Author Topic: First Openly Gay Athlete (in a major sport) (Read 47394 times)

EMAWmeister · « **on:** April 29, 2013, 10:25:30 AM »

34 y/o NBA player Jason Collins came out to SI today. Good for him. Unfortunately he's a free agent, so this will either a.) be chalked up as a publicity stunt or b.) not do much for other gay athletes who have to worry about being accepted by teammates and fans.

But it's definitely newsworthy

SdK · « **Reply #1 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:27:12 AM »

Is his twin brother gay too?

steve dave · « **Reply #2 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:27:50 AM »

I think there had been some athletes that came out after their careers hadn't there?

EMAWmeister · « **Reply #3 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:29:19 AM »

Quote from: steve dave on April 29, 2013, 10:27:50 AM

I think there had been some athletes that came out after their careers hadn't there?

Yeah a retired basketball player, that I can remember.

SdK · « **Reply #4 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:34:08 AM »

I hope he gets signed with the Trailblazers!

jtksu · « **Reply #5 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:35:09 AM »

Quote from: steve dave on April 29, 2013, 10:27:50 AM

I think there had been some athletes that came out after their careers hadn't there?

Billy Bean (not that Billy Bean) and Glen Burke in baseball. Burke actually told the dodgers during his career but didn't come out publicly until after his career.

EMAWmeister · « **Reply #6 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:46:07 AM »

I mean hopefully this will allow current players to feel comfortable enough to come out, but this guy definitely stated that he wants to keep playing basketball. This would be a PR dream for an NBA team that might not have signed him otherwise.

WillieWatanabe · « **Reply #7 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:50:54 AM »

good for him.

Also, obviously very important part of this story is how fast ESPN reacts.

Quote

Awful Announcing ?@awfulannouncing

40 minutes later and still nothing on SportsCenter or http://ESPN.com on Jason Collins.

Quote

Awful Announcing ?@awfulannouncing

11:44 AM SportsCenter breaks in live with Chris McKendry with quotes from Collins' Sports Illustrated piece.

CNS · « **Reply #8 on:** April 29, 2013, 10:56:43 AM »

couple weeks ago, 810am spent a decent amt of time talking about this as a hypothetical in the NFL. Said that there is a gay punter or kicker that gave an interview to someone and in that interview he said that there are several players that he knows to be gay that are all talking about coming out at the same time in the near future. They made it sound like it could be very soon too.

This may trigger that.

EllToPay · « **Reply #9 on:** April 29, 2013, 11:30:55 AM »

Cue the high and mighty sportswriters on twitter.

EMAWmeister · « **Reply #10 on:** April 29, 2013, 11:46:59 AM »

Quote from: EllToPay on April 29, 2013, 11:30:55 AM

Cue the high and mighty sportswriters on twitter.

No joke. We get it, Gregg Doyel.

I think what is almost as important as him coming out is guys like Kobe and Baron Davis, role models to teens/younger bball fans, very publicly supporting him.

The Tonya Harding of Twitter Users Creep · « **Reply #11 on:** April 29, 2013, 11:52:53 AM »

is soccer a major sport?

WillieWatanabe · « **Reply #12 on:** April 29, 2013, 01:32:04 PM »

Update:

SI story not getting enough pub on ESPN!

Quote

Richard Deitsch ?@richarddeitsch 5m

Numbers Never Lie is debating whether Tim Tebow should get another chance at QB. CNN is talking about Jason Collins.

ednksu · « **Reply #13 on:** April 29, 2013, 01:37:24 PM »

Quote from: jtksu on April 29, 2013, 10:35:09 AM

Quote from: steve dave on April 29, 2013, 10:27:50 AM
I think there had been some athletes that came out after their careers hadn't there?

Billy Bean (not that Billy Bean) and Glen Burke in baseball. Burke actually told the dodgers during his career but didn't come out publicly until after his career.

John Amaechi as well.

jtksu · « **Reply #14 on:** April 29, 2013, 01:45:13 PM »

Quote from: ednksu on April 29, 2013, 01:37:24 PM

Quote from: jtksu on April 29, 2013, 10:35:09 AM
Quote from: steve dave on April 29, 2013, 10:27:50 AM
I think there had been some athletes that came out after their careers hadn't there?

Billy Bean (not that Billy Bean) and Glen Burke in baseball. Burke actually told the dodgers during his career but didn't come out publicly until after his career.
John Amaechi as well.

I loved him in Trading Places.

lopakman · « **Reply #15 on:** April 29, 2013, 02:40:04 PM »

And the first dumbass athlete to make a homophobic tweet about Jason Collins goes to.
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Mike Wallace!

@Wallace17_daKid All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin' my head

puniraptor · « **Reply #16 on:** April 29, 2013, 02:41:02 PM »

Quote from: lopakman on April 29, 2013, 02:40:04 PM

And the first dumbass athlete to make a homophobic tweet about Jason Collins goes to.
.
.
.
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Mike Wallace!

@Wallace17_daKid All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin' my head

'taterblast · « **Reply #17 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:41:43 PM »

BITB is hilarious today.

'taterblast · « **Reply #18 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:45:43 PM »

a guy called in and said it's not appropriate for pro athletes to come out because then the players will know he is checking them out in the locker room.

Paul Moscow · « **Reply #19 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:49:04 PM »

Quote from: emawblast on April 29, 2013, 03:45:43 PM

a guy called in and said it's not appropriate for pro athletes to come out because then the players will know he is checking them out in the locker room.

That's so f*cking ridiculous.

The Tonya Harding of Twitter Users Creep · « **Reply #20 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:49:13 PM »

Quote from: emawblast on April 29, 2013, 03:45:43 PM

a guy called in and said it's not appropriate for pro athletes to come out because then the players will know he is checking them out in the locker room.

this thread is going to quickly become a crap white midwesterners say thread

'taterblast · « **Reply #21 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:51:38 PM »

i hope they podcast that call or something, i laughed very hard

mocat · « **Reply #22 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:58:00 PM »

Quote from: emawblast on April 29, 2013, 03:45:43 PM

a guy called in and said it's not appropriate for pro athletes to come out because then the players will know he is checking them out in the locker room.

Is this guy implying that the problem is the other players' knowledge of being checked out, or the fact that they were being checked out?

slobber · « **Reply #23 on:** April 29, 2013, 03:59:24 PM »

Is BiTB calling any of the dumbasses out, or is he just BhiTBing them?

'taterblast · « **Reply #24 on:** April 29, 2013, 04:12:40 PM »

Quote from: dobber on April 29, 2013, 03:59:24 PM

Is BiTB calling any of the dumbasses out, or is he just BhiTBing them?

he BITB'ed them. danny really wanted to call them out for being dumbasses but kind of held back.