Will the United States finally win the Davis Cup after more than a decade of coming up short? If it does, much of the credit must go to top-ranked American Andy Roddick who won both his matches this weekend over Sweden in the semifinals. It would help salvage a subpar year for Andy who won some tournaments, but came up short in the majors.
We all know that tennis stud Novak Djokovic of Serbia likes to take his shirt off after or a win or during practice. We like it! But this is a first: during a Davis Cup match against Australia Friday in Belgrade, Djokovic (seen here with fellow player Boris Pasanski), Novak lifted his shirt to support teamate Janko Tipsarevic who ended up losing to Lleyton Hewitt.
It's Davis Cup weekend. Does that not mean anything to you? It's the annual tennis competition that pits teams from various countries against each other. The USA dominated in the days of John McEnroe then again in the Agassi-Sampras era. But it's been more than 10 years since we've won the cup.
American hearthrobs Andy Roddick and James Blake are competing starting today in the semifinals to try and put an end to this long Davis Cup drought...
Good luck guys!
If this had happened in Europe, no one would have thought twice. But a Florida Gator football player kisses his teamate (and roomate) on the cheek after a touchdown pass completion and it's caused something of a furor. The kisser, Tony Joiner, didn't freak out when he was asked about giving Tim Tebow a congratulatory smooch: "That's my roommate. I love him. We've grown close," he told the Florida Times-Union.
Said Tebow: "I got teased a lot about it [over the weekend]. "When it happened, I didn't even really think about it. That's Tony."
It's still so silly how homophobic the sports world remains in this day and age. If these guys were gay and they wanted to kiss each other, they'd have plenty of opportunity behind closed doors. That such a sweet gesture - a peck on the cheek - would become such a big deal is just plain stupid.
Grow up football fans.
Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic didn't win the U.S. Open on Sunday but the number three player in the world won a lot of fans not only for himself, but for tennis as well. He's fun and appealing and cute. He received a hero's welcome this week at the Belgrade airport. Meanwhile, the man who beat Djokovic, Roger Federer, posted with his fourth U.S. Open trophy on a street in Manhattan. He looks terrific in tennis attire butr cleans up pretty damned well too.
Hopefully, we'll see lots more head-to-head matches between these two...
I should have known better. I felt that Roger Federer was ripe for a loss today in the finals of the U.S. Open with Novak Djosovic primed for a major breakthrough. But Federer fought off tons of set points in the first and second sets to prevail 7-6, 7-6, 6-4. He has now won four consecutive U.S. Opens to go along with the five consecutive Wimbledons. It just doesn't get any better. Still, Novak established himself as a legitimate challenger to the throne and a popular player with the fans who gave him a bigger ovation that they gave Federer during the awards ceremony. My friend, Henry, is very happy right now and never lost faith in his Roger...
Roger Federer (above) reached another U.S. Open final Saturday and Sunday afternoon, will face Novak Djosovic (below) as he tries to win a fourth straight men's title...If he wins, it will give him 12 grand slam titles - two short of the all-time record set by Pete Sampras.
Not only is Novak one heckuva player, he is also an exhibitionist who has made a tradition of taking his shirt off after a win...MORE AFTER THE JUMP...
Could there be a better way to lead up to a ladies final? The great Carole King, whose "Tapestry" album I could still listen to all damned day, performed for the crowed at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Saturday night. And speaking of Bille Jean, she took in the final with former doubles partner Martina Navratilova. Each of the ladies won four U.S. Open singles titles in their careers and teamed up to win the 1978 and 1980 doubles crowns together.
...and finally, here is the 2007 ladies champion, Justine Henin. The world's top-ranked player won her seventh grand slam title and on her way to the final round, beat both Serena Williams and Venus Williams. It was a well-deserved win for this small but mighty battler from Belgium...
This kid, this Novak Djokovic, is a force to be reckoned with. A tennis force on the court, and a comic force off of it. First things first. The Serbian is ranked third in the world and reached his third grand slam semifinal of 2007 on Thursday night when he defeated Carlos Moya (below) in straight sets at the U.S. Open. If he and Roger Federer both wins their matches on Saturday, as expected, it is very possible that Djokovic could beat Federer. He did it last month in the final of the Canadian Open and is the real deal. My friend, Henry, might kill me, but I'm going on the record saying I think Djokovic will win the men's title on Sunday.
I love this picture (above) of Novak consoling his drop-dead gorgeous victim, Moya, who still has plenty of game left at 31. Then, posted below is a video of Novak in the locker room doing impersonations of players ranging from Andy Roddick to Rafael Nadal to...get this...Maria Sharapova! He's brilliant at it.
Enjoy!
p.s. I have no idea who the guy in the towel is. If anyone does, please lemme know...
The outcome was somewhat expected with three-time defending champ Roger Federer beating 2003 champ Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open last night. But what was really cool was that both players showed up in cool black clothes...I love Federer's look because, like his play, it is very elegant. Meanwhile, all Andy has to do is lift up his shirt and the photogs kn0w they have their Out In Hollywood money shot!
Came in from the pool late yesterday afternoon and flipped on the U.S. Open. My timing was perfect. There was a tribute to the late Althea Gibson, the great black player who broke the color barriers in tennis back in the 50s winning the U.S. Open for the first time exactly 50 years ago. It was an amazing ceremony which included words from my hero, Billie Jean King, who broke quite a few barriers of her own. They had a parade of black women who had accomplished firsts including the evening's hostess Phylicia Rashad, the first to win the Tony Award for best leading actress in a play. After a few dozen of incredible women like Roberta Flack and Jackie Joyner-Kersee walked onto the court, out strolled the Queen, Aretha. She launched into "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and everyone boogied. I wished I were there. After the ceremony, the resurgent Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, each played a match on Arthur Ashe Stadium...and won.
And finally, even though he had nothing to do with the evening festivities, I love this picture (below) taken of top-ranked Roger Federer who won his 22nd consecutive match at the U.S. Open on Monday...
Look at the beautiful head of hair Brady Quinn used to have...below is Brady with his new look. I miss the locks!
If I can't be in New York City watching the U.S. Open, I'm cool with watching some of it on this giant screen TV in my air conditioned room at La Dolce Vita Resort in Palm Springs.
I love vacation.
Anyway, some of the top players were at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York today for the annual Arthur Ashe Kids Day. It's always fun to see the top seeds relaxed and interacting before they shift into tennis playing assassins. Serena Williams (pictured above with fellow players) cannot be counted out - ever. She is gunning for a third U.S. Open but trying to stop her will be her sister Venus who is the reigning Wimbledon champ as well as top seed Justine Henin and defending champion Maria Sharapova.
There is much hope for a Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final. They've already met in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon the past two years and are 2-2 so this would be a good tie-breaker. Says Federer of the rivalry: "We're totally different types, you know? He's a lefty, I'm a righty. He's got a double-handed backhand, I've got the one-handed backhand. Two different characters -- that always works well in the game of tennis. The dress code is different: He's got that long hair, mine is a bit shorter. He's young, I'm kind of, you know, the experienced type. So I think it's got great potential."
Andy Roddick, now ranked fifth, will have to beat Federer in the quarterfinals if he is to win his second U.S. Open. It's a tall order but Roddick (above) has the desire and the game.
Meanwhile, you cannot count out the chance of Novak Djokovoc (right) who is widely considered to be tennis' next superstar. He beat Federer, Nadal and Roddick in a row to win the Canadian Open earlier this month. This could be his breakthrough.
I don't see anyone other than these four players winning the men's title.
TOMORROW: Greg's list of the top 10 hottest guys competing in the U.S. Open. (photos too, of course)...
I'll be rooting for Tim Henman to do well at the U.S. Open which starts Monday.
The British tennis player, long one of my favorite players, announced this week that he is retiring from the game at the end of September. Henman was the top-ranked male player in the Britain for ages. He is a great sportsman and a joy to watch with that wonderful serve-and-volley game of his that got him to the semifinals of Wimbledon four times and once at the U.S. Open and the French Open.. He won 11 tour titles overall and achieched his highest ranking of number four in the world in July 2002.
It was at Wimbledon where Henman came closest to becoming the first British male since Fred Perry in 1936 to win. He reached the last four at Wimbledon four times from 1998 to 2002, and also reached the quarterfinals four others times. Each time Henman made the semifinals he lost to the eventual champion. Seven-time winner Pete Sampras was his opponent in 1998 and 1999, Goran Ivanisevic in 2001, then Lleyton Hewitt the following year.
He was good...but not quite good enough to knock off the champs.
Roger Federer is a champion in his prime. The world's top-ranked player won the ATP tournament in Cincinatti, Ohio today over ninth-ranked James Blake of the USA. Federer next heads into the U.S. Open where he is the three-times defending champion. The competition is getting tougher all the time but Federer seems to rise to the occasion on tennis' biggest stages winning this year's Wimbledon and Australian Open titles.
While writing today's story about the pro athletes gay men love for the Daily News' "Sex Appeal of Sports" package, it reminded me of a long ago crush I had on former pro baseball player Kevin Elster. He played for the New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, among others teams, during his career.
As you can see by the photos, Kevin was movie star handsome during his playing days. But I met him before he made it to the big leagues: we were in the same chemistry class at Golden West College in Huntington Beach. He was. easily, the cutest guy in school with a body that took your breath away. He was pretty quiet and I was too shy then to even try and talk to him. I had a break between classes after chemistry and would sometimes walk behind Kevin on the way to his next class. He would often wear shorts and the view just could not be beat. It wasn't stalking in my mind then but seems kinda like it now.
Still, I have no regrets!
I knew Kevin played baseball but I didn't know how good he was until I got a press release from our sports information department (I was editor of the school newspaper at the time) which said Elster had been drafted by the New York Mets. My sports editor was quite surprised when I, who had never written a sports story, announced that I would writing a profile of Kevin! I called his coach, got some quotes and Elster's phone number. Called him up and we agreed to meet at the dugout at school the next day. I did a crash course on the New York Mets and Kevin's college career to get ready for our interview and wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. The interview went smoothly and what I remember so well was how confident and excited Kevin was about his future. I got caught up in the enthusiasm and the story ran in the next issue with the headline: "Kevin Elster's Story Has Just Begun."
And it had. within two years of our interview, he had made it from the minors to the Mets and was part of the 1986 World Series winning team. A shortstop, he later set a record for the most errorless games in a row.
I followed Elster's career throughout the years as he had high highs and low lows that included injury and amazing comebacks. During one injury stretch, he actually appeared in the feature film "Little Big League" as, you guessed it, a pro baseball player. Hey, the cast also included Jason Robards so Elster was in good company.
When he was with the Dodgers, I saw him play several times but I was older now, and not about to pitch our sports editor a story. They had REAL sports writers for that. Besides, he woulda been onto me right away!
The LA Daily News features a series of stories on "The Sex Appeal of Sport." I was asked to contribute a story looking into the appeal of pro athletes to gay men. This was an assignment I gladly accepted. CLICK HERE to read my piece.
Among those I interviewed was Outsports.com CEO Jim Businski whose site runs a "King of the Hardwood" contest each year which has twice been won by former NFL player and Olympic skiier Jeremy Bloom.
“We did an interview with Bloom and he was flattered, but wanted to be thought of as more than a pretty face,” Buzinski says.
Still, Bloom’s website has a wide array of photos of the athlete and plenty of them feature him shirtless.
“He showed a lot of skin and was not bashful about it,” says Buzinski. “That is what is happening right now with Brady Quinn. It’s the guys who are well-known and the European and Australian athletes who tend to be less hung up. Beckham has said he is honored to be a big gay fan favorite. It’s the guys who show off their body, are
visible and in the public eye who get the attention.”
This seems like a good excuse to post a buncha pics of some of these hunky dudes we love to look at including football's Brady Quinn and tennis' Andy Roddick.
There are even more after the jiump! Enjoy...
Basketball stud Wally Szczrbiak
Sexy soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo
The one and only...Beckham!
Nice abs Andy! This is the summer hardcourt season in pro tennis and American hearthrob Andy Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and 2006 U.S. Open runner-up, is supossed to be one of the best players in the world on the surface. With the Open less than two weeks away, Roddick suffered what has become routine this season: an early round loss - this time at the ATP tournament in Cincinatti, Ohio where he was the defending champion.
He was beaten by the 15th-rankied David Ferrer of Spain 7-6, 6-4 (left) who, like Andy, is pretty easy on the eyes. But it's good for the game when telegenic, articulate players like Andy win or at least stick around until the final days of a tournament. Let's hope he's into the mix at the Open even if he doesn't go into the tourney riding a wave of confidence.
But Spanish stud Carlos Moya, who achieved a tough three-set win to reach the quarterfinals, remains in the hunt and is looking oh-so gorgeous during every win.
Maybe Novak Djokovic (above) should have taken the week off to rest on his laurels. The world's third-ranked player, who beat Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick in successive rounds to win in Canada, crashed out of ATP event in Cincinnati on Wednesday, losing badly to 20th ranked Carlos Moya (below).
American Robby Ginepri (above) continued to be a beautiful loser. But the 2005 U.S. Open semifinalist did take the fifth seed to three sets....
Meanwhile, Spanish hunk Nadal suffered a wrist injury was was forced to retire from his match. This is not ideal preparation for the top players with the start of the U.S. Open less than two weeks away.
Posting pictures of Carlos Moya playing tennis just makes me happy. So here are two shots of the Spanish hearthrob during his win earlier today over David Nalbandian of Argentina during the ATP tour stop in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Roger Federer is a wonder to watch, probably the best player ever to grace a tennis court. On Friday, he beat Lleyton Hewitt to advance to the semifinals of the Canadian Open.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic was able to retain his number three world ranking with a win over fifth-seed Andy Roddick. Had Andy won, he would have moved up to the third spot. It seems like on all of the sports biggest stages this year, the 19-year-old Novak has fared better than Roddick and truly is the best player behind Federer and second-ranked Rafael Nadal. All he needs is a grand slam win...
World number one Roger Federer won his match at the Candadian Open on Wednesday then celebrated his 26th birthday on court. We all know that he already got his biggest present: a fifth straight Wimbledon title last month. Federer will be gunning for a fourth straight U.S. Open crown in a few weeks and I would not wanna bet against him!
Outsports.com has this cool article on French decathlete Romain Barras who doesn't mind one little bit that gay men look at his photos -- he actually welcomes it!
"It is lucky to have articles [about me] on the gay websites," the 27-year-old Barras said in an interview with the French gay blog "A Cause des Garcons" (translated as "Because of the Boys"). The blog had posted a bunch of photos, mostly shirtless, of Barras under the headline "Romain Barras: The body made in France."
He added: "I visited the sites, I saw the photographs, the galleries. I found it to be super flattering on these sites to be surrounded by very beautiful guys...I always had affinities with the gay community. This is a world which does not shock me."
American tennis hearthrob Andy Roddick, suffering through a subpar year, got back to the winner's circle Sunday with a win in the ATP tournament in Washington D.C. He beat John Isner 6-4, 7-6 for his second title of the year and 23rd overall. Roddick suffered a stunning loss at Wimbledon last month and has slipped to number five in the world (he was ranked first in 2003) and will be severely tested by the likes of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as he seeks his second U.S. Open title beginning later this month. Tomorrow, play begins at the Canadian Open in Montreal where the top 23 men in the world are entered.
Go Andy!
It sure makes me want to go to Paris again! This new ad is meant to attract Londoners to Paris for the Rugby World Cup...Oh La La!!!
Do you think it works?
After they won the Wimbledon singles titles over the weekend, Roger Federer and Venus Williams got all dressed up for the Champion's dinner on Sunday night in London. Roger is holding the trophy as champion for the fifth time and was the favorite going in. But Venus, who with her victory jumped from 31 to 17 in the world rankings Monday, was not expected to add a fourth trophy to her impressive collection.
I'm so happy for them both. And so ends my Wimbledon coverage of 2007...
Wonder how it feels to win five Wimbledon singles titles in a row? Roger Federer does, becoming the first man in 27 years to accomplish the feat on Sunday. The world number one beat Rafael Nadal in a classic five-set match of superb quality, suspense and drama. Federer has now won 11 of tennis' four grand slam tournaments, three shy of the all-time record of 14 won by Pete Sampras. It was well worth waking up at 6 a.m. to watch - especially having my friend Henry call me from India after match point so we could celebrate Federer's historic win together...
"It was such a close match," Federer said. "I told Rafa at the net he deserved it as well. I'm the lucky one today."
After Federer left the court, he and Bjorn Borg (the last man to win five Wimbledons in a row) exchanged hugs and smiles in front of the board that lists tournament champions. Federer's name had already been added to the list for 2007. Federer stretched his record grass-court winning streak to 53 and his Wimbledon winning streak to 34.
I just love how affectionate tennis players are with each other...it's very sweet. In Saturday's men's semifinals, the very promising 20-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic had to quit due to injury after splitting sets with Nadal who consoled the fourth-ranked player with a tender hug at the net.
The half-hug Nadal gave to arch-rival Roger Federer was not as warm but that's understandable: he lost to the Swiss star for the second-straight year in the finals of Wimbledon. Federer has now won five in a row.
And finally, men's doubles champions Amaud Clement and Michael Liodra were feeling the love after they upset the top-ranked team of Bob and Mike Bryan on Sunday.
I love looooooove Wimbledon.
XXX00
The women's singles final at Wimbledon was pretty much a forgone conclusion from the beginning with Venus Williams crushing a cute French gal named Marion Bartoli who somehow beat the world's top player, Justine Henin, in the semifinals a day earlier. Venus came into the tournament ranked 31st and largely written off as a threat - just like two years ago when she also came out of the lower ranks to win the tournament. She is now a four-time Wimbledon singles champion - only the fourth woman in the era of open tennis (since 1968) to have won at least that many times. Steffi Graf won 7 while Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, who won 9 and 6 respectively, were on hand sitting in the Royal Box Saturday to watch Venus win. During her on-court interview, Venus showed what a great sense of history she has when she noted that she was getting prize money equal to the men for the first time and how much of the credit goes to Billie Jean, a trailblazer both on and off the court.
“Now we have equal prize-money. Billie Jean King fought for years and no one deserves this more than her,” she said. “She’s done so much for women’s tennis and I wouldn’t be here without her ? and thank you to the All England Club for playing under equal terms.”
I got goose bumps and was so glad to see this great advocate for equality get her due on really what was Venus' day.
All-American hearthrob Andy Roddick had a shocking loss at Wimbledon on Friday, losing to Richard Gasquet 8-6 in the fifth set. Ouch! He's gotta be so heartbroken over this...I know I am! Andy had been my pick to win simply because I thought it would finally be time for him to topple four-time defending champion Roger Federer who he would have played in the semifinals. Instead, Federer's road to a fifth straight Wimbledon crown just got a little easier. He'll play Gasquet, who is probably exhausted, tomorrow. Also in the semis is Rafael Nadal, the man with the muscles ranked second in the world who will play the wonderfully demonstrative Novak Djokovik who is pictured below in a series of shots from his five hour match against Marcos Baghdatis. Novak has climbed all the way to number four and I think has supplanted Roddick as the next big thing.
And you all know how much I like to post pics of Rafael Nadal (below)...he's showing that his trip to last year's Wimbledon final was no fluke. But Novak has beaten him before so his semifinal will be no cakewalk.
But in the end, there's a guy named Roger Federer (below) who is more than capable of beating any of the remaining players (including Nadal) on the grass of the All England Club where he has not lost a single match since the 2002 tournament.
Maybe Novak Djokovic is starting a new trend: win a match at Wimbledon, tear off your shirt! I think it could drive ratings up some - at least among heterosexual women and gay men! Rafael Nadal also won Thursday but, sadly kept his shirt on.
Novak is the real deal and destined to be a major champion. He reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals by beating former champion Lletyon Hewitt in four tight sets.
After taking the first two sets from Nadal, Mikhail Youzhny had to get medical assistance then lost the next three sets and the match. Below, Nadal celebrates...
This makes me sad. Defending Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo was beaten in the fourth round of this year's tournament on Tuesday. The openly-gay Mauresmo, has had a subpar season in 2007 which has to be attributed, at least in part, to injuries and recently having her appendix removed. I'll be rooting for her at the U.S. Open. Last year, Amelie won her first grand slam tournament in Australia then followed it up with the Wimbledon win. She was also ranked number one in the world for much of the year. She is now number four.
World number two Rafael Nadal had squandered a two set lead on Monday and how finds himself in a fifth set in his quest to reach the last 16 (quarterfinals) on Wimbledon where he was runner-up last year. Rain forced the match to be postponed until tomorrow.
The rain is really screwing things up at Wimbledon 2007. But defending champion Amelie Mauresemo, an open lesbian since she made her debut on the tennis tour a decade ago, made quick minced meat out of her opponent and made it to the fourth round. She is seeking her second Wimbledon title. I think she is a lovely and well-spoken champion.
But the rain and slippery grass prevented second-seed Rafael Nadal from even getting past his warm-up so he'll have to wait until Monday to play for a spot in the quarterfinals. His arch-rival Roger Federer is already there: his opponent, Tommy Haas (pictured below) had to withdraw due to a torn stomach muscle. Ouch!
Any photos of Andy Roddick seem to be very popular with readers...so here are a few more!
Tommy Haas in action...the German stud was again a winner...
Roger Federer won his 51st consecutive match on grass...and looked quite dapper in doing so...
Hunky Russian Marat Safin has beaten Federer on big occasions in the past...but Friday at Wimbledon was not one of them...
Also losing was fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez who was kind enough to give us a peak at his abs before leaving the tournament...
Andy Roddick won hos second match at Wimbledon Tuesday...only five more wins to go and the title is his! He's diving for every shot and playing with a lot of heart. And, he looks gorgeous doing all of it...
GO ANDY!!!
Marat Safin makes me swoon. He is such a tall drink of water. If he could just get his head together, he can beat anyone in the world.
Forner Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt may have slipped out of the top 10, but he's still a gritty fighter and a hottie. Reminds me of Heath Ledger a bit. They're both Aussies, after all.
Novak Djokovic is my favorite young player with a real chance to become a top champion. At 19, he can still do thge splits without incident.
Rafael Nadal won his first-round match and trying to match his 2006 march to the final. He looks so good in white.
Tim Henman is the sentimental favorite and Britian's best hope. His best years are behind him but he wants to go far in this tournament. He's a gentleman and a cutie and I wish him well.And finally, even though Carlos Moya (below) lost his first round match to Henman in a heartbreaker (13-11 in the fifth!), it just doesn't seem right not to include such a beautiful man in our little gallery here.
Ah, Wimbledon. I love Wimbledon. Of the three grand slam tournaments I've been to, my week spent watching matches played on the grass courts of the All England Club ranks at the top of my tennis memories - and my life memories. But enough about me!
Andy Roddick sure looks cute even when he slips and falls as he did earlier today in his first-round match. But the fourth-seeded American, my pick to win, managed to pick himself up, dust himself off, and go on to win the match in straight sets. Also back in action and looking so comfortable and elegant on the grass was four-time defending champion Roger Federer who Roddick will likely have to take out in the semifinals if my out-on-a-limb prediction is to come true. Federer easily advanced to the second round at the tournament where he has not lost a match since 2002...
OK, if you look in the upper left corner of this picture, you will see French Open champion Rafael Nadal! He watched David Beckham and Real Madrid triumph over Mallorca in the last Spanish league football match of the season. Nadal is stil a resident of Mallorca where he grew up. Oh yeah, there are a few other people in this picture: Tom Cruise and a newly-shorn Katie Holmes (I like to new haircut!) and then there is that scary Mrs. Beckman. I wanna know if Posh Spice owns a mirror because if she does, why does she leave th house looking like a scarecrow. Her hubby, however, looks splendid.
Meow.
Pierce Brosnan is a lucky guy. Front row seats to the Queen's Club tournament in London Thursday where he got to watch the likes of such tennis guy candy as Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Fernando Gonzalez (all winners) and Robbie Ginepri who lost to Gonzalez.
Tennis is SUCH a sexy sport...
Nadal is an animal on any surface. The King of clay knows how to play on grass...
Fernando Gonzalez at full stretch...
So nice of Roddick to give us a peek at his tummy...
Poor Robby Ginepri...another loss. But he still looks so good despite his poor reesults...
J.P. Calderon has become famous for his reality show involvement which including being on "Survivor" a few seasons back then on "The Janice Dickerson Modeling Agency" on which he came out as a gay man.
But less is known about his life as a volleyball player and now coach in Long Beach. I was very interested in an article posted recently on the OuitSports.com site on this topic.
Here are a few excerpts:
On Gay Games VIII in 2010: “Sure, without a doubt I’ll compete, though I don’t know how good I’ll be at that time.”
On the kids he coaches: “The kids who I coach are wonderful. I’ve gotten closer to them (since coming out), and that’s something I was scared about (when I was coming out.)”
Could you have been out while playing in college?: “I don’t think so. At that time, I don’t think people were as accepting; people were a little more ignorant, un-educated. But times have really changed. If I was in college now, I would be able to be out, but not back then. Being out is now becoming not a big deal.”
To read the entire piece, click over to OutSports.com.
Rafael Nadal turned 21 just last week and on Sunday, he won his third straight French Open title. And for the third year in a row, he beat the world's top player, Roger Federer, at tennis' premiere clay court tournament. I was rooting for Federer to win the one major title that eludes him but there is no denying the greatness of Nadal on this surface. He simply was the better player. More tennis news on my other blog...Deuce!
Nadal was a gracious winner: I am very happy, but I am really sad for Roger. He is a friend and I know he is a great champion, whether he wins or loses."
MORE PICS OF NADAL & CO IN PARIS BELOW...
Continue reading "Nadal muscles his way to another victory in Paris...[Updated]" »
It seems like every opponent who loses to Rafael Nadal at the French Open gives his rock-hard abs a little pat. Who can blame them? Here, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who Nadal beat in today's semifinals, takes his turn. The bicep bulging Nadal, of Spain, made it to his third consecutive final in Paris where he has NEVER lost. He will face the number one tennis player in the world on Sunday: Roger Federer. I will be blogging about the final weekend on my Deuce! blog so be sure to check that out.
And do continue "reading" the rest of this post...you will like what you are "reading..."
Earlier post:
- When Antonio met Rafael...
Sebastien Gacond has just found a way to have his photo plastered on gay blogs and other websites all over.
The above picture, which I found posted on Queerty.com, of the Swiss triathlete was posted on the sportcentric Outsports.com and he was not pleased. He wrote a note to the site which read: "I’ve just found a picture of me and my name mentioned on your website. I ask you to remove my name and this picture straight away from this website."
Outsports asked Gacond if he objected to the site’s gay slant and he said this: "Yes I would like to remove it because it’s a gay website. I’ve got absolutely nothing against gay people and the gay community but I don’t want my name and image to be link there as I’m not gay … I’ve got a girlfriend! Thank you for your understanding."
According to Outsports, this is the first athlete in six years to request that his image be removed.
The photo, taken at a public event, remains. And now it's on Queerty, and Out In Hollywood, and on and on. Gee, just imagine if tennis stars Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Roddick decided to cause a stink because of all the pictures of them on this site and my Deuce! blog?
Sheesh Gacond, don't you know how to take a compliment?
I've been trying to keep my tennis-related news to my Deuce! blog but when there are pics of so many yummy tennis players online in a single day, what is a dedicated gay blogger to do? Post 'em! Herre are hunky Amkericans Andy Roddick and Robby Ginepri who, after bombing out in the first round of the French Open last week, have gone over to England to play some grass tournaments in preparation for Wimbledon.
Did any of you watch the French Open coverage this weekend?? I saw some terrific matches and you can read all about results and my take on the tournament in my other blog DEUCE! But just for Out In Hollywood readers, I've put together some pictures from the tournament taken on Monday of some of the remaining players in the men's draw...hot stuff! We begin, of course, with two-time defending champion Rafael Nadal who beat former number one Lleyton Hewitt and is on his way to a possible rematch with top-seed Roger Federer.
Carlos Moya (above) is the oldest man left in the tournament at the age of 30. He beat Jonas Bjorkman and will face Nadal in the quarterfinals. Moya knows how to win the French Open: he did so in 1998 and remains a strong contender. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic of Serbia is showing that he is the real deal as he makes the quarterfinals for the second year running. Just 19, Novak is already ranked in the top five and beat Nadal on his way to winning the big Sony Erriccson tournament in Miami back in March. Djokovic , more than any other player, is the one who I think is the biggest threat to the Federer-Nadal dominance of recent years. He's got the game and the attitude to be a major champion.
And finally, there is Russian Igor Andreev who beat Marcos Baghdatis with a 2-6 6-1 6-3 6-4 win to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time. Andreev is the man who beat American Andy Roddick in the first round and even though he is not seeded, he has shown he is not a one-win wonder.
Lots more pics below!
Carlos Moya won the French Open waaaaaaaay back in 1998, a year after he made the finals of the Australian Open. Not long after that, he briefly reached the number one ranking in men's tennis. Nowadays, he wins a few tournaments each year and gives those of us who admire gorgeous athletes the change to enjoy the scenery! Moya was among the winners Thursday at the French Open. To read my round-up of the day's action, check out Deuce!
Check out my tennis blog DEUCE! for more pictures of tennis hotties Tommy Haas and Marat Safin in these vintage tennis clothes. Also posted are my predictions for the 2007 French Open which begins Sunday in Paris!
P.S. As much as I like Tommy and Marat in these vintage clothes, I think they look even better wearing far less, don't you?
Continue reading "Two tennis champs travel back in time..." »
Boy, I was the envy of all the straight guys in the newsroom last week!
I got to meet and have a nice chat with the beautiful and leggy tennis star Maria Sharapova who won the U.S. Open last year and Wimbledon in 2004. She is currently ranked second in the world and is using her considerable celebrity to help Russia's Olympic Winter Games bid.
To read my interview with Maria, click over to my tennis blog Deuce!
Two of the men's tennis tour's hearthrobs are Germany's Tommy Haas and Russia's Marat Safin - both extremely gifted players who are capable of beating anyone on any given day. Unfortunately, they are also prone to slumps. So why am I writing about them? Because I found this very nice picture of them on the Kennethinthe212 blog and wanted to use it as bait to get folks to check out my still-new tennis blog Deuce!
Former top-ranked tennis player Carlos Moya and Rafael Nadal, currently number two in the world, have many things in common: they have both won the French Open, both grew up on the same island in Spain, both are hearthrobs who favor sleeveless shirts, and teamed up on Monday to win a doubles match against Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka at the Italian Open.
For all the latest tennis news, visit my tennis blog DEUCE!
John Amaechi appeared before the Log Cabin Republicans at their annual convention over the weekend in Denver. In his speech "Is Pro Sports Changing?" the first former NBA player to ever come out said there has not been the negative reaction he feared.
\"I underestimated America. I braced myself for the wrath of a nation under God," he said. "I imagined that it would be a firestorm, that it would be some insane number of letters demanding my deportation or my death.And in fact, 95 percent of the correspondence I've had have been overwhelmingly supportive and positive. But I will say that the 5 percent that I've had have been unbelievably, viscerally, frighteningly negative."
But Amaechi has not heard from a single former NBA teammate.
"Probably 30 of my former (NBA) teammates have my e-mail and my telephone contacts and probably 16 or so of those I was in regular touch with and there are probably 10 people who I have (on instant messenger). And zero — nobody — who's active in the NBA has been in touch with me since the day I came out, despite the fact that most of them knew I was gay in the first place."
"They are our gladiators, our heroes. On the other hand, there's not many of you would trust them with your children, with your car keys or to do your accounting," he said. "Let's face it, for the most part, the stereotype is that they — we — are dumb as rocks. So, I don't know if they are a terribly good group to be looked at as kind of indicative of societal change or as leaders in that respect."
As for politics, Amaechi chided both Democrats and Republicans: "It's hard for me to hide the fact that I am no fan of this administration, as much for their foreign policy as for their stance on (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) issues," he said. "However, I am no fan of the Democratic candidates who take four days before they decide that Gen. Pace's comments were not very nice."
Roger Federer may be on something of slump (he's lost THREE matches this year) but he is still the world's top tennis player having won the last three grand slam tournaments. He's also handsome and articulate which is apparent in the new issue of Men's Vogue. To read excerpts from the magazine profile, about Andre Agassi's charitable activities and about Rafael Nadal's clay-court winning streak reaching 70 matches on Friday, check out my tennis blog:DEUCE!
I knew it! You really miss seeing pictures of Spanish hearthrob Rafael Nadal playing tennis in various cities around the world posted on Out In Hollywood! Well, here is some good news: I am following Nadal's progress and that of other players on the men's and women's pro tennis tours on my other blog Deuce! Today, I post the world rankingsand recap the weekend's tournament results. Also be sure to read a post from a few days ago reflecting on Chris Evert's historic 125-match clay court winning streak.
And as a bonus, here are a few more pics of Rafa!
We all know that closeted gay athletes will never start coming out during their playing careers unless they have more straight allies in the locker room - top players who make it clear that the fact that their teammate is gay is not a problem for them.So how heartening it is to read a column written for The Observer by British footballer [soccer player] David James on Sunday. Here are some excerpts:
Football, it seems, is one of the last professional environments where you can't be out and proud. In every other entertainment industry we have gay stars. Why should football be different? Are football fans really so incapable of watching a gay player without abusing him? The same bunch of fans who are routinely homophobic always sing along to the camp-as-you-like Scissors Sisters anthems played at grounds up and down the country or the Pet Shop Boys song 'Go West'?...
...Sportsmen and women have come out in other sports, but it hasn't always been a straightforward process - although Martina Navratilova continued to be successful on the tennis court, she claims she lost out on $12million in sponsorship deals. Many athletes prefer to wait until they retire, like John Amaechi, the British former NBA player, did earlier this year. I was watching the TV when his announcement flashed up. I know John because our paths crossed working for the Special Olympics, but I would never have guessed he was gay...
...I have a number of gay friends and although they wouldn't want me shouting from the rooftops about their sexuality, I'd like to encourage them to come out. I accept that it's easy for me to say that, but how many more years will it be before we can talk openly about gay men playing professional football? From next season homophobic chanting is outlawed, which is a start. It'll still take some sort of new age hero to be the first to come out, but I just hope, for football's sake, that it happens soon.
Click HERE to read his entire article as it appeared in The Observer.
I hope this picture of Spain's Rafael Nadal got your attention. It's my way of promoting my little side project, a tennis blog called Deuce! Check it out!!!
How do I get myself into these things?
Our food editor at the Daily News, Natalie Haughton, needed a favor. Could I meet her at Dodger Stadium on a Friday morning to participate in a taste test of some healthy new menu items? I thought, well, sure. I need to start eating healthier and I might as well do it at Dodger Stadium.
The whole thing ended up being a lot of fun. We were given a tour of the Stadium Club then seated in some area usually reserved for bigwigs overlooking the feild. These cool chefs began to bring out a steady stream of grub for me, Natalie and this dude named Jorge Rodriguez who was the designated Dodger fan. You can read about what we like best in today's edition of the Daily News.
But, I'll give you the REAL story right here:
Spinach Salad w/Strawberries: Excellent! My dad makes this salad and this was ALMOST as good as my dad's. The real secret is the pecans.
Fruit Salad: It's diced melons with grapes and strawberries along with a raspberry yogurt dressing that elevates it from just a run-of-the-mill fruit bowl to something pretty deliish,
Grilled Vegetable Wrap: This was gooooood. Grilled veggies inside a warm spinach torilla. Great flavor and something that's easy to eat in your seat. You could hold this sucker in one hand and catch a fly ball with the other.
Hummus and Assorted Vegatable Crudite: OK, the veggies are the run-of-the-mill carrots and celery but also some good little cherry tomatoes and peppers. But the real deal is the hummus. I love hummus but a really terrific hummus is hard to find unless you are at a restaurant that makes it well. The flavor and texture of this hummus sent me to the moon. Loved it.
Oven Roasted Tuirkey Wrap: Did you think I was going to love EVERYTHING those chefs put in front of me? Give Greg some credit! The turkeys they used must have been raised around a salt lick because it was...SALTY! I've never known such thirst after taking a nibble of that vittle.
Grilled Turkey Hot Dog: This is good. Guess these turkeys didn't go near that salt lick.
Vegetable Hot Dog: OK, I gotta be honest. I wouldn't feed this dog to my dog, mmmmmkay? I suppose a vegetarian who wanted to have a pure ballpark experience might find it edible but not me. It was nasty!
Dodger Dog: As you can see from these embarassing pics, no complaints about a Dodger Dog. They are terrific. I hate to say it, but I've had the dogs at Wrigley Field and Coors Field and found them more delish than the Dodger Dog. But, I live closer to Dodger Stadium than to Chicago or Denver!
Footlong Andouille Sausage: This sucker is hot! Verrrry spicy. If ya like that kinda thing, go for it. I try not to eat anything that makes me wanna cry. The sausage does come inside a really good baguette roll.
Chicken Sandwich: This is fine but not inspired. It reminded me of the BBQ chicken sandwich that you can get from Carl's Jr. with the skinless chicken breast and BBQ sauce.
Steak Sandwich: This one though, is inspired. The meat has a terrific flavor and the lettuce and tomato are very fresh on a delicious sourdough roll that compliments the meat perfectly.
OK, so we tasted all this stuff, usually just a bite of two of each so we wouldn't hurl all over Tommy Lasorda or someone. But as we were leaving, the staff told Natalie and I to take anything we wanted to from the dessert tray (pictured above). I'm usually more of a savory than sweet kinda guy but these desserts were pretty damned tempting. So, I loaded up a container with a slice of some unbelievable carrot cake that is among the best I've ever had; and this amazing dessert called Smores Pie. I can't even begin to explain it but trust me, if you order some, you will be happy as a clam at high tide.
If you'll excuse me now, I've gotta go out and get some TUMS!
Found this via Towleroad.com and thought it was so cute: During the Seattle Mariners' home opener earlier this week, they grabbed a photo op with some former players, including Jay Buhner, an outfielder who retired in 2001. Buhner took the opportunity to grab a few things of his own, making it one to remember for Raul Ibanez and Willie Bloomquist.
For all of you "Out In Hollywood" readers who enjoy my tennis coverage, most of it will now appear in a seperate blog that I launched today called "Deuce!" I reserve the right to post a beefcake shot of Rafael Nadal on this blog but "Duece!" is be more pure sport-talk about the game I love. And for those of you who quickly scrolled past anything tennis-related...you're free!
Please check out the new blog, add it to your favorites and send a link to your friends!
Former NBA player John Amaechi will be the grand marshal for a gay pride festival in West Hollywood this summer.
It is a GREAT choice...certainly better than Paris Hilton who somehow was picked a few years ago. I'm still not over that one.
Organizers said Amaechi was selected because he showed courage and conviction despite personal risk in coming out publicly earlier this year when his book, "Man in the Middle" was published.
"We are inspired by Amaechi's courage and convictions. Despite personal risk, he opened himself up to the world and showed his authentic self," said Rodney Scott, president of Christopher Street West, an organization that advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community."
Here is a link to my STORY on Amechi that ran in the Daily News a few months ago.
The Los Angeles LGBT Pride Celebration is set for June 8-10 and includes a parade on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Says Amaechi: "I am honored to be the grand marshal at this year's Pride Celebration celebrating equality for each of us."
I am so happy to post this! The HBO documentary, "Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer," was announced as a winner of the coveted 2006 George Foster Peabody Awards.
Anyone who saw this program profiling the extraordinary life of BJK came away with such respect for this force of nature. I think the documentary is largely responsible for bringing Billie Jean back in the public eye in a big way. She has always been busy doing various things but suddenly this summer, she was Billie Jean King superstar again. The United States Tennis Center was named after her in late August at the U.S. Open, she received an award from the Human Rights Campaign, and was even a model during a fashion week fundraiser in New York getting the most applause when she strutted down the catwalk in a red pantsuit to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."
Anyway, congrats to the people behind this magnificent documentary and to its legendary subject.
Also winning Peabody's: NBC's "The Office," "Friday Night Lights" and "Scrubs" along with ABC's "Ugly Betty."
The awards will be handed out June 4 at a luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan. It will be hosted by NBC-HBO sportscaster Bob Costas.
It is a glammed-up Monica Seles! It looks like retirement agrees with this former number one who ruled tennis with Steffi Graf for several years in the 90s winning four Australian Opens, three French Opens, and two U.S. Opens between 1990 and 1996. To put her accomplishments in perspective, the only players to have won more Grand Slam titles during their careers are all tennis legends: Graf, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Margaret Smith Court.
Her career was interrupted tragically in 1993 when she was stabbed by a deranged fan of Graf's while playing a match in Hamburg. Monica was out for 2.5 years healing from her physical and psychological wounds. She was never the same player again but she was still damned good and won many more titles before chronic foot injuries drove her out of the game for good around three years ago.
I'll always cherish being in the second row of Monica's match against Lyndsay Davenport at the year-end championships at Staples Center. I think it was four years ago. Davenport appeared poised for a straight sets win but Seles fought off seven match points - most of them with winners - and ended up winning the match!
Novak Djokovic is a big hero in his hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, and was treated like a rock star upon his return Monday. I'm just nuts about this kid ands the breath of fresh air he brings to tennis. When you can hold your nerve and win such a big title so young (he's 19), the sky is the limit.
Reporters asked Djokovic how he succeeded in defeating Guillermo Canas in the final of the Sony Ericcson Open on Sunday after Canas had upset top-ranjked Roger Federer twice within a two-week period.
"I cannot now give any advices or tips to Roger," Djokovic said with a smile. "It would be not so nice, you know. He's No. 1 and probably the best player ever in the history of this sport."
Djokovic, a Serb, and Scotsman Andy Murray, both 19, have been touted as future Grand Slam champions.
"Two young players, it's always nice," Djokovic said. "I think it's a great thing for tennis to see Rafael Nadal, Murray and myself playing so well and bringing something so new into tennis. "I think you all had enough of Federer winning every tournament, so it's good."
Despite his two bizarre losses to Canas, Federer is still the man at the top of the heap. On Monday, he began his 166th consecutive week at No. 1, a record, and leads by such a wide margin he's almost certain to remain on top through Wimbledon. He has won the past three major events and needs four more Grand Slam titles to equal Pete Sampras' record of 14.
But I think Novak will be a factor this year. And more than his beautiful game, he is like Federer in that he is a gentleman. Look (below) at how he greeted Canas at the net after beating him:
Gee, this is a real sports-oriented Sunday for Out In Hollywood. It's nothing planned, this blog just goes where the news is and right now, that news happens involves a good looking Olympian named Michael Phelps making history Sunday at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
Phelps equalled the most hallowed mark in swimming by winning his seventh gold medal and also achieved his fifth world record. He smashed his own world record in the 400m individual medley by 2.04 seconds, becoming the most successful swimmer ever at the worlds.
The 21-year-old American joined countryman Mark Spitz as the only swimmers ever to win that many golds at a major international meet. Of course, Spitz' achievement came on the sport's grandest stage — the Olympics. Phelps hopes to equal the feat or go one better at next year's Beijing Games.
You can count on this blog to follow his progress...
His name might be a little difficult to say, but boy, is he easy on the eyes.
He's 19-year-old Novak Djokovic and on Sunday, he became the youngest man to ever win the Sony Ericcson Open. I was visitng my parents in The OC and I half-heartedly turned on the match (it was Novak vs. Guillermo Canas, the dude who has beaten Roger Federer twice this month). I figured, let me catch a few minutes of this no-name final and maybe they'll show a recap of the Serena Williams win yesterday. I was so annoyed that Canas had taken out Federer that I decided, early on, that I was annoyed by his hairbun - a very unnattractive way for a man to wear his hair. Petty, yes. But also true.
But something glorious happened: Djokovic, of Serbia, played such superb tennis that was an absolute joy to watch. He has a terrific serve, a great variety of shots, wonderful imagination in the way he constructs points, and is extremely competitive.
I've seen lotsa guys win big tournaments then go away. But I have a feeling about Djokovic, that he's the real deal and is on the rise the way that Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi were as teens. I actually think he might emerge as the primary challenger to number one rather than Rafeal Nadal, who he lost to in the final of the Pacific Life Open a few weeks ago but stopped in the quarterfinals in Miami. I think Djokovic has the more complete game, so graceful and fluid and not as likely to go south.
And here's another nice thing: He is an intelligent and articulate man who showed such great poise and charm during the trophy presentation and on-court interviews with CBS. Plus he's a great looking guy! I think he's got it all and as of Monday, he will be ranked seventh in the world...with a bullet!
I was watching Serena Williams getting whipped in the final of the Sony Ericcson Open yesterday morning on television but had to leave mid-match to meet my dad at the movies (We saw "The Shooter" and we both liked it a lot!). Serena was down 0-6, 3-4 to top-ranked Justine Henin when I turned the set off wondering if she would be able to find a way back. Well...she did! In an extraordinary display of heart and competitive fire, Serena saved two match points late in the second set to prevail over Henin, 06 75 63, for her fourth career Sony Ericsson Open title. Serena whipped second-seed Maria Sharapova, who she beat in January for the Australian Open title, in an earlier round.
"When I get down, a part of me just plays better," Williams said after the match. "I think all champions have that."
The comeback was nothing new for Williams, who revived her career by winning the Australian Open in January for her eighth Grand Slam title. Once ranked No. 1, she fell to 140th last July because of long layoffs, but will climb back to 11th next week.
This is the most dramatic comeback since Andre Agassi, ranked number one in 1995, fell all the way down to 141 by late 1997. By 1999, he was number one again.
Like Agassi, Serena has enough talent and self-belief to weather these peaks and valleys that most players can never climb out of.
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.
We're toying with the idea of starting up a tennis blog at the Daily News but until that happens, you will have to indulge me on my tennis-related postings on the Out In Hollywood site! I felt I could not miss the opportunity to pay tribute to Roger Federer who, on Monday, rewrote the history books. By being the number one men's player for 161 consecutive weeks, Federer broke the 30-year-old record of 160 consecutive weeks set by Jimmy Connors. Federer told the LA Times that the first time he met Connors was when he was about 14 and Connors was in the Swiss star's hometown of Basel for a tournament and presented Federer an award for being the best junior in the town: "I walked on the court, had a picture taken...and then walked off again. I was so nervous. Whoever would have thought I would have broken the record?"
Federer is now gunning after another 30-year-old record: the 46 consecutive match wins set by Guillermo Vilas in 1977. Federer's streak is at 37 and he could break it at next month's Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. I'm planning to take in some of the matches and hope to see Federer play this year!
Wanted to share with you the cover of the new issue of The Advocate featuring John Amaechi who is profiled by editor Anne Stockwell. I wrote a sidebar that accompanies Anne's story covering the reaction of the league but my story was turned in before the Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway outburst. I can't find my story online to link for you yet but this is good motivation to go out and buy a copy of a great magazine!
You've been teased with bits and pieces over the past week but here is the profile on John Amaechi that I wrote for Sunday's LA Daily News sports section. It's kinda fun being on the front page of Sports for a change...makes me feel...I dunno.. kinda butch.
Ha! Anyway, here it is in its entirety:
Amaechi surprised by 'fuss' over his coming out
Former NBA player knew his book would garner some attention but the reaction from players continues to make headlines.
By Greg Hernandez
Staff writer
John Amaechi might exude calm when you meet him, but publication of his new memoir, "Man in the Middle," has caused a firestorm in the NBA, in which he spent five seasons as an active player and as a closeted gay man.
Amaechi said he knew his book would garner some attention since he would be the first NBA player -- active or retired -- to come out publicly. But reaction from players -- both positive and negative -- continues to make headlines, particularly those of former NBA star Tim Hardaway, who said, "I hate gay people," among other homophobic remarks.
"Everyone keeps telling me that I knew it was going to be this much fuss, and I absolutely did not," Amaechi said over lunch last week. "I thought it might be a couple of days of people saying, 'Oh, that's interesting.' But it became a massive story and a massive talking point. ... And it wasn't just because of Tim Hardaway, I think that was an aspect of it that kind of added onto it in week No. 3. But even in the first two weeks, people in areas where they never talked about gay stuff, all of a sudden started to. I think that was important as a beginning."
By acknowledging that he is a gay man, Amaechi, 35, has joined just a handful of retired male pro athletes in major team sports who had done so: football's Dave Kopay, Roy Simmons and Esera Tuaolo; as well as baseball's Billy Bean and the late Glenn Burke.
"Someone from a gay magazine spoke to me the other day and suggested that I was a bit cowardly, and that courage isn't a word he would use to describe what I'm doing. I would agree," Amaechi said. "It's about fortitude. Otherwise there would be more than five.
"Add up all the teams now -- football, hockey, baseball, basketball -- that's maybe 2,000 (players). Then multiply that by all the people who have ever played in the league over the last 20-30 years. Five people have come out in over three generations. This tells you it's not an easy thing to do. There's work to be done."
Jim Buzinski, co-founder of Outsports.com, calls Amaechi's coming out: "The biggest one to date. I think in part because of people like Billy Bean and Esera. Whenever it happens, it's almost bigger each time. In the age of blogs and a robust Internet, there are a lot more outlets to write about this. It's been bigger than I thought it would be because John hasn't been in the league for a few years. But certainly the story is not as big as if an active player were to come out."
While Amaechi's 290-page book covers his life as a gay man, it also is the story of an unlikely pro athlete from Manchester, England, who, just six years before he made his NBA debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers, had never even played basketball.
So how did he do it?
"I said I would," he said. "I have many, many flaws, but one of them is not that I don't do what I say. I do what I say I will. If there is a consistent theme throughout this book, it's about, essentially, some odd, quirky, isolated fat kid from a foreign country getting to the NBA and doing that in the space of six years.
"It's about the underdog, it's about improbable people achieving the most unlikely of things. That's how I work. I'm not interested in average, it bores me. Average is default. You have to work to be worse than average. It's supposed to be a fight, it's supposed to be hard."
Amaechi, who retired from pro basketball in 2003, first achieved stardom at Penn State. He then became one of the first Brits to play in the NBA when he signed with Cleveland.
Of his five full seasons in the NBA, he said his first season with Orlando remains his best memory.
"It's when I felt I was kicking people's (butts), and I felt like I belonged there," he said.
But after leaving Orlando, he clashed with Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, for whom he played for two seasons.
Amaechi believed Sloan to be homophobic, something the coach denied, and that was the major factor in the deterioration of their relationship. But looking back, Amaechi had only a few regrets about his pro career. The biggest one is not playing for the Lakers when he had the chance.
"I didn't take a contract to go to L.A. that I really wanted to take. I desperately wanted to play here. I turned down an awful lot of money but it was a decision based on my principles," he said. "I felt only this: Orlando was the only team that would take me on the year before. Now everybody wanted me, but Orlando had been the only one to take me on."
Still, he doesn't plan to take in any Lakers games when he's in Los Angeles to promote the book. But it's nothing personal. Amaechi doesn't follow the NBA or any other pro sports. He works as a psychologist, works extensively with young people, has a sports foundation and a consultant business. He also does extensive corporate speaking in the U.K. and the States.
Amaechi has taken on a new role as spokesman for the Coming Out Project for the Human Rights Campaign during his book tour, which has him promoting the importance of being out and living openly and honestly.
"I felt a great obligation to do this," he said. "I felt it was important. My thing with coming out is it's an individual, personal journey and that if you push people, force people, make them come out in a way that they're not comfortable with, you neither help them in their own personal life and development, nor do you create good, proactive people. They come out, and then they disappear. Believe me, after the last few weeks especially, I understand the weight of it."
In contrast to Hardaway, some players and coaches have been supportive. That includes Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, who told reporters: "My view is, I was always taught not to judge people. ... And I have said publicly that John Amaechi was my teammate. If people said stuff about (Amaechi), I would have to stick up for him and I wouldn't judge him. (Homophobia is) not what this league is about."
Said Amaechi: "To hear Shaquille O'Neal, a younger-generation active player say that, it's important. It's important because it inoculates against other hateful words."
Amaechi doesn't really know Hardaway, other than from the times he played against him, and said there never was any personal acrimony between the two. Amaechi said he felt "saddened" that Hardaway, who was banned by the NBA from participating during its All-Star weekend and has lost at least one endorsement deal, has tarnished his legacy. But he quickly added: "He is not suffering as much as some other people.
"There is the psychological and emotional damage that hearing that somebody hates you when you're 16 years old and unsure of yourself ... far outweighs losing a car wash (endorsement)," he said. "It is dwarfed by the damage the words have done. It's dwarfed. Add up the net income, the net loss of the young people if their path in life is affected by this. Forget the money. When you damage a child, you can't put a price on that. The same as when you elevate a child.
"You can't put a price on that. The magnitude is massive. ... He's been a lightning rod for some kid in Arkansas to blab his mouth about dropping the "f-bomb" left and right and anti-gay slurs in the team environment, not knowing that what he's doing is stabbing his teammate in the neck."
Although Doc Rivers, who was Amaechi's coach in Orlando, was the only NBA teammate or coach to personally contact him since the book's publication, Amaechi insisted he is not disappointed.
"It would be really naive to imagine that people would run to my side," he said. "Especially since running to my side at this point now, it's not just that you're running to my side, but you're running against another player. It's part of the problem: Straight allies are hard to come by because they risk being called gay, and right now there's not much worse than being called gay ... apart from being called a terrorist, apparently."
OK, my profile on former NBA player John Amaechi, who publicly came out as a gay man in his new book "Man In The Middle," is scheduled to run in the sports section of the Los Angeles Daily News tomorrow (Sunday) so look for it on DailyNews.com.
Obviously, there was so much that John and I covered during our interview that it could not possibly make it into the article. He has this advice for anyone who is thinking about coming out: "Coming out is an individual journey. It’s not for other people to tell you. They can advise you but it’s not up to other people to tell you that you must do it. Find someone, one person that you can make a connection with who can help you. Find your voice, who can share your burden, who can be standing behind you
as support and then look from there. See how that emboldens you. If it’s your sister or your brother or your coach or your teamates or your parent or your guardian, see if telling that one person who you trust, see if that emboldens you to do more. That’s your journey.
It’s not for everybody, to scream from the rooftops. But I would say, it would be a joyous noise if people did."
To kids who mikght feel bad about themselves: "Just know that whatever might be said about you, there’s
nothing intrinsically dirty, evil, wrong about them. As hard as it is sometimes in the face of the comments and the words that come out - things that come from the pulpit sometimes and things that come from the gutter - try and steel themselves in the knowledge that only their choices will make them bad, not who they are intrinsically."
Well said!
John Amaechi has opened up the debate over gays in pro sports with the publication of his book "Man in the Middle." I spoke with him this week about a wide range of topics for a forthcoming article but am giving the readers of Out In Hollywood another sneak peak.
John tells me that the real heroes are the athletes who have come out during their pro careers: "I think people like Martina [Navratilova] and Billie Jean King, they are brave beyond words whereas what I’m doing is just somethingpeople with good conscience should do when they are ready and able."
But he points out the lost endorsements for Navratilova and other out female athletes who have dominated their sport and might otherwise be darlings of Madison Avenue.
"Sheryl Swoops, the Michael Jordan of women’s basketball, and she’s sponsored by Olivia [Cruises]. This is not to demean Olivia but my God, the Michael Jordan women’s basketball should be front and center. She’s beautiful, she’s talented, she’s eloquent. So let’s not pretend it wouldn’t have any negative financial effects.
But it’s not just financial, it’s personal strength: "You need to be in a place of great resilence to do this, to perform on this knife edge just playing basketball but then to have all of these additional pressures of your responsbilities to the GLBT community, the responsibility to your team, to your teamates, to your owner, the fans. It’s massive walking onto the court and knowing that. When people call you the f-word, instead of that being just to emasculateyou, they actually mean they don’t like gay people."
It shows you what a gay athlete must endure: either stay in the closet with all the misery that entails, or come out and risk everything in order to be true to yourself. Gee, all Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway had to do during his career was go out and play basketball. Other than feeling compelled to cross the street whenever he sees a gay person, his life hadn't been all that bad in comparison.
There are those who may have Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway fatigue and simply never want to hear from him again. I don't blame you. But this interview he gave to ESPN allows the former NBA star to elaborate on his hateful comments about gay people a few weeks back following the release of John Amaechi's book. Some of the excerpts below do shed light onto the depths of his homophobia. He adds that the last few weeks have been "pure hell" for him:
"...it was just the wrong choice of words. It came out of my mouth real crude and real bad and real ugly. And people think that that's the way I feel. That I hate [gay people], and I don't. I don't condone what they do, but I don't hate them. But that's how it came out...I should have been smart about what I was saying and how I expressed my feelings because I offended a lot of folks. And not knowing the magnitude on how this all escalated. I mean, I offended my family, my friends, the NBA, the gay community, people I don't know, the [Miami] Heat organization. I realize that I offended a lot of people and caused a lot of friction on a touchy subject. And now it's my job to make it right."
Hardaway tells ESPN's Scoop Jackson: "I still don't accept their lifestyle. No."
And what does he do when he encounters a gay person on the streets of Miami?
"I just get away from it. I just walk away. I see it, I just go the other way, cross the street...When we was growing up Scoop, if we saw gay people or whatever, we ran across the street. We got away from them. Our parents, our friends, our families knew that that wasn't right. We didn't want to be around that and they definitely didn't want us kids around it. And it's not that they hated gay people, they just felt they it wasn't right. Let them do what they want to do. And that was my experience when I was growing up. Not acknowledging them. Now did something happen to me? No. But I did have a friend that something happened to him in a Catholic school, but that is another can of worms that it's not my place to open because it's not my life. But to answer your question, 'No.' Nothing happened to me. I just don't condone [being gay]. When I see gay people holding hands or kissing in the streets, I just don't think that's right."
OK, so that's his deal. That's a lot of people's deal and it makes me sick. But at least Hardaway now has to confront the fact that, like it or not, there are gay people all around him and he might just have to start dealing with it instead of crossing the street (WHAT is he afraid of? Does he realize the irony in that so many black men have shared how people cross the street when they walk by?)
"Maybe I could go to therapy, maybe someone can help me out with understanding [them], the sensitivity of the issue," he adds. "But as a person, my beliefs are my beliefs. I don't have to condone it and I don't have to be around it. But I don't have to hate it either...Right now, learning. Learning that gay people are really no different than a lot of other people. Learning that they work hard, they do things in the community, they are responsible for building parks, rec centers, providing safe environments for kids, just things I had never associated with them before. [This last week] has opened up my eyes to the gay population and what they do. I'm getting a lot of knowledge about them that I didn't have. Which is going to make me a better person. And if it doesn't, then I'm a damn fool."
So as of now, he's still a "damn fool" as far as I'm concerned...until proven otherwise.
It was in 1973 that then-reigning Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a battle of the sexes tennis match that proved, indeed, that a woman could beat a man. But it has taken 34 long years for Wimbledon, a tournament King won six times in singles, has come around to awarding equal prize money to women.
At a news conference today, All England Club chairman Tim Phillips announced that what negligible differences remained between the prize money awarded to men and to women at Wimbledon would be eliminated. Roger Federer received $1.170 million as last year’s men’s champion, while the women’s champion, Amelie Mauresmo received $1.117 million.
“I think when you’ve got men and women playing at the same tournament, it is ludicrous to have a difference in pay," the always outspoken John McEnroe told Britain's Daily Telegraph Thursday. "It would be setting an example to the rest of society in general to have equal prize-money. There’s probably no other sport, and very few professions in this world, where a woman can earn as much as a man. I’m a father of two boys and four girls, and I just think kids will see that and say, ‘Hey, look at that, that’s good, what they are doing at Wimbledon.’”
Wimbledon was the last holdout among the Grand Slam tennis tournaments in not awarding equal prize money to women across the board. The U.S. Open and Australian Open have paid equal prize money for years, and the French Open moved part-way to equality last year, making the prizes for the two singles champions the same.
Inequity still exists for the other women singles and doubles players in the draw.
In singles, the women play two-out-of-three sets while the men play three-out-of-five. But the women's game has often been more popular thanks to such superstars as Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and, of course, Billie Jean King (pictured during NYC's Fashion Week earlier this month).
When Wimbledon first opened the tournament to professional competition in 1968, Billie Jean took the women’s singles title — and precisely 37.5 percent of the prize money that was awarded the male champion, Rod Laver. Five years later, Ms. King would accept a challenge from former Wimbledon champion, aging tennis hustler and self-described male chauvinist, Bobby Riggs, who claimed that the female game would always be inferior to a man’s. Billie Jean won the match in three sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3.
As the first NBA player, retired or active, to publicly acknowledge that he is a gay man, John Amaechi has ignited a nationwide discussion about how an out male athlete might be received in pro sports - particularly in the NBA. I'm working on an upcoming profile on John, author of a thoughtful memoir"Man in the Middle," for the Daily News that will run in the coming days. But, as always, I wanted to give Out In Hollywood readers a little appetizer today with more morsels to come on Friday.
After an initial round of interviews in New York, Amaechi arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday morning and a few hours later, we were sharing a Chinese food lunch inside a conference room in the Beverly Hills offices of his publicist, Howard Bragman. He was only scheduled to be in town for the day before leaving for an
evening event in San Francisco then departing Thursday for Salt Lake City for interviews and book signings.
"Everyone keeps telling me that I knew it was going to be this much fuss and I absolutely did not," John says. "I thought it might be a couple of days of people saying, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ But it became a massive story and a massive talking point. And it wasn’t just because of Tim Hardaway, I think that was an aspect of it that kind of added onto it in week number three. But even in the first two weeks, people in areas where they never talked about gay stuff, all of a sudden started to. I think that was important as a beginning."
I knew that John had in other interviews, already addressed Tim Hardaway's "I hate gay people" and other homophobic comments. I wanted to know what he thought of the backlash Hardaway had suffered including being fired by the NBA and CBA and losing some endorsements.
"Perhaps I do feel saddened that his legacy is tarnished but he is not suffering as much as some other people. There is the psychological and emotional damage that hearing that somebody hates you when you’re 16 years old and unsure of yourself, far outweighs losing a car wash [endorsement]. It is dwarfed by the damage the words have done. It’s dwarfed. Add up the net income, the net loss of the young people if their path in life is affected by this. Forget the money. When you damage a child, you can’t put a price on that. The same as when you elevate a child. You can’t put a price on THAT. The magnitude is massive."
"I’ve gotten emails from kids from Japan, Australia, eastern and western Europe, all around America, talking about how his words have affected them, how some of them have quit their handball, basketball, hockey, football teams because he’s heightened the fear in them that when they’re discovered, that they will be hurt. So he’s been a lightning rod for some kid in Arkansas to blab his mouth about dropping the "f-bomb" left and right and anti-gay slurs in the team environment not knowing that what he’s doing is stabbing his teammate in the neck."
MORE FROM JOHN AMAECHI ON FRIDAY...
The world's most famous metrosexual, David Beckham, has not even relocated to Los Angeles yet (where he will play soccer for the LA Galaxy) but his already sky-high profile is already going off the charts. Here is the cover image of the new issue of Details magazine as well as the Wheaties box on which he appears:
Here is a portion of the cover story:
--No one is as good at the art of celebrity as David Beckham. Being Americans, we find it hard to accept that one of ours is not at the top of this particular pyramid. But it’s true. Perhaps since Michael Jordan (perhaps since before Michael Jordan) no athlete has remained a bigger celebrity longer than David Beckham. His arrival in America merely guarantees that new audiences will debate the Beckham hair, the Beckham marriage (the flanker brand currently known as Victoria but formerly known as Posh Spice being the biggest winner in this whole situation), the Beckham style. They will see that the many aspects of celebrity culture we think of as quintessentially American, quintessentially now, have long been part of the Beckhams’ arsenal. --
Amelie Mauresmo won a $1.3 million diamond-studded racket trophy Sunday, beating Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the final of the Diamond Games tournament. The victory spoiled Clijsters' farewell match before a frenetic home crowd of 14,500 at the Sports Palace. The 23-year-old Belgian has said she will retire at the end of the season.
Mauresmo, the most successful out lesbian on the tennis tour since Martina Navratolova, won the tournament for the third time in a row, enough to keep the 8.8-pound gold racket studded with 1,702 diamonds, which goes to the first three-time winner in any five-year span.
“I said all week I didn't think about it, but honestly I thought about it the whole week,” Mauresmo admitted to the crowd.
Clisters, as always, was a terrific sport: “There is no better champion than you. I admire you in so many ways.”
Clijsters cried when local crooners Clouseau serenaded her career, which included a U.S. Open title in 2005, a No. 1 ranking in 2003 and several Grand Slam near misses. Mauresmo has won her last five matches against Clijsters, including last year's Diamond Games final.
They say diaminds are a girls best friend, right? Later today, out tennis star Amelie Mauresmo has a chance to win a diamond studded racket worth 1 million euros if she beats Kim Clisters in the final of the Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgiam.
It would be nice to see two-time defending champion Mauresmo become the first woman to ever win the unique trophy which is awarded for three title wins in five years. Amelie is currently ranked third in the world behind Maria Sharapova and Justine Henin but had a glorious run in 2006. Not only was she ranked number one for much of the year, she beat Henin in the finals of both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
The final against Clisters is a rematch of 2006 title and will also be the 23-year-old Clijsters' last appearance on home soil following her decision to retire at the end of the season.
Says Mauresmo: "Every match I win, it's (the racket) starting to be a little bit more on my mind. But the final will be the toughest one to win."
The San Francisco Chronicle spoke with John Amaechi by phone from London about being gay in the NBA. I must say, Tim "I hate gay people" Hardaway has unwittingly done more to promote Amaechi's book than anything else! And, thankfully, Amaechi is the polor opposite of Hardaway: intelligent and thoughtful.
Here are some of his latest remarks:
On religious players in the NBA who oppose homosexuality: ""It's not my place to get in the way of someone's relationship with God, with their God. That is their belief. However, if what you are actually talking about is Biblical literalism, and if that's the case, then I expect people who spout vitriol about gay people to have the same ire as they regard players who have guns under their seats, who smoke marijuana, who commit adultery."
On NBA players' overall attitudes: "I think that like most aspects of diversity, there's what they call the normal curve. You have the majority in the middle, and you have what I consider the enlightened view at the top and then you have the unenlightened Neanderthals at the bottom. And so no, [a tolerant] Charles Barkley is probably not representative of the league as a whole, but certainly Tim Hardaway is no more representative of the league as a whole. Most are somewhere in between.
On the impact of Hardaway's comments: "I think that the truth of the levels of homophobia in society sometimes have to be highlighted by some kind of car crash, and that's what this is. He's stopped people from saying some of the things that I've heard, you know, "Shut up, because there's no issue. There's no need to talk about this, there's no problem. There's no homophobia.'' I find that ironic in the greatest extent in a country where in 33 states you could be fired for being gay."
On his expectations from straight NBA players: "One of the most important things throughout history that we know is that the furtherance of causes for minorities has been sponsored not only by the great efforts of the minorities themselves, but also by the fact that people from outside that minority group would stand shoulder to shoulder (with them). People who stood next to black people during emancipation, during the fight for equal rights were considered very progressive and bold and brave. ... The problem we have in the gay community is that people who stand next to them are considered gay. It makes them quiet."
"The sound of a thousand shoulders shrugging saying "Oh, it's not an issue'' is nothing. ... We have seen how loud and how far one man's statements have reverberated. You tell me which has been more powerful, a thousand people shrugging or the vitriol."
..like Instinct! That is the name of the new scent that the new Los Angeles Galaxy star has lent his very marketable name to. The word "Swoon!" is not part of the ad campaign but I got the image from the Pinkisthenewblog site which always does fun things with pictures.
Enjoy!
John Amaechi's coming out of the closet continues to stir discussion and to expose the attitudes of both former and current players. Here is one of the most disturbing reactions to date from former NBA Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway in an interview with Dan Le Batard of 790 the Ticket when asked about how he would deal with someone like Amaechi on his team:
"First of all I wouldn't want him on my team. Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that's right and I don't think he should be in the locker room while we're in the locker room." Le Batard pointed out that Hardaway was being "flatly homophobic" but that did not stop the bigotry from spewing out of his mouth:"Well, you know, I hate gay people. I let it be known, I don't like gay people. I don't like to be around gay people.Yeah, I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world, or in the United States. So, yeah, I don't like it."
Hardaway had been making public appearances for the NBA and was immediately dumped with the league saying: "It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours."
Hardaway, perhaps realizing that this is 2007, later apologized for his comments during an interview with Miami's WSVN. Said Hardaway: "Yes, I regret it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that. That was my mistake."
BIG mistake, pal.
It's interesting how one day you can be a retired journeyman NBA player who no one is talking about to becoming the center of a media storm and very public debate over whether or not a gay athlete should come out. That is what John Amaechi has accomplished in the five days since becoming the first NBA player to acknowledge his homosexuality.
Amaechi's memior, "Man in the Middle," will be released tomorrow and he tells the Associated Press that he has been deluged with phone calls and e-mails from friends and supporters. But Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who coached Amaechi in Orlando, has been the only one from the league to reach out to him.
''I've just been caught up in the whirlwind at the moment,'' says Amaechi, who hopes his coming-out would be a catalyst for intelligent discourse. He took a measured approach to NBA players' reactions: ''I think they illustrate the diversity of opinion. Some of them illustrate a great deal of naiveté and anoversimplification of the issue. And some of them don't speak with much thought at all. But there are some really well-spoken, provocative things that people have said that are positive. And they should be added to the conversation.''
Amaechi's also listened to some criticize him for coming out now, rather than when he was a player. ''I know that perhaps that would have been more impactful,'' he said, but added he was afraid to have his dream of playing in the NBA taken away: "I worked really hard to get where I was. I started playing basketball when I was 17 in a country that doesn't play basketball. I was a fat kid that sat in the corner of the library, and six years later I was starting for the Cleveland Cavaliers. I left my family, my mother, when she was very sick with cancer, to do this thing. I thought I deserved to have my full shot at being a part of the NBA.''
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had supportive words for Amaechi in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: ''When you do something that the whole world thinks is difficult and you stand up and just be who you are and take on that difficulty factor, you're an American hero no matter what. 'That's what the American spirit's all about, going against the grain and standing up for who you are, even if it's not a popular position.''
This is cool! The Human Rights Campaign announced today that former NBA player John Amaechi will serve as a national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project, a program designed to help gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people come out and live openly.
Here! Here! What's been so great about Amaechi's coming out is all the discussion it has sparked within the NBA and the sports world. For every "It's cool as long as he doesn't direct it toward me" comment, there have also been thoughtful responses and words of support from players and coaches.
HRC President Joe Solmonese says of Amaechi: "John is making history this week, becoming the first NBA player to ever come out and talk about his life and experiences as an athlete and a gay man. In sharing his story, our great hope is that John will pave the way for more GLBT and straight athletes to openly support fairness and respect on and off the playing field."
Amaechi will promote the importance of being out and living openly and honestly while traveling around the country to promote his new autobiography "Man in the Middle." A new website at www.hrc.org/amaechi features Amaechi's biography, high-resolution photos, book excerpts, book club discussion questions and more.
Says Amaechi: "I believe very strongly in the responsibility of people with power and influence to be role models. Living more openly in the later years of my NBA career was one of the things that radically changed my life. It made me happier. I want to spread my influence in the same way that I was able to because I had a basketball in my hand. I hope now to have perhaps a different lectern to stand behind but with an equally important message."
Former NBA player John Amaechi comes out in a soon-to-be-released autobiography "Man in the Middle," which chronicles his life in the NBA. He will come out publicly Sunday on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" show and has given his first gay press interview to The Advocate.
Here is some of the reaction from sports figures:
Martina Navratilova, perhaps the most famous openly gay athlete in the world, praised Amaechi's decision and said it's imperative for athletes to come out because of what she called an epidemic of suicides among young lesbians and gays. "'It's hugely important for the kids so they don't feel alone in the world. We're role models,'' she said. ''He will definitely help a lot of kids growing up to feel better about themselves.''
Orlando's Grant Hill, who said he didn't know Amaechi when he was with the Magic, also applauded the decision to go public. ''The fact that John has done this, maybe it will give others the comfort or confidence to come out as well, whether they are playing or retiring.''
NBA commissioner David Stern said a player's sexuality wasn't important. ''We have a very diverse league. The question at the NBA is always 'Have you got game?' That's it, end of inquiry,'' he said.
Injured Philadelphia Sixers forward Shavlik Randolph acknowledged it's a new situation. ''As long as you don't bring your gayness on me I'm fine,'' Randolph said. ''As far as business-wise, I'm sure I could play with him. But I think it would create a little awkwardness in the locker room.''
''For real? He's gay for real?'' said Philadelphia center Steven Hunter. ''Nowadays it's proven that people can live double lives. I watch a lot of TV, so I see a lot of sick perverted stuff about married men running around with gay guys and all types of foolishness.'' Even so, Hunter said he would be fine with an openly gay teammate. ''As long as he don't make any advances toward me I'm fine with it,'' he said. ''As long as he came to play basketball like a man and conducted himself like a good person, I'd be fine with it.''
Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who coached Amaechi in Orlando: ''We're all insensitive at times. There's no taboo subject in the locker room,'' said where he said he had one of his strongest locker rooms. ''I think if he would have come out they would have got on him jokingly. ... And I actually think that when guys do come out, when that day happens, it will make it easier.''
Amaechi also writes that while playing in Utah, coach Jerry Sloan used antigay innuendo to describe him. Sloan said Wednesday that although his relationship with Amaechi was ''shaky'' because of the player's attitude, he didn't know Amaechi was gay. Sloan had no comment about Amaechi's contention that Sloan used antigay innuendo when referring to him. Amaechi said he found out about it in e-mails from friends in the Jazz front office.
Asked if knowing Amaechi was gay would have mattered, Sloan said: ''Oh yeah, it would have probably mattered. I don't know exactly, but I always have peoples' feelings at heart. People do what they want to do. I don't have a problem with that.''
At last, an NBA player is coming out of the closet. Great! The sports world and American society needs it, even if the olayer is retired. The player is John Amaechi, a former player with the Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic, and he is the first NBA player to come out as gay, according to Outsports.com, which broke the story wide open Monday.
Amaechi will announce publicly for the first time that he is gay on an episode of ESPN's "Outside The Lines" to air Feb. 13. His book, published by ESPN Books, "Man In The Middle," chronicles his NBA career and directly addresses the travails of being a closeted professional athlete. It will be released the following week.
Outsports has been tracking this story for the last year, as quiet rumblings in private conversations started to surface, and had agreed to embargo a story until just prior to his first TV appearance. However, speculation that Amaechi was coming out has become heavy in the past few days, with his publicist, Howard Bragman, dropping hints at a Super Bowl week party in Miami about an NBA player coming out. The publicist had previously handled the coming out of NFL player Esera Tuaolo, golfer Rosie Jones and WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes.
Outsports acquired a copy of Amaechi's book last week. They report that Arnaechi writes of his first sexual experience in the United States, and how the Utah Jazz and Salt Lake City, controlled by the Latter Day Saints, was an odd backdrop for what felt like his coming out party. He also acknowledges that those in gay clubs like New York's Splash and Los Angeles' Abbey who have claimed in the past to have spotted him there while he was with the Jazz may, in fact, have done so.
"By the end of my second Utah season, I was practically daring reporters to take the bait and out me," he writes. "But it never happened. My sexuality, I felt, had become an open secret, which was fine by me. I'd left enough open to interpretation that suspicions were gaining momentum."
On the court, Amaechi played in 301 games over five seasons, ending in 2003 with the Utah Jazz. His best seasons were in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 when he started 89 games for the Orlando Magic. His career high for points came in a 2000 game against Denver, when he scored 31.
I love this! Prior to this morning, I was not aware that Billie Jean King - the tennis legend, the national treasure, my personal hero - had even participated in a fashion show last week in New York. As part of Fashion Week, the great BJK sang and danced down the runway to Michael Jackson's song "Billie Jean" and, according to all press accounts, got the biggest applause of any of the other celeb models that included First Lady Laura Bush, Katherine McPhee, Angela Bassett, Kelly Ripa and Rachel Ray. I had seen a spippet of this event, The Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection, on "Entertainment Tonight" but instead of showing what looks to be a fun clip of BJK, we got a few clips of Mary Hart walking regally down the runway. Give me a break!
Anywho, BJK was wearing a red Gustavo Cadile pantsuit and red Adidas as she wiggled her way down the catwalk. The event had top designers team up with models to raise awareness about heart disease among women.
Billie Jean has always been willing to pitch in for a good cause.
It's soooooo good to have newly-crowned Australian Open champ Serena Williams back at the top of the tennis world after two years of limited play. She was asked about her fitness after her win over Maria Sharapova and, thank God, spoke her mind: "I'm definitely in better shape than I get credit for. Just because I have large bosoms and I have a big ass. I swear my waist is 29-30 inches. I swear I have the smallest waist. And just because I have those two 'assets' it looks like I'm not fit. I was just in the locker room staring at my body and I'm like, 'Am I not fit? Am I really not fit? Or is it just because I have all these extra assets that I look not fit.' I think if I were not to eat for two years I still wouldn't be a size 2. No matter how slim I am, I always have this [points] and that [points]. We're living in a Mary-Kate Olsen world. I'm just not built that way. I'm bootylicious and that's how it's always going to be."
My friend Henry predicted this result. Roger Federer captured his 10th Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set, finishing a dominating run through the Australian Open by beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday's final. Before the tournament began. I thought American Andy Roddick had the edge since he seemed hungry and maybe Federer was due to lose.
WRONG!
Federer improved his winning streak to a career-best 36 matches, became the first man in the Open era to twice win three straight majors and has won six of the last seven Grand Slam titles -- his only loss was in the French Open final to Rafael Nadal. It also was the first time that a champion went through a major without dropping a set since the 1980 French Open, when Bjorn Borg did it. The 25-year-old Federer now is within four of Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam titles.
Congratulations to Roger Federer!!!
As promised, another win for Spain's smoldering Rafael Nadal means another picture and update. He was made to work hard before finally outlasting Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday. But he managed to dig out a 7-5 6-3 4-6 6-2 victory in a match that lasted three-and-a-half hours.
"I feel very good, he was a very tough player and was returning very aggressively," second seed Nadal told the crowd after receiving a standing ovation.
Keep it going!!!
This is an Out in Hollywood special feature this month. Spanish tennis hunk Rafael Nadal is competing in the Australian Open and I thought it would be fun to keep you all informed of his progress which gives Greg an excuse to post a different picture of him each time. The more he wins, the more pics we'll see!
The second-seeded Nadal moved to the second round of the season's first major tournament with Tuesday's 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-2 victory over American Robbie Kendrick. The reigning two-time French Open champion, Nadal dropped the first two sets to Kendrick in the second round at last year's Wimbledon before winning the match in five.
"I have a very difficult first set," Nadal said. "I have my chance, some break points in the first. ... It was important for me win the first tiebreak. After, the match (changed) a little bit. Was easy after."
When it comes to sexy tennis players, all the straight guys have the beautiful Maria Sharapova to fawn over and the lesbians have the beautiful Amelie Mauresmo to admire. But what about the gay guys? Since no male tennis player has ever come out of the closet, I suggest three to watch - strictly as eye candy - during the Australian Open which began earlier today: American Andy Roddick, Spain's Carlos Moya (former world number one) and reigning French Open champ Rafael Nadal.
Enjoy!!!
Yesterday was kind of a wacko day as I found myself knee deep in the David Beckham comes to LA story for the LA Daily News. My colleague and great friend Beth Barrett did most of the heavy lifting but I contributed some of the Hollywood stuff and got a funny quote from Trent Venegas of Pink is the New Blog who memorab;ly described Beckham this way:
"It's not so much that he's the best soccer player - he's very good - it's his whole charisma factor.He's very cool with being seen and going out. He always looks good and is dressed well. He's like the male Paris Hilton, but he has a job."
To read our entire piece, check out DailyNews.com.
The good news just keeps coming this morning. The world's most famous soccer playr, David Beckham, is going to be playing in Los Angeles for Major League Soccer's Galaxy!!! It's a five-year $248 million deal.
Beckham such a stylish man - the world's most famous meterosexual. He constantly changes his looks and somehow, he ends up looking terrific no matter what. He's married to Victoria Beckham, once better known as Posh Spice. I have a feeling there are going to be many more gay fans at Galaxy games from now on and I'm certainly one of 'em. My roomate at San Diego State was captain of the soccer team so I actually know about soccer - I'm not just there to ogle the guys. But, soccer players are always nice to ogle - no one has better legs than a soccer player.
Bravo Beckham!!!
Here is a statement released by Beckham: "This week Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons. After discussing several options with my family and advisers to either stay here at Madrid or join other major British and European clubs, I have decided to join the Los Angeles Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year. I would like to thank the supporters and people of Madrid who have made my family and I feel so welcome in my time here, making this an extremely difficult decision to make.
I have enjoyed my time in Spain enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me the opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans. I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own. For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100% to my coach, team mates and fans as I believe Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."
Things are a little slow today so how about a sports picture from Towleroad.com. It's New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady getting tight with his tight-end David Thomas...Love those football players...Enjoy!
So you missed the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago last summer? Join the club. Woulda been nice to visit one of my absolute favorite big U.S. cities but, no dice. Still, we're in luck! The organizers of the Gay Games have released a feature-length DVD with more than two hours of coverage from the huge sports & cultural festival.
At the games, 11,500 athletes from 70 countries competing in 30 sports ranging from softball to dancesport, swimming to tennis. The weeklong event included band, cheerleading and color guard performances, chorus, an ancillary arts festival, and a series of community-organized social events and parties.
The DVD scenes were culled from 200 hours of raw video footage taken by a dozen camera crews throughout the week including the opening and closing ceremony highlights featuring iconic performers such as Margaret Cho, Erasure's Andy Bell, Cyndi Lauper, Megan Mullally, Heather Small, Kate Clinton, Ant and members of the cast of Showtime’s "The L Word," Marlee Matlin, Pam Grier and Daniela Sea.
There are also chapters highlighting 30 Gay Games sports & cultural events, an interview with former NFL football player Esera Tuaolo, on-site interviews of athletes, families and fans - including conversations with international athletes in Chicago on scholarship, Crystal Lake residents at the rowing competition, and athletes attending their 5th, 6th or 7th Gay Games.
There is also Tom Waddell Tribute Video - 4 minute video honoring the founder of the Gay Games movement with commentary by Olympians Greg Louganis and Leigh-Ann Naidoo, former NFL players Esera Tuaolo, Dave Kopay, and Roy Simmons, and a dozen other gay sports legends.
The Official Gay Games VII DVD is available for sale through Wolfe Video with a direct link available at gaygameschicago.org. Pre-orders purchased through the Gay Games organization are being shipped before December 1.
So many of today's top tennis players are movie star handsome and have charisma to spare. From the world's top two players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (pictured, right) to the recently retired Andre Agassi who was always fun to watch in practice because he prefered not to wear a shirt. But those three men, along with the incredibly sexy Marat Safin (pictured holding the 2000 U.S. Open trophy w/Pete Sampras looking on) and young
American hearthrobs James Blake and Andy Roddick are all straight. Or so it seems. The truth is, no male pro tennis player in the modern era has ever come out of the closet, unlike some of their female counterparts including reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Amelie Mauresmo and, of course, Martina Navratilova. I examine the situation in an article published today on the terrific site AfterElton.com. I think it's well worth a look! 
My thanks to AfterElton editor Michael Jensen who suggested I do the article during our drinks in Miami back in September after he became aware of my absolute passion for the game of tennis. Also thanks to Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Renee Stubbs and retired out baseball pro Billy Bean for weighing in on the topic for the piece.
There is so much going on in my gay world that I have neglected to weigh in on the controversy swirling around ESPN commentator Brian Kinchen. During the network's broadcadt last weekend of the Northern Illinois-Iowa football game, Kinchen remarked that something he had just said was "kinda gay."
That remark got him suspended.
According to Outsports.com, the comment came in the first quarter, with Iowa leading, 7-0. A pass from NIU quarterback Phil Horvath was thrown slightly behind a receiver who failed to catch the ball. Kinchen, a tight end in the NFL from 1988 to 2000, was observing that the receiver should have tried to catch the ball with his hands, not his body. "Your hands are, are, tender and they can move and caress the ball," he said. "That's kinda, that's kinda gay, but hey."
ESPN's Vice President of Public Relations Josh Krulewitz said Kinchen's future with ESPN is under review.
"The comments were inappropriate and we apologize," Krulewitz said. "He will not appear on the air this weekend, and his future appearances are in question."
Kinchen says he knows he made a mistake and released this statement:"I sincerely apologize for my extremely poor choice of words. They were completely inappropriate and not at all a reflection of who I am or of the way I perform when I work. I have learned from my mistake and look forward to continuing my broadcasting career."
Frankly, I think a one-game suspension should be enough. I'm glad ESPN took the bold move of having zero tolerence but I would be satisfied if Kinchen would have some sensitivity training and talk about it in an interview on ESPN. This whole situation also providing us with an opportunity to educate kids that calling something "gay" can be so devastating for some of their classmates on the playground and it's got to be frowned upon.
It's interesting to note though how ESPN, owned by The Walt Disney Co., is being so harsh with Kinchen when Disney-owned ABC didn't even slap the wrist of Isaiah Washington for referring to his "Grey's Anatomy" co-star T.R. Knight as a "faggot" during an argument with Patricjk Dempsey. Sure, it didn't happen on the air but it resulted on Knight feeling he had to come out publicly.
A true American hero, Martina Navratilova, turned 50 years old today. Born on Oct. 18, 1956 in Czechoslovakia, she defected to the United States after losing in the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 1975. She became an American citizen in 1981 and at the U.S. Open final that year, she was given one of the most memorable standing ovations in tournament history. 
Not only was the crowd cheering her valiant effort in a heartbreaking 1-6,7-6-7-6 loss to Tracy Austin, they were cheering a fellow American. Martina went on to win four US singles titles during the 1980s over the likes of Chris Evert and Steffi Graf and played in her last singles final at the Open in 1991 when, after losing to Monica Seles, she told the crowd: "I'm so damned proud to be an American." Then last month, Martina took the mixed doubles title at the age of 49 in her last match as a professional. An out lesbian for nearly 30 years, Martina has gone a long way toward showing the world what it is to be true to yourself, to have the courage to speak your mind, AND what it means to be a proud American.
On the "Out in Hollywood" site, I've tried to take the high road (well, one does have to try) when it comes to all of the scintillating speculation over the close friendship between Lance Armstrong, Matthew McConaughey and Jake Gyllenhaal. These three single hunks, split from Sheryl Crow, Penelope Cruz and Kirsten Dunst, respectively, have been spending more time together than with any gorgeous females.
Here are just a few of the countless pics that make various sites on a regular basis accompanied with all kinds of juicy inuendo:
Lance Armstrong clears the air on a few rumors in the new issue of Details, according to TMZ. First off, he says that despite their bike training, and the Tour de France buddy vacation, Gyllenhaal will not be playing him in a new biopic.
Of his close friendship with McConaughey, with whom he seemed inseparable last summer, Amtrong says:
"Our friendship just kind of developed. I think people see pictures and they think we're these over-grown frat guys." (they call each other 'LiveStrong' and 'J.K. Livin,' ).
On rumors of something more between the two, Armstrong jokes: 'We tried it. Wasn't for us.'"
At the ESPYs last summer, Armstrong poked fun at the speculation surrounding the trio while he was on stage at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. In a reference to Gyllenhaal's "Brokeback Mountain" role, asked why Gyllenhaal was sitting in the front when Armstrong thought he preferred to be 'in the rear … of the theater.' Then, referring to McConaughey's recent PEOPLE honor, Armstrong said, 'The Sexiest Man Alive is here, Matthew McConaughey. We don't all have to turn and look – we all know what he looks like. Jake, eyes up here!'"
Anyway, even though no one in this tremendous trio appears to be gay, their male bonding is sucha beautiful thing that I feel compelled to feature even more pics of their adventures in LA, Miami and France:
It happened a week ago in New York but thought I'd post a few pics from the 10th Annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner and take advantage of yet another opportunity to post a picture of my hero, Billie Jean King, who received another well-deserved honor during a special year for this remarkable sports pioneer who has always believed in fighting for what is right.
Billie Jean was presented with the 2006 Human Rights Campaign Equality Award on October 11at an event that drew more than 2,800 guests from across the country who attended the dinner hosted by the largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.
Receiving the HRC's Visibility Award were the suddenly very visible gay pop singer Lance Bass and partner, Reichen Lehmkuhl, past winner of the CBS reality show "Amazing Race" and author of the newly released book, "Here's What We'll Say." The HRC decision to honor the couple was criticized in a Sept. 8 opinion column in the Washington Blade, a gay weekly newspaper and in an open letter to HRC that appeared anonymously on the Internet. The letter accused HRC of using Bass and Lehmkuhl to raise funds because of their glamour and notoriety, columnist Randy Foster wrote in the Blade: "HRC is not recognizing GLBT activism; they are recognizing a notorious gay couple thrust into the national spotlight by paparazzi. If the exposure of Lance as a gay man advances the GLBT cause, then shouldn’t we be honoring the New York Post instead?"
Foster added: "If we are looking for celebrity flair at the dinner, then let’s ask Lance to sing while Reichen takes his shirt off. Don’t give them a National Award for being over-exposed."
Ouch!!! At least he didn't quibble with Billie Jean. If he had, them would be fightin words!
Chatted with former major league baseball player Billy Bean on Tuesday from his home in Miami for a future freelance piece and decided to talk to this former San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers player about National Coming Out Day.
Billy was never out during his playing days and it caused him a lot of heartache, including forcing himself to play in a Padres game the day his first true love died.Now 42, he went through a lot of the stuff some guys of our generation did: married a woman and tried to live life as a straight man. But it was short-lived and he took a series of steps that have led to him being the authentic and articulate gay man that he is today. But he felt he had to quit the major leagues while still his prime to have an open life (he's been with partner Efrain Veiga for 11 years).
He came out in an interview with the Miami Herald then in a heartbreaking interview with Diane Sawyer on television. I remember it well: riding the stationary bike at a Gold's Gym in Long Beach and literally sobbing at one point. It was so raw, so honest. Billy wrote an honest memoir about his life in the closet and on the baseball field called "Going My Own Way" which is set to be made into a Lifetime movie to air sometime next year. I've met Billy several times over the last four years at various events (That's us pictured below at a Nat'l Gay $ Lesbian Journalist Assn convention) and he is really someone who I feel glad is on my team.
Here are the highlights of our chat:
On National Coming Out Day, which he makes clear is more of an opportunity for out people to celebrate their collective experience rather than being a day where people feel they have to come out:
"For the most part I'd say 100 percent of the experiences people have shared with me, they always say their lives greatly improved once they did it. None of us start in the same place and time. It's showing people that you can live a life that is complete and full in an honest and open way."
On his own coming out:
"It was just really empowering...When I was in a position emotionally to make it happen, .the relief of living honestly and being able to give my family and friends and people who care about me the opportunity to know me completely, I just became so much closer to them."
On gays and lesbians coming out younger these days:
"I think kids at this generation are light years ahead of where we were. They are so much more aware because of the Internet and blogs. We had to interact face to face which kept us from doing that. They are so much more progressive in so many ways."
On playing in tennis tournaments now, including at last summers OIut Games in Chicago:
"it saved my soul from leaving basebsall before my time,. it has let me let go of whatever regrets I had from walking away from the game. Just to feel the nervousness, to compete and to feel pressure."
On professional athletes being out:
"We just have to embrace the few images that we have and keep building positive images to create a more diverse group of people. As their lives allow it, it will just keep happening. Slowly, but it will."
Earlier this year, Billy was part of an all-gay panel for an entire season of the game show "I've Got a Secret" which aired on the GSN Network. He is now helping to write the script for the movie about his life, does corporate speeches across the country and is a partner in a Miami real estate company.
"I'm a very busy boy," he says.
Regular readers of this blog already know that I am not just a Hollywood fanatic, but am a tennis fanatic too. The two players, male or female, who I have been inspired by the most are Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. On court, they were both as competitive as they come, each won a record 20 Wimbledon titles (including one together in 1979). But off the court, with their commitment to social change and determination to achieve equality for women and for gay people within their lifetimes, they are far more than great champions: they are heroes. So to meet them both in person within a span two weeks was surreal and very special. Here are some pics of me with these great ladies.
With Billie Jean King at the Smash Hits fundraiser for the Elton John AIDS Foundation (right). Click HERE for Out in Hollywood coverage of the event and HERE for my profile on BJK for AfterEllen.com.
Other blog postings on BJK:
Meeting Billie Jean
A BJK Tribute for the Ages...
Past Champs Give BJK Her Due
Well Deserved Honor for Billie Jean King
HBO Tribute Fit For A King
With Martina Navratilova last week at the Lambda Liberty Legal Awards (right)where she was honored for a lifetime of courage and integrity. Click HERE for Out in Hollywood coverage of the event.and HERE for my Daily News profile on Martina.
Other recent blog postings on Martina:
Martina Story
Martina Tributes
Martina Wins Last title!
Martina's Supportive Words for Lance Bass
The night finally arrived: Martina Navratilova was honored Tuesday evening at the Directors Guild Theater on Siunset Boulevard with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's 14th Annual Liberty Award.
Martina took the stage after a nice video of career highlights and joked about some of her past haircuts. She told the crowd how she left her native Czechslovakia as a teenager to escape the communist rule and "so I could live a free life as a lesbian" and added that both she and Lambda "like to fight for the underdog and most of the time, we win!"
Navratilova said she is confident that same-gender marriage and other LGBT equal rights will come and believes it will happen through such family issues as second-parent adoptions. She also touted the Rainbow Card, the credit card she founded after speaking at the 1993 March on Washington in which the proceeds to to such causes as HIV/AIDS and breast cancer.
Martina concluded her remarks by saying, "My work is not done, and neither is yours."
My friend Beth and I attended and we both met Martina, chatted a bit, had some photos taken with the legend then settled in for a great evening. Also gabbed with the evening' host, comedienne Kate Clinton (pictured, below) who is so damned smart, funny and insightful.
"She is a very logical, plain-spoken person who lived under communist rule. She knows what it's like not to have rights and she doesn't want it to happen here," Clinton told me. "It's wonderful when a leader like Martina leads and is someone who is both plain-spoken and brilliant."
Clinton was a big hit with the crowd and had some real zingers for the current administration: "Ann Richards dies and Dick Cheney lives....there is no justice!" She also told a funny story of when she was hanging out with Martina in Provincetown, Mass., when one of their friends challenged Martina to a watermelon seed spitting contest. She said Navratilova, ever the competitor, actually stuck a finger in the air to check the wind before spitting her seed.
I watched Martina when Clinton was onstage and she was laughing her head off. Lambda folks told me Martina had especially asked for Clinton to be the host.
Clinton told me, "When Martina asks you to do something , you best be there." Clinton says she is happy Navratilova has retired again "so we can actually see her now!"
When Martina took the stage to accept her award, her first words were: "Kate, you are priceless."
I know it seems like i'm being a self-promoting whore and that's because I AM. Here is a link to my profile of Martina Navratilova that ran in today's Daily News:
And just for you blog readers, here is the original ending to the story which, unfortunately, got axed due to space reasons:
Of her on-court battles, Navratilova has trouble coming up with her top three wins but she has no problem remembering three excruciating losses.
There was that last Wimbledon final against Martinez ("I was too overcome by the situation"), her only loss of her historic 1983 season (86-1) to Kathleen Horvath in the fourth round of the French Open, and her stunning defeat to Helena Sukova at the 1984 Australian Open when she was just two matches away from winning a calendar year grand slam.
"Those are the three matches I would play over again," she said.
But that mixed doubles win just over two weeks ago at the U.S. Open, that one she played just right.
"I did get tickled when I’d hear these people say how much I inspired them. They’d say, ‘You give us hope!’ That’s what kept me going."
I will be attending the Lambda Awards tonight so hopefully will get some face time with Miss Nvaratilova and will no doubt gush about it in a post tomorrow morning.
So after ambushing Marc Cherry at a WGA rally Wedesday, I'm driving on the 101 to meet co-workers for lunch when my cell rings: It's Martina Navratilova! Holy *@%#! I say to her, "Martina, hi. So great to hear from you. Uh, I'm on the freeway right now." She says, "Oh, that's not good. Want to call me back?" About 10 minutes later, I do. We have a great talk for a profile that will run in the Daily News next week.
I couldn't wait to share just a few of her comments with you until then but remember, this is just an appetizer:
Of her mixed doubles win at the US Open two Saturdays ago with Bob Bryan she says: "At this age (50 next month), I have no right to play tennis like I did."
On same-sex marriage: "I call it same-gender marriage because people immediately think of sex. It's about love, it's about caring, understanding and respecting one another and being willing to die for one another. I'm obviously a strong advocate for same-gender marriage and will keep fighting for that."
On LGBT rights: "We can't be ignored anymore. In the current administration, I've never heard (Pres. Bush) say the word lesbian and he can't even say the word homosexual."
Anyway, Martina will be in Los Angeles next week to receive an award from Lambda Legal "for a lifetime of courage, integrity and commitment to the LGBT community."
Of the Lambda honor Martina says: "For me, it's not about equal rights for lesbians but for human beings. I've been fighting that battle for a long time."
I'll post the full article on this great lady next week! Look for it!
Got to attend The 14th Annual Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits fundraising event Thursday night which was, as always, hosted by great buds Elton John and Billie Jean King - and more than $350,000 was raised to fight HIV and AIDS in Orange County and around the world. The event at the Bren Center in Irvine included a live auction of such great items as a trip to Wimbledon or the U.S. Open as well as three tennis matches.
Billie Jean was upbeat but reminded people to be aware of the bigger picture: "We need to get young people in high school and Jr. High to realize that AIDS has not gone away...we've got to make a difference and make sure children aren't born with AIDS."
Photo Copyright @ 2006 Charity.com
Watched from a courtside seat as Elton teamed with U.S. number one Andy Roddick in doubles just days after Roddick lost the U.S. Open final to Roger Federer. His showing up for Elton and Billie Jean says a lot about this classy player who has to leave for Russia in a few days to represent the U.S. in the Davis Cup. Elton isn't a speedster around the court but he has solid strokes and wonderful touch.
"I thought Elton played great tonight," Billie Jean told me after the match. "I think it's very brave of him. He loves to play and plays all the time. Can you imagine? It's like one of us trying to play the piano in front of all these people. I've been a back-up vocalist for Elton about 40 times and it's scary because I can't sing at all! But I like to sing, I'm pretty good in the shower."
Elton held his own on the court as he and Andy faced Anna Kournakova and Renee Stubbs, both whom have been ranked number one in the world in doubles. Elton ripped a forehand winner on set point to win the celebrity doubles match in overtime, 5-4. You go Rocket Man!
What made the atmosphere all the more fun was the playing between games of such Elton classics as "Crocodile Rock," "Your Song" and best of all, "Philadelphia Freedom" which he wrote 32 years ago for Billie Jean when she was playing World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms. The beat of the song reminded him of how Billie Jean used to stomp around the court between points.
Roddick teamed with Kournikova for some mixed doubles but they lost to Pete Sampras and Stubbs 5-4. The final match of the night was a doozy since is pitted the resurgent Roddick against the retired Sampras who is widely considered the greatest player of all time with 7 Wimbledon titles, five US Opens and two Australian Opens, among many other titles and scoires of records. Sampras beat Roddick in both sets they played (5-3, 5-3) but it was high-quality stuff.
The night was special and really a tribute to this extraordinary friendship between two very extraordinary people who continue, in the 60s, to show younger generations what passion and commitment are all about.
"Elton and I always wanted to do something together with music and sports," King said. "Elton's been very dear and close to me. He gives back so much and it's a privledge to do this."
Elton said of King: "We are both as enthusiastic about what we do as we were when we started out, we're both very focused." He said having the USTA National Tennis Center named after his friend "one of the most moving things I have ever seen. She's a special woman and I really love her - very much."
Billie Jean, looking terrifically fit these days, says she still hits the tennis court whenever she can, doing half-court drills because bad knees limits her running.
"I have the same intensity as when I was playing. I only feel really great when I'm playing tennis - I feel connected to myself. To feel the ball against the strings, I just love it. I just feel emotionally, spiritually and physically connected."
For additional information, please visit the Elton John AIDS Foundation at www.ejaf.org and World Team Tennis at www.wtt.com.
Photo Copyright@2006Charity.com
I really can't believe my life sometimes, like Thursday night when I met one of my all-time heroes, Billie Jean King, face-to-face for the first time. To look at her, so down to Earth and in the moment, it was a wonderful experience. Those eyes are so alive. filled with so much life. She is extraordinary.
I had interviewed Billie Jean King for various articles on the telephone in recent years but the only previous time I had seen her in person was at Wimbledon in 1991 - my first trip to Great Britain. I spotted her watching Tim Mayotte play from a balcony of what i think was the HBO booth. I snapped a photo of a far away Billie Jean on that day and have always cherished it. It was so ironic too because as I was taking the tube (subway) to Wimbledon that first day, I thought about what she wrote in her autobiography about the magical the All England Club and it was in my head when I first saw Centre Court and the rest of the grounds.
Anyway, fast-forward 15 years and there we are having a chat. A photo was taken of us that I have to track down so I can post it.
I became a fan of Billie Jean for life in 1982 when, at the age of 38, she upset reigning US Open champion Tracy Austin, 19, to make it to the semifinals of Wimbledon. This was a year after she was outed by a former lover who was suing her for palimony. Billie Jean got through that ordeal and I was always so impressed that she was able to come back and play for a few more years with great success, including a run to the Wimbledon semis in 1983 as well.
This summer has been such a sweet time for BJK, highlighted by the United States Tennis Assn. naming the National Tennis Center after her. That was topped off by 2006 US Open champ Maria Sharapova receiving her $1 million-plus check in prize money and having the presence of mind to thank the pioneer of the women's pro tour.
"Her kind words and generosity towards me I think was a reflection of her knowing the history of women's tennis and of tennis and understanding some of the things my generation went through," Billie Jean said Thursday. "She connected then and now and it's very rare that we see that."
Martina Navratilova will be in Los Angeles later this month to receive an award from Lambda Legal at an event to be held at the Directors Guild of America. "Out in Hollywood" will cover it. But I wanted to share with you a couple of really good stories I came across this morning on Sports Illustrated.com and on ESPN.com that really sum up her career and Martina's last US Open which ended over the weekend with a mixed doubles title.
Sports Illustrated.com writer Andrew Lawrence has posted a nicely written tribute to Martina Navratilova that I want to share.
Here is the beginning of it:
NEW YORK -- It's the way Andre Agassi would've gone out if he had had the choice: up two sets, 40-30 and serving for the match. And she didn't even have to raise her racket. An Ashe Stadium crowd of 60 percent capacity stood to their feet in applause, the significance of the moment not lost on them. Martina Navratilova responded in kind, batting her racket against her palm, then dropping into crouch before doubles partner Bob Bryan fired an 86 mph ace over her left shoulder. And just like that, it was over: 31 seasons, more than 2,000 matches and one 59th and final Grand Slam.
Just got got back from having some terrific Cuban food in Miami and during dinner with 10 other gay men, Martina Navratilova's name came up. Off I went. I proceeded to hold court for several minutes, prattling on about how remarkable Martina is for playing pro tennis over four decades as an out lesbian after fleeing then-communist Czech Republic. I threw in some of her amazing stats then started to fondly recall some of my favorite victories of hers. "Oh, the 1986 US Open semifinal between Martina and Steffi Graf was riveting!" This is when I began to notice some eyes glazing over. WhatEVER! They were more interested in hearing about Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick and, of course, Rafael Nadal. But hey, I hope I educated some folks about not only a great champion, but a great hero of the gay rights movement.
Anyway, between dinner and a nightcap, raced up to my hotel room and flipped on the lap top to check the U.S. Open results! And boy, was I happy to see that Martina, who won her first grand slam doubles title more than 30 years ago, had won the mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan. She is 49, soon to be 50, and playing the last pro tournament of her unprecedented career.
"See, if you play long enough, good things happen," she told the fans. "I should know."
The magnificant Martina teamed with Bryan to beat Kueta Peschke and Martin Damm 6-2, 6-3 before an appreciative crowd following the women's singles final in which Maria Sharapova beat Justine Henin-Hardine 6-4 6-4. Navratilova won four US singles titles in her career and nine singles titles at Wimbldedon. But when she came out of retirement in 2000 after five years away from the pro tour, Martina concentrated on doubles. She won several titles over the past six seasons including the 2002 Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed titles and made it to the US Open women's doubles final in 2003. Although she and women's doubles partner Nadia Petrova lost in the quarterfinals to the top seeds this year at Flushing Meadows, they did win the Canadian Open title together just last month. In all, Martina won 178 doubles titles and 167 singles championships for a total of 345 times in the winners circle.
"It's been quite a run," Martina said Saturday night after winning her 59th grand slam title in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. “It’s just nice to go with a win. I knew I was going to play great tonight.?
Martina thinks she could’ve played another five years at a top level: “I’m quitting because I want to, not because I have to.?
Here is an "Out in Hollywood" standing ovation for Martina Navratilova!!!
With the U.S. Open underway, I just gotta write a bit about a player I think the world of: Amelie Mauresmo. She is not only the number one player in the world and the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, she has been openly gay since she joined the women's tour in the late 1990s. She was never a player anyone had to wonder about or gossip about, she owned who she is right from the beginning.
While I know it was far tougher on Martina Navratilova to be an out-and-proud lesbian when she ruled the sport in the 1980s, Mauresmo took some garbage for it as well. When, at the age of 19, she upset Lindsay Davenport and a host of others to reach the final of the 1999 Australian Open, then top-ranked Martina Hingis said to the press that Mauresmo was like "half a man" because of her muscular body and because she brought her girlfriend Down Under with her. Amelie lost that final to Hingis, unfortunately, but it was Hingis' last major title to date.
That was pretty crummy but Mauresmo didn't make a big deal out of it, she just played. As the top player in France, she often crumbled under the pressure of a nation's fervent hopes but she has been in the top five most of the last six or seven years, winning many titles including the prestigious year-end championships last November at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Lucky me was in the third row for her semifinal match and I could just watch that beauitful backhand and graceful game all day.
In closing, I am thrilled to have a lesbian as the number one player again and even more proud that it's someone who is well-spoken, thoughtful and articulate in interviews and also a terrific sportswoman. She won her first round match at the Open on Wednesday in straight sets and it would be wonderful to see her hoist the winners trophy less than two weeks from now.
Good luck Amelie!!!
God I love tennis, especially on nights like tonight when it pays well-deserved attention to its rich history and to its true heroes. The United States Tennis Association dedicated the National Tennis Center in New York to tennis legend and equal rights trailblazer Billie Jean King. 
"So rarely are women thought of this way, to get something named after them in sports," King, 62, said. "For that I'm so thrilled. You have no idea because this is for all the world. Women, people of color, people with disabilities. I hope it will have an echoing effect. It's tangible, there's a focus, a beacon of hope, a new beginning. I hope people see this and dream big and truly go for it."
The openly-gay Billie Jean paid tribute to her life partner, former tennis pro Ilana Kloss, with whom she has shared her life for more than 20 years. She called Kloss "the wind beneath my wings." Note to USA Network: It was CRIMINAL to not cut to a shot of Kloss at this moment, CRIMINAL. She was featured prominently in the HBO special and I could only imagine how many times a straight, male athlete's wife would have been cut to on an ocassion like this. I want to find out what the heck this was all about.
Anyway, that aside, it really was lovely, especially the shots of Billie Jean's tearful 84-year-old mother, Betty Moffit, whose daughter turned to in the car on the way home from her first tennis lesson about 50 years ago and said: "I'm going to be the number one tennis player in the world!" BJK's dad, Bill Moffit, died less than two weeks ago and she paid tribute to the man she who said "was such a great daddy" who'd play catch "hourly" with her and brother, former Major League pitcher Randy Moffitt
A nice film highlighting King's amazing life summed it all up nicely and that is no easy task: the 20 Wimbledon titles; founding the women's pro tour; establishing a women's tennis union; fighting a battle for equal prize money at the major tournaments where the men are playing too; creating World Team Tennis and the Women's Tennis Association. And oh yeah, there was that Bobby Riggs match. .
My whole life has been about equal opportunities for girls and boys," Billie Jean said. "That's what it's been about."
At times giddy, BJK said, "It's going to be the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis National Center. I still cannot believe it!" But, as a kid from Long Beach, CA., who grew up playing in the public parks instead of country clubs, King reminded the capacity crowd that the tennis center is only for the pros during the two weeks of the US Open. The rest of the time, it is open to the public. "Mi Casa es Su Casa! This is your house!"
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During an interview with Billie Jean King last month for a magazine profile, we were talking about the HBO special on her life that has been airing this summer. I asked if she felt like people wre finally recognizing all she had done for not only tennis, but for society. She just said, "Hardly anybody gets HBO." This was before she knew that the United States Tennis Association was going to name the National Tennis Center in Flushing N.Y., after her. On Monday, the first day of the U.S. Open, Billie Jean really got her due as former number one players past U.S. Open champions Chris Evert, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Venus Williams (16 Open singles trophies between them) took the court before BJK to honor the living legend who won the U.S. Open four times in singles.
Here are some of the highlights from each of their terrific tributes:
Connors called BJK "the first lady of tennis, the first lady of sport in my opinion. She's the one who made it all possible. It's her attitude and her heart that really sucked me in. No one gave it more than Billie Jean King...she took the hard knocks. She's loyal, she's fun, and she knows what she wants."
Chrissie, looking amazing at 51, said of her close friend: "She's been the single-biggest influence on me outside my family. She's my mentor. She even gave me advice on my love life when i broke up with Jimmy Connors (huge laugh, camera cuts to a grinning Connors, Evert's one-time fiancee). (Billie Jean) sees beyond the box and I was very lucky to come in right behind her. She is the greatest ambassador that American tennis has."
McEnroe: I was a 14-year-old chauvenist little kid hoping Bobby Riggs would kick Billie Jean's ass. But now that I am a father of four little girls, I have to say for the record I'm glad Billie Jean King won (the famous 1973 Battle of the Sexes match). I loved her (designer) Teddy Tinling dress that she wore over the years and she had more hairstyles than Andre Agassi and myself combined."
More seriously, he added: "She's the single most important person in the history of women's sports and I'm proud to be out here as her friend."
VenusWilliams, who pulled out of the tournament due to a wrist injury, made the trip anyway to be there for her former Fed Cup and Olympics coach: "I don't think anyone loves tennis as much as Billie Jean King. Her enthusiasm and love for the game and for life is so infectious. I would not be playing on the (women's tennis) tour without her."
There are few people in the public eye who I admire more than the great tennis legend Martina Navratilova who will be retiring for the second time from pro tennis at the U.S. Open next month at the age of 49! Over the weekend, Martina Navratilova won her 175th doubles title at the Canadian Open. It was a fifth doubles win for Navratilova at the Canadian event, each with a different partner. She also won in 1981, 1982, 1985 and 2004.
There are those who consider Martina the greatest female tennis player of all time based on the record number of singles and doubles titles won. But to me, Martina is "the greatest" because she came out back in the early 1980s when it was an incredibly brave thing to do and when virtually no pro athlete had done it before. She lost endorsements, got heckled by crowds and faced some really insulting questions in press conferences. But this champion on the court and in life pressed on and won everything in sight, multiple times, including nine Wimbledon singles crowns.
So who better than the marvelous Martina, outspoken from the very beginning, to advise Lance Bass on being out in the public eye. She took the time to write a letter to "People" magazine in support of Bass, who came out with a splash on the magazine's cover last month. She wrote that Bass "is a courageous young man."
"Coming out to your family and friends is hard enough; to do so to the world is a lot harder. I know, as I took this step more than 25 years ago And while a lot has changed in 25 years, we in the gay community have a long way to go before we achieve equal rights and equal protection under the law."
Bass had said in his people interview that he didn't to just be associated with gay issues or be seen as a role model. But Martina, one of the best role models and spokespeople for the LGBT movement, encouraged him to become involved. "As far as being an activist is concerned, one does not really look for the fight, the fight simply finds you...As our fight for equality continues, I will not be surprised to one day see Lance Bass marching with the rest of us, right there in the front row."
And maybe he will. Bass attended a ceremony at the California State Legislature recently where his boyfriend, Reinchen, was honored as a role model for LGBT people and the pair made an appearance this week in Malibu at a camp for kids with AIDS (pictured below):
This news absolutely makes my day: Billie Jean King's name will be added to the National Tennis Center during an opening-night ceremony at the U.S. Open. King is a four-time winner of the tournament and won a record 20 Wimbledon titles in singles and doubles. 
But BJK (pictured Thursday at a press conference) was an even bigger force off the court where she fought for equal prize money for women athletes, was instrumental in launching the women's professional tennis tour (when the men tried to exclude the female players), and led the fight for equal funding for female sport programs in schools (Title IX). She also founded the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973 and the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974 in addition to being the co-founder of World TeamTennis. For her many achievements, King was named by Life magazine one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century,? and placed No. 5 on Sports Illustrated’s “Top 40 Athletes.?
“This obviously is a great honor for me," said King, who came out as a lesbian in the 1980s. "This outstanding facility is a public park, a place where everyone can come and enjoy our wonderful sport. It is truly humbling that this will link me with Arthur Ashe with whom I celebrated many experiences and shared dreams of the future for this great sport. I know this will continue to be a place where present and future generations of players come out, pick up a racquet, learn a sport and dare to dream big and go for it."
Franklin Johnson, Chairman of the Board and President of the USTA said Thursday: “Billie Jean King is one of tennis’ greatest heroes. Much like Arthur Ashe, for whom our showcase stadium is named, Billie Jean is a champion not only of sport, but a champion of those causes in which she so strongly believes. Her accomplishments have benefited all women in sports, as well as countless women in any number of career fields."
The name change which will take effect Aug. 28, the start of the U.S. Open. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on hand for the announcement Thursday, said: “Billie Jean King is a legend among legends and we honor her groundbreaking achievements by renaming the USTA National Tennis Center in her honor. She set an exceptionally high standard not only for athletic achievement, but for dignity and perseverance in the pursuit of justice. Billie Jean King is an inspiration to all budding tennis players and all Americans. And as a New Yorker of 30 years, she is the perfect person to receive this well-deserved honor.?
For more about BJK, check out my interview with the tennis legend last month to discuss the current HBO special about her epic life.