By now, a headline like the one above should have set off the hot take alarm, easily traced to smoke rising from Shaun King’s computer.
It’s been over a year since the New York Daily News hired King to fill the newly created position of senior justice writer, but only a couple of months since he published one of the most important things he’d ever written: an exposé blowing the lid off the national anthem and its mostly forgotten verse celebrating the murder of enslaved Americans. Now that was a hot take, even if it was based on a glaring misinterpretation of the lyrics.
King was back on the case of the anthem this week in a column placing the blame for sinking NFL ratings on racist whites who just can’t abide free black men like Colin Kaepernick.
.@ShaunKing: NFL ratings are down because racists despise black men who are truly free https://t.co/rtWFStL9Pf pic.twitter.com/C7s2CfXFNi
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) November 1, 2016
The protests during the Star Spangled Banner very likely have contributed to the drop in TV ratings for the NFL, but King’s source is “one definitive poll” of 841 adults. A blog post on the study doesn’t mention if those adults polled were football fans or regular NFL viewers who cited their own reasons for tuning out; it seems the survey group was asked to indicate which factors out of a list of options they thought were hurting viewership.
The leading factor – the one receiving the most “yesses” – was players not standing for the national anthem. However, the seven factors all evoked a large number of yes responses, so that even the least chosen, at 33%, represents a lot of fans.
56% of respondents cited players not standing for the anthem, with 50% citing the distraction of the presidential campaign and 47% the controversy over the handling of domestic violence cases involving players.
…
Other factors included games on too many days, over-saturating the market (44%), increased interest in post-season baseball (39%), the ongoing controversy over head injuries (33%) and a decline in quality of play on the field (33%).
Of course there’s a massive leap from taking offense at players not standing for the anthem to racism, but King never fails to make the jump.
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Congrats. Dumbest Thing of Decade Award Winner. It's only 2016, but ur safe. No 1 is touching this stupidity. Props.
— Chris Tsotsoros (@ctsotsoros) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing it IS about racism! I called it! Do I get a prize?
— Tommy Bertin (@tommybertin) November 1, 2016
@tommybertin @NYDailyNews @ShaunKing evidently the weather is racist too
— Kaleb Ball (@kalebaball) November 1, 2016
@kalebaball @NYDailyNews @ShaunKing hurricanes are a white supremacist construct.
— Tommy Bertin (@tommybertin) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing breaking news, a Seton Hall study shows that weather, kittens, and lamps are all racist
— Kaleb Ball (@kalebaball) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Yes, NFL fans just this year discovered that black men play in the league. You need to be put in concussion protocol
— Time For Choosing (@TimeForChoosing) November 1, 2016
@ShaunKing w/another brutal article. Have you watched a single PT game this season? Poor Product is what's killing viewership @NYDailyNews
— te'o (@tommyohandsome) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Sigh, or its because of the election, world series, and a really sub-par product on the field.
— ben (@maltopsy) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing foolish. Ratings are down because pathetic officiating, overall talent lvl has gone down, inconsistent rules.
— Ryan Hicks (@RHicksOMS) November 2, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing LOL its not racism or kaep.,poor officiating/rule changes,domestic violence,poor prime time matchups..i can go on
— Nick Papageorgnegro (@Themahoganydon) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing or because NFL football as a product just sucks. 5 mintues of action packed into 4 and half hours. #boring
— RTShark (@RTShark) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing the NFL is a a terrible product right now. Bad teams, poor officiating, no celebration, too politicized.
— Matthew Huff (@matthufflepuff) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Lol. Oh wait. You're serious? Lol! Games too long, on too many nights a week, too many ridiculous flags. Hey u do u.
— Charisma (@CharismaFueled) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Yes I'm sure its not because we have to watch Jay Cutler and Sam Bradford Monday night.
— Akim Hamlet (@AkimHamlet) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing the #nfl has become boring. Thats it. Blaming racism is as ignorant as it gets
— Sawgrass (@1981SawDust) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing No, its because all Americans hate spoiled rich entitled brats who attack the core of a society that made them rich.
— Pen Quinbum (@penquinbum) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Actually Football is an American game & Americans are Patriotic and don't like to see their country's Flag dissed
— George Layman (@LaymanGeorge) November 1, 2016
@NYDailyNews @ShaunKing Rating started slipping last year. Not to mention youth participation. Nice try though
— RIP Journalism ? (@rallythong) November 1, 2016
