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February 14, 2007

John Amaechi in ESPN Magazine

ESPN Magazine has a long article made up of excerpts from John Amaechi's book about being in the closet as an NBA player. It's definitely worth a read, and I'm definitely going to read the whole book. Two passages stood out:

...Plus, I had another convenient excuse: I'm English. It's an old phenomenon, dating back to the film stars of the '20s, when audiences would ask, Is he gay or is he British? Every time I did something eccentric, like bringing my fabulously flaming friends to games, people would quip, "Oh, he's just English. Leave him alone."

And:

Sometime after Christmas of my last Utah season, in 2002, [Andrei Kirilenko] instant-messaged an invitation to his New Year's Eve party. Then he wrote something that brought tears to my eyes: "Please come, John. You are welcome to bring your partner, if you have one, someone special to you. Who it is makes no difference to me."

Very interesting stuff. Don't expect to come out of it with a newfound respect for Utah coach Jerry Sloan, though.

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Comments

i like this post because i probably wouldn't have known about this otherwise, and the book seems really articulate as well as worthwhile.

i also like it cuz everytime i see it i think of don amechi, name-wise. i don't know how this guy pronounces his name but i have my hopes.

but here's what i don't like: tim hardaway's gross "brain." did you see this? or maybe a more newsy piece about this incident of hatespeak?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6477716?MSNHPHCP>1=9131
(i don't know a fancy way to make it easy and lovely to click that link)
so if you're pressed for time, check out this gem of an excerpt:
*
The five time All Star was asked how he would deal with a gay teammate.

"First of all I wouldn't want him on my team," said Hardaway. "Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that's right and I don't think he should be in the locker room when we're in the locker room."
*
nothing like an us-vs-them assertion and either the assumption that all gay men are attracted to folks who are scared of 'em or that he runs the risk of 'catching' gay.

Posted by: christine | February 15, 2007 11:40 PM