TBT#1 The Jason Collins Experiment (Originally posted 4/30/13)

And so it begins. The first openly gay athlete in the United States of America, in a major sport. In its second most popular sport, the NBA. Everyone has reported every bit of information on this particular subject. Yet some people are still wrestling with acceptance of Jason Collins. Of course it seems like the NBA players are rallying behind him with support from Baron Davis & Kobe Bryant out of the gate.

Yet you still have some very prominent media members like Chris Broussard who makes a mockery of both religion & the NBA. He says he was raised in a church & essentially didn’t believe in people being gay on ESPN’s Outside the Lines… yet many of the NBA players that he fraternizes commonly cheat on their wives & girlfriends. How does this not also violate his religious beliefs? I mean I’m sure they don’t get married every night to a different girl, with the church annulling their previous marriage. So today we are here to take on two issues. The first is how religion plays into the social structure of both sport & society.  Then we go back to talking about the first openly gay man in major American sports.

Religion first. I spoke of Chris Broussard & his opinion. A lot of players seem to praise religion on camera yet go against religion off camera with arrest after arrest. Now should that be looked at as direct violation? No because the two things people forget about with religion. Tolerance. We should always tolerate others. We are not here to judge based on a religious point of view. The other? Acceptance. You should always love & accept everyone.

Now my family isn’t an overly religious family. There are certain members who do go to church every Sunday. Others would rather a more private study or a firm belief in what God brings. Yet when bringing up one God you have to address them all. Different religions bring in different points of views with similar stories. The zealots of religion each denounce the others and proclaim their religion as the best and only true religion. Yet that directly violates all religious beliefs at those points making each a hypocrite. Those people are ignorant.

The same ignorant people are mostly uneducated, posting long blurbs on facebook. Maybe they have a high school diploma. They most likely haven't studied the subject matter. They seem to be a more narrow minded pool that would have derogatory things to say about gay people. Why? They've probably never met an openy gay person. That narrow scope only allows them to see a small section of what is really going on. They say, “Oh my god why would anyone say that/do that?” What they mean is that it’s different and they don’t understand. The reason I brought up education before isn't to denounce them. Some people go into skilled professions that don't need the college experience. They should still open themselves up to other religions, other types of people even if they don't go through that experience. The more people from different backgrounds that you seek out, the more you can learn about that particular denomination of people. 

People who do understand mostly go to college, or  travel and meet new people and new cultures. They don't live in a social echo chamber.  Not because you learn an exponential amount of information in classes. That's just busy work to see if you can follow menial tasks. Not because you get a degree that gives you a sudden qualification for jobs you lacked the day before. But the thing it does do is introduce you to diversity. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a foreign exchange student in high school. His name was Martin & he was from Germany. We both ran track. I had previously had an uncle serve in Germany so I was pretty good at German trivia. Yet I never looked at Martin as some “foreign born person” or as someone who was different. He was a guy who was breathing air and running in a circle just like myself. Then in college, even at a small college in Montgomery, West Virginia (WVU Tech or West Virginia University Institute of Technology) they had several people there to study at the engineering school. That’s not even counting people there to play sports from all over the United States of America, and other countries. There I met a guy I still come into contact with to this day. A soccer player from England named Jonny Day. We went to college together for four years before I dropped out for personal reasons and he went on to graduate. Back in England, we communicate through social networks just like most friends do. The experiences in the classroom just from talking him shows that even someone across the sea isn’t different. I liked soccer, or futbol to him. He liked football, well football to me. We understood that the music we listen to was the same or the most part. Again I accepted a person without even questioning anything. That’s diversity. I understand and enjoy sociology, especially the study of different cultures.

So why do so many people discriminate against Gay people? What’s wrong with them? Being gay isn’t a disease. It’s not really a decision made. You can’t control the impulses of what attracts you. I don’t care what level of emotional ability and control you have. Eventually impulses take over. I’m a shell of my former self as an athlete after so many injuries yet my instincts are still there. I know how to react. I know why to react. The same thing can be said for a person feeling an emotion or impulse about another person. 

And yes of course I’ll share an experience with a gay person. That person would be a current co-worker and former roommate Dominique. At a point she went through a rough patch. We shared a house for nearly 5 months. When I left she was in a better place. She would definitely tell you I’m not a fan of discrimination. I’m all for assimilation.

So why don’t we praise Jason Collins as the Jackie Robinson of the LGBT community? We spend a lot of time on the sociology aspect as to if football players would accept LGBT people or i hockey players would do the same thing. Well, basketball players seem to be surprising people because people don’t typically go against the grain of what Kobe says. Baron Davis said Fuck the haters. Jason Collins should do exactly that. He should want to be happy. Whether that’s being out of the closet or in the closet. He chose to come out. Should it inspire someone to be on the fringe of coming out to do so? If that’s what they want. But if they want to be who they are, then they should follow the leader. You should never shy away from something you want to do. That’s why I’m back in college at Marshall University in August. A year away from a Sports Management Degree. So obviously I’m writing about something I believe in. 

The only criticism I have of the situation is that he did it after the season. Bradley Beal, one of his teammates on the Washington Wizards, came out in support of him. The only problem is Jason Collins contract up. I’ve already heard on espn that some GMS think that he’s done. Yet they cite age as the reason. Players who haven’t started for the majority of their careers have long shelf lives. Why? They don’t log the minutes someone like Kobe did before he got hurt. The same with Kevin Garnett. So a guy who averages something like 3.8 boards, and 3.6 points in like 10 minutes wouldn’t be welcome? Well anyone over 7 feet that puts those numbers also alters shots even if they don’t block them. Did I mention he is considered a defensive specialist? A lot of teams need help trying to defend guys like Dwight Howard. But even though I criticize it being after his season. I hope he gets a chance to walk into the locker room. Not because he will face scrutiny and we got ignorant people everywhere. But because he can prove those people wrong. Throw up a few career highs and be known as the guy in North America that came out as gay.

In this country Gay people are fighting for the right to be married. They are fighting for the right to be accepted. I say good luck to them. Not because I think they violate religious freedom because marriage is defined… but because I’ve been married. It’s insanity. It lasted maybe three months. If they really want to fight for that right who am I to stop them? People can fight gay marriage all they want. In the next 5-10 years every state should have the right vote it in. That’s America. We're diverse. Our country is considering the melting pot of the world because we have so many different cultures. Not even 20% of the population is native. We all came walking, on boats, planes to live here in the land of the free. Jason Collins, thank you for ushering a new era. From one man to another, just be yourself. That’s what I do every day.