How a Benign Fake Story of 'Theft' and 'Race' Ruined Mike Shumann's Livelihood; Warriors and KGO in Cross Hairs; Lazy Sports Journalism Trumps Common Sense; 415 Media Special Report

OF ALL the most heinous things coming out of the Mike Shumann/Warriors affair involving an alleged "stolen" jacket that was never stolen in the first place involves certain sports media players quick to condemn but never making attempts to talk to the accused.

And then driving the "story"into a racial matter when race had absolutely no play and was inserted as cover for some overzealous people including some Warriors players and lazy sports media members.

Shumann was accused of stealing a jacket from a Warriors' team security guard (who has recently left the organization) the initial story was reported by The Athletic; did its reporter make an attempt to ask Shumann for comment? Get his explanation? Surely someone with 25 years at his employer deserves that but there was no attempt made by the reporter.

Crappy journalism.

Monte Poole, a veteran sports columnist and Warriors' Insider for the local NBC Sports Bay Area cable outlet who is African-American, wrote a column about some Warriors' players who injected race into the matter even though Shumann has never had any issues with Bay Area sports teams, let alone issues involving racial matters. I bring this up because Shumann went out of his way to return the jacket to its owner that night in San Antonio; unable to get it to the security guard, Shumann gave it to a prominent Warriors' PR person. This is verified.

There was no theft. There was, conspicuously, a video that showed Shumann taking the jacket and looking around for its owner. Should Shumann have left it there as is? You can say it might have been the best thing to do in retrospect but Shumann had no ill intentions and only wanted to get it the security guard as quickly as possible.

Yet the story had already developed a narrative that Shumann was a thief! and a white thief at that who in addition to his crime, received special treatment. Mind you the fact that Shumann's record of 25 years at KGO was spotless and that there's never been any incident whatsoever to indicate this type of behavior nor racial elements; of course it is far easier to let the story go viral; why ask questions now because that would require heavy lifting and actual reporting; let the facts rush forward and damn any explanation after all it's just a guy that has a quarter-century worth of time at his employer and livelihood on the line.

I don't know Shumann all that well; only occasionally we bumped into one another at various Warriors' games and other Bay Area sporting events. I have no vested interest in his travails here monetarily or otherwise. I believe Shumann at his word that he didn't steal any jacket and that the whole thing was a misunderstanding and that, with the assist by social media, developed a storm of its own with members never bothering to consider the facts. There is nothing to consider otherwise. If Shumann had any incidents in his life to suggest some investigation, OK, he loses the benefit of the doubt. There is no mark.

Shumann had a spotless record and was let go by ABC execs because their relationship with the Warriors involved significant monetary assets which trumped even an innocent employee in the cross hairs of a mostly benign matter that had no business going viral, literal, racial, or otherwise.

Shumann is a devoted family man with a wife and daughter in college; he's had to sell his house and painstakingly reinvent his livelihood and name. "It's a nightmare", he tells me.

I believe him.

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