NBA exec comes out to minimal controversy - great to have this happen in the NBA. A big step forward... http://tinyurl.com/42tb4d7 I got a kick out of this comments section / mensa convention. It's offensive to the point of comedy. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2720260/posts
Totally agreed. Very cool that it happened with the NBA, especially in a more conservative market like Arizona. And you guys are right, that Free Republic stuff is comedic gold, i.e. "What next: Phoenix Sthsuns?" "Phoenix Buns" Man, what losers.
Listening to a podcast interview with the guy now... http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?id=6556599&callsign=ESPNRADIO&autoplay=1 He sounds like a great guy - the more people like this that come out, the more stereotypes get obliterated. I hate to think the guy went so long in the closet in such a testosterone-driven environment. Having been there, I know how much it sucks. Knowing you have a big secret that you feel like can ruin your life is absolutely oppressive in every way. I congratulate him on finding what it's like to wake up and finally feel human one day. The best part about this is that I'm confident our culture is not going to tolerate negative responses to this courageous outing - if you do that you'll be relegated to the fringe. ...and so the forward march towards equality continues.
I care. We're not at the point where it's a non-story yet. That's a long way away and there are more barriers to be busted. But having an openly gay NBA exec is still a pretty big story to folks like me who didn't grow up with any role models like this. Additionally, it seems like a lot of the people in the Free Republic comments section care.
In any other industry, sure. But sports? It's kinda big. Though the bigger story is that one of the NBA's most influential people feared his career would be affected if he came out, and couldn't mourn his partner's death in public.
I care. All of these incremental steps are important -- former athletes coming out, execs coming out, Kobe's mea culpa. If soldiers can do it, athletes can do it. It's going to be big news when the first professional athlete in a major sport comes out. And as others come out, it won't be such a big deal. Eventually, it will range from just boring to not even necessary. And that will be awesome sauce.
As someone who's followed the NBA since I was four, it's a big deal. Sports locker rooms in general tend to have a very macho attitude going. Four years ago when Amaechi came out, Tim Hardaway said he hated gay people. Recently, Kobe Bryant got in trouble for making a gay slur towards a ref. Thing is, gay athletes in sport needs to be a non story, and it's slowly, key word slowly, getting there.
He's not an athlete. He's a front office exec. People in the Suns organization already knew he was gay and most people outside of Phoenix don't know him at all. He knows the pressures are completely different for players and coaches. He's just trying to lay the groundwork for someone else to be the breakthrough, but he's no Jackie Robinson himself. His arena is the boardroom, not the locker room.
I would have a hard time naming more than a couple NBA team presidents period. If it helps Welts or sets an example for others, more power to him, but it wasn't exactly a secret that he was gay. David Stern knew he was gay, Steve Nash knew he was gay and assumed everyone else knew he was gay. The only reason the general public didn't know Welts was gay was that they had no clue who Rick Welts was in the first place.
How many major sports teams presidents (in the US) can you name? How many are gay? It was a secret to the general public. Major sports in the US (and probably around the world) have a tendency to assume homosexuality is not present, or at least it is not talked about. That a leader of a major sports orginization comes out indicates to others lower down on the power chain to accept it.
SF Giants to make video for 'It Gets Better' drive Yes, they're from San Francisco. But they're also the reigning World Series champions. It's amazing to think that just 7 years ago Rove and Co. were pushing conservatives over the edge with gay marriage paranoia across the country. I choose to be heartened by this moment.
Yeah- it's interesting that more and more people know that they may not be punished for coming out, paving the way for players. If people running the team are gay, I'm guessing that creates a better environment for an active player to come out. And knowing the NBA, an active player will come out when Nike offers them $25 million to endorse a new line of shoes aimed at the gay community
That's it, right? We know that the league will be behind any player who comes out. Teammates will probably support him (I think Kobe's tirade and "no homo"/"pause" used on Twitter come out of the assumption that gays don't exist in sports, not genuine homophobia). I'm sure some fans will care, most fans won't. So the last step is the sponsors, because they'll face the biggest backlash, I think, because of organized opposition. But companies like Nike and McDonald's should be big enough to not feel any pain from boycotts.
Well, if you want to generate about $500 million in FREE world-wide publicity and become the face of progressive social thought, with thousands of artcles written about you, that's the move right there. That would be one hell of a media circus... a very bold marketing move. The financial reward of pulling this move (regardless of what's "right") is growing everyday.
someone just happened to link to this Mike Wise column for another reason in another thread, so I figured I'd post it here Charles Barkley: In sports, ability to play should outweigh sexual orientation
How does Charles feel about having a gay teammate who can't play? For example, maybe the gay guy thinks he's a really good 3 point shooter even though he isn't and he keeps jacking up bricks instead of going inside, being physical and using his rebounding skills. How would Charles feel about having a teammate like that?