Openly gay in the NFL

March 26th, 2013 | By love not hate

The National Football League may soon be faced with its first openly gay player – a man who intends to keep playing after coming out.

Football has never had a gay active player in its nearly 100-year history, but some have argued that it’s time for a change.

That change is likely to come sooner rather than later, as a player is reportedly preparing to make a public announcement about his sexual orientation before the 2013 season.

Divisive issue: There has never been an openly gay active player in football’s nearly 100-year history

Activists: Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, left, and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, right, have emerged as outspoken LGBT advocates in the NFL

CBS sportswriter Mike Freeman writes: ‘I’m told that a current gay NFL player is strongly considering coming out publicly within the next few months – and after doing so, the player would attempt to continue his career.’

Freeman did not say who the player is or any specifics about when his announcement would be made.

But whoever the player is, he can count on the support of former players like Scott Fujita and active stars like Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo, who are all outspoken LGBT advocates.

Fujita told Freeman: ‘I honestly think the players of the NFL have been ready for an openly gay player for quite some time now.

Controversy: Chris Culliver sparked uproar when he suggested that gay men were not welcome in the 49ers locker room

He added: ‘Trust me, the coming out of a player would create much bigger waves outside the locker room than inside.’

But on the opposite end of the spectrum are opponents and a culture of homophobia.

Days before the Super Bowl, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver was asked about the prospect of gay players in the locker room during a radio interview.

Culliver shot back: ‘I don’t do the gay guys man. I don’t do that.’

When asked if he believed there were any gay players on the 49ers roster, Culliver responded: ‘No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do.’

Culliver later issued a bizarre apology for his remarks, saying that the comments were a ‘reflection of thoughts in my head’ but not representative of how he feels.

A debate about gay players in the NFL was sparked anew in the Manti Te’o ‘fake girlfriend’ hoax, where the former Notre Dame football star claimed that he was the victim of a prankster who was posing as a woman and later faked her death.

It was alleged that Te’o was gay and had invented the online persona in an attempt to cover it up.

He denied he was behind the scam – as well as being gay – in an interview with talk show host Katie Couric.

Hoax: A debate about gay players in the NFL was sparked anew in the Manti Te’o ‘fake girlfriend’ scandal, where the star claimed that he was the victim of an online prankster

At the NFL scouting combine earlier this month, Te’o – as well as several other players – were reportedly asked about their sexual orientations.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called such a line of questioning ‘unacceptable,’ and the New York attorney general has urged the league to investigate.

Michigan quarterback-turned-receiver Denard Robinson, Colorado tight end Nick Kasa and Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell indicated they were asked about their sexual orientation at the combine earlier this month in Indianapolis.

Holding firm: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said asking potential players to reveal their sexual orientation is ‘unacceptable’

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Hottest MC’s In the Game!!!!

March 8th, 2013 | By love not hate

Why wouldn’t the overly dedicated Kendrick Lamar be concerned with his position in the rap game?

With his guest verse on A$AP Rocky‘s “1 Train,” K-Dot made it clear that playing second fiddle was of no interest to him. “If I’m not the hottest, than hell must’ve froze over,” he spit in a poignant and measured tone.

Well, someone tell Kendrick that the underworld is still intact because the Compton, California, native has just been crowned the Hottest MC in the Game by MTV’s Hip-Hop Brain Trust.

“I think when it’s all said and done, Kendrick Lamar is going to be an important voice of his generation,” said MTV News Senior Hip Hop Writer Rob Markman.

K-Dot earned the #1 spot in a unanimous decision, while 2 Chainz landed in the #2 slot. While both MCs made indelible marks in the last year, it was Kendrick’s artistry and commercial appeal that helped him earn the title. Lyrically, Lamar is an expert spitter who weaves complex rhyme patterns around soul-drenched beats, with as unique a style as rap has seen in years. And while verbal depth isn’t usually a marker for rap success, the Compton rapper moved major units when he dropped his debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Released in October on Interscope by Top Dawg Entertainment and Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, the LP earned Kendrick a gold plaque before 2012 was over and is making its way toward platinum status with more than 700,000 units sold to date. The Drake-assisted “Poetic Justice” just crept into the Billboard‘s top 10 on the Rap charts, while his platinum-selling commentary on alcoholism, “Swimming Pools (Drank),” hit #1 on the Rap Songs chart. “Every time you listen to the album you get something new. I was worried that he was such a great lyricist that that wouldn’t translate to sales and then he blew it out of the water,” said RapFix Blog Editor Nadeska Alexis.

Off the strength of his music, Kendrick was able to cross over, making a key appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in January that included a collaboration with comedian Andy Samberg and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine on the iTunes chart-topper “YOLO.”

When it came to collabs, however, there was no question 2 Chainz had the rap game on lock, but what Kendrick lacked in quantity he made up for in quality. He turned up on the final verse of A$AP Rocky’s Billboardbeast “F—in’ Problems” and Schoolboy Q’s deep and penetrating “Blessed.” Then there was Lamar’s headlining run on the BET Music Matters Tour, his European run and a Coachella set that saw him perform alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and the infamous Tupac hologram.

But even with all of the metrics, it’s Kendrick’s impact on the game that he’ll be most remembered for when the hip-hop community looks back on the year. Artistically, good kid was the album with which all albums were measured by in 2012. Not only did it resonate with fans, it was also a commercial success in an era where albums don’t thrive like they used to.

“I think he gives inspiration to the kid whose pen game is serious and maybe he’s not so concerned with what I wear, or the slang or my ad-libs; he’s just going into lyrics,” Markman said. “I think Kendrick is kinda shifting the momentum of hip-hop a little bit.”

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Dustin Hoffman plants gay kiss on One Direction’s Niall

December 12th, 2012 | By love not hate

Throughout the years, there have been many celebrity pairings that have caught us by surprise.

Well Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas can finally breathe a sigh of relief because we have discovered the latest mismatched couple.

On the Late Night show with David Letterman, the hottest new British boyband One Direction were on the sofa to chat about their second album Take Me Home.

American actor Dustin Hoffman, 75, clearly could not resist the charms of Irish heartthrob Niall Horan, 19, and planted a kiss on him at the beginning of the interview.

The rest of the band Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles could not suppress the giggles at the steamy encounter.

Since coming third on the British version of The X Factor, One Direction has become one of the most popular boybands worldwide.

The members have been besieged by gay rumors, with fans giving Tomlinson and Styles the ‘couple nickname’ of Larry Stylinson.

In June, the story of Styles and Horan seen apparently nearly locking lips went viral, while actually they were just whispering to each other during a performance of ‘What Makes You Beautiful’.

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Jeremy Scott fitted hats #ArabSpringCollection

December 7th, 2012 | By love not hate

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THE HEAT IS ON FIRE!

June 15th, 2012 | By love not hate

OKLAHOMA CITY — “Resilient” is not a word most people use to describe the  Miami Heat, but since I’m not allowed to repeat the words they do use, let’s  start with that one. In one of the toughest road venues in the NBA — season on  the line, world ready to pounce — the Heat were tougher, stronger and just  grittier than the Oklahoma City Thunder.

At the end, it looked like the Heat escaped with a 100-96 win in Game 2 to  even the NBA Finals. There was Kevin Durant, ball in hand, team down two,  releasing a shot he so often makes, and possibly getting fouled by LeBron James.  The shot missed. No foul was called. This being the NBA in 2012, it immediately  became the most outrageous bad call since British Prime Minster Neville  Chamberlain declared “peace for our time” in 1938, but really, there are worse  NBA calls in every game. If that happened in the second quarter nobody would  remember it by halftime.

The Thunder and Heat were not fooled. They know that Miami was the better  team in Game 2. The obsession over this particular foul call is annoying because  it just adds to the narrative that everything is handed to the Heat on a  diamond-studded platter carried by Jim Gray. And that was not the story of this  game.

If you can strip away all of your feelings about the Heat, good or bad,  hopefully you can appreciate what Miami did. The Thunder are younger, deeper and  just as athletic. But here was Chris Bosh, still coming back from an injury,  grabbing 15 rebounds, and here was Dwyane Wade, who might be injured himself,  putting up extra shots before tip-off and scoring 24 points, and here was Shane  Battier, who waited forever to go deep into the playoffs, sinking five of seven  three-pointers.

“We’re not the best passing team in the history of basketball, and I’ve let  people know that on my team,” Battier said with a laugh. “I’ve told guys, ‘Give  me good passes and I’m going to make some shots.’”

These guys aren’t the aging Celtics, but they aren’t young, either. They have  struggled to figure out how to play together, and to deal with what coach Erik  Spoelstra calls “noise.” Well, they are figuring it out. That doesn’t mean they  will win the series. But this looked like the team that Pat Riley envisioned in  the summer of 2010.

James was the best player on the floor, playing everything from point guard  to power forward. Miami’s defense was relentless and disruptive. Bosh said he  “absolutely” thought this was a must-win game, and Miami embraced that pressure.  That has not always been the case with this team. Perhaps you’ve heard about  that.

Miami led 18-2 and then tried to get James involved. The Thunder  played catch-up the whole way after that, and Oklahoma City almost did make it  all the way back, but oddly, that made Miami’s win even more impressive to  me.

I recognize that it might have looked different on TV. But in the building,  with the Thunder crowd going nuts and Durant also going nuts … well, wilting  would have been easy. The Heat sent a message to Oklahoma City: We will not  fold. You want this title, you’ll have to take it.

Now, back to that non-call in the final minute. A bizarre series of events  led to it. Wade was stripped at midcourt. Durant got a wide-open three in  transition. Then Miami did something silly: It bled the clock and let James take  a three-pointer as the shot clock wound down with no screen, no action, no  anything. It was bad strategy, because the Thunder would have plenty of time to  score anyway, and up two, Miami needed a basket more than it needed an extra  three or four seconds. Plus, James and Wade had been getting to the rim all  night. Sometimes the Heat offense doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Anyway, that led to the Durant shot, and the James non-call. But James still  had to hit two free throws to finish the game, and he did. He was 12 for 12 from  the line.

For all the amazing plays from James — the leaning bank shot, the bullet  passes to open shooters — the Heat cannot win the title on highlights. Miami  needs guts. In what is starting to look like an all-time-great NBA Finals, Miami  showed guts.

Once Miami built its big early lead, you knew the Thunder would make some  kind of comeback, and the only question was whether Miami was tough enough to  withstand it. The Heat did.

It was not a perfect night. Miami probably should have gone harder at Durant  when he had five fouls — Battier said they wanted to — but that could have  taken the Heat out of their offense completely, because Durant was not guarding  James, Wade or Bosh at that point. Miami could have played a little better in  the fourth quarter.

But champions don’t have to play like champions all the time. They just have  to believe they are champions all the time. The Heat can’t win this series on  talent. Battier said, “The effort it took to win this one game was monumental,”  and the Heat will need that kind of effort the rest of the way to win. But this  year, they know it, and they know how to produce it. And that is why they can  win.

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Access denied for LIL WAYNE

June 1st, 2012 | By love not hate

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Marlins suspend manager Guillen for 5 games

April 10th, 2012 | By love not hate

The Miami Marlins suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games, effective immediately, on Tuesday, just before Guillen apologized for recent comments praising Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Guillen sparked a firestorm when he told Time magazine recently that he respected Castro for being able to lead Cuba for six decades.

“I respect Fidel Castro,” Guillen said in the article. “You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there.”

Guillen apologized during a press conference Tuesday, first speaking in Spanish, saying that he had “betrayed a Latin community” and that he was speaking to “ask for forgiveness with my heart in my hand.”

But, he said, he originally spoke of Castro in Spanish and “the translation to English was a bit confusing.”

In response to questions in English on Tuesday, Guillen said he was “very stupid” to make comments outside of baseball.

“Politics has nothing to do with sports,” Guillen said.

“This is the biggest mistake so far in my life,” he said.

Guillen said with the comments he’d let down the community.

“I’m very, very, very sorry,” he said. “I will do everything in my power to make it better.”

“I live in Miami, my family is in Miami,” he said. “I will do everything in my power … to help this community like I always do.”

“I’m sitting here very embarrassed and very sad,” he said at the press conference.

“I’m gonna be a Miami guy for the rest of my life,” Guillen said. “I want to walk in the street with my head up and not feel as bad as I feel right now.”

Guillen pledged to follow through on his promises to help out in Miami’s Latin and Cuban communities.

“I’m going to be behind them 100%,” he said.

He said he wanted to be with the team, which plays in Philadelphia again on Wednesday, but would not fight the suspension.

“I cannot complain about anything because I am not in a position to complain about anything they want to do with me,” he said.

Guillen said he showed poor judgement, but not lack of intelligence, with the original Castro comments.

“You don’t have this job if you’re dumb,” he said. “If I don’t learn from this, I will call myself dumb.”

The team said Tuesday the original comments were hurtful.

“The pain and suffering caused by Fidel Castro cannot be minimized in a community filled with victims of the dictatorship,” the team said in a statement before Guillen’s press conference.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said the suspension of Guillen was appropriate.

“I expect those who represent Major League Baseball to act with the kind of respect and sensitivity that the game’s many cultures deserve. Mr. Guillen’s remarks, which were offensive to an important part of the Miami community and others throughout the world, have no place in our game,” Selig said in a statement.

Guillen earlier in the week said he had apologized to Cuban-Americans in the Marlins organization, including Spanish-language broadcasters Felo Ramirez and Yiki Quintana, as well as Cuban-born Phillies pitcher Jose Contreras, ESPN reported.

The Marlins released a statement saying there was nothing to respect about Castro, “a brutal dictator who has caused unthinkable pain for more than 50 years. We live in a community filled with victims of this dictatorship, and the people in Cuba continue to suffer today.”

Guillen backtracked on Sunday and apologized to anyone he offended with the Castro remark, telling the Palm Beach Post that he is “against everything, 100%,” regarding Castro’s reign in Cuba.
Elaborating on his use of the term, “respect,” he said, “I respect (President) Obama, I respect (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chavez because I always respect people.”
Perhaps lost in the controversy were Guillen’s remarks late last week that for a quarter century or more he has gotten drunk and gone to sleep after every game.

“I’ve got my routine. Game’s over, stay in the lobby of the hotel, the hotel bar, get drunk and go to sleep,” he told the Palm Beach Post.

“I get drunk because I’m happy because we won or get drunk because I’m very sad and disturbed because we lose. Same routine for 25, 28 years. It hasn’t changed. I don’t like to go out.”

Guillen was named the Marlins manager on September 28. He previously managed the Chicago White Sox for eight years, including leading them to the 2005 World Series title.

He is a native of Venezuela and became a U.S. citizen in 2006.

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HS basketball star shot and killed

September 13th, 2011 | By love not hate

One of the nation’s top girls high school basketball prospects was gunned down inside her apartment building in what her friends and family say was a case of mistaken identity.

According to published reports, 18-year-old Tayshana Murphy, nicknamed Chicken, was shot and killed around 4:10 a.m. Sunday morning in the Grant Harlem housing projects.

According to the NY Daily News, Murphy, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, left a party at 4 a.m. with a group of friends from her housing project. She was confronted by a gunman and chased through an alley.

According to some who were at the party, Murphy was mistaken by her assailant for a boy who was wearing the same sweatshirt. She pleaded her innocence to the gunman.

“She was pleading for her life,” Teka Taylor, one of Murphy’s close friends, told the Daily News. “She was saying, ‘No, please, I don’t have nothing to do with it.’”

Hours after Tayshana was pronounced dead, her mother Stephanie Holston spoke to the NY Daily News about her daughter’s dreams to move her out of the ghetto.

“She said, ‘Mom, I’m going to get you out of the projects,’ ” said Holston who was still wearing a t-shirt stained with her daughter’s blood. “She loved basketball, she lived and breathed basketball.”

Murphy, who was rated the class of 2012′s No. 16 point guard by ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz recruiting site, was cited as one of the top girl’s basketball prospects in the city by the Daily News. She had drawn interest from several colleges, her family said.

Tayshana’s killer is still at large.

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Mississippi High School Football Player Dies After Collapsing on Field

September 10th, 2011 | By love not hate

Football – SPORTS

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. — A Mississippi Gulf Coast high school football player died Friday night after collapsing on the field during a game, authorities said.

D’Iberville High School football player Latrell “Fred” Dunbar was pronounced dead at 9:50 p.m. Friday at Ocean Springs Hospital, Jackson County Coroner Vicki Broadus told The Sun Herald.

WLOX-TV reported Dunbar was given CPR on the field before medics arrived. It was not immediately clear what caused his death.

D’Iberville coach Buddy Singleton told The Clarion-Ledger that Dunbar collapsed during the third quarter while returning to the huddle after a play. Dunbar, a junior running back, did not carry the ball on the play.

D’Iberville is just north of Biloxi, an area that was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. D’Iberville was playing at Gautier, another Mississippi Gulf Coast community.

Singleton said paramedics and physicians “did everything possible.”

“I’ve been in this a long time and I have always feared something like this would happen,” said the 70-year-old coach. “He was a great kid.”

Play was stopped while Dunbar was taken off the field. Singleton said the players voted to continue with the game, which D’Iberville went on to win, 17-14.

Afterward, the players were told their teammate had died.

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Former NBA referee ‘shot himself’ dead just days after wife found strangled

August 18th, 2011 | By love not hate

A former NBA referee shot and killed himself on the same day his wife was found strangled at their Houston area home, according to police.

Police found Troy Raymond in a suburban New Orleans hotel room with a gun shot wound to the head.

According to investigators, Raymond was a ‘person of interest’ in the death of his wife, Leslie Anderson Raymond, whose body was discovered last Thursday at their home in Spring.

Raymond was fired from his NBA job in 2004 after executives discovered he had told them a series of lies about his past.

According to the New York Daily News, the rookie referee told NBA chiefs he had been in the Airforce and had written on his resume that he played football for the University of Colorado national championship team in 1990.

Both stories turned out to be false.

Speaking to the paper, two current referees – who wanted to remain anonymous – did not have fond memories of Raymond.

One of them said: ‘He was a first-year guy who was here for a cup of coffee, and when he left the cup was still warm.

He added: ‘You hear the expression, ‘here today, gone tomorrow.’

‘Well, he was gone right away.

‘There were rumors about his dishonesty all over the place. That story about the Air Force had a lot of holes in it.’

Tim Holifield, a Montgomery County constable, said that Raymond hasn’t been named a suspect in his wife’s killing and it’s premature to connect their deaths.

Raymond was a NBA referee during the 2003-04 season and has refereed college games.

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Young Jeezy brings Lil Wayne to Birthday Bash ATL!

June 20th, 2011 | By love not hate

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Another football player stabbed by girlfriend this time: Jason Hunter from the Denver Broncos

April 28th, 2011 | By love not hate

Hunter was taken to a Detroit-area hospital, though details of the incident have not been released. His agent said in the report it was a minor injury.

“We are aware of the reports regarding Jason Hunter and are currently in the process of gathering information and reviewing the facts,” the Broncos said in a statement on the website. “Our thoughts are with Jason, and we are hopeful he makes a quick recovery.”

Hunter has played five seasons in the NFL including one with the Broncos. He played every game for the team last season and finished with 61 tackles and three sacks.

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Stay connected to our blog V.I.A TEXT

March 3rd, 2011 | By love not hate

Text: 2thepoint to 90210 to stay connected to latest music, videos, fashion, gossip, nude celebs, new singles and more!

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Funds low? The ROCK back wrestling

March 1st, 2011 | By love not hate

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Mark Herzlich at the NFL Combine

March 1st, 2011 | By love not hate