Hey everyone, hope you are enjoying your weekend. As for me, all is well, working hard and trying to get some good results towards the end of our season.
As everyone wrote, both on outsports and some of the comments on my last post, most of the discussions lately are about athletes who have been coming out of the closet this year, which seems to be much more than ever.
My opinion? And again, please don't take it the wrong way, I might sound a little homophobic or not appreciative of some of what has happened lately, but just think about it before you react.
As for Will Sheridan? That's great that he is feeling good about himself and decided to come out, BUT again, he hasn't been playing for some years now, he doesn't have a active rule in sports and is just about to come out with an album, so that also might have something to do with it.
I do applaud him and I think it's great that he is coming out and helping others by reaching out, answering emails or just showing them that it's ok to be gay, but still it's much different than an athlete coming out while he is playing and while he has a active rule in sports.
As for the Suns gay president, I think it's great, he is still active in basketball and still has a part in running a N.B.A team. I think he is showing a lot of people about gay influence and that gay people can succeed and do a lot of things, with no relation to what they prefer to do in their personal life.
I of course haven't talked to him, but I'm happy about the reactions he is receiving, and I’m sure it's a big step inside the N.B.A for accepting gay people, BUT still, he doesn't play on the court, or coach, he doesn't have to receive reactions from the fans, who can be very taunting and very difficult.
I said this once, fans overseas tend to be much more aggressive, homophobic and racist than the American crowd and the damage outside the U.S.A for a sports player who comes out will be much bigger and it will be much harder to deal with.
As for broadcasters and people from the media, again, great news and I think it again shows to those who don't want to believe it, that gay people are just as a part of sports or anything else for that matter, and it doesn't matter if you’re gay, straight or bi, as lady gaga sings.
Regarding Charles Barkley? what else can you say, only great things and only positive things, always admired him as a players and I guess he should be rewarded the same admiration for the stand he took on the gay issue. It’s something that has been going on as long as I remember going on outsports and writing my blog, Sr. Charles will always be something special I have to say.
Last thing for this post, I read in one of the articles about Barkley, I think at least he was him that two of the writers wrote: "Cyd and I agree that it would not be anywhere near as hard for a pro athlete to come out as is generally perceived".
On a side note, I have to say that Jim Buzinski was the one who helped me start this blog and helped me with everything around it and I will always appreciate that.
However that saying pissed me off, how do they know if it's going to be difficult or not? Have they been there? Have they experienced it, have they been in locker rooms? Again, I’m not saying I can be 100 % sure what will happen when the time comes, but just because a lot of people encourage the subject doesn't mean that those who don't are also speaking their mind.
I tend to believe that most of those who are homophobic or against gays in sports or however you want to call it; will try to be as quite as they can as long as nothing major happens. After that, I’m sure there will be enough homophobes, just like Tim Hardaway and others
Just like Barkley, I also had gay teammates (at least I’m almost certain) and also played against gay players on different teams and still no one has ever come out. So I guess it must be a little harder than those who sit behind a desk think.
Enjoy your weekend.
Showing posts with label outsports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outsports. Show all posts
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, March 12, 2010
A New Page
Well, I already had a post ready for this week, but decided to make a last minute change. First of all I'm happy to have more readers join my blog and I send my thanks to Jim who helped me out with everything and also had the confidence to believe my story and give me a small stage.
I wrote this before, but I will repeat it for all the new comers, I decided to start this blog first of all to share my thoughts, my desires and some of the things I deeply want and can't have or can't talk about. It gives me a great feeling to receive emails and hear from others with a story that's related to mine, or even people who just want to give a good word.
Of course another thing that came out of all this is the opportunity to help out other people, whether youngsters or people around my age who can also benefit from talking and sharing, it wasn't the reason i started this blog, but surely it's a pure bonus.
If there are some that aren't sure if I am who I claim to be, I can just say that I have my truth and for me it's enough, from here on out you can take it to anywhere you feel is right,good or bad.
Basketball wise, I usually don't tell too many stories or talk about my games for logical reasons, like every league across the world, or at least most of it, this is getting close to the last period of the season, and the playoffs, just like the NBA.
It's always fun to play on a team that competes in the high level, and that playoff time is when the team and each individual get the chance to prove their hard work all season paid off, so I hope to have that same feeling in the end of the year, but one can never know.
Just like most of the players, the pre game is a time of thinking and a time of getting ready for what's in store that evening, I can tell you from my side that I always have the feeling that the last game doesn't mean anything. I can never get confidence that anything I did last time around can help me out in the game that's coming up.
On one side it might be some insecurity, a feeling that even when I play a good game it can be just luck or a one time thing and next time around nothing is going to work, not the shot, not the pass, D, or anything else for that matter.
On the other hand, I sometimes feel that it might be a way for me to take the exceptions down, the exceptions I set for myself, maybe that way when I have a bad game I won't feel bad or really disappointed, but sadly enough it never works out.
I always have the tendency to be very harsh with myself, I can finish a day with 17 points and 6-9 from the field and I will only remember the 3 missed shots and try to think why I missed them and that I could have done better, and that's usually the feeling I go with, it's rear that I will sit down and say to myself great job and will be thinking about those 6 makes.
In some way I think it does have something to do with me being gay, maybe it's making a complicated situation easy by saying it like this, but I think that since like most guys who fight with their sexuality I felt bad for the most part of my childhood and youth. I tried to reject the thoughts and the emotions, since being gay is " wrong, not normal" and I can go on and on.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that going around feeling bad about myself since I'm different might explain why I only look on the bad things, those things that I grow up feeling and grow up thinking about, maybe in some way I need those feelings to give me the "approval" that I'm still different and not as good as the others cause I'm gay.
I know it's not a matter of black and white, and I can happily say that I feel much better about myself than I used to, but I guess it's not a completed process. Maybe somewhere it's the homophobic side of me, a side that was always there but was developed by being in locker rooms and around guys that are usually homophobic and have tendency to make gays to be less man, not worthy and for sure not equal to all the rest.
I still see myself as work in progress, I can really say that I feel good with my career and the direction it's going, and even though every game worries me all over and I'm never sure my ability will surface Things are going good. I do sometimes start to think if my issues with myself and my sexual preferences don't prevent me from reaching my full potential, but this is something for another post.
I have been trying to sign off with lyrics from a song that just feels right at that same moment, this is a little different , but aren't we all :).
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
I wrote this before, but I will repeat it for all the new comers, I decided to start this blog first of all to share my thoughts, my desires and some of the things I deeply want and can't have or can't talk about. It gives me a great feeling to receive emails and hear from others with a story that's related to mine, or even people who just want to give a good word.
Of course another thing that came out of all this is the opportunity to help out other people, whether youngsters or people around my age who can also benefit from talking and sharing, it wasn't the reason i started this blog, but surely it's a pure bonus.
If there are some that aren't sure if I am who I claim to be, I can just say that I have my truth and for me it's enough, from here on out you can take it to anywhere you feel is right,good or bad.
Basketball wise, I usually don't tell too many stories or talk about my games for logical reasons, like every league across the world, or at least most of it, this is getting close to the last period of the season, and the playoffs, just like the NBA.
It's always fun to play on a team that competes in the high level, and that playoff time is when the team and each individual get the chance to prove their hard work all season paid off, so I hope to have that same feeling in the end of the year, but one can never know.
Just like most of the players, the pre game is a time of thinking and a time of getting ready for what's in store that evening, I can tell you from my side that I always have the feeling that the last game doesn't mean anything. I can never get confidence that anything I did last time around can help me out in the game that's coming up.
On one side it might be some insecurity, a feeling that even when I play a good game it can be just luck or a one time thing and next time around nothing is going to work, not the shot, not the pass, D, or anything else for that matter.
On the other hand, I sometimes feel that it might be a way for me to take the exceptions down, the exceptions I set for myself, maybe that way when I have a bad game I won't feel bad or really disappointed, but sadly enough it never works out.
I always have the tendency to be very harsh with myself, I can finish a day with 17 points and 6-9 from the field and I will only remember the 3 missed shots and try to think why I missed them and that I could have done better, and that's usually the feeling I go with, it's rear that I will sit down and say to myself great job and will be thinking about those 6 makes.
In some way I think it does have something to do with me being gay, maybe it's making a complicated situation easy by saying it like this, but I think that since like most guys who fight with their sexuality I felt bad for the most part of my childhood and youth. I tried to reject the thoughts and the emotions, since being gay is " wrong, not normal" and I can go on and on.
Basically what I'm trying to say is that going around feeling bad about myself since I'm different might explain why I only look on the bad things, those things that I grow up feeling and grow up thinking about, maybe in some way I need those feelings to give me the "approval" that I'm still different and not as good as the others cause I'm gay.
I know it's not a matter of black and white, and I can happily say that I feel much better about myself than I used to, but I guess it's not a completed process. Maybe somewhere it's the homophobic side of me, a side that was always there but was developed by being in locker rooms and around guys that are usually homophobic and have tendency to make gays to be less man, not worthy and for sure not equal to all the rest.
I still see myself as work in progress, I can really say that I feel good with my career and the direction it's going, and even though every game worries me all over and I'm never sure my ability will surface Things are going good. I do sometimes start to think if my issues with myself and my sexual preferences don't prevent me from reaching my full potential, but this is something for another post.
I have been trying to sign off with lyrics from a song that just feels right at that same moment, this is a little different , but aren't we all :).
Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
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