By Jeff Moss
DetroitSportsRag@GMail.com
August 31, 2016

It has been over eight months since former DSR managing editor Justin Spiro broke the news on this website that Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp had plagiarized the work of iSportsweb.com blogger (and Freep contributor) David Harns regarding a story Harns wrote about MSU QB Connor Cook’s friendship with Ohio native Miranda McCoy. 

Yet, as late as this morning, we are still receiving information regarding Sharp’s behavior toward the man from whom he stole.

In case you have been in a pontoon since Christmas Eve, let me give you the CliffsNotes version of what went down.

Harns posted two articles on iSportsWeb.com about Miranda —  a young lady who was severely injured in a car accident years ago – regarding her special relationship with Cook. Sharp then posted an article about the situation a few weeks later in the Freep without ever talking to Miranda.

After Harns contacted Sharp’s superiors at the paper, the Freep ran a retraction stating that Sharp had failed to give proper attribution to David. It was actually blatant plagiarism, but whatever.

Harns wasn’t totally satisfied with that outcome so he followed up with newly-named sports editor Kevin Bull. That investigation led to the discovery that Sharp had lied to his boss about how he gathered information for the story. Sharp claimed he spent a long time procuring from Cook the information about the Cook/McCoy relationship, including details about Miranda’s one-car accident that were only known to the public through Harns’ reporting.

When the DSR picked up the story, Sharp disappeared for two weeks. We have been told by sources that Sharp was suspended for that period of time but the Freep would never confirm any such punishment. Not to us. Not to the national media. Not to the Metro Times or Crain’s. They refused to comment to anyone and have never responded to the serious allegations that not only did Sharp plagiarize, he then tried to cover it up in a web of lies.

So what did we learn today when Harns went on Twitter and started updating us with the latest details?

Well, Harns and Sharp were face-to-face yesterday at an MSU football presser in East Lansing.

I don’t want to get accused of lifting David’s work, so I will let Harns update you on what went down ….

Yes, the columnist who demands accountability from EVERYONE else in the world still hasn’t apologized to Harns for ripping off his work. But it gets worse from there.

Remember when I mentioned that Sharp had lied to Bull when first confronted about the similarities between his piece and David’s? Well, Sharp informed Bull that he interviewed Cook and got all of the same info that Harns did. Even though this would have been ABSOLUTELY impossible without also talking to Miranda.

But even if Sharp did spend time with Cook in order to catch up on everything Harns had researched, this would have taken a minimum of fifteen to twenty minutes to accomplish. And that might be giving Sharp the benefit of the doubt.

But listen to the “Dog Ate My Homework” excuse that Sharp gave to Bull when the sports editor requested HARD EVIDENCE that Sharp spent as much time with Connor Cook as he was claiming ….

If only we had an eyewitness who could give testimony that Sharp was full of shit and lying ….

Yep. Right from the horse’s mouth. There was no “recorder malfunction” at all. Drew Sharp is a fucking liar. Connor Cook stated that he only spoke to Sharp for one or two minutes and that he gave “no details” about Miranda’s car accident.

So, not only did Sharp steal Harns’ work, he also lied to his boss’ face about what went down. I am still debating which action was worse, the original lazy theft or the fact that when he was caught red-handed Sharp still attempted to cover up what he did with lie after lie.

To summarize, we learned today for the first time that Sharp has NEVER apologized to Harns — even though David has given him ample opportunities to do so — and that Kevin Bull not only knew Sharp plagiarized, but that Sharp lied to him about doing so.

And yet, as we sit here over eight months later, Drew Sharp is still employed by the Detroit Free Press. The paper is continuing to subject its audience to a common thief who refused to tell his OWN BOSS the truth.

And how do we know Harns shared those Cook Tweets with Bull back in December? Well, Harns hinted at it on his own website back in March.

We learned this morning that Harns’ source was none other than Connor Cook.

The only person in the local media who took action in response to Sharp’s journalistic felony was Fox-2’s Dan Miller. The Freep did next to nothing. Former 105.1 program director Dave Shore told irate listeners over the phone that it wasn’t his problem because it occurred in the course Sharp’s duties with the newspaper. So Shore refused to discipline his then- PM Drive host.

Miller is the only one who did a damn thing. Sharp had been a regular panelist on Sportsworks for two decades. But he hasn’t appeared on that show since the DSR broke the news of the scandal.

I had Sean Baligian on the DSR Podcast a few weeks ago and I asked him about this very topic. Sportsworks panelists usually work in teams. Jamie Samuelsen and Bob Wojnowski were one unit and Sean and Sharp were another.

Without Baligian coming right out and saying it, you could easily read between the lines that Sharp had lost this opportunity because of what he did to Harns.

If only the Freep had Miller’s moral compass.

(You can follow the writer of this piece on Twitter @JeffMossDSR. Also, you can join in on the discussion of this article on Facebook by clicking here. You can also donate to Miranda McCoy’s favorite charity by clicking here.)