05-22-2002, 05:26 PM
Let's go to an alternate universe. Everything is still the same, except it's the summer of the year 2000, and Mike Piazza is out of the closet and gay. I'm not saying Piazza IS gay. This is just a scenario.
Now, imagine that Piazza has gotten beaned by Roger Clemens, a known devout Christian and branded by the media as being an asshole.
Fast forward to the World Series, with the bat-shard throwing incident.
How fast do you think it would take the liberal media to brand this a "hate crime", even though Piazza's sexuality would have nothing to do with the fact that he simply hit a game winning HR off Clemens and Clemens was letting him feel some pain as payback.
Sexuality in sports makes no sense. I admit, I laughed when Jay Mohr had that line about Jeff Garcia, Kordell Stewart, and Greg Louganis in the steam room, but why do we CARE? Does the fact that someone takes it in das doomper makes him any worse or better of a ballplayer?
Granted, in Hollywood, it's different. If Ben Affleck was gay, it would be a lot harder to accept him as a romantic or action lead by the mass media.
Sports, it's different. It's all about what you do on the field, NOT how the public perceives you.
Just my 11 cents. (Ikea will get that reference.)
Now, imagine that Piazza has gotten beaned by Roger Clemens, a known devout Christian and branded by the media as being an asshole.
Fast forward to the World Series, with the bat-shard throwing incident.
How fast do you think it would take the liberal media to brand this a "hate crime", even though Piazza's sexuality would have nothing to do with the fact that he simply hit a game winning HR off Clemens and Clemens was letting him feel some pain as payback.
Sexuality in sports makes no sense. I admit, I laughed when Jay Mohr had that line about Jeff Garcia, Kordell Stewart, and Greg Louganis in the steam room, but why do we CARE? Does the fact that someone takes it in das doomper makes him any worse or better of a ballplayer?
Granted, in Hollywood, it's different. If Ben Affleck was gay, it would be a lot harder to accept him as a romantic or action lead by the mass media.
Sports, it's different. It's all about what you do on the field, NOT how the public perceives you.
Just my 11 cents. (Ikea will get that reference.)