I haven't just ignored the Tim Hardaway flap, but there isn't that much to say that hasn't already been said. What's more, there is no right answer to a lot of these questions, like who should shower alongside whom - groups just find social equilibrium, I think, on these topics without ... direction, for lack of a better term. Talking about it helps, though, if only because silence is the province of prejudice, so props to AS for not letting go by, when he could have been post-straight about it all.
I did go looking for a book, written by a gay track star as best I recall, that must be over ten years old now* that basically made the case that, not only is professional athletics just a hyper-sexual environment, but everyone is checking everyone out.
There is a small, very small (circa 1-2%, as best I recall), who actually do have gay panic responses, that are irrational and usually accompanied by feelings that they are going to be overrun somehow by gayness, that their personal psychological safety zone, if you will, is somehow going to be irreparably harmed if they don't try to hold the line. For Hardaway, this started with the showers, but as one can see from the rest of his comments, it extends to his whole living space, which is typical, IMHO.
Anyway, Charles Barkley has made some comments now that he's known and played alongside gay hoopsters, and his observations re-inforce the view that it is possible to reach boundaries without making them starkly physical ones.
Meanwhile, although I didn't find the book title that I was seeking, there are some others that appear to be good. Dan Woog has written two books on gay athletes that reportedly captures their experience in their own words. Brian Pronger's The Arena of Masculinity has attracked some attention. The book to the right I haven't read, but it looks to be a little over-the-top.
I did go looking for a book, written by a gay track star as best I recall, that must be over ten years old now* that basically made the case that, not only is professional athletics just a hyper-sexual environment, but everyone is checking everyone out.
There is a small, very small (circa 1-2%, as best I recall), who actually do have gay panic responses, that are irrational and usually accompanied by feelings that they are going to be overrun somehow by gayness, that their personal psychological safety zone, if you will, is somehow going to be irreparably harmed if they don't try to hold the line. For Hardaway, this started with the showers, but as one can see from the rest of his comments, it extends to his whole living space, which is typical, IMHO.
Anyway, Charles Barkley has made some comments now that he's known and played alongside gay hoopsters, and his observations re-inforce the view that it is possible to reach boundaries without making them starkly physical ones.Meanwhile, although I didn't find the book title that I was seeking, there are some others that appear to be good. Dan Woog has written two books on gay athletes that reportedly captures their experience in their own words. Brian Pronger's The Arena of Masculinity has attracked some attention. The book to the right I haven't read, but it looks to be a little over-the-top.
Keith Boykin offers up a web-ready essay on the unique ethos of black athletes that's worth a scan, at least.
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*It wasn't Brian Fell, former UCLA track star:
In all of his 10 years as a sprinter at UCLA, as a student at the school and then continuing his training on campus after graduation, Fell says he experienced only one moment of homophobia, from then-UCLA-basketball-player Rico Hines, who called him a faggot in the training room several years ago.
Within the team, Fell was well-supported. Straight male teammates would lovingly tease him, asking him if he thought they were hot. And when Fell's senior season came around, his team voted him captain. For an out White sprinter in a world dominated by straight Black men, that was quite a statement.
