CALLING YOU OUT! - JASON WHITLOCK

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

“Calling You Out!” is a periodic segment where WCT takes people to task for irresponsible journalism, foolhardy activities, or just general douchebaggery. Nothing is sacred, no one is spared, watch your ass mister! You could be next!

Everytime I think he has hit rock bottom...

Honestly, I am speechless. I am without speech. I almost don't even know where to begin.

In what we can only assume is his latest attempt to be as acerbic, idiotic, and self-loathing as possible, Jason Whitlock penned this, which operates under the thesis that the NBA Playoffs have enjoyed a ratings renaissance this year because

wait for it...

wait for it...

the players involved in this year's playoffs have fewer tattoos that players involved in previous year's playoffs. I wish I was kidding.

The self-proclaimed "Overweight Lova" (which I assume is an ironic nickname, since Whitlock hates everything) states his case thusly:

"Part of the reason more people are watching these playoffs is because the average fan isn't constantly repulsed by the appearance of most of the players on the court. Most of the key players left in the playoffs don't look like recent prison parolees."

This assertion, along with the beauty from the '07 NBA All-Star Game in Vegas (where he compared walking down the strip to walking a cell block in a maximum security prison) and Whitlock begins to take on the persona of Dave Chappelle's character Clayton Bigsby, the blind, black, white supremacist.

If we were to, just for a second, set the ignorance inherent in his thesis aside (is it possible to be a self-racist? Someone help me out with this) and just examine it as a short-sighted and ridiculous premise, it almost becomes comical. The fact that the players involved have fewer tattoos -- a statement that is neither researched, nor supported with any sort of statistical evidence -- is why ratings are up. Not the fact that two most marquee and historic franchises (Lakers, Celtics) in two of the largest media markets in the nation (Los Angeles, Boston) have made runs to the finals. Not because the League's biggest stars (LeBron, Kobe, KG, Duncan) all played prominent roles in exciting series, or because the League's emerging stars (Chris Paul, Pau Gasol, Deron Williams) all got much-needed exposure. Nope. Its because TV viewers find this year's participants more visually pleasing. Maybe. Whitlock didn't really do any "research" to back this up.

But probably not.

Race-baiting in order to incite a reaction is a transparent tactic used by hack sportswriters to generate a buzz and get people talking about them. Jason Whitlock has made a career out of this type of thing, and usually it does not bother me. But when he completely ignores obvious facts, and makes wild, unsubstantiated claims, and uses those claims as theses for whole columns, he deserves to be taken to task.