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Monday, April 29, 2013

NBA Player Jason Collins is Gay; Do You Care?

Jason CollinsBefore anyone goes off about this being a gay bashing post (since it seems like everyone is dissecting every comment made by anyone and everyone about this,) that isn't the case at all.  The news is all over today, the first active NBA player (or player in any sport) to come out as gay is Jason Collins.  Apparently it was such a big deal that President Obama himself called Jason about it. For the most part it seems like this is a big deal because some people act like there will be a big backlash and some athletes won't want to play sports anymore if there are gay players involved....newsflash: it's 2013.

The point of my commentary on this is, if a guy is a good basketball, football, baseball, etc., player, then cool let them play.  I could care less what their sexual orientation is.  Of course there are going to be dumb comments and statements from other athletes which has already happened more than once today, but that's life and it would happen regardless.  Is anyone going to stop playing?  No.  Will the sport look any different? Nope.  Maybe if it was 1982 this would've been a huge circus, but now days...who really cares?

I'm sure some of you will say that this is a bold move, a brave one, and you're right.  To be the first to put this kind of spotlight on himself the way Jason Collins has was a brave move, but in reality should it be THAT big of a deal?  Others may say it's all for publicity, and you may be somewhat right as well.  A free agent picked a hell of a time to become the most talked about player in the league, but who are we to judge?

He's gay, he's out, cool let's move on.  Maybe if other players feel comfortable doing the same now and thus live happier lives after doing so, cool.....but how about we just get back to business as usual on the court?  Sounds good.