The Malcontent

Playing for the Other Team

I had been hoping to bring you at least one Brokeback Mountain-related acceptance speech from last night's Screen Actors Guild Awards, but the film fared much more poorly than it had at the Golden Globes, getting shut out in the four categories in which it was nominated.

This still leaves Heath with wins only from the Las Vegas and Phoenix Film Critic Societies.  The movie's next major test will come with tomorrow's announcement of Oscar nominations.

The good news today is that, in lieu of that, I give you Tom Brady naked!

The bad news is, it's a cartoon Tom Brady.

The smokin'-hot, star NFL quarterback lent his voice talents to an episode of Fox's "Family Guy" in which the corpulent Peter Griffin somehow gets a spot on the New England Patriots' roster.

But more importantly, after a long hetero-trending streak, it gave us two more "Stewie is gay" references.

[Watch video – 1:41, WMV format, high bandwidth]

[Watch video – 1:41, WMV format, low bandwidth]

Quote of the Day

"I kind of describe myself as the free safety for this speaker (Hastert)," (Rep. David) Dreier says. "Wherever he throws the ball, I just want to make sure I'm there to catch it."

Reminded that free safety is a position on defense, not offense, he says: "I just want to catch the pass."

— From Wall Street Journal, via The Hotline (sub. req.)

"Wide receivers" and "tight ends," of course, catch most of the passes on football teams.  Little wonder, then, that Dreier's clumsy metaphor steered clear of offense.

The 'Horns Hooked 'Em Good

Here is my take on last night's NCAA football championship game.

The Homos Love Them Some Football

More proof of my D-list blogger status (as if you needed it): I even get scooped on a hot gay story involving my own alma mater!

Andy reports on the outing of a Northwestern University football fan-blog that is run primarily by gay men.

I hear that the publicity blitz is causing BoiFromTroy to consider going back into the closet, just so he can come out again.

A Few More Silences Yet To Break

NFL phenom Laveranues Coles sat down with Oprah for a much-talked-about interview that aired yesterday.

The Jets receiver discussed the news he broke last month in The New York Times, confiding the sexual abuse he endured between ages 10 and 13 at the hands of his step-father.  Not just at his hands, actually, but also at gunpoint.

The 27-year-old star said that he didn't go public any sooner because he felt he wanted to establish a supportive environment with his teammates, and that he was also afraid of being perceived as gay.  He and Oprah also discussed the additional stigma of same-sex abuse within the black community.

Video clips deleted at demand of Jeffrey Friedman, attorney for Oprah Winfrey

It is undeniably sad that Coles or anyone would have to go through such an experience.  But it is also unfortunate that the backward, homophobic culture in sports trumped Coles' ability to tell his story until now and perhaps help countless children in the process.

It used to be taboo to discuss past victimization by sexual predators.  It is long past time that other taboos fell, as well.

UPDATE: Rod offers a more in-depth analysis of the interview (and kindly links back here).

As Long As We're Talking Sports ...

Why do my Vikings suck so thoroughly, you ask?  Apparently they are more concerned about scoring off the field than on it.

Here Come the Vi-queens

Wow.

If this were the Masters, the Vikings would be in danger of missing the first-round cut.

Looks like they might make a chump out of me even earlier than normal.

At least "America's Team" isn't doing much better.

Yay, I just got to pull "Je ne parle pas français" out of the holster again!

Coming Out: A Closeted Sports Fan

OK, I am not going to tread anywhere near BoiFromTroy's turf, as it were.  But I have one sports passion, and one sports passion only (which is one more than most gay men), and today I need to blog about it:

So anyway, this is such bullshit.  ESPN The Magazine has picked my Minnesota Vikings to win Super Bowl XL, so when do I first get a chance to see this juggernaut on national television?  November 21!  (By the way, the actual ESPN link is available to subscribers only.  They claim you can register for "free."  But in ESPN-land, "free" means "$39.95.")

By that date, I will have had a chance to see those idiotic Dirty Birds from Atlanta three times, with a fourth game on Nov. 24 (can you tell I'm still bitter about having to cancel my ticket to Miami a few years back?), and the Philadelphia Eagles five times, with a sixth game on Nov. 27.  Granted, as a New Yorker, I can probably see them play the Giants on Nov. 13.  (Don't even get me started on the lame "NFL Sunday Pass" contract that shuts cable viewers out until at least 2010.)

I know there is "parity" in the NFL, but clearly it doesn't apply to the television contract.  And I know there is the simple matter of disparate market sizes, etc. etc., but that doesn't mean I like it.  I am The Malcontent, after all.

The odds-makers also have very good things to say about the Vikes, mainly because of their off-season revamp of their defense.  The gayer I've become, the less in tune I have been with sports in general, but it's nice to see names I recognize like Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, Napoleon Harris, Fred Smoot and Darren Sharper potentially forming the new Purple People-Eaters.

So my love of the Vikings is the only thing that comes even close to BfT's Trojan boosterism.  (He did name his site and pattern his colors after his team, after all.  Then again, my site is purple ...)  Nothing else for me comes close sports-wise – except for the two times I watched the Twins win the World Series.  Now that was a sportgasm.

I haven't mentioned this to my future football widow yet, but for those of you that are here for politics or video clips or gay issues or pictures of hot young men, you're on notice that I will probably dedicate at least some attention to the Vikes.  That is, until they flame out and fluke their way into a first-round wildcard loss, like they usually do.

(Do I sound like Andy Towle does when he tries to talk politics?)