The Gay Athlete

As some of you know former Villanova basketball player Will Sheridan officially came out of the closet the other day along with Phoenix Suns' President Rick Welts. Welts became the first prominent figure in professional male sports to come out. I'm sure it was a very difficult thing to do especially the way sports are portrayed in the US by the media.

In the media, college and professional sports are considered to be a no holds barred area for homosexual bashing. Not that I've been around the locker room on a consistent basis for a while but I definitely don't think that is true especially when it comes to college athletics. I can't say for sure about the pros but I would think it's the same. Are there some things that are said in the locker room that wouldn't be said in public? You bet there is, but it's not to the extent that people think. In most cases it's just "busting each other's balls." Basically, it's just messing with each other as any family would do (well, at least my family).

Per usual, the media really doesn't have a clue what's going on. In the famous words of former Colts' GM Bill Tobin to "Draft Expert" Mel Kiper, "Have you ever put on a jock strap?" The media has very little access compared to what they use to so maybe when the team columnists traveled with the team they would know better but that just isn't the case anymore. It would be ignorant for me to say that there isn't gay bashing in the locker room but it isn't what people think.

Charles Barkley makes a couple of great points in this article. In all reality, I'm sure I've played with or coached someone that is gay. I don't really know and don't really care to be honest with you if they were gay or not. My job as a coach is to find the best basketball players I can, whether he be straight or gay. I also think that society has become much more excepting of male players coming out of the closet.

HERE is the article about Will Sheridan. I actually worked basketball camp at Villanova during Will's freshman season and he seemed like any other player on the team. The only exception was that all the campers booed him when ever he touched the ball when the players scrimmaged. Maybe the campers knew something that we didn't know at the time but that's highly unlikely. Throughout the article it talks about how his teammates where very accepting of him and his lifestyle. And it's not like he is that much different from anyone else. He likes men and many of his teammates like women, just about everything else they had in common. They were all at Villanova to get a degree, win a national championship, and to increase their chances of being successful after college.

On another note. The Hamline baseball team plays in the NCAA Regionals tomorrow against St. Scholastica at UW-Whitewater at 4pm Central Time. It's a six team regional with the winner heading to the D3 College World Series in Appleton, WI.