John Amaechi? Zzzzzz...

(First of all, let me say that as a Black woman, I am thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to find out that there is another Black man that is unavailable to me. Thrilled.)

I am unimpressed that some two bit ex NBAer who barely qualifies as a journeyman came out. Joe Blow down the block is gay? Ummm... Congratulations. And the same congratulations to John Amaechi. You want a cookie for coming out? No cookies for John.

I don't really care that anybody is gay. But occasionally, there is some entertaining shock value to finding out certain people are gay. At least give me someone that surprises me. For example, I would be surprised and entertained to find out that Charles Oakley was gay. (I'm not insinuating that Charles Oakley is gay. Please don't kick my ass, Charles.) At least give me some shock value, not some sensitive, intellectual Englishman. Yeah, he wasn't on the watch list at all.

You can't come out after the fact and then be lauded as some sort of hero. If he was a "real" man, he would be himself and take the lumps. By closeting himself, he is perpetuating the stereotype that homosexuals are weaker than heterosexuals. Amaechi didn't even want an NBA career that badly. He can't pretend that he would have to endure some great tragic sacrifice by being prevented from joining a fraternity that he didn't really want to belong to.

And I peep the fame/money grab by coming out after the fact. There's no time to come out during your playing years. I mean, it takes time to get a book deal together and line up a good publicist. If John Amaechi (or Billy Bean or Esera Tualo) didn't come out, what else would they be famous for? Coming out via book is nothing to celebrate. It's just an ordinary fame grab. Nothing more than being gay when it suits you and when you won't have to suffer any diminished consequences. No scorn in the locker room, no name-calling, no diminished economic opportunities, then you stay in the closet. Once you have nothing to lose, these athletes start flying the rainbow flag. Please.

And I can't stand the high and mighty position that outlets like ESPN take on these issues. ESPN will only report these issues when they can report it as sort of hero tale, not just because it is what it is, whether that's relevant information or salacious gossip. Journalism and man law rule equally at ESPN. None on the analysts want to sit around talking about gay dudes (or dudes cheating on their wives), so they don't. Do you honestly think that ESPN lacks the resources to out every homosexual athlete in major sports? I, for one, refuse to be spoon fed by a disingenuous media outlet.

Furthermore, ESPN goes out of its way to perpetuate the myth of the hateful locker room, an environment where no one of different strokes can survive. Please. Gilbert Arenas is off his rocker and he's doing just fine. Charles Barkley said on PTI that he's played with 2 or 3 guys that he's known were gay. The NBA in particular has been probably the biggest source of gay athlete rumors. Real NBA stars like Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis, Derek Fisher, Richard Jefferson... This is a Page Six, AJ Daulerio information age. Rumor is truth. Do you think Myspace rumors don't make it onto Sidekicks, Blackberries or into the locker room? Doubtful. The innuendo of being gay is almost as strong as actually being gay. And if those guys are still thriving in the league, then the big bad locker room is not all it's cracked up to be.

John Amaechi is no hero, he was just scared.