Stare Kid
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About
Stare Kid is a nickname given to a 10-year-old boy who rose to online fame after engaging in a prolonged staring contest with the ESPN camera crew during the live broadcast of NCAA's College World Series semifinal in late June 2016.
Origin
On June 24th, 2016, Texas Christian University's (TCU) Horned Frogs and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers butted heads in the semifinal of the College World Series for the 2016 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship[1] at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. During the game, an ESPN camera panned over to a young spectator in the seating area, who then proceeded to stare intently at the camera for nearly a minute. The next day, an isolated video clip from the ESPN broadcast was uploaded to YouTube.
Spread
On June 25th, 2016, Gawker-affiliated sports news site Deadspin[2] tweeted a video clip from the ESPN broadcast, which garnered more than 10,000 likes and 7,500 retweets in 72 hours. On June 26th, Imgur user VeryVeryVeryBreakyBreakyBreakyBishiBishi submitted a GIF version of the video clip in a post titled "set phasers to charming," accumulating 11,157 points and over 3.5 million views in 48 hours. That same day, NCAA Baseball shared the video clip on its official Facebook page[3], where it racked up over 30 million views, 330,000 shares and 100,000 comments in less than 48 hours. On June 27th, Redditor Hardyparty shared a link to the Imgur GIF in an /r/funny post titled "half funny, half disturbing," accruing 4,887 points (79% upvoted) and more than 1,300 comments within the first 24 hours.
That same day, Redditor Blinnlambert submitted a combined GIF featuring the newly-dubbed "Stare Kid" and Stop Girl, a University of Arizona student who went viral after reacting shyly to an ESPN camera during a college football game in 2010, gaining 5,200 points (79% upvoted) and over 1200 comments.
Identity
On June 27th, NBC-affiliated TV station WOWT[14] in Omaha, Nebraska aired an interview with Sammy DiDonato, the 10-year-old boy behind the epic staring contest, in which Sammy explained that he decided to goof around after noticing a camera right in front of him behind Coastal Carolina's dugout.
"Earlier in the game before it started it was like looking at us a little bit. I thought maybe it would look at us again so I was just waiting for it." […] "I was kind of paying attention in case it did go around again and it did, so I just decided to be funny." […] "I just tried to start dancing a little bit because it kept looking at me."
Search Interest
External References
[1] NCAA – Coastal Carolina Avoids Elimination Again with 4-1 Win Over TCU
[2] Twitter – @Deadspin's Tweet
[3] Facebook – There was an EPIC stare down last night at the CWS
[4] Imgur – Set phasers to charming
[5] Reddit – Half Funny, Half Disturbing
[6] Reddit – Stare Kid vs Stop Girl
[7] Reddit – Stare kid and stop girl
[8] GQ – Staredown Kid Gazes into the Heart of Darkness in an ESPN Camera
[9] Uproxx – Watch This Hilarious Kid Make Sweet Love To ESPN’s Cameras At A College Baseball Game
[10] New York Magazine – Kid Wins Staring Contest With ESPN Live Broadcast
[11] Bleacher Report – Kid Hilariously Trolls ESPN Broadcast During TCU-Coastal Carolina CWS Game
[12] New York Post – Little kid’s intense flirtation with ESPN camera is just the best
[13] New York Daily News – Kid caught on TV at College World Series plays it up for the camera
[14] WOWT – Young Omaha CWS fan's epic stare-down goes viral
Top Comments
Emperor Palpitoad
Jun 28, 2016 at 04:41PM EDT
Mameme
Jun 28, 2016 at 05:56PM EDT