Gay Athletes and Professional Sports: Will They Coexist?

When basketball great (in his mind) Charles Barkley gets a lot of play in the media, most of the time it is for something stupid he said. This time he actually contributed to an intelligent debate in sports.

In an interview with radio station 106.7 The Fan, Barkley said that he had gay teammates on several teams and had no problem playing and sharing a locker room with them.

This after both Phoenix Suns CEO Rick Welts and former Villanova basketball player Will Sheridan came out this week and announced that they are gay. Since then, the debate has raged on about how sexuality is viewed in the locker room.

While many former athletes have come out, there have been no male athletes to do so during their playing career. This is probably due to speculation about what might happen in the locker room and with teammates if one did so.

The problem is there is no precedent set; it has never happened before, so who knows what will happen? But as sports fans we always find the negative and worst-case scenarios.

The bigger issue is the fear of the unknown; once they get past that there will be no problem.

Having several male gay friends and acquaintances, I can say there will be no issue once an athlete comes out. They are no different than any other person. It’s not like it is a contagious disease; it is just who they are.

I was never treated differently or ever felt uncomfortable around my gay friends, even in the locker room changing. In fact, several times there were numerous jokes about it.

Barkley agrees, saying that he never felt threatened or hit on and was never bothered by gay teammates.

Just because they have different preferences in their personal lifestyle doesn’t mean that they are any different in their professional life.

Sheridan said his teammates were aware and had no problems with him.

Sheridan first told his roommate, then as time passed he told other teammates as he felt comfortable and trusted them.

Does a straight athlete who likes to sleep around make the other married athletes nervous? No, there are boundaries and professionalism. A professional sports locker room isn’t a fraternity; there are rules and personal boundaries that are respected.  

Sure, there has never been a male gay athlete who has come out during his career, and if there is one, for all we know the world could end and come crashing down on us. But I have a feeling that isn’t going to happen and everybody is going to be OK.

Observations from the week that was May 14-20:

The new book on ESPN is about to come out, and it should be a good read, especially since they had to cut out 400 pages of it ...

For all the people who think Jerry Coleman should not be broadcasting anymore due to his “Colemanisms,” I am surprised that there isn’t a larger contingent that wants Dick Enberg out, as his mistakes are glaring and have started to increase …

ESPN launched a new website called ESPNW, which is focused on women’s sports, and could produce some very interesting content. Especially since women’s sports are still regarded as second fiddle to men’s sports ...

I like TNT and its basketball coverage, but somewhere in their score graphic they need to put who is winning the series. I flipped on the Heat-Bulls game the other night and was too lazy to grab my laptop and see who was winning the series. So after watching the fantastic three for a few minutes, I changed the channel …

And finally, ESPN published an article on some of the new features that will be in the Madden ’12 game. So the NFL may be locked out, but gamers won’t be locked out of another addition to the Madden franchise …

Fantasy corner:

Washington Nationals GM Mike Rizzo announced that first pick in the 2010 draft, Bryce Harper, will not be called up to the majors this year, so the 8 percent of people that own him in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues can now drop him. Unless, of course, you are in a dynasty or super deep keeper league.

Sports tweet of the week:

This section might as well be called the Chad Ochocinco (@ochocinco) tweet of the week. For this week’s installment, Chad tweets at NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell (@nflcommish):

“@nflcommish Dad how much would you fine me if I rode the bull #DeJaBlu after a touchdown,only a 1.5 second celebration.”

Then a short time later, “@nflcommish if I ride a bull in the endzone you'd fine me a bulligerent amount of money (get it bull-igerent) correct way = belligerent.”

For the record:

Can people stop talking about moving the fences in at PETCO Park?!? It doesn’t matter how close they are. If the Padres can’t hit the ball out of the infield it doesn’t matter where the fences are. So leave the fences where they are.