First Openly Gay Athlete in Major American Team Sports

[J. Falcon]

With three short, simple sentences, free agent center Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete to play a major American team sport.

"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay," Collins wrote for a story in the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated.

There's been much discussion in recent months about when the first active gay athlete would come out. The NHL partnered with "You Can Play," and filmed a commercial encouraging gay athletes. The NFL has produced a mixed response, with some players firmly in support of a player coming out, while others have been wary of an openly gay teammate in the locker room.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basket...port-1.5160748

[Supz]

He is just the first openly gay player in the NBA that is still active. Not the first openly gay player in a team sport. There are a bunch of retired players that have said they were gay.

[kane]

Since he is a free agent it will be interesting to see if he gets picked up by another team. I think there are a lot of guys that don't care, but there are plenty that still have that old school anti-gay sports belief and could hold this against him.

[_Richard_]

and yet, dennis rodman still goes above and beyond the 'shock and awe' factor

[purecane]

yeah, that guy just ended his career. you don't come out of the closet as a free agent......

[J. Falcon]

Originally Posted by Supz

He is just the first openly gay player in the NBA that is still active. Not the first openly gay player in a team sport. There are a bunch of retired players that have said they were gay.

Right, that's what I meant, and that is what makes this news so huge. If he were retired he wouldn't have to worry too much about being accepted etc.

[Scott McD]

[Webmaster Advertising]

Openly black and gay? Such a shame his career is over... LOL

[Supz]

Originally Posted by purecane73

yeah, that guy just ended his career. you don't come out of the closet as a free agent......

hes 34 year old who plays about a minute a game. Its not like he was 'in his prime' or anything. His career was pretty much over anyhow. But he is still 'active'. Technically.

[harvey]

Maybe Richard Jefferson will come out now as well

[harvey]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer...a-players.html

[purecane]

Originally Posted by Supz

hes 34 year old who plays about a minute a game. Its not like he was 'in his prime' or anything. His career was pretty much over anyhow. But he is still 'active'. Technically.

But now if he doesn't get picked up by another team this off season he can always play the gay card and say he was treated unfairly..and sue for damages... Maybe he is smarter than I originally thought.

[glamourmodels]

Probably why he did it. Publicity stunt. This way he can get some of those gay ad dollars and be a spokesman for ky jelly or something...

Originally Posted by Supz

hes 34 year old who plays about a minute a game. Its not like he was 'in his prime' or anything. His career was pretty much over anyhow. But he is still 'active'. Technically.

[adulttraffic]

[QUOTE=Scott McD;19603302]
how about contributing to the thread instead of just spamming your stupid pimproll banner. idiot

[Supz]

Originally Posted by purecane73

But now if he doesn't get picked up by another team this off season he can always play the gay card and say he was treated unfairly..and sue for damages... Maybe he is smarter than I originally thought.

Not really. He is old and has shitty stats. Thats good enough for no team to want him.

He is a very smart guy. He went to Stanford.

[helterskelter808]

Originally Posted by adulttraffic

how about contributing to the thread instead of just spamming your stupid pimproll banner. idiot

Perhaps he did contribute, then decided his contribution was not opportune or correct, then proceeded to edit out his contribution.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by glamourmodels

Probably why he did it. Publicity stunt. This way he can get some of those gay ad dollars and be a spokesman for ky jelly or something...

Could be, because he sure as hell wasn't getting any 'straight dollars'. You obviously have to be a very good player to get into the NBA. But he never really turned out to what he was supposed to be, player wise.

[kane]

Originally Posted by purecane73

But now if he doesn't get picked up by another team this off season he can always play the gay card and say he was treated unfairly..and sue for damages... Maybe he is smarter than I originally thought.

I was watching some sports shows this afternoon and one of them was saying how a few teams might now pick him up because of this. It could be good publicity for them and prove the league is open minded.

At best this guy is a bench player who comes in for a few minutes and plays a role, but every team needs a few guys like this so he has a shot at getting another job.

If he doesn't I would imagine his book deal and speaking fees will make him plenty of money. I doubt he will sue the NBA.

[Relentless]

Isn't most of the WNBA gay? Nice of the NBA media not to consider them a sport.
Liz Carmouche fought for the UFC title as a lesbian. Guess they aren't a major sport either.
Collins is a mediocre player in a declining sport.

The news here isn't that he is gay, the news is that the NBA thinks it matters more than the UFC, WNBA, Olympics and lots of other sporting organizations with openly gay athletes.

[epitome]

Openly is the keyword here.

Tebow.

[kane]

Originally Posted by Relentless

Isn't most of the WNBA gay? Nice of the NBA media not to consider them a sport.
Liz Carmouche fought for the UFC title as a lesbian. Guess they aren't a major sport either.
Collins is a mediocre player in a declining sport.

The news here isn't that he is gay, the news is that the NBA thinks it matters more than the UFC, WNBA, Olympics and lots of other sporting organizations with openly gay athletes.

They were saying this is among the four major sports. NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL

[Mike Honcho]

Actually, it was Luke Glenn Burke. He was an openly gay black male who played MLB in the 1970s! The fucking 70s.

He also created the high five

[harvey]

[QUOTE=adulttraffic;19603710]

Originally Posted by Scott McD

how about contributing to the thread instead of just spamming your stupid pimproll banner. idiot

really hate what he did

______________________________

[Supz]

Originally Posted by Relentless

Isn't most of the WNBA gay? Nice of the NBA media not to consider them a sport.
Liz Carmouche fought for the UFC title as a lesbian. Guess they aren't a major sport either.
Collins is a mediocre player in a declining sport.

The news here isn't that he is gay, the news is that the NBA thinks it matters more than the UFC, WNBA, Olympics and lots of other sporting organizations with openly gay athletes.

The NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL. Those are the 4 MAJOR sports (in the US). No, the UFC, WNBA or Olympics are not Major sports. Sorry. This is not what the NBA thinks. This is what all of America thinks, except you obviously. UFC and WNBA have limited viewership, and the Olympics is only once every 4 years (8 years for the actual athletes). The Olympics is also not a sport. It is a bunch of sports. Track and Field, Skiing, are the actual sports. They are not MAJOR sports either.

[purecane]

Originally Posted by epitome

Openly is the keyword here.

Tebow.

hahahhahahahaha....fucking tebow. i heard he got an offer to coach the lingerie league, at least they won't have to worry about him banging the players.

[Relentless]

Originally Posted by Supz

The NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL. Those are the 4 MAJOR sports (in the US). No, the UFC, WNBA or Olympics are not Major sports. Sorry. This is not what the NBA thinks. This is what all of America thinks, except you obviously. UFC and WNBA have limited viewership, and the Olympics is only once every 4 years (8 years for the actual athletes). The Olympics is also not a sport. It is a bunch of sports. Track and Field, Skiing, are the actual sports. They are not MAJOR sports either.

The Olympics has been around in one form or another for a longer period of time than the '4 major sports' combined. The WNBA is an expansion of the NBA, at one point every team in it was owned by the NBA. The UFC is by far the fastest growing sport, dwarfing the growth of the NHL (which is on strike for a season at a time every few years). The NFL is about to be saddled with massive lawsuit liability from all the head trauma cases and is turning into two-hand-touch as a result of the claims being filed. Baseball is a regional game that has a hard time carrying much of a national audience and has no competitive balance due to payroll disparity among the teams. It will be interesting to see the state of the 'four major sports' ten years from now. Hell, NASCAR is already bringing in more revenue than the NHL http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbade...aluable-teams/

The 'four major sports' have mistreated their fan base for so long that it should surprise nobody when upstarts are able to dig into their audience.

[Supz]

Originally Posted by Relentless

The Olympics has been around in one form or another for a longer period of time than the '4 major sports' combined. The WNBA is an expansion of the NBA, at one point every team in it was owned by the NBA. The UFC is by far the fastest growing sport, dwarfing the growth of the NHL (which is on strike for a season at a time every few years). The NFL is about to be saddled with massive lawsuit liability from all the head trauma cases and is turning into two-hand-touch as a result of the claims being filed. Baseball is a regional game that has a hard time carrying much of a national audience and has no competitive balance due to payroll disparity among the teams. It will be interesting to see the state of the 'four major sports' ten years from now. Hell, NASCAR is already bringing in more revenue than the NHL http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbade...aluable-teams/

The 'four major sports' have mistreated their fan base for so long that it should surprise nobody when upstarts are able to dig into their audience.

Without going off on a tangent here. I am just telling you what the meaning of "4 Major Sports in America" is. As far as mistreated the fans. Not exactly what you mean by that. But Football and NBA are at all time highs. Baseball sucks because steroids are gone, and the NHL was never a powerhouse to begin with.

No one gives a fuck about the Olympics until they are on. I dont care how old the tradition is. Didn't they just cut wrestling from the olympics. The oldest sport in Olympic history is no longer a sport in the olympics?

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by _Richard_

and yet, dennis rodman still goes above and beyond the 'shock and awe' factor

big difference he's bi sexual

[bushwacker]

Originally Posted by Relentless

Isn't most of the WNBA gay? Nice of the NBA media not to consider them a sport.
Liz Carmouche fought for the UFC title as a lesbian. Guess they aren't a major sport either.
Collins is a mediocre player in a declining sport.

The news here isn't that he is gay, the news is that the NBA thinks it matters more than the UFC, WNBA, Olympics and lots of other sporting organizations with openly gay athletes.

Declining sport? The NBA is the second biggest sport in the U.S. behind football, and is growing overseas as well.

[CurrentlySober]

i cant afford an Openly Gay Athlete...

[J.R.]

At least he didn't marry his gf

[John-ACWM]

Originally Posted by J.R.

At least he didn't marry his gf

right!

[Scott McD]

Originally Posted by helterskelter808

Perhaps he did contribute, then decided his contribution was not opportune or correct, then proceeded to edit out his contribution.

I had hotlinked a pic which didn't show.

To be honest I wasn't even letting the troll bother me...