Squirrel attacks Padres\’ Bullpen.
Charles Barkley: I had gay teammates.
Assorted commentary after the jump.
Alex:
Squirrel!
Who decides that picking up a squirrel with his bare hands is a good idea?
I love the Killebrew story, and Mark Rosen made it a point to say on the radio yesterday that he\’d received email by the tens, maybe hundreds, that all related a similar story. What a great man – he will be missed.
Honestly, I think Barkley\’s take is right on. There are right now, and probable have been for a long time, gay athletes in professional sports. I\’m guessing at least some of their teammates know, and that most don\’t care. Yes, there are insensitive idiots who still throw gay slurs around – they\’re probably also making bigoted comments in general; some people are simply stupid. The people who would make a huge deal about it are the media, because (like Chuck said) society does still discriminate against gay people (as we know all too well here in MN right now). I would suspect that\’s why no prominent athlete has come out yet, moreso than anything in the locker room.
wadE:
\”I\’ve got a dog that could take care of their SQ-earl problems…\”
From the comments on the Killebrew story:
What a classic, touching story. I heard something similar recently about Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer, except Mauer promised the kid he\’d ground out to second for him and Cuddyer promised to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. And they both did!
As for Khansie:
This is the first time I\’ve actually liked Khan. The NBA is rigged, and the T-wolves got jobbed. Not over some smart-alec rich kid with a disease (although that does add to the charm of our reaming), but because LeBron thoroughly eviscerated the city of Cleveland… although with the Indians in first place, I don\’t feel so bad for them anymore. Plus, I had missed that Khansie accused Beasley of smoking too much weed. I may be willing to give Khan a little more rope. Let\’s see if he can get Rubio over here, and let\’s see if we can be competitive in the next year or two. Besides, I\’ve gone this long without giving a shit about the T-wolves… what\’s another 2 years?
As for Chuck:
He\’s right. Just about every player has played with or against someone who is gay. I was listening to KFAN on my drive into work and Morris said that he didn\’t know it at the time, but he played with someone who is gay (Esera Tuaolo). However, I\’m not sure that all players are ready for gay teammates. I am not saying a person should stay in the closet, but if a player comes out they shouldn\’t expect it to be all rainbows and lollipops in the clubhouse. With that being said, the environment is far more friendly now than 20 years ago. I believe with in 5 years we\’ll have our first active player (male) to come out the closet while still playing. It\’ll be a big deal when it happens, and it will probably negatively affect that players performance on the field/court. But it will open the door and 15 years from now we won\’t even remember what the big deal was about.
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