Freezing Cold Takes Twitter account “had to put a limit” on exposing Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd

Skip Bayless and Colin Cowherd can be the gift that keeps on giving for Twitter handle Freezing Cold Takes (@OldTakesExposed), but the challenge is deciphering which takes are genuine.

Freezing Cold Takes founder Fred Segal joined the Dan Patrick Show Wednesday morning to discuss his new book, Freezing Cold Takes: NFL, which was released this week.

Dan Patrick was a colleague of Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith and Colin Cowherd at ESPN, so he certainly has a good grasp on how hot take artists operate, which prompted him to ask Segal if he ever feels like he’s being played by hosts who repeatedly offer outlandish takes.

“I do understand that there’s a lot of these guys on TV who are trying to be interesting, more than trying to be right,” Segal said. “But at the end of the day, everybody’s sending me those takes. There’s a substantial amount of people who are trying to get those takes appearing on the feed, so I’ll do some of them, but not all of them. I’m not gonna just use everything that Skip Bayless says, or Cowherd says. I have to put a limit on it.”

In addition to Bayless and Cowherd, Segal put Mike Francesa on his list of elite cold-take artists, but he admitted the iconic WFAN radio host is different because he’s never trolling for attention.

“Out of all the people who are trying to be provocative on-air and are really concerned about being entertaining, Francesa is completely honest with everything he says, but he’s so defiant,” Segal explained. “He has a knack for saying things defiantly, and within a real brief period, the opposite happens.”

Some sports hot-take artists want to be right, others are just seeking attention, which can get murky especially as both kinds of provocateurs project their gambling picks every week during the NFL season. I get that the goal of Bayless, Cowherd and other hot take artists is to be entertaining, but maybe they went to far if we’re getting to a point where a Twitter handle with the sole purpose of exposing bad takes won’t take the bait.

[Dan Patrick Show]