| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Barrister15
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4270
Location: New York, NY
Back to top |
 Posted: 10/08/08 4:59 pm ::: |
Reply  |
|
This is more of the "our girls" syndrome.
People around here have no problem discussing the private lives of celebrities over in Area 51, but when it filters into the WNBA side of things and the discussion turns to one of our players, suddenly personal lives are off limits.
Though participants in a niche sport, WNBA players are celebrities in their own right. If you've asked them for an autograph -- they're a celebrity. If you've taken a picture of them -- they're a celebrity. If their name has been in the newspaper -- celebrity. They're celebrities, just like LiLo, Britney, Paris, and Amy Winehouse. We have no qualms about discussing Britney's child custody woes, Paris's DWIs, LiLo's relationship with Sam Ronson, or whether Amy Winehouse is in or out or back in rehab, so why the problem with discussing the private lives of WNBA players?
We want the WNBA to become more popular, we want the league to sustain and grow, but we have to realize, along with that comes the scrutiny placed on the players and the interest in their personal lives. The folks on Rebkell have every right to be just as interested in the private lives of players as they are about other celebrities. If there's speculation that a player is gay, it's just speculation, just as people speculated for years about Jodie Foster. Is anyone here condemning a player for being gay? No. Are they being gay bashed because of it? No. So what's the harm if some gossips on an internet message board sit around and talk about who is with who, as they would with any other couple?
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous.
But back to my original point, people around here have always been hypersensitive to any details about a player's life being discussed here. I remember someone was condemned once for talking about what kind of car Becky Hammon drove, when Becky herself did an interview in some magazine and talked about her Escalade. This overwhelming need to protect players is just silly. They are professional athletes. The personal lives of male athletes gets splayed out on the gossip pages, but we don't complain, we read it. They aren't "our girls" to protect, that's what their managers and agents are for. We're just fans, and as fans, we can gossip all we want.
|
|
DTP
Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 6439
Location: Ohio
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 6:14 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| shock6666 wrote: |
| TweetyMulatto wrote: |
| shock6666 wrote: |
| TweetyMulatto wrote: |
This is kind of funny. Why can't people just accept that they make an adorable couple and get OVER IT?!?!
what's all the arguing, commotion, and hostility for? |
Because ya'll are doing all this speculating on something that may be private and personal between two people. People are allowed to pose for a picture together. Great that they're smiling in the photo. Most people smile in photos. What makes it all wrong is for this wild speculation and drooling over if they're a couple or not...and all the insinuating that they are in fact a couple. Players are allowed to celebrate and hug other people, without their personal business being tossed about for the world to speculate about. |
i for one am not speculating anything. |
Sorry I didn't mean to say that you were speculating...just pretty much everyone else here has decided that these two are a couple based on a photo... |
Wait hold on. If it was just this picture then I agree, it would be wrong to speculate anything but its not just this picture. There's been other picture(s) as well as some other stuff that I'm sure a lot of people on here already know about because like I said earlier, they don't make an attempt to hide anything. So this is based off a number of things for a lot of people in this thread...not just this one picture. And most people I don't think have to speculate either based off earlier conversations about this topic...
|
|
DTP
Joined: 24 Dec 2005
Posts: 6439
Location: Ohio
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 6:28 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| Barrister15 wrote: |
This is more of the "our girls" syndrome.
People around here have no problem discussing the private lives of celebrities over in Area 51, but when it filters into the WNBA side of things and the discussion turns to one of our players, suddenly personal lives are off limits.
Though participants in a niche sport, WNBA players are celebrities in their own right. If you've asked them for an autograph -- they're a celebrity. If you've taken a picture of them -- they're a celebrity. If their name has been in the newspaper -- celebrity. They're celebrities, just like LiLo, Britney, Paris, and Amy Winehouse. We have no qualms about discussing Britney's child custody woes, Paris's DWIs, LiLo's relationship with Sam Ronson, or whether Amy Winehouse is in or out or back in rehab, so why the problem with discussing the private lives of WNBA players?
We want the WNBA to become more popular, we want the league to sustain and grow, but we have to realize, along with that comes the scrutiny placed on the players and the interest in their personal lives. The folks on Rebkell have every right to be just as interested in the private lives of players as they are about other celebrities. If there's speculation that a player is gay, it's just speculation, just as people speculated for years about Jodie Foster. Is anyone here condemning a player for being gay? No. Are they being gay bashed because of it? No. So what's the harm if some gossips on an internet message board sit around and talk about who is with who, as they would with any other couple?
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous.
But back to my original point, people around here have always been hypersensitive to any details about a player's life being discussed here. I remember someone was condemned once for talking about what kind of car Becky Hammon drove, when Becky herself did an interview in some magazine and talked about her Escalade. This overwhelming need to protect players is just silly. They are professional athletes. The personal lives of male athletes gets splayed out on the gossip pages, but we don't complain, we read it. They aren't "our girls" to protect, that's what their managers and agents are for. We're just fans, and as fans, we can gossip all we want. |
AMEN!
And why everyone is making a fuss over this, didn't Katie mention something about Lindsey in a interview around valentines day? I know she didn't by name but wasn't it like something about she wanted to spend time with her baby or something like that? Its clear to me they aren't hiding anything...so treat them like you'd treat LLL and her Husband, Taj and her husband, Candace and Sheldon....ok, Shelden. 
And when it comes to homosexuals, I just treat them like normal people. I have gay friends, I have straight friends...I treat my gay friends just the same as I treat my straight friends and in reality isn't that what homosexuals want the most? To be treated equality? So I agree, to be all secretive about things is actually more disrespectful than respectful....although if a player is in the closet then okay, I respect to not put their business out there. Maybe I'd have a different feeling about this if I was gay so I can also respect the fact that I don't know the stuff gay people have to go through in this world....there's a gay kid in one of my classes and I constantly see him getting bumped in the halls on purpose, recently heard some dudes calling him a fag and all that type of stuff. So I also respect the fact that I don't know what gay people have to go through so I could see why someone would want to be in the closet.
Anyways I'm just gonna shut up for now, Pistons game coming on anyways...
Last edited by DTP on 10/08/08 6:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
caune
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 17919
Location: Valley of the Bun
Back to top |
|
Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 21953
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 6:33 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| Barrister15 wrote: |
This is more of the "our girls" syndrome.
People around here have no problem discussing the private lives of celebrities over in Area 51, but when it filters into the WNBA side of things and the discussion turns to one of our players, suddenly personal lives are off limits.
Though participants in a niche sport, WNBA players are celebrities in their own right. If you've asked them for an autograph -- they're a celebrity. If you've taken a picture of them -- they're a celebrity. If their name has been in the newspaper -- celebrity. They're celebrities, just like LiLo, Britney, Paris, and Amy Winehouse. We have no qualms about discussing Britney's child custody woes, Paris's DWIs, LiLo's relationship with Sam Ronson, or whether Amy Winehouse is in or out or back in rehab, so why the problem with discussing the private lives of WNBA players?
We want the WNBA to become more popular, we want the league to sustain and grow, but we have to realize, along with that comes the scrutiny placed on the players and the interest in their personal lives. The folks on Rebkell have every right to be just as interested in the private lives of players as they are about other celebrities. If there's speculation that a player is gay, it's just speculation, just as people speculated for years about Jodie Foster. Is anyone here condemning a player for being gay? No. Are they being gay bashed because of it? No. So what's the harm if some gossips on an internet message board sit around and talk about who is with who, as they would with any other couple?
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous.
But back to my original point, people around here have always been hypersensitive to any details about a player's life being discussed here. I remember someone was condemned once for talking about what kind of car Becky Hammon drove, when Becky herself did an interview in some magazine and talked about her Escalade. This overwhelming need to protect players is just silly. They are professional athletes. The personal lives of male athletes gets splayed out on the gossip pages, but we don't complain, we read it. They aren't "our girls" to protect, that's what their managers and agents are for. We're just fans, and as fans, we can gossip all we want. |
^ 
I help moderate this section of the boards, and believe it or not I do occasionally take that seriously (which makes it a rather rare thing in my life  )
One thing I have always tried to keep in mind (since long before I was a mod) is that players, staff & journalists read this board too. Perhaps more people should post with the consideration of "would I say the same thing if I knew the person I'm posting about was going to read it?"
But overall I think we do pretty well. We try not to be stifling about what can be discussed here. I already said my piece previously about what I thought of trying to sweep certain things under the carpet. I regularly exchange PMs with people as a moderator and am happy to continue to.
Personally I'm not big on the personal speculation stuff, but some people are curious. Hey, I've never really understood why "reality tv" and gossip columns are popular either, but the numbers say that they are, so people out there want to know and they want to speculate.
Keep it tasteful and I don't see an issue.
Post what you found when you dug through Diana Taurasi's garbage, and we've got a problem.
| Queenie wrote: |
| Unfortunately, it looks like the thread has opened up some old wounds and helped a coupla folks find old axes to grind. |
... and maybe open up a new wound too.
| Rothum wrote: |
| Discretion, I would think, in that type of circumstance, would lead to perhaps a little less discussion of their personal lives and a little more focus on the amazing performance Ms. Smith had in the finals. |
People can talk about what they want, within reasonable boundaries. There's nothing stopping people from talking about Katie's on-court performance. We're not going to dictate the topics either though.
Message boards make it pretty easy. Someone puts a topic out there, and if other people want to talk about the same thing, it becomes a thread. If people don't, then it drifts off the page. Simple natural selection.
I've got my personal preferences for threads to contribute in. Other people have their own. None of us really need you to tell us what those preferences should be, as well-intentioned as you might try to be.
_________________
Thanks for calling. I wait all night for calls like these.
|
|
mandih23
Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 2159
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 6:35 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| FWIW, I think its a cute picture and thinks its great that Katie has someone she can share her happiness with and that Lindsey can put her disappointment in not being the playoffs aside to enjoy this with Katie. As a friend or more than a friend is irrelevant... great pic.
_________________
When the whole world seems wrong then right your own self. ~ Grandma
|
|
cherrystreet
Joined: 24 Jul 2005
Posts: 4119
Location: houston,tx
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 6:41 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| Barrister15 had the best post I have read in this thread. Really it's all about curiousity.
|
|
LuceeDyamond
Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 63
Back to top |
|
LJ15
Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 54
Location: China
Back to top |
|
eyevolley4
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
Posts: 4638
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 7:48 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
My final comment is to the Rothum's mention that now players lurk at off-court instead of rebkell.
Here's the deal, and I apologize to anyone who doesn't want to read about the spat between the two boards, but as was mentioned earlier, you have the ability to choose what you read and don't read.
Fact is I don't post here for the players. I don't post here for coaches. And I don't post here for inside scoop, though when it is available, it is fun, and I certainly don't get upset by visiting "celebrities." In the end, I post for the love of the league and the game. I don't get my validation by what big names pop in here. I get my validation by posting what I think to people who may read it, and may care a little bit. And if they don't, isn't the main point of all this really just people wanting to be able to have their say? I just want to have my say. And I will. Trust me. I will.
_________________
Some days are meant to be remembered.
|
|
jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 21046
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 8:06 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| Queenie wrote: |
I'm happy that they're happy- I'm just weirded out by the ten-year age gap.
|
Now I'm pissed. Why are you weirded out by a ten-year age gap?_________________ Every woman who has ever been presented with a career/sex quid pro quo in the entertainment industry should come forward and simply say, “Me, too.” - jammer The New York Times 10/10/17 |
|
BCBG25
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 20112
Location: Sampa
Back to top |
|
PattyforPresident
Joined: 25 Sep 2008
Posts: 935
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 8:54 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| DTP wrote: |
| Barrister15 wrote: |
This is more of the "our girls" syndrome.
People around here have no problem discussing the private lives of celebrities over in Area 51, but when it filters into the WNBA side of things and the discussion turns to one of our players, suddenly personal lives are off limits.
Though participants in a niche sport, WNBA players are celebrities in their own right. If you've asked them for an autograph -- they're a celebrity. If you've taken a picture of them -- they're a celebrity. If their name has been in the newspaper -- celebrity. They're celebrities, just like LiLo, Britney, Paris, and Amy Winehouse. We have no qualms about discussing Britney's child custody woes, Paris's DWIs, LiLo's relationship with Sam Ronson, or whether Amy Winehouse is in or out or back in rehab, so why the problem with discussing the private lives of WNBA players?
We want the WNBA to become more popular, we want the league to sustain and grow, but we have to realize, along with that comes the scrutiny placed on the players and the interest in their personal lives. The folks on Rebkell have every right to be just as interested in the private lives of players as they are about other celebrities. If there's speculation that a player is gay, it's just speculation, just as people speculated for years about Jodie Foster. Is anyone here condemning a player for being gay? No. Are they being gay bashed because of it? No. So what's the harm if some gossips on an internet message board sit around and talk about who is with who, as they would with any other couple?
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous.
But back to my original point, people around here have always been hypersensitive to any details about a player's life being discussed here. I remember someone was condemned once for talking about what kind of car Becky Hammon drove, when Becky herself did an interview in some magazine and talked about her Escalade. This overwhelming need to protect players is just silly. They are professional athletes. The personal lives of male athletes gets splayed out on the gossip pages, but we don't complain, we read it. They aren't "our girls" to protect, that's what their managers and agents are for. We're just fans, and as fans, we can gossip all we want. |
AMEN!
And why everyone is making a fuss over this, didn't Katie mention something about Lindsey in a interview around valentines day? I know she didn't by name but wasn't it like something about she wanted to spend time with her baby or something like that? Its clear to me they aren't hiding anything...so treat them like you'd treat LLL and her Husband, Taj and her husband, Candace and Sheldon....ok, Shelden.
And when it comes to homosexuals, I just treat them like normal people. I have gay friends, I have straight friends...I treat my gay friends just the same as I treat my straight friends and in reality isn't that what homosexuals want the most? To be treated equality? So I agree, to be all secretive about things is actually more disrespectful than respectful....although if a player is in the closet then okay, I respect to not put their business out there. Maybe I'd have a different feeling about this if I was gay so I can also respect the fact that I don't know the stuff gay people have to go through in this world....there's a gay kid in one of my classes and I constantly see him getting bumped in the halls on purpose, recently heard some dudes calling him a fag and all that type of stuff. So I also respect the fact that I don't know what gay people have to go through so I could see why someone would want to be in the closet.
Anyways I'm just gonna shut up for now, Pistons game coming on anyways... |
X_________________
Isn't it wonderful, the prospect of a day when gay people can just "be" the same way straight people can just "be" without worrying about being "in" or "out" and what their families and others around them will think? I hope I see that day in my lifetime.
|
|
jammerbirdi
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 21046
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 9:15 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
I hate to get involved with this thread but Rothum most of what you posted needs to be countered with facts simply out of fairness and respect for the truth.
| Rothum wrote: |
If you look at the background, that picture was taken in the locker room. I bolded a part of your post above. See, it was not at center court postgame, or in the public eye. It was in front of teammates, friends and maybe family, and yes, a yahoo photographer who chose to post it online.
Haven't we always read over the years about the sanctity of the locker room? |
This picture wasn't taken by a "yahoo photographer who chose to post it online." It was taken by David Sherman, the WNBA/NBAE/Getty Images photographer. The photographer is not a member of the media. This image is from the WNBA's own licensed photographer and photo agency.
Second, Lindsey Harding knows this, she knows who the photographer is, and I would assume that Katie does as well seeing that David Sherman is the Minnesota Lynx photographer and he would have shot their media days and been in charge of the photo shoots and therefore on a first name basis with all of these players.
"David is the official NBA photographer for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA photographer for the Minnesota Lynx."
http://center.spoke.com/info/p7j1gMh/DavidPhotography
So these two know full well what they're posing for and that it is very likely to be a part of the post game photo gallery.
They certainly do not look concerned about any of this.
| Rothum wrote: |
| This is why I prefer Off-Court where private conversations can remain private. Not my problem you were tossed from Off-Court for violating that rule eyevolley. |
Beyond what I think personally of an internet message board that enforces upon its members a code of secrecy and silence regarding what is posted there... I will tell you something here and I'll swear on my life and the lives of everyone I know and love that this is the truth.
If you guys threw ANYONE off of your message board for leaking information to ME... you blew off people who are 100% innocent from your message board. Unfairly. Ignorantly and with extreme paranoia. And that you STILL have the nerve to come here and repeat those same accusations is galling. Shame on all of you.
| Rothum wrote: |
| And that is why Off-Court now has the players haunting over there instead of here. BECAUSE their privacy is protected. |
I'm just SO sure. Players who posed for an NBA/GETTY photographer are so concerned about their privacy they're going to hide out on some wannabee message board with a half dozen of you guys. 
Come on, Rothum. Get something right here if you're going to make these kinds of accusations.
Now I have one for you. Nice job of turning this thread into a threadzilla of Katie/Lindsey publicity.
Too bad this image wasn't posted on your board. Nobody would have seen it._________________ Every woman who has ever been presented with a career/sex quid pro quo in the entertainment industry should come forward and simply say, “Me, too.” - jammer The New York Times 10/10/17 |
|
pilight
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 67057
Location: Where the action is
Back to top |
|
el_barrio_96_125
Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 1411
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 9:50 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| BCBG25 wrote: |
Actually, people here have selective memory. This board was WAY more gossipy back in 2004/2005. We stopped because of the influx of new fans, but hell if this wasn't the place to be to read about the latest gossip.  |
Basically. About the last place players expect their privacy to be respected is a message board. Much ado about nothing, really. |
|
Queenie
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 18055
Location: Queens
Back to top |
|
Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 21953
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/08/08 9:55 pm ::: |
Reply |
|
| Queenie wrote: |
| (Is there such a thing as straidar?) |
Yeah, mine is called a straydar, because its results are often well wide of the mark.
_________________
Thanks for calling. I wait all night for calls like these.
|
|
Rothum
Joined: 07 Jul 2005
Posts: 1729
Location: Connecticut
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 8:23 am ::: |
Reply |
|
| pilight wrote: |
Even Rothum used to post about Sun players who set off her gaydar. |
Actually if you are going to quote me do try to get your facts accurate...
I was notorious for being dense about who people were talking about in code. And folks would often send me PMs to fill me in cause I was clueless.
| Queenie wrote: |
| Or who did the opposite. (Is there such a thing as straidar?) I recall her making a big deal out of Brooke Wyckoff's heterosexuality at the Fan Blog. |
Again do get your facts in line.... The piece was about homophobia and rampant heterosexism in the WNBA.
http://www.wnba.com/voices/fanblog_melissa.html
I told people that the column was not about "outing" anyone but it was about raising questions. I then "outed" Brooke as straight as an allegory for fandom about a specific player. Should I, as a lesbian, care that Brooke is straight? Or should her play be the thing I am more interested in? The whole piece was about this very thread... who cares, why ask and get over yourselves...
The funny thing is that that piece and the one about Nykesha Sales did more for having players and staffers share their stories with me than the other blogs.
So nice to see this thread go from should we or should we not "out" people in this space to beat the crap out of opposing ideas and take personal shots.
And before anyone jumps my stuff... I resigned as fan blogger because I believe that the position should be held for one year and no more. To many fans with to many points of view all needing to be shared.
Ethics are a funny thing... you never know you have any until they cost you something.
_________________
Kindness should never be random.
Sun STH
"What do you do when those with all the power are harming those who have none? You start by standing up and telling the truth."
I write for Off-Court.com Anything I write on this website are my own views and do not represent the organization in anyway.
|
|
irk
Joined: 23 May 2008
Posts: 828
Location: Minneapolis
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 8:39 am ::: |
Reply |
|
| Barrister15 wrote: |
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous. |
Preach!
_________________
#loslynx #doslynx
|
|
smenko
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
Posts: 4081
Location: metro detroit
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 9:48 am ::: |
Reply |
|
| If this thread is any indication--it's going to be a lo-o-o-ong off-season. We're already fighting in the schoolyard and recess just started.
|
|
vickilz
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 138
Location: Chicago, IL
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 9:51 am ::: |
Reply |
|
| irk wrote: |
| Barrister15 wrote: |
As a gay person, I find it almost comically offensive how far people will bend over backwards to avoid talking about a gay player (or a speculated gay player) because it's taboo. It's 2008. Two states have granted gay marriage, other states have granted civil unions, us gay people lead lives as mundane as the heteros. Talk about us like we're normal.
If KS and LH are a couple, which is really does seem like they are, then more power to them. They clearly haven't made an effort to distance themselves from one another and hide anything like some players have. IMHO it's more respectful to acknowledge them and openly discuss it as if it's a perfectly legitimate relationship, rather than to speak (or type) in whispers. If people continue to make it seem taboo, then a gay relationship will never get the respect it deserves, nor will it ever be seen as perfectly normal -- it will forever be known as "the love that dare not speak its name" and that's just ridiculous. |
Preach! |
X_______________________
|
|
cherrystreet
Joined: 24 Jul 2005
Posts: 4119
Location: houston,tx
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 9:52 am ::: |
Reply |
|
| I was on the Shock site. That same picture was one of the slide about the championship celebration. I don't think anyone is trying to hide anything. And they were talking about the picture on espn in the college section also. A few laughs but nobody was upset. They said something to the fact Harding was smiling like her team won the ship.
|
|
Luuuc
#NATC
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 21953
Back to top |
|
shrrew
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 6097
Location: Missouri
Back to top |
| Posted: 10/09/08 10:58 am ::: |
Reply |
|
I hear what people are saying about the topic. I personally do feel protective of the players. It's true our everyday world is more socially open and accepting. On a moral and social evolution level, fabulous!
However, economically speaking, the fact is that the majority of WNBA franchises are owned by conservative men. Period. That is where the money is. It would be unwise to believe that being open about orientation would not affect a players ability to negotiate for bigger money and more opportunities for perks and promos. Here in Arizona, you can be fired for being gay or being 'percieved as gay'. Perceived as gay just as damaging. WNBA is 'red-state' territory until we all make enough money to own the franchises and create a safe open space of people to be who they are.
That is my concern with the gossip is: Do you really want to be the person who affects someone's paycheck and/or which franchises they can play in when they are paid so poorly (when compared to the NBA) in the first place? The only players making a statement about lifestyle are the ones nearing the end of their playing careers. They have their money in the bank that they can live on for the rest of their lives. I am hoping the players make enough money to buy up all the dang franchises so everyone can be who they are without the negative economic consequences.
_________________
(shrrew)
|
|
|
|
