For my new followers, I also ruminate on college football things and sometimes other things for Rant Sports, because let’s face it, my opinions (and, sometimes, judgment) just can’t fit on one sassy little blog. Sometimes I re-post them here — I really should do a better job of that — but I almost always put the links up on Twitter and G+ so be sure to add me there to stay in the loop!
Anonymous asked: GT finished 5-3 in conference. UNC finished 5-3 in conference and lost to GT in Keenan Stadium on homecoming 68-50, so how did GT finish third in the Coastal???
^^Reader Question!
I know I looked up last year’s standings recently so I’m sure I included it in a post I wrote somewhere, but I can’t find it on this blog.
Anyway, I don’t have an explanation. I just went by the ACC website:
**Just a heads up for all my readers: If you have comments or questions on any of my posts, the best way to get a response is to leave them in the Disqus comments on that specific post. I’m not always comfortable responding to anonymous Tumblr messages publicly in this space, so if you choose to reach out that way, please include contact info so I can get back to you. Besides, most of you are super cool and I like knowing who I’m writing to, so don’t be shy!
Relevant in light of the recent rumors that an NFL player might be considering coming out as gay, as well as the prominent debates over same-sex marriage.
I’ve seen some comments this week to the effect of: Why should someone come out? Fans don’t need/want to know those details about a player’s personal life. It will create an unnecessary distraction for the team. Etc., etc.
While that’s better than gay-bashing, it still misses the point.
Being gay won’t affect a player’s game, but the toll of hiding or disguising who he is, and who he loves, could.
From a football standpoint, it doesn’t matter. From a social standpoint, it shouldn’t matter, but at this point in our cultural history, it does.
The first openly gay NFL player, whoever he is because there will be one, sooner rather than later, won’t decide to come out publicly for himself. The second he makes that announcement, the real issue ceases to be about him and his personal life.
The media will swarm him, but it won’t really, truly, be about him. It will be about us.
It will about the football fans who already don’t care and who will applaud him for making that giant, Neil Armstrong-sized step, and it will also be about the fans who never have a nice thing to scream about anyone and will be especially vicious about this.
It will be about all athletes, but especially football players, current and future, and their ability to live their lives freely and openly. It will be about non-athletes who see a macho public figure own his sexuality and finally begin to think it’s okay not to be ashamed of theirs.
It will be about the ignorance and intolerance and hatred and fear of a large section of the population, and hopefully it will about sharing knowledge and understanding and kindness and love.
Just as some people have reversed their stance on same-sex marriage, or homosexuality in general, after learning family members or friends are gay or lesbian, a prominent, hopefully well-liked and respected NFL player coming out will put a face on homosexuality. That image will gradually help the larger population become more comfortable with the idea that homosexuality exists and it’s not a big deal. Some fans will become former fans, but maybe others will be more accepting parents when their children come out, or will be braver kids and teens when classmates are being bullied.
Ultimately, it isn’t anyone’s business, but that’s not the current climate in our society. Before we can see past someone’s sexuality, we must first see it for what it is, nothing more or less, so as a society, we can accept it.
To get there, we’ll need people to come forward with pride and with dignity. We have openly gay celebrities, politicians, businesspeople. Pro sports is one of the last frontiers, but it’s one of the largest and most visible.
When someone tough, strong, thick-skinned, and fierce — someone like a prototypical NFL player — breaks that barrier, it will give young children, and all of us, gay and straight, a hero. Someone to look up to. Someone to admire. Someone who shows children and their parents that it’s perfectly fine and certainly important to be who you are, whoever that may be.
Someday, years from now, it won’t matter if a player is gay or straight. We might know, if we know who their spouse or partner is, but it won’t make a difference.
But before being out as a gay athlete, or even just being gay, becomes merely a small step, someone has to make that one giant leap for mankind.
I don’t follow golf, like golf, or watch golf, but this is worth watching.
Announcer, incredulous: “He’s thinking about playing this thing backwards, and one-handed.”
I mean, he already climbed into a rather large tree to get to the ball, so why the hell not? And since he and the ball are both, I repeat, in a tree, his options are perhaps a bit limited.
Also, I would totally watch golf if it was all like this.
Former Patriot Ted Johnson was asked, and unwisely answered, a question about which former teammate’s wife was least attractive. (Note: This is never a good idea)
He picked Vince Wilfork’s wife, Bianca, and her hubby was not amused.
“Every1 is entitled to their opinion but it is [f-ed] up when a x-teammate that I actually looked up to and enjoyed playing with takes shots at my wife for whatever reasons. I love my wife and my family She is my everything…[view full post]
“Mrs75” posted the above statement on her instagram. Love it.
Solid relationships are about being on the same team, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks she looks like as long as they’re happy.
For the record, if they split up in five years (I am so cynical) I will be really, really sad.
I strongly dislike the angry Oriole bird logo, but that was essentially the expression on my face when I got the text reading: “The Orioles say they explored compromise with Ravens, but are not changing Sept. 5 game vs White Sox. Ravens likely to open on road.”
Eff. That.
The Orioles have one good season in a dozen years of trying and think they can pull this crap? It’s b.s. (which, when you think about it, is pretty much all we’ve been able to expect from this organization over the last decade).
They got to the playoffs. Huge, considering they’ve barely been worth mentioning past the All-Star break recently, but the Ravens won the freakin Super Bowl. For the second time since the O’s have done much of anything.
It was fun having two really good teams in Baltimore, and it was fun to see players from the Ravens and Orioles supporting each other during their playoff runs, wearing the other team’s caps, etc., etc. but this is infuriating and I hope the rest of Baltimore sports fans are equally pissed off about it — and make their feelings known. The Super Bowl-winning Ravens are most likely opening the season away because the Orioles and MLB won’t play nice — and Baltimore fans are the ones that lose.
Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti offered to reimburse the O’s for lost revenue for moving the game, but honestly, how many people who are fans of both teams are going to go to the game if the Ravens opener is on a tv somewhere? The O’s would probably be better off compromising and not playing a game in direct competition with a Ravens game, even if it’s away.
Why are the Orioles being so stubborn on this? Because they can.*
This is why Baltimore can’t have nice things. Or two winning teams.
Happy Friday, Ravens Fans!
*This isn’t ALL the O’s fault. MLB and the players’ association and the White Sox would also have to buy in, but let’s be for real. If the rest of the world wants Baltimore fans to stop acting like they’re getting a bum deal, they have to stop getting a bum deal. Period. The end.