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You know, theres enough to not like about Jameis Winston without pulling wild rumorsout of thin air. The latest controversy that isnt based in reality? Winston allegedly shaved points during the first half of the Florida State-Louisville game last week.
The story was first reported by an internet gambling writerwho has been exposedon multiple occasions. Then Clay Travis decided to run with the story at Fox Sportsand give national credence and publicity to the rumor and all h**l broke loose. TMZ Sports then ran the story this morning and here we are a ridiculous story about Jameis Winston is now firmly in the public eye.
Fox Sports provided no additional sourcing or reporting to actually try to discover the truth of the story, merely saying HEY, THIS IS A THING THATS OUT THERE!Even worse, TMZ providedno link to the original story, or questions about its origin, only saying that there were reports of Winstons point shavings and giving them some semblance of legitimacy.
Perhaps crazier, Travis even tweeted a link out to his story and said he didnt believe it. So why even write about it, then? Shouldnt there be some sort of editorial control here?
This story is everywhere online. Personally I don't believe Winston could be this stupid over $5k. http://t.co/We1Tp77CNY
Clay Travis (@ClayTravisBGID) November 6, 2014
A year ago, a similar gambling-related story popped up about Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, which Boyd and head coach Dabo Swinney were forced to debunk after a reporter asked about it.
Im more confused that major outlets like Fox feel the need to run stories like this. When sourcing for a topic is this dubious, is the need to raise your hand and jump around screaming FIRST! more important than making sure theres actually something to a potentially crushing and even criminal story?But thats just the world we live in take a crazy story, slap a polarizing athletesname on it, publish it, and watch the pageviews roll in.
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