Out in Sports: March 2007 Archives

So, what do you all think of David Beckham's new haircut. I think he looks smashing - as always. But the wife! Victoria Beckham must not have any mirrors in her house. I know she may think she looks chic but I think she looks like she should be called Scary Spice.
Hate to be mean, but she does looks frightening.

Hillary Rodham Clinton has secured the endorsement of Billie Jean King in her bid to become the fitst female president in history.
Says King in a statement: "What I learned when I first met Hillary, and what I know now, is that she is qualified to lead this country. As a young woman, mother, advocate, first lady and senator she has continually shown us she is passionate about improving family issues, health care, equal pay and the challenges that people all across this nation face on a daily basis."
I actually think Billie Jean would make a great president! She has always fought for what she believes in no matter how daunting and in the process, has created social change.

If there was ever a tennis player who could write a compelling memoir, it's the recently-retired champion Andre Agassi. He's a future hall of famer for winning all four of the sports major titles as well as the Olympic Games but more than that, he is a sports icon who had great appeal outside tennis and to several generations. While he started out as a brash kid with long hair and flashy clothes, he went on to become the most articulate sportsman and elder statesman the game has ever had.
It was announced late Wednesday that Agassi's memoirs are to be published by Alfred A. Knopf and were strongly desired by numerous publishers. Financial terms were not disclosed but bidding reportedly topped $5 million as publishers flew out to see Agassi at his hometown of Las Vegas, touring his Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a charter school for at-risk youth, and then meeting with him at his office.
David Hirshey, senior vice president and executive editor at HarperCollins, one of the publishers that competed for the book, said the deal was more in line with what a former U.S. president would get.
"This is White House money," Hirshey said. "I can't remember the last time a sports figure got more than two million."
His book is not yet titled and no release date has been set.
Aggasi (pictured at right w/great rival Pete Sampras) said in a statement: "I recently had the privilege of meeting with top executives and editors from eight publishing houses. Everyone was very impressive, but in the end, I felt the strongest connection with (Knopf head) Sonny Mehta and his colleagues at Knopf."
Mehta calls Agassi's "an extraordinary life, and he has a great story to tell -- an inspiring story of determination, competition, and what it takes to become one of the greatest athletes of our time. Additionally, he is someone who has chosen to use his success as an instrument for change in the world."
In addition to the story of his tennis life where he went to teen prodigy to number one back down to number 141 then back up to number one. His downslide occured during his marriage to actress Brooke Shields in 1997 but his game was back on track for good by the time he married tennis great Steffi Graf who had retired from the game by the time they married. Agassi and Graf have a son and daughter together who have parents who have both won the Olympics, been ranked number one and won a combined 30 grand slam titles.
I look forward to Agassi's book. He is introspective and thoughtful and one of the few straight guys in the public eye who has never been afraid to show emotion or talk about his feelings.
He has simply been himself...

Hate to sound like that old lady who used to do the Burger King commercials and say, "WHERE'S THE BEEF?" Or was it Wendy's? But when I think of the Sony Eriiccson Open tennis tournament in Miami, I want to ask, 'WHERE'S THE BEEFCAKE?"
Last night, the sizzling Spaniard Rafael Nadal followed Andy Roddick out of the tournament by losing to this dude named Novak Djokovic who he beat earlier this month in the finals of the Indian Wells tournament. His loss came a day after the shock upset of top-ranked Roger Federer to the same guy who beat him at Indian Wells. It's crazy!

Andy Roddick, always a good quote, told reporters he quit his match against Andy Murray because he has an injury but "I don't know what it is. I'm going to get an MRI. I think the medical term is the bottom of my ass hurts."
On the female side, ya gotta love that Serena Williams is on a tear again. She won her quarterfinal in straight sets, looks fitter than she has in years, and hungry for victory. It's fantastic to see.

My favorite players (except for Rafael Nadal) continue to fall at the Sony Ericsson tennis tournament in Miami. Roger Federer was knocked out yesterday and today, American cutie Andy Roddick was forced to retire during the first set of his match with British cutie Andy Murray.
Roddick, who is now being coached by Jimmy Connors, won the U.S. Open four years ago and reached the final again last September. He met with reporters (below) after the abbrviated match.

Just saw this via Towerload.com, a Radar Online joint interview with out athletes Billy Bean, Jaohn Amaechi and Erera Tuaolo. Here is some of the exchanges:

RADAR: Why does the world go absolutely insane when an athlete comes out of the closet?
John Amaechi: I think because the stereotypes around sports and the stereotypes around gay people are so opposite. And that creates a disjoint—people can't imagine that the two things can coexist peacefully in one body.
Esera Tuaolo: Also, there's just not a lot of us out there.
Billy Bean: And if you are a jock and you want to be in sports, you learn to act like everyone else behaves, you learn to act straight.
RADAR: Billy, what's the oddest question you've ever been asked in an interview?
BEAN: I was actually once asked if I was a top or a bottom on a radio show, and that was the first time that I think I was embarrassed in public. When you become public, when you "come out," when you invite the public into your private life, there is a sense that you deserve to be asked that question.
RADAR: I once interviewed Mike Jones, the Denver prostitute who outed Reverend Ted Haggard. In the interview, I asked him if Haggard was a bottom or a power bottom.
BEAN: Why did you think that question was important? To make fun of Ted or to make fun of bottoms? That's what I mean about self-mutilation. I think that's what holds us back. Do you ask a woman if she's a top or a bottom? Not to get off track, but I just think we're making fun of ourselves.
RADAR: Well, I was making fun of Ted Haggard. Do you think it was wrong to ask the question?
BEAN: Well, I guess if you were asking Ted, but now that he's straight he probably couldn't answer the question. I'm just asking, "Why do we have to be defined into such little cubicles?" As gay people, it seems like our sex lives are on a trophy display, and I think that's what keeps us divided from the mainstream.

RADAR: Do you hear the word faggot a lot in locker rooms?
BEAN: Look at Tim Hardaway. I think he thought he was talking to one guy and not on a radio show and the truth came out, and that's the way those guys can talk in a straight environment. There's more high-fiving and laughing going on because if you're soft about gay stuff you must be a queer. That's what I think young guys think, so they just keep reiterating over and over, "I'm straight, I'm straight."
RADAR:John, you actually started coming out a bit while you were still playing for the Utah Jazz, in that you would go to gay clubs. Did you know any other NBA players who were gay—did your gaydar ever go off?
AMAECHI: Well, it did go off. I do know guys who are gay in the league, because some of them at some point or another lived similar lives, and we'd end up at the same parties or going to the same place. So I know a few people, but to be honest it's that thing again: When I show up in an arena, or even practice, my external life shuts off and it's all about work and my head is down and it's really more about numbers on a uniform than anything else.

To read the entire interview on RADAR, click HERE.

I am miserable! The Sony Ericsson Open was playing in our sports department so I walked over to check the score in the Roger Federer-Guillermo Canas match. They were in a third-set tie-breaker with Federer up 4-3. Then, before I even get a chance to settle in, Canas has won the damned match 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, takling the tie-breaker 7-5.
What is going on here? It seems that Canas is a little bit in Federer's head now after beating him a few weeks ago at the Pacfic Life Open, snapping Fed's 41-match winning streak. And next week, the tennis tour enters the claycourt season which has been Federer's weakest surface (if you could call it that since he did reach the French Open final last year). I'm hoping these losses motivate him to finally win in Paris.
Anyway, Federer may not be holding up the men's championship trophy over his head on Sunday but he did win plenty of awards while in Miami.
On Monday, he took home a record four year-end awards from the Association of Tennis Professionals. Federer received the Player of the Year award, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award, the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award and the ATPTENNIS.COM Fan Favorite Singles Player of the Year award, closing the book on Federer’s remarkable run in 2006.
But all of that is little solace to a great champion like Federer. I'm now looking for Andy Roddick (nice hairdo!) and Rafael Nadal (love the new outfit!) to carry on. On the women's side, Serena Williams showed she is back on top by rolling by top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1! Wow.

What a line-up! John Amaechi! Billy Bean! Esera Tualo!
At this year’s NCAA Men’s Final Four weekend in Atlanta, The Human Rights Campaign and It Takes a Team! – a project of Billie Jean King’s Women in Sports Foundation – present a panel discussion to continue dialogue about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender athletes at all levels, from high school to the pros.
“Specifically in the arena of sports, this discussion must continue until gay athletes are viewed and treated without prejudice," Ameachi says. "Sports organizations have an obligation to engender an atmosphere where all people can perform at their peak for the benefit of the individual and the team. Allowing people to be true to themselves not only encourages empowerment, it fuels honesty and trust, the key elements needed in any healthy relationship, marriage, team or work environment.”
The panel takes place at 11:00 am at the Inforum in downtown Atlanta and also includes Joey Fisher, David Kopay, and Terri O’Connell.
And for fans of the very handsome Billy Bean, a former major leaguer who came out in 1999, here are a few sizzling pics I found while searching for the one of he and Esera that I posted above:

Australian swimming champ Ian Thorpe, who retired from competition last year, has been notoriously quiet about his private life and never commented about the never-ending speculation over his sexuality. But he was quite candid on the topic in an interview with "Australian Good Weekend magazine."
“I became a gay icon when I was 15,” he said, “which was a little bit weird. When I was 17, everyone had started that speculation about me, though I didn’t hear about most of it. I don’t have a problem with being a gay icon. it’s not a big deal to me. But I think the gay speculation, along with when I was accused of taking drugs in 2000, was an attempt to pull me down from the top. Some people think it’s an insult to say, ‘Oh I think he’s gay’, but I don’t take it that way. I’m not gay. I’m lucky that within myself I don’t care enough to get worried or upset over it.”
Good Weekend journalist, Janet Hawley then asked Thorpe if he were gay, would he be comfortable coming out and saying so?
“I have no idea, because I’m not gay,” he responded. “I don’t think anyone should have to be asked that question. You don’t have to come out and declare you’re straight. It shouldn’t be a big deal today, but people still get hang-ups over it.”
The main reason most people have labelled Thrope as gay are his not-so-typical traits, from designing pearl necklaces to taking care of his appearance. But that’s nothing, says Thorpe. “Guys are just guys, girls are just girls, all of us are different. Some guys are more in touch with their feminine side, interested in design and quirky things, some are blokey blokes.”

She's long been an artist on the tennis court but tennis legend Martina Navratilova now has a new canvas on which to express herself.
Martina has an exhibition of artwork produced by her hitting tennis balls dipped in paint and it opened in Paris this weekend in Paris. She has been working on the project in secret for four years with Slovak artist Juraj Kralik. Between 2001 and 2005, the pair created the works on the courts of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments in New York, Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon. The tennis balls were covered in paint and hit onto a canvas that was hung on a wall or laid out on the ground at each of the four Grand Slam venues. Navratilova mostly used her forehand when hitting the painted balls.
"What I like is that you hit the ball but you don't exactly know what you're doing," Martina told the AFP news agency.
More than 60 canvases have been created for the Art Grand Slam show at Roland-Garros, home of the French Open which Martina won in 1982 and 1984. She won 18 grand slam singles titles in all, including nine at Wimbledon.
Her favorite canvas is titled "Way of My Life," featuring two loops that spiral upwards to the edge of the painting.
"It represents my career, with a small loop and a big loop and at the end it shows I'm finished," she said.
The exhibition, which also includes a documentary about Navratilova, is in Paris until August 20.

...but the guy wearing it sure isn't!!!

He's Brian Jourbert, the handsome Frenchman who just won the world championship in men's figure skating in Tokyo. Here is more of Brian:

It sure beats lookng at Will Ferell!!!

Happy Friday!!!

The world's top-ranked tennis player Roger Federer (pictured above) looks to be in positive spirits as he practices this week in Miami for the big Sony Erricson tournaments which ranks right behind tennis' four grand slam events in terms of prestige. Federer will be eager to re-establish his dominance with a win after his shocking early exit last week at the Pacific Life Open where I got to watch him play in doubles. But if Federer gets to the final again (he is defending champion), he could face a resurgent world number two in Rafael Nadal (pictured, left) who looks to have regained confidence after winning last week's tournament.
It would be so great if these two very appealing superstars made it through their halves of the draw and played in the final. I wouldn't miss that match for anything.

" In the Life," the pioneer gay and lesbian newsmagazine on PBS, is featuring John Amaechi in its episode “The Last Closet” which begins airing nationally in April. However, an exclusive excerpt is currently available for download via podcast at http://www.itlmedia.org/podcasts/podmini.html.
Check it out online as an appetizer before we get the full meal next month!

Larry Kramer's column yesterday about straights hating gays has certainly led to a lot of discussion about people's attitudes toward us and it has really got me thinking: good grief, it's true! I know not all straight people hate gay people but Kramer makes a good case for believing it's more people than we ever thought.
In the past few months alone we've had to hear about such things as Gen. Peter Pace stating that he believes homosexuality is immoral and should not be condoned by the military, Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway opens his big mouth, the hateful Ann Coulter opens hers, Garrison Keillor sticks his foot in his, and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama barely open theirs in reaction to Pace's infuriating comments.
And now you can add Indianapolis Colts' coach Tony Dungy to this quickly-growing anti-gay hall of shame. AfterElton.com reports that Dungy stuck to plans to appear Tuesday night at the anti-gay Indiana Family Institute's dinner where he was honored at an event that raised $70,000 for their homophobic activities.
At the dinner, Dungy said to the crowd of 700: "I appreciate the stance they're taking, and I embrace that stance. IFI is saying what the Lord says. You can take that and make your decision on which way you want to be. I'm on the Lord's side."
So what is that stance? IFI is against adding 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' into discrimination law, state on their web site that LGBT people are "trapped by Satan" in their "homosexual lifestyle," and that "30 percent of all 20-year-old homosexual men will be HIV positive or dead by the age of 30."
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello previously told AfterElton.com that "I believe I have made it clear that we have no issue with this dinner." Neither Dungy, nor the Colt's front office would answer questions about Dungy's appearance in promotional materials for the dinner while in his Colt uniform.
Gee, is it any wonder that an active NFL player has never come out of the closet? It will take players of Brady Quinn's generation, who are generally not so stuck in this anti-gay way of thinking, to finally get everyone to relax and just let it be. Gay people, athletes, soldiers, politicians, journalists, actors and all the rest should not have to hide who they are just to make their professional dreams come true.
I'd love to stay in my Hollywood bubble where I have friends and co-workers who accept me for who I am and if they don't, I don't really notice. But reality keeps hitting me in the face as I read newspapers, articles online, watch the news or listen to NPR.
But what gives me hope, and a fighting spirit, is that the bigotry is being exposed and condemned - maybe not by everybody, but by enough people to make the Paces, Coulters and Hardaways wish they never opened their big mouths. And people with jobs like coach Dungy, who should be a role model to young athletes, outa think long and hard about how hypocritical it is to endorse such mean-spirited ideas and to then say you are "on the Lord's side."

So what the heck is Bjorn Borg doing standing there with a group of handsome and half-naked men? No, he's not switching teams! The tennis Hall of Famer held a model search over the weekend for his underwear line at Selfridges in London, according to Towleroad.com.
Before there was Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi, tennis' very first teen hearthrob was Borg. When he first played at Wimbledon in 1973, he nearly caused riots as the girls swooned over him (and no doubt a few guys!). Borg went on to win the tournament three years later to begin what was a five-year undefeated run. He was finally toppled in the 1981 final by John McEnroe and by te next year, had retired from the game at the age of 26. He had already won five Wimbledons and six French Opens.
Borg must be at least 50 by now...but he still looks pretty hot!

Rafael Nadal captured his first career championship at the Pacific Life Open and his first title since the French Open last June by defeating Serbian teen Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 Sunday afternoon.
"I was very satisfied with my game, for sure with the title," said Nadal, who claimed the title without dropping a set. "It was a very great week for me. A very, very important week. And it was very important. I have eight months without any title, but I come back with big one."
This was supposed to be the tournament when top-ranked Roger Federer made history by achieving the longest consecutive match win streak in the history of the game. It did not happen and his early loss could have been disastrous for the Indian Wells tournament.
But Nadal, with every bit as much star power as Federer, came through.

When I was stalking, oops, I mean watching, Rafael Nadal practice and play his matches this week at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, I knew he would be tough to beat even though he has not won a tournament since the French Open last June. This afternoon, in his first final since Wimbledon eight months ago, Nadal plays Novak Djokovic for the men's title. He will win. To get to the championship round, second-ranked Nadal took apart third-ranked Andy Roddick 6-4, 6-3.
The women's final turned out to be as marquee as tournament organizers could have hoped for after Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis were both upset in earlier rounds. It pitted 2002 Pacific Life Open champ Daniela Hantuchova against second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, a Russian who won the U.S Open in 2004 and made it to the final of the French Open last year. Daniela won in straight sets and hopefully will be a more regular presence in the final weekend of tournaments this year.

Let's face it, I haven't been all that interest in pro football ever since I stopped pretending to be straight back in the late 80s. But that doesn't mean I can't get interested again, especially if there are players who look like Brady Quinn, the golden boy quarterback from Notre Dame. Quinn is rated the No. 2 quarterback prospect in next month's NFL draft behind JaMarcus Russell of LSU.

If you are a balding man and aren't in the hair club for men, who would you want to buy products from? Former NBA player John Amaechi who recently announced publicly that he is gay or Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway?
Well, now there really isn't much choice since Amaechi has inked a deal to represent Headblade while Hardaway has been dumped by rival company BaldGuyz. Amaechi noted that there is some amount of "karmic justice" in this development but says "I don’t feel any joy [at Hardaway's loss].
The ads featuring Amaechi will run in two basketball magazines, Hoop and Slam, and while HeadBlade is not a huge company, Amaechi's endorsement deal is being noted as a step forward in the acceptance of openly gay athletes by mainstream marketers, according to Towleroad.com.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered Hardaway gave an interview Miami Herald's Barry Jackson and said the impact his hateful anti-gay comments ''hurt the most."
I'll bet. Would he even be sorry if there had not been such instant backlash against him? Doubt it.
Here is more of Hardaway's sob story, I mean interview: ''People have been trying to kick me when I'm down. [The reaction was] very, very shocking. People saying my wife left me -- that's not true. My family is OK and my finances are OK. I'm looking for a second chance and trying to clean up my image. I haven't been in trouble with drugs or guns. I'm an upstanding citizen. Like I told my children, life is not easy. This is a big bump I have to overcome. I'm going to deal with it like a champ. I've got to make sure people know I don't hate gay people.''
Oh, now you DON'T hate gay people. OK. Glad you're making progress on that. If you get all your endorsements back, will you hate gay people again? Will you still feel compelled to cross the street in order to get away from them? Will you still be such an IDIOT?

My vacation is over. I'm leaving this terrific resort and the Pacific Life Open behind in a few hours to head back to LA. But it's been a wonderful time and even though the top female players lost early, there was a tennis legend on the grounds yesterday who more than made up for it: Billie Jean King!
Billie Jean was honored in the afternoon with the third annual Alan King Tennis Passion Award by King's widow Jeanette King and tournament founder Charlie Pasarell. No one, I mean no one, has had more passion for tennis than Billie Jean King. Her passion has not just been about winning and being number one. It's been about fighting for equal rights, for open tennis, for making tennis more accessible and appealing to the masses. I could go on and on because Billie Jean's accomplishments are as big as her heart. She is an inspiration to anyone who ever wanted to make a difference in the world and make the most of their passion.
Billie Jean's great rival on the court and great friend off the court is Chris Evert, the player who BJK herself says "was the best thing that ever happened to women's tennis." Chrissie was the sports first glamour girl but she also had game: she has the highest winning percentage of any player in history and during a two-decade career, won Wimbledon three times as well as six U.S. Open and a historic seven French Opens.

It should be noted that Chris Evert, America's sweetheart, set the tone back in the early 80s when Billie Jean was outed and Martina Navratilova came out. Chrissie was publicly supportive of both and remains so to this day. She was the top player then and she did what Billie Jean told me has to happen in men's sports: the top guys have to let the public know that they are cool with it and send that message of "deal with it" to the guys in the locker room.
Anyway, Chrissie will be signing autographs tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. on the grounds. I'm sure this means she will be presenting the women's trophy after the championship match. My friend Henry and I worship Evert who will always be known as "Our Chrissie." When she retired in 1989, we moved on to "Our Steffi."
Now we don't really have anyone like that because players like Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Billie Jean just are not around anymore. Serena Williams is as good as they are but her commitment to the game and the tour are nowhere near what theirs was and continues to be. I loved it when the top players showed up week after week and battled each other for supremacy.
Those were the days...

I'll be missing the action at the Pacific Life Open today because, well, my vacation is over! But the tournament on the men's side managed to survive the early loss of Roger Federer because the charismatic and popular Andy Roddick and Rafael Nadal both won their matches in straight sets yesterday and will meet in the men's semifinals on Saturday!
That is a dream match up and one that would be anyone's idea of a perfect final. Tonight, Tommy Haas will play Andy Murray and it's tough to call that one but I'm gonna say Haas wins because he has been on FIRE this week. On fire to go with his SMOKING good looks! The other semi is the very non-marquee match between David Ferrer and Novak Djokovic. Sorry I will be missing that. (I know, that didn't sound very sincere...because it wasn't!). And then there are today's women's semis: Na Li vs. Daniela Hantuchova and Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Sybille Bammer. Gee, it pains me to miss those. (lack of sincerity once again...)
But, you take what you get. I'd love to go to the night session to see Haas and Murray but will catch it on ESPN and Saturday should make for a terrific day of tennis just like yesterday was. Nadal and Roddick were both so purposeful and passionate in their wins against very talented and determined opponents and both want to take advantage of Federer's absence and win this great event which ranks only behind the four grand slams: Wimbledon, Australian Open, French Open and U.S. Open as well as the tournament next week in Miami which I think is still called the Erricson Open. It used to be the Lipton and that's what I still call it.
So, it's a wrap. I love tennis and hope to get to another tournament soon! As a parting shot, I share with you a few pics of the gorgeous men who help make this game so worth watching. Is it any wonder I wanted to spend a little vacation down here??
Pictured in order are Roger Federer, Carlos Moya, Rafael Nadal, Tommy Haas, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal (now how did HE get in there again?) and David Nalbanian.(all pics are courtesy of The Desert Sun which does a heckuva job covering this tournament!)

Hi everyone...I'm still here in the desert watching tennis. All I have to say is, 'Thank God for Rafael Nadal.' No, not just because he's gorgeous and looks good in Capri pants. No, because if not for him, the Pacific Life Open would be without any stars! Roger Federer lost Sunday followed by former number ones Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin as well as the popular American James Blake. On the women's side, the two biggest names, Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis, both lost yesterday! I watched Maria go down yesterday and it was pathetic! She was up 6-4, 5-4 and lost six straight games. I could never imagine Steffi Graf or Monica Seles losing like that. They had too much heart. Sharapova needs some more heart.

I will say this for Roger Federer, he is a great sport. After losing in singles on Sunday night, he went out and played doubles...and won! Then he went out again yesterday and played again...and I was there to watch! Organizers, in a bad miscalculation, put Federer on court 2 which holds only 5,000 people instead of the 16,000-seat main stadium. Court 2 was jammed to the rafters with people also standing, all jammed together, at all the entrances. Federer and his partner lost in a heartbreaker but the respect and love the crowd gave to him was something I will never forget. Players who are as dominant as Federer often get a backlash and fans want to see them lose. But I sense that is not the case with Federer. He is respected and beloved.
So, the best thing about this tournament are the practice courts. You get to see the male players, often shirtless, hitting all their best shots again and again. There's no stopping to start points etc. It's glorious. I watched Nadal for an hour yesterday and another hour today, along with hundreds of other people, and it was more fun that most matches. Also watched the very talented and movie star handsome Tommy Haas (pictured, right) practice yesterday and he is ridiculously good looking. Also watched Martina Hingis practice and she looked sluggish. I was not surprised when she lost last night. Anyway, wanted to share a few thoughts before heading over to dinner at El Mirasol. Barry Manilow eats there about once a week. If I run into him, I'll tell him you all said hello!
Thanks for your patience as Out in Hollywood has slowed to a trickle during my vacation. I am going to try and do some postings (non-tennis) tomorrow morning before heading back out to the tennis courts.
Will sure miss Federer though...I'd watch him anytime. Total class.

Happy Monday from the desert! It's beautiful here. I was still on the San Diego portion of my vacation when I learned of Roger Federer's shocking loss at the Pacific Life Open last night. For tennis fans (especially my friend, Henry), this is devastating because Federer was on the verge of making history. His loss snapped a 41 match winning streak. He had not lost since August and if he had won the tourney here, he would have had the longest winning streak in the history of the game. I will have to console myself by watching hunky second-ranked Rafael Nadal (below) progress through the draw. He's wearing his sexy Capri pants again. I love 'em!

As i prepare for a week-long vacation, I realized I still had some unused material from my interview with former NBA player John Amaechi who I had a nice lunch with last month. Here is some of what he had to say about the practice of outing closeted famous people:
"It is reprehensible with one exception:If you are a closeted person, man or woman, and you make it your mission to make the lives of gays and lesbians worse with your words and your deeds, you're asking for it. If you are a politican who consistently votes for anti-GLBT ordinances, you're asking for it. I don't condone [outing] but I couldn't damn it in that respect. But when it comes to Lance Bass from NSYNC or T.R. Knight, no. Let them have their own personal journey.the same way each one of us expects to be allowed that. I'm pretty sure nobody destroyed Perez Hilton's personal journey to coming out so why destroy somebody elses? It's such a massive transition."

Is this why he left any juicy tidbits out of his boo, "Man in the Middle"?
"If I named names, that would make me as bad as Perez Hilton. I'm a private person. The editors and publishers wanted me to go into more detail. but the fact is, most of it wasn't that titilating and those that were important to me, I didn't want to discuss."

So is he in a relationship now?
"Nope! I'm far too difficult for that."

How has he changed since leaving the NBA?
"I'm not a different person than I was. That's the key, I'm just not. I was gay, all my life. I was certainly gay six months ago, I'm hoping I'll be gay in 10 year's time. So, it doesn't change although people may change their perception of me. But since when should i allow other people's perceptions of me to change who I am?"

On pro athletes like Billy Bean and others who came out before him: "Each person who's done it has brought a different thing to the table, a different aspect. I believe I'm bringing a pretty cerebral approach to this that cuts through a lot of the emotive crap and allows us to discuss the real issues. And that's my place in this. I'm never going to be fuzzy. Fuzzy and warm I am only with children. That's [Bean's] role in this. He is an emotional connection to this for people whereas I doubt very much that I am an emotional connection because I sound too detatched. It's who i am, it's how I interact."

The photo (right) of tennis legend Billie Jean King was taken at Wimbledon in 1982. She was 38 years old and a year earlier, had been outed by her former female lover who was suing her for palimony. King, with her then-husband Larry and her parents at her side, had at an emotional press conference and bravely acknowledged the relationship which had taken place for several years in the mid-1970s. What I find amazing was that when all of this became public, Billie Jean's career was thought to be all but over. But she got herself into shape, went back on tour, and upset reigning U.S. open champion Tracy Austin to make it to the Wimbledon semifinals. She may have lost a close three-setter to Chris Evert in the semis, but she reminded the world that she was still a great player. Billie Jean was back in the top 10, won some tournaments and made it to the semis again at Wimbledon (where she held a record 20 titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles) again in 1983 before retiring.
Billie Jean, long one of my great personal heroes, recently talked to The Advocate about that time in her life, about former doubles partner Martina Navratilova's coming out, and about Renee Richards who became the first transsexual to play on the women's tour.
On Renee Richards, who has a new memoir out: "No Way Renee: The Second Half of My Notorious Life": "I think she should be so proud. Every generation passes the baton to the next. It had to be horrible for her. But you do have to live your truth; that's what Renee did."
On being outed: "Both Martina and I were still closeted at the time. Martina told me, 'I knew when I was born I was gay.' I said, 'What?' You did?' I didn't know at all; I didn't have a clue. Martina and I were both going to be outed. I was outed, but she was going to be, and that's the reason she came forward. She was not going to do it otherwise, believe me. It was really rough times for us."
On athletes coming out: "It's the gay guys that have it even rougher. We need quarterbacks of football teams stepping up and saying, 'This guy's gay, suck it up, get over it.' I saw [former NFL commisioner] Paul Tagliabue at a Patriots game and he said: "Guess what? My son's going to be head of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.' He was so excited, so sweet. One person at a time. Little steps. Little shifts."

Here is a woman who could never get enough awards if you gave them to her every day for the rest of her life. With all the publicity surrounding the coming out last month of former NBA player John Amaechi, it's important to remember that Martina came out as a lesbian more than 25 years ago. She never compromised, never backed down. She lost endorsements, endured hostile crowds at times but more than anything, she kept on winning and in the end, she changed the world.
On May 12, will be honored at the 30th anniversary gala for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. She will receive the Voice and Visibility award, which honors those who have demonstrated a commitment to LGBT rights.

Out tennis star Amelie Mauresmo, the reigning Wimbledon champion, is among tose vying for World Sportswoman of the Year honors at the Laureus Awards, known as the Oscars of the sporting world. In fact, tennis’ top three female players are all in the battle for prize: French Open champion Justine Henin, Mauresmo and US Open champion Maria Sharapova. Mauresmo picked up another nomination for Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award after winning two Grand Slam titles in 2006.

While Serena Williams is not currently in the top five, she showed in January that she is still the best when she pummeled Sharapova for the Australian Open title. Serena, who had been battling injuries for much of the previous two seasons, got a nomination for Comeback of the Year for her triumph in Australian Open, and dramatic rise from 140 in the rankings to number 15.
Then there is Roger Federer, the men's top player who this week set a record for the most consecutive weeks ranked number one (161 consecutive). Federer is also on a 41-match win streak and is the four-time reigning Wimbledon, three-time reigning U.S. Open and two-time reigning Australian Open champion. Federer competes against top golfer Tiger Woods, and seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher for the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award. They are all two-time winners, and there will be a heated rivalry among them to see who can be the first to make it three.
I don't get to vote but if I did, it's Mauresmo, Williams and Federer all the way!
The members of the Laureus Academy, made up of world sporting greats, vote by secret ballot to select all of the winners. They will be announced at a televised ceremony at the Palau Sant Jordi, in Barcelona, on the evening of Monday, April 2.