Being "Out" In Sports

Read my entirely published article here.

Sports have always been a hobby of mine. I was never been really interested in who received the most RBI’s for the season or which team managed to gain the most offensive yards rushing in one quarter. Statistics are what they are, just statistics.

I think the fascination with statistics come with the wanting for a measurable depiction of who is the ‘best team’ or who is the ‘greatest athlete’. Its amusing to me that statistics are such a big commodity in sports when most children are taught that being the best is not everything. It is the way that you play the game.

The competition is what draws me to sports, not who is the best. Even though the love of sports had driven me through high school and onto college intramural, I never had the drive to obtain more. One reason for this is my sexual orientation. Undoubtedly, there are hundreds of gay professional athletes in sports today.

They have been present for many years. Only until recently, did athletes start to come out of the closet to profess their love for the same sex. Even today, there is a handful for openly gay professional athletes in the worlds of sports. My love of the game and not the glory did not deter me from participating in high school sports.

It was only my size and physical prowess that stood in the way of obtaining the statistical majesty that so many pro-sporters long for. Not only was my size a hindrance, it was also the fact that I enjoyed the company of the same sex.

This, along with a number of other not so niceties that would not be appropriate in this forum, was one of the reason I had so much hassle in the locker room. My uncontrollable hormones kept me from participating in the homoerotic, yet subtly sensual after-practice shower shenanigans.

When on the football practice field, I refrained from the normal “slapping of the butts” because I felt embarrassed that my hand would linger a bit too long. My shying away from physical contact did not label me gay, but an outsider, incapable of becoming one of the ’in crowd’ and undeserving of approval.

Read my entirely published article here.