The NFL Pro Bowl rosters were released today, and I’m glad the coaches and players votes made up for the shortcomings of fans.  That Flozell Adams, left tackle for the Cowboys, was #5 in the last fan voting totals I saw is an absolutely disgrace; he is a revolving door for the pass rush and he false starts on every snap.  They rarely call it, but watch a game, it is remarkable.

Anyway, every year, there are notable snubs from each side and arguments are made for player X to replace Y.  One great athlete for another.  The most frequent “mistakes” are made when a player’s name carries more than their performances on the field.  But are you, or am I, going to say Ray Lewis shouldn’t be in the Pro Bowl?   What about Champ Bailey?

While it is quite a task to analyze every single position to see where there may be a debate, I was most interested to see which teams were left unrepresented.  Cincinnati, Kansas City, Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and Seattle.  I can understand KC, Detroit, TB, and Seattle–they didn’t exactly have the greatest years, but Cincy and Atlanta?  The Bengals have had a stellar year, specifically on the defensive side of the ball.  And although Atlanta didn’t get a repeat of Michael Turner’s special performance of last year, they still had Roddy White and Tony Gonzales with excellent years receiving deserving consideration.

The hardest part about making the case for a player to be on the roster is finding the player they should replace.  Toss on Gonzales and which tight end do you boot, Vernon Davis who could tie the TD reception record for a TE next week or Jason Witten who has 8 more catches and 100+ more yards than Tony G?  (If I had to choose, I’d boot Witten, obviously, since I’m a 49ers fan.)  What about Roddy White?  You may say, “Wait, Steve Smith of the Giants?  Not the Panthers?  Who is this guy, get him out of there.”  Yet, this Steve Smith is leading the NFC in receptions.

Ultimately, Roddy White should end up at the game due to the new structure with the Pro Bowl being played the week before the Super Bowl.  It’s quite possible that Arizona, Philly, Dallas, or Minnesota will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl making their star WR unavailable for the Pro Bowl and freeing that spot for White.  You will see a lot of shifting in this regard as whoever ends up in the Super Bowl will undoubtedly have a few Pro Bowlers that will need their spot filled.

Unless, of course, Cincinnati represents the AFC in the Super Bowl.  But as Chad Ochocinco tweeted today, “Just been informed myself nor any of my teammates made the Pro Bowl-bengal fans we wouldn’t be abe to play in it anyway! SUPER BOWL BABY!!!”  You have to love Chad Ochocinco.  And if you’re wondering, I’ll take Cedric Benson over Ray Rice and Leon Hall over Champ Bailey after the years they’ve had.

Oh, and one last comment: I love that they are having the game the week before and in the same city as the Super Bowl.  People will actually care about the game now, and from a business perspective, it turns that entire week into even more of a football extravaganza.  I think that Hawaii fought hard to get the game back on the islands, and if that happens, I hope they continue having it a week early.

Atlanta Falcons, Chad Ochocinco, Champ Bailey, Cincinnati Bengals, Flozell Adams, Jason Witten, NFL, Pro Bowl, Ray Lewis, Roddy White, Steve Smith, Tony Gonzales, Vernon Davis Hide

This past week, Gareth Thomas, a professional rugby player in Wales came out of the closet publically.  As I do not follow rugby, I had not heard of Thomas and was unable to grasp how significant it was for him to come out.  The OutSports blog post, where I originally saw the story, expressed the magnitude by comparing him as the Welsh version of Michael Phelps or Lance Armstrong (give or take).  Oh, okay, that’s big.

Yet still not knowing how much Cyd Zeigler, the author of the OutSports post, follows rugby either, I decided to ask a friend in the United Kingdom.  He replied to my inquiring instant message, “Haha, I didn’t know he was a bummer. Yeah, he is good.”  This response confirmed what I was hoping to hear about his talent level and also provided a new hilarious term for someone gay.  I really hope it is not overly derogatory, because I’d love to be able to acceptably call my friends bummers.

Anyway, the article that tells Thomas’ story is remarkable and I would highly recommend reading it.  British Lions rugby legend Gareth Thomas: ‘It’s ended my marriage and nearly driven me to suicide. Now it’s time to tell the world the truth – I’m gay’.  It is a bit of a long read, but it tells a story filled with themes that are common for many struggling in the closet.  His story captures the emotions that I am sure so many closeted athletes feel.  In it, Thomas speaks of the tremendous guilt he feels for marrying his ex-wife, how the struggle led him to consider suicide on multiple occasions, and how his team rallied around him when he began coming out privately a few years back.

Recalling the event when his first two teammates were told, “They came in, patted me on the back and said: ‘We don’t care. Why didn’t you tell us before?’”  The rest of his team was just as supportive: “I felt everyone was protecting me and closing in tight around me. No one distanced themselves from me, not one single person.”

Although he acknowledges that he’s “not going on any sort of crusade,” he notes that “the time is right for sport to start accepting openly gay people in the same way other professions have in recent years.”  Specifically, knowing first-hand the depression that can come from being in the closet, “He doesn’t want desperate young people confused over their sexuality, or worried about any other issue, to suffer in silence, as he did for almost 20 years, too terrified to tell anyone.”  I wish more closeted athletes realized the impact they could have to by coming out: it will absolutely save lives.

The article closes with hopes for the future, “Statistically I can’t be the only one, but I’m not aware of any other gay player still in the game.  I’d love for it, in ten years’ time, not to even be an issue in sport, and for people to say: ‘So what?’”

Gareth Thomas, gay athletes, OutSports, rugby, Wales Hide

In a rollercoaster time of ups and downs, victories and defeats, the trend toward acceptance and equal rights for the gay community has certainly been upwards.  And it is this trend that, when there are disappointing poll results or disgusting hate crimes, allows myself and others to remain positive.  Today was another significant “up” and a sign of how times are changing: Houston, the 4^th largest city in the country, elected an openly gay woman as its mayor.  With 53.6 percent of the vote in the runoff election, Annise Parker triumphed over fellow democrat, Gene Locke.  Houston joins other prominent cities with openly gay mayors: Portland, OR; Cambridge, MA; and Providence, RI.  A victory in a notably more conservative state and in a much larger city is remarkable.

The most compelling subplot in this story was that neither Parker nor Locke made an issue of her sexuality during the campaign.  In what was reported as a sludge-fest between the two, I am glad and thankful that Locke restrained himself in this regard.  Unfortunately, however, there were plenty of Locke’s supporters who were not as mature.  During the run-off campaign, conservative and anti-gay groups sent out flyers highlighting Parker’s relationship with a woman.  I have no clue what they may have said, aside from pointing out the obvious, considering that Parker has been in a committed relationship with her partner for 19 years.  How anyone could try to highlight that as a bad thing is beyond me.

Annise Parker, gay rights movement, Gene Locke, Houston, Texas Hide

Earlier this week, Tim Thomas, NBA basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks, was involved in an altercation at Denny’s at 3 a.m.  Thomas has yet to speak with the press, but there are mixed stories coming from the Dallas Mavericks, those involved in the altercation, and Roger Emerich, a sports reporter who was conveniently also at the Denny’s at the time.

According to the police report (link), Damien Pettie recognized Thomas at the Denny’s and said, “What’s up?”  The response, which Pettie says came from Thomas, but is disputed as coming from one of his friends, was “Don’t talk to me faggot bitch ass nigga.”  A quite creative and intelligent insult, I know.  Anyway, Pettie, who is not gay but was there with some gay friends, responded back with a “Fuck you!”  According to the police report, one of Thomas’s friends then punched Pettie in the mouth twice and the groups started fighting, knocking over tables, throwing chairs, etc.  The store manager stated he was going to call the police; Thomas, his friend, and “unknown females” ducked out.  I love that the police report says “unknown females,” a plural.  I read another report that there were three women with him.

Now, the convenient sports reporter on the scene, Roger Emerich, has come to the defense of Thomas.  He stated he never heard Thomas make any slurs, and also that Thomas left the scene without being involved in the altercation.  Not hearing a remark is certainly different from there actually not being a remark, however.  Although he is a reporter, I doubt he was listening to every word coming from Thomas’s table.  Further, having a previous relationship with Thomas and being connected through the industry, understandably, there could be bias in the way he saw and chose to give his account of the incident.

I also find the response from the Mavericks organization lacking.  Donnie Nelson, the team’s general manager stated that the entire situation was being overblown, and in defending Thomas said, “What I can tell you is that Tim was not involved,” he said.  “He’s 30 years old with a wife and kids.” Um, if you cannot refute that he was there at 3am with an unknown quantity of females, I am not going to give much weight to the argument that he is a family man that is above all of this.  Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, acknowledged that Thomas was at the scene, but he also stated that that it was just his friends who participated in the scuffle.  Even if he did not throw any punches or toss any chairs, his words may have been the source that escalated the conflict.  He also left the scene prior to police showing up.

Interestingly, this incident comes just over a month after another Dallas Maverick, Drew Gooden, was also accused of calling some fans at a game faggots.  Each incident has conflicting stories, but to have two in such a short span from one team should be an embarrassment to the franchise.  I would not be surprised if the team mandated some sort of team-wide gay sensitivity training.  Cuban is one of the premier owners in the NBA; he values his team’s image far too much to allow these incidents to continue.

Dallas Mavericks, Donnie Nelson, Drew Gooden, gay slurs, Mark Cuban, Tim Thomas Hide

It was a remarkable weekend for college football; the games exemplified what we love about the sport.  10 games; 7 decided by less than a touchdown.  And the other three?  Oh, we had an unranked team upset a ranked one, a powerhouse 1 vs. 2 matchup, and a team putting an exclamation point on their undefeated regular season.  I am an NFL fan first; but simply, you only get weekends of football like that in the FBS (I hate this acronym for college football, by the way).

The passion, intensity, team and university pride, and unforgettable moments kicked off Thursday with the “Civil War” between Oregon and Oregon State in a battle to meet Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.  The excitement lasted through the last second kick on Saturday night to send Texas to meet Alabama in the BCS Championship game.

The Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game was incredible.  Arizona upset USC in Los Angeles.  Alabama flexed their muscle in the SEC behind very confident play from their quarterback, Greg McElroy, and a solid rushing performance by Mark Ingram.  Georgia Tech squeaked by Clemson despite a Heisman-worthy, 233 yard, 4 TD rushing day from CJ Spiller.  The Nebraska defense, led by a remarkable 4.5 sack performance by Ndumakong Suh, stifled the high-powered Texas offense which needed 1 second returned through replay to make a long field goal at the end of the game to prevent the BCS system from spiraling into pandemonium.

And that is only a small list of some of the storylines from the weekend.

Now, the BCS, a reason to hate college football, shouldn’t be let off easy solely because it will end up with the two “right” teams in the championship game: an undefeated Texas versus an undefeated SEC champion Alabama.  Three undefeated teams will not have a chance to contend for the national championship.  I do not want to wait until after Cincinnati, TCU, and Boise State to play in their bowl games, win or lose, to determine whether they deserved a shot.  You cannot speculate, in hindsight after their bowl results, how they would have performed in a playoff system.  They deserve a shot to prove how great they are and can be when it matters.  They really deserve that chance.

I’m going to cut off my BCS diatribe there and save a more lengthy analysis for later.  Thankfully, due to the horrendous system, I have almost 5 underwhelming weeks until the BCS championship game to gather my thoughts.

BCS, CJ Spiller, College football, FBS, football, Greg McElroy, Mark Ingram, Ndamakong Suh Hide