Outsports Radio

Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed anti-gay bill SB 101 into law, legalizing discrimination against LGBT people in Indiana. This comes just a week before Indianapolis hosts the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. What is the best response to the new law? And what can be done at the Final Four to take action? Michael Sam was in Phoenix for the Veteran Combine last weekend. His 40 time wasn't great, but he looked good, more fluid, running the drills. What's the next step for the openly gay football player? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christian Laettner recently opened up about the pain he felt hearing gay slurs hurled at him while he was at Duke. The former national college player of the year was bombarded with the slurs as he led the Blue Devils to two NCAA titles. Derrick Gordon, the gay baller for UMass, on the other hand has not heard any of these slurs. Times have changed for sure, and the impact of Gordon actually being gay also plays a roll. It's the role that a gay friend had in the life of Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Eric Striker, who said he has learned acceptance from having a gay person in his life. We talk about all of this - how acceptance is built by the presence of LGBT people in the lives of athletes and fans. Today's episode is brought to you by AT&T. Mobilizing Your World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode is brought to you by AT&T. Mobilizing Your World. The first openly gay Division I college basketball player, Derrick Gordon of the University of Massachusetts, has completed his first regular season and we observe the treatment he has received from fans. Or rather, the lack of anything negative to him being gay. It destroys the myth that fans would hate an openly gay athlete. We then move on to whether Satan is guiding NFL teams to support gay marriage. That's the claim made by former New England Patriots player Craig James this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spring Training is underway in Arizona and Florida, and Major League Baseball is already making Outsports headlines. First, a Christian former talk show host claimed he was able to turn a gay man straight with kindness and Chicago Cubs tickets. Then, New York Met Daniel Murphy said that homosexuality is a sin and he's against the lifestyle of openly gay former MLB Player Billy Bean "100%." This was in conjunction with Bean practicing with the team as a gesture of inclusion. Is this the new direction we're headed with baseball and other pro sports, where Christians become more emboldened to speak out against gay people? Or are these the last gasps of homophobia as we seek to make sports more welcoming for all? Today's episode is brought to you by AT&T. Mobilizing Your World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Sam announced this week that he will be on ABC's hit show 'Dancing With The Stars' this season. Some people are excited to see him dance, while others have expressed doubt that he can dance and play football at the same time.  Also this week, Erskine College announced a new policy expressly labeling homosexuality as outside the morality of the school. Yet the school has two out gay athletes on its men's volleyball team. Today's episode is brought to you by AT&T. Mobilizing Your World. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast brought to you by AT&T. Over the years we at Outsports have seen the incredible power that athletes, coaches and other people in sports coming out can have on not just their sport but youth they will never meet. Even today we got wind of a 17-year-old gay aspiring umpire who has been inspired by the coming out story of MLB umpire Dale Scott. Yet there are precious few out LGBT professional athletes, particularly men. They choose to not come out due to a host of reasons, from their own playing career to endorsement deals - they fear they could lose any or all of them if they come out.  Do they have a social responsibility to come out anyway? Should athetes weigh the inspiration they can provide, and the social change they can help move along, over their own personal wealth and playing career? And do their fears have any merit in the first place? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After being excoriated in The Wells Report, which revealed homophobic bullying by Richie Incognito and other members of the Miami Dolphins, Incognito has been signd by the Buffalo Bills. Ray Rice, seen in a video punching his wife, is also expected to be signed by an NFL team this offseason. Has the NFL learned anything after a year of pretty terrible off-field press? Or have the incredible games and TV ratings masked growing social-issue problems for the league? Plus, how does this all play out for Michael Sam, who still has not received a contract offer?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a great Super Bowl for Outsports. Even though it was truly the Super Bowl from Hell for Jim Buzinski, Outsports became the first LGBT publication to be credentialed by the NFL for the Super Bowl. It was the Super Bowl From Heaven for Cyd Zeigler, who got to go to the game, talk with some of the biggest names in professional football, and watch his favorite team, the New England Patriots, win the big game in the most dramatic fashion ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Almost a year after Michael Sam came out as gay, the topics of gays in the NFL is all but absent at this year's Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. We examine why this is. Cyd Zeigler, who is using Outsports' first Super Bowl credential, is down in Phoenix for a live report. Also, we examine the gayest logos in NFL history. Our story that ranked the top 3 has gone viral and opened a debate about how far gays can go to laugh at themselves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rumors have been rife for years about Troy Aikman being gay, which he has long denied, most recently this month. And when Aaron Rodgers had a falling out with his longtime roommate, the speculation was that they were gay lovers, which Rodgers denied. The ex-roommate made news again when he mocked the Green Bay Packers losing in the playoffs. Were his remarks fair game for the media or was it nothing more than gossip. The fine line in reporting gay rumors of athletes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After finding strength by reading Outsports stories on gay athletes, this high school wrestler wants to share his story. Because of his parents, he has to attend therapy and come out anonymously. The wrestler's parents forbade Hunter from coming out to anyone else. They told him he would have to go to a conversion therapist every week. That therapist would spend two years trying to convince him that he wasn't gay. Telling his story is a reminder that coming out is still a difficult process for many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College football fans finally got the national championship game they've been clamoring for for years, and it doesn't include anyone south of the Mason-Dixon Line! Oregon will take on Ohio State in the grand finale, and there are actually some story angles that lesbian, gay, bisexual & trans fans may find particularly interesting.  We also dive into some trends, forecasts and predictions for the world of LGBT sports in 2015. Will we have more big-time pro athletes come out? What is the key work ahead of LGBT sports activists? There's a lot to be done and lots of hearts and minds to change, even as so many young people in sports are coming out.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Almost two years ago, Robbie Rogers came out openly as gay and thought his pro soccer career was over. So it was exciting and memorable and historic when he stood on the field in Los Angeles celebrating a championship in Major League Soccer. We look at Rogers' remarkable transformation. Was Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend on national TV during the 2014 NFL Draft the sports image of the year? ESPN.com is asking the question and we're answering. Finally, is how gay-friendly a university might be a good reason for root for their football team in the college bowl playoffs. We look at the LGBT rankings of Oregon, Ohio State, Alabama and Florida State. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott did a "soft" coming out a couple months ago in Referee magazine, but it wasn't until we profiled him this week that most of the public realized what had happened. We'll talk about his story and the world of officiating. Plus, Robbie Rogers is headed to the MLS Cup as his Los Angeles Galaxy take on the New England Revolution on Sunday. We'll talk with LAG Confidential editor Josie Becker as she prepares for the big match and a possible fifth MLS Cup for the Galaxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Outsports has been publishing for 15 years, ever since Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler sat down at a coffee house on Cape Cod and came up with the idea. Since then they have covered gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in sports like no other, carrying more coming-out stories in sports than any other publication in the world. We look back at some of the stories we've felt were more important over the last 15 years, the changes we've seen, and some of the key lessons we've learned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At a New Jersey high school,  seven football players, ages 15 to 17, were arrested on a number of charges, including aggravated criminal sexual contact, in connection with alleged attacks against four other players. The school canceled the season. How could something like this happen in 2014? A lot has to do with notions of masculinity in the locker room and homophobia is a part of that. We explore the issue with an openly gay high school basketball coach and two former college football players who were gay on their teams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Openly gay former Minor League baseball pitcher John Dellinger joins the Outsports podcast. He'll talk about life after baseball, any changes he may have seen in baseball for gay athletes, and of course the Major League Baseball playoffs that seem to already have everyone in sports talking. Also, we've seen some homophobic or crude comments and signs referring to Michael Sam showing up around football. Are these offensive? Distasteful? Is it just college "boys being boys"? And is that "excuse" even worthy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A junior high school coach in Iowa came out to a "homophobic" friend after a Hawkeyes basketball game and got quite the response. We'll talk about Evan Risk's great story and whether he's in "rural" Iowa or not. Plus, the National Association of Basketball Coaches created a policy that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation. Openly gay high school basketball coach Anthony Nicodemo, who helped encourage the NABC to adopt a policy, will join us to talk about the great new step for the association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Robert Griffin III tried to wear a T-shirt at a post-game Washington press conference until he was stopped by someone from the NFL or the team. The T-shirt said "Know Jesus Know Peace" and, simultaneously, "No Jesus No Peace." The reaction to our story on the shirt was strong, largely from Christians who took offense at Cyd Zeigler's distaste for the second message of the shirt.  Plus, the NFL can't seem to get anyone to focus on the games that are being played as stories of domestic violence encircle Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We'll talk about the Ray Rice issue today, how the NFL and other pro leagues are falling behind on social issues and whether sports should be - or even can be - just about X's and O's. Then we'll be joined today by Nate Alfson, the gay volleyball and baseball coach who came out publicly on Outsports this summer. He works at a Catholic high school and has embarked on his 2014/15 season. What has been the reaction from the locals in town and the school? We find out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices