Tasogare Otome x Amnesia)

Shizuku Mizutani + Haru Yoshida (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun)

Shinji Ikari + Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Usagi Tsukino + Mamoru Chiba (Sailor Moon)

Lelouch Lamperouge + C.C. (Code Geass)

Subaru Natsuki + Emilia (Re:Zero)

Yuuta Togashi + Rikka Takanashi (Love, Chuunibyou, and Other Delusions)

Tomoya Okazaki + Nagisa Furukawa (Clannad)

Yuzuru Otonashi + Kanade Tachibana (Angel Beats)

Hinata Hideki + Yui (Angel Beats)

Miki Koishikawa + Yuu Matsura (Marmalade Boy)

Voter Id: 62d64fb1-893d-57d5-9225-d144703e29dd

ISML 2021: Separation As Contenders Emerge

ISML 2021: Separation As Contenders Emerge

By Jo-Ryan Salazar

The Bedlam On Baltic Avenue

November 22, 2021

Match Day 4 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Emerald Period has concluded. In the Female Division, Mai Sakurajima rebounded from a shock defeat to Index Prohibitorum with a 1294-944 statement win over Nao Tomori, Mashiro Shiina smashed Asuna Yuuki 1262-961, Kanade Tachibana prevailed over Emilia 1171-1128, Index defeated Kei Shirogane 1263-1100, Misaki Shokuhou boomed past Mio Akiyama 1145-1077, Shouko Nishimiya silenced Kurisu Makise 1141-975, Elaina routed Megumin 1512-922 and Kaguya Shinomiya hammered Yui Yuigahama 1395-925.

Wrapping up Female Division play, Kurumi Tokisaki shot down Chika Fujiwara 1435-978, Rikka Takanashi rocked Kuroko Shirai 1388-966, Ai Hayasaka dominated Schwi Dola 1156-1073, Tsukasa Yuzaki scored the Upset of the Round, a 1125-1100 thriller over Rin Tohsaka, Taiga Aisaka roared past Kamui Kanna 1194-923, Iroha Isshiki eased past Tooru 1147-980 and Mikoto Misaka cruised past Ruiko Saten in a 1739-523 mismatch snoozer.

In the Male Division, Yuu Ishigami defeated Kazuma Satou 999-937, Taki Tachibana took down Kiyotaka Ayanokouji 1071-875, Riku Dola rocked Yuu Otosaka 1221-675, Kousei Arima whipped past Nasa Yuzaki 915-833, Sorata Kanda eased past Lelouch Lamperouge, Ryuuji Takasu roared past Joutarou Kuujou 916-885, Archer dominated Ryuunosuke Akasaka 1032-820 and Yuuta Togashi crushed Kyoujurou Rengoku 1277-641.

Wrapping up Male Division play, Kazuto Kirigaya slashed past Saitama 1051-887, Touma Kamijou broke Levi 1305-762, Subaru Natsuki drove past Saika Totsuka 1002-898, Shidou Itsuka defeated Satoshi Fukube 975-798, Shirou Emiya thumped Nagisa Shiota 1000-778, Yuzuru Otonashi shot down Edward Elric 982-705, Rintarou Okabe dominated Shouya Ishida 1055-743 and Sakuta Azusagawa slammed Tomoya Okazaki 1142-829.

In Summer Seasonal action, Keke Tang routed Catarina Claes 1337-652, Miyuki Shiba pounded Chise Hatori 993-509, Celia Claire took down Nagisa Minase 865-689, Siesta stormed past Aki Shino 1246-504, Ilulu rolled past Kukuru Misakino 923-677, Saki Saki mowed down Alice 821-711, Madoka Kaname crushed Kanon Shibuya 1053-834, Nagisa Natsunagi defeated Fuuka Miyazawa 813-690 and Milim Nava drubbed Eiko Kawasegawa 951-697.

In Summer Seasonal Male action, Vanitas prevailed over Akira Shiroyanagi 666-615, Kyouya Hashiba drilled Bocchan 830-536 and Kimihiko Kimizuka took down Kinji Ninomiya 866-481. And in vtuber action, Nana Kagura throttled Saku Sasaki 1094-675, Mea Kagura dominated Rushia Uruha 1037-699, Fubuki Shirakami won the closest race of the round, a 848-828 barnburner over Gawr Gura and Ai Kizuna flew past Ayame Nakiri 1021-816. Kizuna is tipped by the Bedlam to be odds-on favorite to win the honor of Virtual Youtuber of Record.

Match Day 5 of the 2021 International Saimoe League Emerald Period is scheduled for November 23, 2021. Vote for your favorite characters at InternationalSaimoe.com and join the ongoing debate.

Washington Spirit: 2021 NWSL Champions

In a National Women's Soccer League season that will be remembered more for its leaguewide off-field problems than its splendid play on the field, the Washington Spirit became a fitting champion Saturday, beating the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 in a thrilling extra-time finish.

To say that the Spirit's road this season to the final was a rocky one would be an understatement. The NWSL stepped in and banned their coach after player allegations of abuse failed to prompt the team's owner to act. A power struggle between that owner and another investor ensued, with the players publicly demanding the team be sold. And the Spirit had to forfeit two regular-season games after a COVID-19 outbreak, earning a hefty fine for protocol violations too.

In a word, the Spirit's season has been chaos. But the only way the Spirit could come back from a goal deficit and beat the Red Stars on the league's biggest stage was not by ignoring the chaos swirling around them -- the players simply had to embrace it.

"It's been a lot of different emotions but we've been leaning into them and soaking up the chaos and seeing what we could do with it," Spirit captain Andi Sullivan said. "I don't think you could create something else like it."

You probably wouldn't want to either -- the Spirit were hardly the only team in the NWSL dealing with off-field problems this season -- but the Spirit's unique ability to use the uncertainty to their advantage means there is no better team to go down in NWSL history as the 2021 champion.

"People have no idea what we've all gone through," veteran defender Kelley O'Hara said. "The resiliency and perseverance of every single player on this team is pretty incredible and something that I haven't had on any NWSL team I've been on. It's the best feeling ever to be ending on a win."

In the first half, however, it looked like perhaps an emotional toll had finally caught up with the Spirit. Whether it was the weight of the stakes or the drain of their off-field turmoil, something tamped down some of the Spirit's flair and flashiness, which had carried them through the playoffs to the final.

Trinity Rodman, the 19-year-old breakout who was named Rookie of the Year, looked frustrated as she created dangerous moments for the Spirit but couldn't tap into her previous magic. In the 11th minute, she had only to get around center-back Sarah Gorden for a breakaway, but the NWSL Defender of the Year poked the ball away. Later, after some ball circulation to create space for Rodman, she pulled the trigger from the top of the box, but it went straight to goalkeeper Cassie Miller.

"I was extremely frustrated with myself and our movement of the ball," Rodman said. "Once you can get out of your head and keep focusing on the next pass, the next shot, the next ball, that's gonna get you to the end."

Since early in the match, Rodman was seen at times bent over clutching her side as if she were cramped from overexertion -- but she never stopped. She leaned in even more and single-handedly shifted the match's momentum, leading a Spirit turnaround in the second half. It started in the 62nd minute when Rodman fired a rocket off the post from well outside the box, a chance that seemingly rattled the Red Stars' back line. Three minutes later, Rodman took on three defenders, finally breaking free with a nutmeg through the last defender's legs before another shot from distance. But her key contributions would be assists that followed, not goals.

In the 66th minute, Rodman slipped a ball to Tara McKeown, who was fouled in the box, earning a penalty that Sullivan buried to equalize. After the match moved to extra time, Rodman lofted a long ball to the back post in the 97th minute, finding O'Hara's head. It was O'Hara's first goal of the 2021 season.

"We never quit," Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe said. "We never gave up on each other and that second half shows who we are."

For the Red Stars, it was a brutal end after it looked as though they'd overcome their own set of challenges.

Coming into Saturday, they were already missing starters Julie Ertz (left thigh), Casey Krueger (illness), Alyssa Naeher (right thigh) and Kealia Watt (right knee). Within 12 minutes, captain and midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo had to come off with an injury, replaced by Makenzy Doniak. More bad luck struck before the half, when Mallory Pugh went down with injury -- but, as has become the Red Stars' identity, they stayed locked in and scored in first-half stoppage time, despite being down a player. Arin Wright (nee Gilliland) lofted a long cross to the back post and Rachel Hill nodded it home.

After losing the 2019 NWSL championship and the 2020 Challenge Cup, the Red Stars have now lost their third consecutive final.

"It's been hard because we've had that taste in our mouth of losing a final like that," said Morgan Gautrat (nee Brian), one of Chicago's most consistent players this season. "It's why we go to practice every single day and we play every minute like it's the last."

For anyone who didn't know about the Spirit's off-field problems or the reckoning in the NWSL at large, Saturday's final had all the normal trappings of a celebratory finish to the regular season: full stands at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky; supporters for each side banging drums and cheering; players putting in a high-level, competitive, focused performance. "The crowd brought it -- there were some people heckling me," O'Hara said, laughing.

But there were hints of the shadow cast by the tumultuous season that preceded the final. Local fans of Racing Louisville took it upon themselves to bring some large hard-to-miss signage for the Spirit: "We support Spirit fans. Sell the team, Baldwin." Spirit fans who made the trip brought their own signs urging majority owner Steve Baldwin to sell amid a public and ugly power struggle for control of the club. Baldwin, who stood by former Spirit coach Richie Burke even as players alleged abuse, has been pitted against Y. Michele Kang, the female minority owner who has earned the backing of Spirit players.

Other signs scattered throughout the stadium offered even weightier slogans like "Listen. Believe. Protect." And "#NoMoreSilence. Support NWSLPA."

Those signs were, of course, a reference to Burke, the coach accused by Spirit players of berating them with cruel name-calling and racial remarks. When Baldwin caught wind that journalists were looking into it, he claimed Burke had health problems and gave him a front-office job instead of firing him, which prompted the NWSL to step in and ban him. But the signs were also a reference to a larger backdrop of abuse and mistreatment of players that forced a reckoning in the NWSL this year.

The most shocking allegations came against former Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley, who two players said forced them to kiss as he watched, sent them lewd photos and showed up to film session in his underwear. A player filed a formal complaint in 2015, and Thorns owner Merritt Paulson and general manager Gavin Wilkinson let Riley quietly leave the club in what was framed as a routine non-renewal after poor on-field results. Riley quickly landed a new job, and was fired last month only when the players shared their stories publicly for the first time. The NWSL's commissioner, Lisa Baird, resigned last month under fire for refusing to investigate Riley earlier this year.

"It's been a really long year for every team, for different reasons -- a bunch of adversity on and off the field, and it's necessary to make this league better," Gautrat said, reflecting on Saturday's final. "But I do think it was a great showing -- 120 minutes of end-to-end soccer, good goals and excitement."

The NWSL championship wasn't even supposed to be in Kentucky. It had originally been scheduled to be played in Portland, Oregon, the city that has nicknamed itself Soccer City, USA -- but to accommodate a national noon East Coast broadcast slot, it would be played at 9 a.m. local time, which drew outrage from players and fans. The mishandling of the allegations against Riley from the Portland Thorns front office didn't make the location any more attractive.

But that the players managed to force the league to move its marquee event some 2,000 miles away was yet another testament to the power of the players. In a professional league, players shouldn't have to get involved in fixing off-field problems as often as NWSL players have, but they've risen above the challenges repeatedly, as the NWSL final put on full display.

That's as true for the Spirit players as anyone else, as no club has dealt with more problems -- at least in public -- this year. It's fitting that the Spirit have been the best team in the NWSL at coming back after conceding a goal first: their whole season has been a comeback of sorts. They haven't lost since Burke was finally fired months ago, a hot streak that carried them to the final, and on Saturday they made enduring a season of messiness well worth it.

"We've been in playoff mode since the end of the September -- we controlled what we could control, and that was winning," O'Hara said. "Here we are."

FFXIV: Kids

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