Tomorrow night Boston Pride hosts their first ever “Pride Night @ Fenway Park”. My compliments to Boston’s Pride Committee for recognizing this as a great opportunity to be out in the community and enjoy one of Boston’s most cherished institutions – our Red Sox.
More information about this event can be found here.
In 2011 the Boston Red Sox were one of the first professional sports teams to make a video for the Trevor Project to help raise awareness about bullying.
Boston Pride will be hosting a panel discussion on LGBT people in sports tomorrow, Wednesday, June 5th from 6:15 – 8:15 p.m. at The Boston Public Library Mezzanine Conference Room.
The issue of LGBTs in organized sports has been gaining momentum and much media attention lately. The recent announcement by NBA player Jason Collins that he is gay, pronouncements by major league sports that they will be more inclusive of the LGBT community, and the business community’s support for out and proud athletes by companies like Nike have make this issue ripe for discussion during Boston’s Pride Week.
This moderated discussion is free and open to the public but seating is limited. For more information about this program, contact the Boston Pride Human Rights & Education Committee at humanrights@bostonpride.org.
Here is an interesting map of the US that has been making the rounds on the internet. It depicts the highest-paid public employee by state. You’ll note that in 40 states it is a football, basketball or hockey coach who earns the most. Hmm… further proof of how sports-obsessed Americans are no doubt.
It has been a while since my last suddenly it makes sense post. I couldn’t resist when I saw this rather bizarre photo. At first I thought he was a contortionist before I realized he was balancing a guy’s family jewels on his head. I wish I had the photo from the other side too. I can only imagine where his face is.
Earlier this week National Basketball Association center Jason Collins came out, making him the first out male athlete in a major professional sport in the US. Following the news Jason Collins Tweeted his thanks for all the support he has received; seems like a class-act to me.
I won’t lie, Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte is very easy on the eyes, but it seems that he never seems to come off as particularly intelligent. This video clip from earlier this week has Fox News anchors laughing hysterically after doing a satellite interview about Ryan Lochte’s forthcoming reality show. It is worth the watch.
I love it when the female news anchor snorts and says “No more! Otherwise my eyelashes will fall off.”
Check out the video below and enjoy.
Today is the running of the 117th Boston Marathon. I don’t care if you are the first or last runner to cross the finish line. I am impressed by anyone who sets out to run a marathon.
Congratulations to everyone who participates in today’s venerable race and much thanks to the City of Boston and the thousands of volunteers who make this such an amazing event for all in the city to enjoy.
Next Monday is the running of the 117th Boston Marathon. As with Easter, the Marathon is another one of those events I automatically associate with the spring season and look forward to each year.
In advance of the marathon is the Boston Marathon Sports & Fitness Expo at the Hynes Auditorium; starting this weekend on Friday from 2-7pm and Saturday & Sunday from 9:00am – 6:00pm. Nearly every athletic, fitness and nutrition firm you can imagine sets up booths to educate and sell their products. Vendors have special sales for the expo and there are usually some pretty cool freebies.
About the Boston Marathon (Source: Wikipedia)
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots’ Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events. It is one of the five World Marathon Majors.
Keeping with the theme of my previous post, I figured it was time to publish another “suddenly it makes sense”. I can’t think of a better way to drive home the point that there are elements in all sporting events that are more gay than an episode of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Many American children grow up idolizing athletes who play professional sports. Recently, there has been a lot of conversation about homophobia in American sports so I was intrigued when I saw Conor Gaughan’s article on HuffPost Gay, Out of the closet and into the locker room: The business of coming out in the pros.
The growing acceptance of our small minority in the US means that it is not a question of “if” someone comes out but “when” and all signs seem to point to a time sooner rather than later – in spite of some senseless comments by professional athletes who are “uncomfortable” about having a homosexual in their locker room – to which my only response is “you’ve got to be kidding me.”
Would there be a financial incentive to cash out because of their status as an out professional athlete who is playing in a major sport in the US? Perhaps but earlier this month I wrote about Ben Cohen (a retired professional rugby star) who commented that a fellow competitor, Gareth Thomas, was rumored to have been dropped by Reebok because he is gay. It is hard to say exactly what the response would be for that first athlete to come out but it seems like for the first time advertisers and media are ready and you know what, I think America is too.
Ben Cohen, a rugby world cup champion and founder of The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, made news this past weekend speaking at a debate at Britain’s National Student Pride when he said Reebok dropped rugby star Gareth Thomas for being gay.
Whether this is true or not is hard to say, but I have a feeling it won’t be the last time we hear these type of allegations. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about why there are not any homosexual athletes in America’s major sports leagues. I chalk up the fact that the only reason we find out about gay athletes after they retire is due to homophobia. If there is truth to Ben Cohen’s comments about Reebok’s decision to drop a prominent and popular rugby athlete because he came out, I find that troubling. You may read more about Ben Cohen’s comments about Reebok and Gareth Thomas here.
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Cliff Diving
Although it is nearly six months away, mark your calendars because Red Bull’s Cliff Diving competition will be returning to Boston for the third year in a row on Saturday, August 24th.
Boston is the only stop in North America for this amazing tour which may be one of my favorite “free” events the city hosts for the public. I’ll be writing about this event again in the summer as the date approaches, but I thought I’d share the good news now that the tour has been finalized and confirmed.
If you’ve never had a chance to see this competition, check out my video below from the first year in 2011.
May 25 | FRANCE – La Rochelle
June 22 | DENMARK – Copenhagen
June 29 | PORTUGAL – Azores
July 14 | ITALY – Malcesine
August 24 | USA – Boston
September 14 | UNITED KINGDOM – Wales
September 28 | BRAZIL
October 26 | THAILAND
Earlier this month a panel of judges in Washington, D.C. denied a request from a private entrepreneur to register the trademark for the phrase “Baseball’s Evil Empire.” The phrase was first used by Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino in 2002.
The judges wrote, “In short, the record shows that there is only one Evil Empire in baseball and it is the New York Yankees. Accordingly, we find that (the Yankees) have a protectable trademark right in the term … as used in connection with baseball.”
This ruling will not come as a surprise by anyone in Red Sox Nation, but lest people think we Bostonians are not being fair, we now have a legal precedent confirming the Yankee’s truly are evil. You may read the full story here.
The appeal of college wrestling always makes so much sense when I see it captured in photographs like this one. Thanks to Twitter bud Christian Burton for sharing it.
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed watching Water Polo during the Olympic games in London last year until I stumbled upon this photo. Oddly, after seeing the photo, the appeal of the sport suddenly made sense.
BosGuy 