Clara
and I got to pay tribute to a great music lover last night. Here's the
appropriately eclectic Dave Younge Playlist. Dave always celebrated
diversity and it shows in his musical tastes. We tried to honor that
spirit and connect with all sorts of people with these songs. Enjoy.
I think the guy in the fabulous green and pink jacket (which I would totally wear) is pissed that his farmer husband-to-be dressed so casually for their big day.
"So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be.
Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love?
Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice — or will we be
extremists for the cause of justice?"
If Willie Nelson's career had ended 40 years ago, he still would have been one of the most important songwriters in country music ever.
The first concert I ever went to was Willie Nelson in the UNI Dome. I'm not sure of the exact year, but it was sometime during the "On The Road Again" period. My parents became big Willie fans around that time--and that song remains one of their favorites. While I love his original songs, I have to admit that Stardust, his album of songs from the "great American songbook," is what made me a life-long fan. The whole thing is beautiful--sometimes achingly so.
I never thought of marriage as something only for men and women. But I'd never marry a guy I didn't like. ...It's about human rights. As humanity, we've come through so
many problems from the beginning to here. I guess it finally had to
come around to this. This is just another situation, another problem.
We'll work it out and move on.
Something good must have been going on in 1933--the year produced two of my favorite progressive men, Willie Nelson and Paul Hogan, my Dad. This year, 80 is the new fabulous.
By now, everyone has heard that, in moving personal essay in Sports Illustrated, Jason Collins became the first male active player in a major team sport in the United States to come out as gay. That may seem like a lot of qualifiers, but this is a big fucking deal. Like most people, I had never heard of Jason Collins before today. In fact, I'm not sure I'd heard of the Washington Wizards, the NBA he played for last year. Seriously, while I've never been a fan of professional basketball, I do think I have fairly good general sports knowledge, but I don't think I could have told you what the name of the DC NBA team was yesterday. So, obviously take all my thoughts on this with a huge grain of salt, but I do have a few things to say.
...The color of the face attached to the cover story of Sports
Illustrated — and the photos that will be shown on ESPN and CNN and
every major media news outlet in the world — isn’t just important, it’s
revolutionary. I would argue that Collins’ coming out will do more to
advance the LGBT conversation within the black community than even
President Obama’s embrace of gay marriage. ...Now, when an
18-year-old black boy is thinking about coming out and looking for
someone in the popular culture who looks like him — he’s certainly going
to find him. Jason Collins may not have been around when I was
18. But that doesn’t diminish the pride I feel as a 30-year-old man
watching him come out now, and I can only imagine how many people who
look just like us are feeling the same thing.
Sadly, I was disappointed in ESPN for how it handled the story. First, the story was one of the lead stories on every newscast today (and not just the sports news, but the national news), but ESPN buried it. Then, this happened:
To be fair, ESPN has been pretty good on LGBT issues before (and even showed a pro-bowler kissing his partner after a big win), but this was just stupid of them. Fortunately, Jason Collins is not just a practicing Christian, but apparently a very well-read and smart one. If and when he wants, I'm sure he'll be able to rip bigots like Chris Broussard to shreds if they try to use the bible to condemn homosexuality.
We salute you, @jasoncollins34 for your courage and leadership. Any time you want to throw out a first pitch at Fenway Park, let us know.
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) April 29, 2013
How am I supposed to hate the Red Sox (as I do) if they keep being so good on LGBT issues?
Congratulations to Jason - society couldn't hope for a more eloquent & positive role model: buff.ly/10OvOMd
— John Amaechi OBE (@JohnAmaechi) April 29, 2013
What really sealed the deal for me was I read this passage in Collins essay:
My one small gesture of solidarity was to wear jersey number 98 with the
Celtics and then the Wizards. The number has great significance to the
gay community. One of the most notorious antigay hate crimes occurred in
1998. Matthew Shepard, a University of Wyoming student, was kidnapped,
tortured and lashed to a prairie fence. He died five days after he was
finally found. That same year the Trevor Project was founded. This
amazing organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention
to kids struggling with their sexual identity. Trust me, I know that
struggle. I've struggled with some insane logic. When I put on my jersey
I was making a statement to myself, my family and my friends.
"It made me cry," Judy Shepard told FOXSports.com during an interview
Monday afternoon. "It was really quite a tribute, and I was very
honored. And I know Matt would be thrilled." And the Shepards hope, someday, to be able to thank Collins personally
for his bravery in opening himself up to the world and honoring their
son’s name in the process. "I would really love to speak to him, because I know Judy and I would
just like to thank him," Dennis Shepard said. "Because, No. 1, he had
the courage to come out, period, and No. 2 that he wore 98 in honor of
Matt, the year that he died. ...[Collins] couldn’t have been that old (when it happened), so it must
have had a tremendous impact on him, the story behind Matt, for him to
want to do that. And then to wear it all this time without telling
people why until today, that’s incredible."
So, Congratulations and Thank You, Jason Collins! I'm still not going to watch professional basketball, but if there's any other way that I could support you, please let me know.
**********************************
I have few things to add to my original post--specifically, an apology, a response to a legit criticism of the news and a new video.
An apology
I can't believe I didn't mention or link to Outsports in my original post. Cyd Zeigler and Jim Buzinski have created a blog that is indeed "the galactic leader in gay sports" news. Of course, they have lots of posts about the Collins story, including Zeigler's nice personal reflections:
...Mostly, I thought about the kids. I was one of those once. I grew up in a basketball household on a healthy diet of Celtics-Lakers
championship series. My dad was a local hero, able to hit his elbow on
the rim at a time when dunking was against the rules. I was supposed to
follow in his footsteps, but on the first day of basketball tryouts in
junior high school, I had an all-consuming feeling that I just didn't
belong. There's no doubt in my mind that being gay, just struggling with
my sexuality and being teased for it by the other boys, kept me off the
basketball court. Like many LGBT youth, I opted for individual sports
-- track & field and cross-country -- instead.
Thanks to Collins, the young
ones in Pee-Wee football today won't know a world without an openly gay
male pro athlete. The teens in youth basketball, just starting to
understand their own sexuality, will forever have someone to look up to,
someone who looks like them. The young gay men playing college baseball today got a shot in the arm: They now know the sports world is ready for them.
Well done Jason Collins- you are a brave man. And a big man at that:) 1981 was the year for me- 2013 is the year for you:)
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) April 29, 2013
I think the criticism of the media is completely fair. Fortunately, today they are beginning to fill in the gaps. I hope the Jason Collins story spurs a discussion of not just homophobia but also larger gender issues in professional sports including the sexism of sports journalism. I also think it's important to note that Jason Collins has been very gracious in acknowledging everyone who came before him and made his announcement possible, saying simply, "The words thank you are not enough." Which lead me to...
A video...
...in which Jason Collins honors his hero Navratilova. He also speaks well on LGBT issues including his connection to the number 98 amazingly well for someone who a) just came out and b) is at the center of a media frenzy right now.
Well done, sir. Now, I will try to watch at least one of your games next year. NBA execs take note, Collins is a free agent and whichever team signs him will quickly expand their fan base--seriously, as a pure business decision, it makes sense. The gays are very brand loyal to LGBT friendly businesses.
Although to be fair, for large stretches of his career, it's hard to know exactly what Gary Numan looked like.
I must say that I have I have always admired his commitment to whatever look he wears.
Plus, it may be breaking the 10th Commandment, but I covet this jacket:
Oh, by the way, I just thought of Gary Numan for the the first time is years tonight because I just saw his amazing collaboration with Nine Inch Nails in the remake of his biggest hit "Cars". Okay, it happened four years ago, but it's hard to keep up with the music the young kids are listening to these days.
