It’s more than a movie… That’s the tag line Sports Illustrated is using to justify putting Brad Pitt on its cover. Pitt is playing Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager in Moneyball, which is due out this week and has received rave reviews.
Pitt-as-Bean has also taken over the homepage at NYTimes.com, though in a more traditional sense: with a giant banner ad.
(SI cover; nyt screen grab)
Hockey (player) for homos: As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo amps up his serious push for a marriage equality bill in Albany, the Human Rights Campaign scored a big win in the fight for equal rights: a major sports league male. Sean Avery of the New York Rangers is known as fashion-conscious (check out the glasses) and the 31-year-old NHL veteran isn’t shying away from being the first New York professional athlete to campaign from the cause. And this shouldn’t surprise anyone: he’s Canadian. The former Chelsea resident now lives in SoHo.
Gilty of it: One of our fave online shopping outlets, Gilt, is getting rather giant, actually. The member-based site was valued at $1 billion recently, according to a New York Times article. A new investor in the fashion-savvy site? Goldman Sachs. Guess the big boys are finally getting serious about this online shopping thing, eh? More: Venus’ EleVen on Gilt
Tattoo watch hide your eyes: We think it better to close your eyes on this one. The Utah Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko (he’s Russian, but not related to Maria as far as we know) reveals his latest body art. And… are there any words? Nope. None at all. Just… nothing. TSF Vault: The (classier) tattoos of the tennis tours
Third is charming, at least for Rog: While he may be the world’s no. 3 tennis player now, Roger Federer is still living the high life. Credit Suisse, one of his sponsors, has a whole page dedicated to the Rog. A Mario Testino photo shoot? Doesn’t mind if he does. But more importantly: is that David Ferrer holding the reflector? Geez, Rog really does live it good.
Oh, how the weekend gets away from us: We certainly wish that we could spend our time wasting away in a coffee shop all weekend, but that never actually seems to be the case. A lovely lament from a real-life barista on Thought Catalog on why hipster barista give you an eye roll when you chirp out your order.
Simon, singing: If you are still in love with the trashy brilliance that is Bravo‘s “Real Housewife” series, then you’re probably soaking up the first few glorious (hideous?!) episodes of the New York installment over the last few weeks. But here’s something for everyone … er, NO ONE. Simon, hubby to one Alex McCord, has a single. Yep, it’s called “I Am Real” and as far as we can tell, none of it is real. Or really him. Or really good, whatsoever.
Click the image below to listen. More: Tennis-inspired music on TSF
Donald’s middle finger gets tweet-happy: Good Friday has never been better for Donald Young. The American journeyman, once a hot commodity for the “future of American tennis” has always had a rocky relationship with the USTA because of reportedly over-zealous parents and a poor work ethic. Now we’re guessing his aforementioned relationship is plainly non-existant after this tweet on Friday, which was followed by an apology and then — deletion of his account. “Fuck USTA!! Their full of shit! They have screwed me for the last time! #enoughsaid” – Donald Young at 5:01:14 pm ET Apr 22nd
Patrick McEnroe‘s supposed response? Not. Happy.
Tina Fey? Is, well, brilliant.
Draw(n) conclusions: A few musings from the draw of the USTA Pro Circuit event in Dothan, Alabama. (1) Stephanie Foretz Gacon, once ranked as high as no. 63 in the world (now no. 145) reaches the final. (2) Michelle Larcher de Brito, once of grunting infamy, wins five games in a first-round loss. She’s still Portugal’s no. 1 gal at no. 174. No reports on how loud she is now that she’s outta the top 100. (3) Alexandra Stevenson, 12 years after her run to the Wimby SFs, wins two matches before bowing out in straights to eventual winner, Melinda Czink. Stevenson is now ranked no. 250 and has won one WTA-sanctioned match this year (compared to zero last year). (4) Americans were 8-9 overall, mostly thanks to Stevenson and a run to the semis by Allison Riske.
Big props for DFW: The Infinite Jest author David Foster Wallace, who committed suicide in 2008, is getting rave reviews for his piece of work released posthumously, an unfinished manuscript called The Pale King.
Read: DFW’s NYT piece on Federer — a ‘religious experience’
Melzer’s tour BBF? That’d be Philly Petzscher: Following his jaw-dropping win over Roger Federer in Monte Carlo, the ATP had Jurgen Melzer take FB Qs from fans. Our fave exchange is here: Question: Since you stopped wearing your White Adidas hat, you’ve gone on some great runs. Any coincidence? -Nick Leone, United States Melzer: Well… maybe! I thought I was practising really well without the hat so I was a little superstitious in Monte-Carlo, so I stopped wearing it and it went well. Until I start to have a losing streak, I will take the hat away.
The many freaked-out faces of Klaus Goerges: We’re loving this video that Stephanie Myles of the Montreal Gazette put together of Julia Goerges father, using screen grabs from the TennisTV.com livestream. Click Klaus’ frowning face below to watch the whole hilarious thing.
Swinging out: On OutSports.com Cyd Ziegler writes about Bowdoin College’s openly gay tennis coach Colin Joyner and his push for the acceptance of LGBTQ athletes at the collegiate level. Prompting this was the story of openly gay Bowdoin lacrosse player Ben Chadwick. A tough tale: “When Joyner heard about Chadwick, he harkened back to his time as the only openly gay male athlete on campus. It was a lonely time for Joyner in many respects, and he didn’t want Chadwick to be the only one anymore.” Therefore, Joyner started Anything But Straight in Athletics (ABSA) “to help closeted athletes come out by dismantling homophobia in Bowdoin athletics.”
Contributing from Benjamin Snyder
(Federer screengrab via Credit Suisse website; Simon screengrab via NYMag.com; Goerges screengrab via the Open Court blog on MontrealGazette.com)
At the very least, you’ll wanna be around to see what Venus Williams will wear at the US Open next year!
But seriously, a lot of us have been through this. I know plenty of people who’ve felt ridiculed, shunned, bullied, and tormented for being gay — and felt like they had no other choice but to end their lives. It’s a tough situation to be in, but you really have to believe that things will get better. And like Ellen says, there’s help out there.
Resources: At least for LGBTQ youth who feel like they’ve got nowhere to turn, you can check out these orgs.
[…Which makes me wonder what we have in place for older people who are dealing with coming out (like, anyone older than a teenager all the way through the 65+ set) . I’m not saying there’s nothing out there; I just realized I don’t know who/what those services are. If you know of any, I’m all ears!]
If you didn’t get the chance to read the ESPN.com piece written by John Buccigross in December about hockey’s royal family the Burkes, now might be a good time to do so. It told of their 21-year-old son Brendan, who had courageously come out of the closet both privately and publicly in a sport that likens itself more to back woods pond brawls than it does to modern-day queer culture.
On Friday, young Brendan’s life was cut tragically short by a vehicle accident in Indiana. TSF honors those – like Brendan – who strive for equality in our society at large, and in cultures – like hockey – where the fight remains dauntingly uphill.
You will be missed, Brendan.
(Burke family photo via the AP)
The looming presidential election is leaving me a little anxious. While Obama is clearly leading in the polls, the experience of the Bush/Gore disaster from 2000 has taught me not to take anything for granted.
And in California, where Obama’s victory is a given, the spotlight has moved to Proposition 8, a ballot measure which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.
I don’t even care about getting married, but that isn’t what is at stake here. This is a fight about civil rights.
I’ll leave it to the likes of the Los Angeles Times and writer Prince Golmovilas to make a case for why you, Californians, should vote to defeat Proposition 8 (and when you’re done, we can gab about how cute the girls are looking in Doha!).
Something tells me readers of this blog would vote No on 8 anyway. So really, just make sure to go out and vote tomorrow — if you haven’t done so already.
Have a fun and safe pride month, everyone!
GLAAD — that’s the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation — has enlisted the help of Martina Navratilova for its “Be an ally and a friend” campaign. With this latest project, GLAAD wants to remind the straight community that their support of LGBT friends, family, peers, and co-workers can go a long way.
(Our hats are off to GLAAD’s Entertainment Media Department for putting these great PSAs together.)
Watch it: You can view Martina’s PSA here, and see others (by Grey’s Anatomy‘s Sara Ramirez and TR Knight; Ugly Betty‘s Eric Mabius; and Dayanara Torres, etc.) on this YouTube page.
More to come: Rebecca Romijn and Lance Bass will have their own PSAs released in the coming months.
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Behind the scenes: The folks who run Juan Carlos Ferrero‘s Equelite Tennis Academy in Spain have started a blog to show what it’s like for the folks behind the scenes. In one post, they interview physical coach Javier Capitaine, who trains with Juanqui and Maria Sharapova (above).
Gay bloggers: Ken of Kenneth in the (212) and Jim Buzinski of OutSports get their due in this funny article by Greg Hernandez (Out in Hollywood, Deuce!) on gay sports bloggers drooling about mostly straight professional athletes. (L.A. Daily News)
Straight writers, too: The Daily News surveyed the women, too. Apparently, female athletes are okay with exploiting their sexual power and the attention they get from male fans. Daniela Hantuchova‘s comment on posing for magazines: “(Female tennis players) all agree and always say we do the talking with our racquets… (but) we can take some time outside the sport to show people a different side of us. In that way, I think it’s a good thing.”
Towards even stronger racquets: Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, has made its way into tennis and squash racquets developed by Dunlop The material can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300 degrees Celsius. Can it help the guys win a match against Roger? (Times)
Having a ball: The Sunday Times features London’s most lavish, with the wealthy now looking to renovate by digging down — sometimes up to four stories (!!) down — to create screening rooms, indoor tennis courts, and swimming pools (some even with diving boards). I guess at some point you just get bored by the conventional ways of spending your cash…
(OT) Ending the “bottled or tap?” question: Talking Tennis writes an ode to NYC’s tap water, and PepsiCo owns up to a smart marketing ploy. (CNN)
For posterity’s sake: A Bud Collins-less NBC Sports extends its broadcasting deal with Wimbledon to include digital media rights to the championships plus online coverage live on NBCSports.com and on mobile. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
(photos via Equelite)
Does Dubai have a shortage of Nadal mimics?: Gator Jesse Levine got a call from Roger Federer, who flew the lefty out to the Middle East for some hitting sessions. (Times Leader)
Because Roger could be in trouble: A blogger points out that Nadal is nipping at the heels of R-Fed. The Swiss’ number one spot could be in danger.
Grasping at straws: The USTA wants to toughen up their juniors so they signed ’em up for boot camp. It’s not quite like hitting sessions in a drained out swimming pool, but… (SFSS)
We all have a type, don’t we?: Some hardcore journalism from the Daily Mail, who’s discovered that Boris Becker and ex-wife Barbara Feltus were destined for a romance of some sort; “no fewer than five of (his) lovers have borne a striking similarity” to Barbara, and her current boyfriend is also a scandal-plagued redhead.
Young and out on the field: A great story in the L.A. Times about the current climate for LGB athletes in high school sports programs. For some, it’s good; for some, it’s bad. My one criticism: it would’ve been nice to see how transgender folk are being received…
Stanford through 2012: Unlike its San Diego counterpart (RIP), the Bank of the West Classic in Palo Alto will be around through 2012. (Palo Alto Daily News)
The LTA tries to quantify tennis potential: Tennis mom Judy Murray and the rest of the British gang are really serious about finding future pros. And so they’re having kids go up against a metronome. Let’s hope it works. (Zoo Tennis)
Asia on the fashion map: Much like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka embraces its contribution tennis fashion — i.e., Reebok‘s hot pants look for Venus Williams. MAS Active received the order for the whole outfit (layered top, skirt, and short shorts) four months before Wimbledon. (The Sunday Times)
FYI: Coach Nick Bollettieri charges $900 an hour for his tennis services at his academy in Western Florida. And that’s on top of the $41,100 annual boarding fee. (Times)
WTA and Beijing Olympics hammer out a deal: Countries can send up to six players to the Beijing Olympics. Like in Athens, ITF hammered out a deal to award rankings points for the women’s competition. (IHT)
Another eye-popping rugby ad (remember the adidas posters printed with blood?), this time from French tourism site C’est So Paris. They plan to lure Londoners into the City of Love with these cool ads, hoping to fill seats for upcoming World Cup matches.
Tennis needs to take a page from this. We get to use the “love” pun as liberally as Paris…
How about posters of Nadal and Federer making out? Talk about getting publicity… Or what about Nole and Andy Murray? Gasquet (even though we all know he’s STRAIGHT) and Roddick mashing? What was that, ATP? You need other match-ups? The slash fic (NSFW) fans are on it. Google more at your own risk.
(via towleroad)
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From left to right: Amelie Mauresmo, Nikolay Davydenko, Dominice Ripoll, Oscar Hernandez, Nicole Vaidisova, Guillermo Canas.**
**Images were chosen solely because of clothing colors. Just FYI.
Photo from GLAAD
Martina Navratilova received the Stephen F. Kolzak Award at last Saturday’s GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles.
The media nonprofit did a good job getting A-list TV stars to attend (photos via Just Jared here), including castmembers from Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives (very ABC-centric), plus a smattering of others, including Eva Mendes, Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, and former Miss Universe Dayana Torres, whose Edward Lucero-designed dress my friends obsessed about — up close and personal — at a WeHo bar later that evening.
A few tidbits from the ceremony, via Planet Gossip:
Lance Bass, on [presenting to Martina]: “When I came out in People magazine, she wrote a letter to the editor calling me courageous.”
[Martina], after watching a video retrospective of her career: “Those hairstyles! Sanjaya has nothing on me—but at least I can play tennis.”
The Stephen Kolzak Award is presented to an openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.
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A New York Times article debunks some car owner stereotypes — specifically, the one associating Miatas and Mini Coopers with the gays.
The conclusion? While we can afford two-seaters (no kids) and more expensive monthly payments (again, no kids), at the end of the day, we end up buying the same cars as everyone else.
…which isn’t to say that you won’t see the occasional blue Miata speeding down the main drag of your local Boys’ Town, its presence announced by the Deborah Cox song blaring from the speakers…
…which isn’t to say we aren’t grateful for Subaru: they led the pack of car manufacturers with direct advertising to gay consumers. Martina Navratilova began endorsing the brand in 2000. Other car companies have followed suit.
(via Gay Market News)
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Queen of Nice trumps King: The HBO documentary Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, but lost out to Rosie O’Donnell’s gay cruise documentary. Rosie acknowledged BJK in her acceptance: “If it hadn’t been for Billie Jean King, there wouldn’t have been a gay movement.” For once, Rosie says something nice. (via pinknews.co.uk)
Flashback: A year ago this month, Alicia Molik (left) was booted off the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. (via The Age)
The Scud’s return: Mark Philippoussis will be playing a Challenger tournament next month after successfully undergoing yet another knee surgery. He’s also changed management; he has dropped IMG and now turns to his dear friend and Sydney broadcaster Alan Jones. (via The Age)
Speaking of IMG, Philippoussis isn’t the only one they’ve dropped from their roster. A few higih-profile agents have jumped ship, taking their clients with them. Casey Wasserman of Wasserman Media Group is taking advantage of this fallout. (via BusinessWeek)
Martina Navratilova‘s people are clearly hard at work. First, the fifty-year-old opened a tennis-themed art exhibit, Art Grand Slam, at Roland-Garros (home of the French Open). She teamed up with artist Juraj Kralik, and spawned artwork whose concept lies somewhere between Jackson Pollock and Stephen Murmer.
This and this are two of my favorite pieces.
Martina also just announced plans for a tennis academy in the Czech Republic. She inadvertently criticized the current power hitters — and even the sport’s current magicians — by saying that she wants “to concentrate on a more varied form of tennis, more subtle than the style displayed by Martina Hingis, Justine Henin or Roger Federer.” Wow. Bold statement. Let’s see if she can deliver.
She’s also slated to receive a special award from GLAAD at next month’s Media Awards in Los Angeles.
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Borg’s UK Model Search: Towleroad brings us news of Bjorn Borg‘s recent model search in London. From what I’ve seen of models they’ve used in the past, only the guy on the left would make the cut…
The woman behind the man: Mirka Vavrinec, longtime girlfriend of Roger Federer, gets a slight profile in this piece at playfuls.com.
Navratilova + politics: The Philadelphia Daily News makes a brief mention of Martina Navratilova‘s stop in the City of Brotherly Love to help endorse the first openly gay man to run for city office in Philadelphia. The candidate, Dan Anders, is also Martina’s first endorsement.
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The west coast is definitely jealous: Both Venus and Serena have commited to playing the Family Circle Cup at the end of this month, and are also playing the Fed Cup Quarterfinal tie between the U.S. and Belgium will be in Delray Beach next month. Buy your tickets through Ticketmaster. (via USTA)
March Madness: Joakim Noah, the son of Yannick Noah, is in the national limelight again this week, as he and his Gators teammates try to repeat last year’s NCAA championships surprise. Joakim, on being defending champions: “Last year, anything we did, people were happy. This year, people aren’t happy (with us) just winning basketball games. To me, that was disappointing.” (via 2theadvocate.com)
Yannick Noah gay?: Did anything ever come of the Cameroonian papers trying to out Yannick? Is he actually gay? (via Behind The Mask)
And so it begins. John Amaechi announced today that HeadBlade, a company that specializes in products for head-shaving men, has made him a spokesman.
This is a step down the right path, a path paved by out sports celebrities, some of whom were stripped of their endorsement deals after coming out (ala Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova), or who have likely suffered a reduced endorsement purse because of being out (ala Amelie Mauresmo); and by those who came out after their careers were over, often citing how the homophobia in the locker rooms kept them in the closet (Greg Louganis, Billy Bean, etc.).
Let’s hope he doesnt’ go the way of Esera Tuaolo, who — while he made great move by coming out in 2003 — made a horrible move by trying to establish Chili’s in the gay culinary landscape. (Really? Chili’s? What was he thinking?)
He might get flack for coming out *after* he was finished with his career, and had already amassed his millions. I don’t blame him for it. At the end of the day, you still need to feed yourself, put a roof over your head. He’s still moving us forward. So many people spoke against how Tim Hardaway handled John’s statements. I don’t care if they disagree with what he said or how he said it. Regardless, people are siding against him. In the end, the message was: gays are alright (or, if you don’t think they are, you just shut your trap and let them be).
We have a ways to go, but I am hopeful for his strategy. I hope that he can soften the hearts of mainstream America. He will convince straight men everywhere to shower side-by-side with their gay teammates in the locker rooms. He’s very eloquent, a good ambassador. And as far as making the most of his endorsement power, he picked a good product. Enough of us shave our heads on a regular basis.
via abcnews.com
tennis served fresh 
