By John McMullen
I suppose to some who haven't joined us in the 21st century -- John Amaechi's gay revelation was a story.
And -- to be fair -- any time a professional athlete outs himself I guess it deserves a mention, even if that athlete was a journeyman who never amounted to much.
Still, those who knew Amaechi weren't all that surprised by the announcement. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Amaechi's homosexuality was rumored and often discussed in the Jazz's locker room during his stay in ultra-conservative Utah.
"Speculation arises but nothing is confirmed and you just move on. It wasn't a big deal," Jarron Collins told the Tribune's Phil Miller.
So, despite all the testosterone that supposedly rules professional sports --the people actually involved -- players and media -- seemed to care little about Amaechi's sexual preference.
Except ESPN.
And that is the real story in the Amaechi saga. From day one ESPN manufactured this story as a cross-promotional branding scheme.
Amaechi's book is published by ESPN Books so as you might imagine -- the ESPN family of networks took credit for breaking the story.
Then Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com found the requisite homophobes -- two of which unfortunately resided in our city -- to play up that angle.
Which was tailor-made for Bob Ley and Company at Outside The Lines...
To fan the flames for...ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning, where you can just happen to tune in and listen to Amaechi tomorrow morning at 8:40 a.m (et).
Yep, Walt Disney would be proud -- ESPN truly is "The Sports Leader" even if they are "leading" us all astray.
I suppose to some who haven't joined us in the 21st century -- John Amaechi's gay revelation was a story.
And -- to be fair -- any time a professional athlete outs himself I guess it deserves a mention, even if that athlete was a journeyman who never amounted to much.
Still, those who knew Amaechi weren't all that surprised by the announcement. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Amaechi's homosexuality was rumored and often discussed in the Jazz's locker room during his stay in ultra-conservative Utah.
"Speculation arises but nothing is confirmed and you just move on. It wasn't a big deal," Jarron Collins told the Tribune's Phil Miller.
So, despite all the testosterone that supposedly rules professional sports --the people actually involved -- players and media -- seemed to care little about Amaechi's sexual preference.
Except ESPN.
And that is the real story in the Amaechi saga. From day one ESPN manufactured this story as a cross-promotional branding scheme.
Amaechi's book is published by ESPN Books so as you might imagine -- the ESPN family of networks took credit for breaking the story.
Then Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com found the requisite homophobes -- two of which unfortunately resided in our city -- to play up that angle.
Which was tailor-made for Bob Ley and Company at Outside The Lines...
To fan the flames for...ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning, where you can just happen to tune in and listen to Amaechi tomorrow morning at 8:40 a.m (et).
Yep, Walt Disney would be proud -- ESPN truly is "The Sports Leader" even if they are "leading" us all astray.
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