Devil Made Me Do It
“I’m buying lunch next time,” Joe Torosian said right after I dropped him off last week after taking him to Golden Corral for lunch. Of course, those who know Joe understand that I will somehow end up with the check at the end of the night.
Now as for Tim Peterson and Duane Barker, I am still waiting for that Steak and Lobster dinner from Northwood’s Inn after La Salle swallowed the biggest jalapeno of them all in November. If they don’t pay up soon, expect PBR reports on a weekly basis.
The big talk nowadays was Jason Collins “coming out”. Personal opinion, it’s a long time coming. The big “taboo” is now out in the open. Many believe that some franchise will snatch him up, or at least Arn Tellum believes it will happen. Not to be a downer, but Collins is actually on the descending end of his career and though many may think him coming out made a difference in getting him a “gig” with a new team. It will actually be his age that would stop teams from signing him.
I tweeted, “big props” for him making the decision to come out. Believe it was time, although many will disagree.
One coach that deals with high school kids said the following “The gay issues in sports are really a big topic right now huh…? That’s adults dealing with it wait until it becomes main stream in our high schools, Jr.HS and elementary schools.”
Think this will be a much tougher topic to tame. Being in an all boy school during my formative years, witnessing other students taunt classmates they thought were gay was tough to deal with in the late 80’s. Collins announcement could make it easier for a kid growing up by stating he/she is “gay” but by no means will it make other tolerable in a locker room.
Don’t care about your sexual preference as long as you can play and are a good team mate that is all that should matter.
Speaking of coming out…..Sports writer Tony Jovenitti wrote a column announcing he was gay. As much as its kudos that he announced to the world, he took away what spotlight Collins tried to bring toward being the first athlete in a major sport to “come out”. It wasn’t about Jovenitti and he made it about himself with his column.
Last but not least, want to thank all those who were supportive of me in the last year. As the song lyric goes, “It’s getting better every time.”
Devil Made Me Do It will attempt to be a weekly column beginning this week. You can follow Andy Villanueva on twitter @avillanueva3rd.I can also be reached at andy@midvalleysports.com
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