Former NBA center comes out in book

[EpBurns]

Former center John Amaechi admits to being gay in his soon to be released book " Man in the Middle" interesting thought I had was what was he in the middle of hahahaha

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by EpBurns

Former center John Amaechi admits to being gay in his soon to be released book " Man in the Middle" interesting thought I had was what was he in the middle of hahahaha

A power forward and a small forward, maybe? Or perhaps "the court" if it were tip-off time? Possibly, "the lane" were he trying to get through for an offensive rebound?

Total conjecture on my part.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Bababooyee

You're not very good at double entendres, brian.

Ah my friend, but I am actually the master.

[Antitrust32]

The best one ever was when my friend told me (on the topic of sausage) that "I never liked italian sausage until I met Matt"

Matt is her husband and italian.. it was great!

[brianwspencer]

i'm glad he came out -- because there are more out there that we certainly don't know about but they don't say anything because of the macho nature of sports.

better late than never.

[2 Dollar Bill]

Originally Posted by EpBurns

Former center John Amaechi admits to being gay in his soon to be released book " Man in the Middle" interesting thought I had was what was he in the middle of hahahaha

Was he a BIG man....Opppps I mean a center,or forward ?

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by turdbucket67

the guy should of came out during the season, took the criticism and then he should of wrote a book talking about it a few years after his playing days... somebody is going to have to be the first one to take the criticism and receive all the negativity.. it happens with everything that is different

how bout the athletes that he played with? dont they have the right to know also? they shower together, the joke around with each other, they grab each others asses, and this whole time he decided to keep it a secret.. TB thinks its wrong to keep a secret like that to yourself when you might be hurting others as well

In response to the first bold section I've made in your post: No.

In response to the second bold section I've made in your post: That's ridiculous. Nobody gets "hurt" by having a closet homosexual in the locker room. The only time someone starts getting "hurt" is when everyone knows that the guy in the locker room is a homosexual....and I'll give you one guess who the person is that gets hurt by that.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by turdbucket67

why come out now then? what good does it do now? well i guess he came out now bc he wrote a book and he's planning on making money off of it

Because they're baby steps. None of these guys feel comfortable enough to come out while they're playing a professional sport (understandable), which serves to perpetuate the myth that only heterosexuals play professional sports. By doing this (coupled with the Seahawks (?) player who did so a few years back), little steps get taken in breaking down societal stereotypes. Sounds like a fine reason to me.

[ELA]

Professionally, I work with professional athletes. Many I get to know well and am proud to call them friends. Others, I don't get to know well, and in some cases, I really don't want to. Those client relationships usually don't last long, and that is most often my doing.

Anyway, there are many athletes who are gay who don't "come out" for a massive number of reasons -- personal, professional, family, occupational, and others. I don't sit in judgement of any of them and I've found that often, when thinking about the where, when, why, how, etc. they should or should not "come out" is a very circular discussion, and ultimately a circular debate. It's easy for someone on the outside of the situation to have an opinion, perhaps a definitive one. However, I am not so sure that as an outsider to that specific situation, one can truly empathize and stand in that person's shoes so to speak.

Eric

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Because they're baby steps. None of these guys feel comfortable enough to come out while they're playing a professional sport (understandable), which serves to perpetuate the myth that only heterosexuals play professional sports. By doing this (coupled with the Seahawks (?) player who did so a few years back), little steps get taken in breaking down societal stereotypes. Sounds like a fine reason to me.

Well, I can see by both the original post as well as some of the follow-up posts that there is still a long road ahead....sad, not the least bit unexpected but still sad. I would really like to know how the guy keeping his personal life to himself in any way harmed other players??? What, don't tell me you think being gay is contagious?

[ELA]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Because they're baby steps. None of these guys feel comfortable enough to come out while they're playing a professional sport (understandable), which serves to perpetuate the myth that only heterosexuals play professional sports. By doing this (coupled with the Seahawks (?) player who did so a few years back), little steps get taken in breaking down societal stereotypes. Sounds like a fine reason to me.

Excellent point(s). There is without question a societal and cultural aspect to this discussion.

Eric

[Cannon Shell]

Who cares if he is gay. Who cares about him at all? A book is always the reason that these stories appear.
When T.O. 's book comes out we will have a story.

[GPK]

is it possible to come OUT of the closet...and then go back in?

A friend of mine who is gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) recently told me that he has found himself checking out women's asses more and more of late.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by T3B

is it possible to come OUT of the closet...and then go back in?

A friend of mine who is gay (not that there is anything wrong with that) recently told me that he has found himself checking out women's asses more and more of late.

This may be the funniest unintentionally funny post I have ever read.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

This may be the funniest unintentionally funny post I have ever read.

Chuck...I almost started laughing hysterically when he told me this. He is a great dude...and you would never know he is gay. I told him that before I really met him, I would have never had guessed he was gay. His response?

"Yeah...I'm very butch"


...and all this time I thought only some lesbians were considered butch.

[Danzig]

i don't get why anyone has to 'come out'. i do think many people have a long way to go to accept everyone else. but why is our sexuality anyone's business but our own?
but then, why is it called coming out anyway? obviously anyone writing an autobiography would discuss their significant other, so it's not like i think you should keep your yap shut if your other doesn't fit into some peoples idea of who they should be-or what they should be.

as for inferring that the team had a right to know to avoid some kind of damage, that's the craziest thing i've read here all day-or anywhere for that matter.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by turdbucket67

well, when will there be a gay person to have the balls like somebody such as jackie robinson... when one person comes out while playing, there will be others. causing people to accept it more... maybe in 20 years it wont matter anymore.. but until somebody who is gay has the courage to step up and accept the challenge, its not going anywhere

Apparently we have not covered the difference between being gay and being African-American.

If I am African-American, you can tell when you look at me, so you have no choice but to know.

If I am gay, you cannot tell when you look at me, so I have every right to not tell you if I believe that my being openly gay will affect every portion of our professional relationship.

If you're not even getting a rudimentary understanding of the difference between Jackie Robinson and a gay basketball player, then we're heading into the world's single biggest lost-cause conversation.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by turdbucket67

i dont think you understand my point

I do actually, I'm just saying that Jackie Robinson had no choice. It was play baseball and put up with it, or don't play baseball. A homosexual has a choice. They can play the game and keep that part of their life private and not have to deal with it, or they can tell people they're gay and share that part of their life and deal with every single consequence that comes with it from shunning from team members and heckling by fans.

Now, I understand very clearly that Robinson dealt with the same things....but given a choice as to whether or not to deal with that....I don't know many people who would elect to expose themselves to harrassment like that.

It has nothing to do with having balls, it has to do with maintaining ones emotional well-being at the workplace. And given the choice to do so, these gentlemen will continue to do so.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Danzig188

i don't get why anyone has to 'come out'. i do think many people have a long way to go to accept everyone else. but why is our sexuality anyone's business but our own?

Helps sell books about a marginal NBA player that no one cared anything about before he came out.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by turdbucket67

well, when will there be a gay person to have the balls like somebody such as jackie robinson... when one person comes out while playing, there will be others. causing people to accept it more... maybe in 20 years it wont matter anymore.. but until somebody who is gay has the courage to step up and accept the challenge, its not going anywhere

He was a marginal player at best. It's not like he was a star, they would get rid of a player like him in a minute if he caused any waves.