- February 2022
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Image: FacebookA little over six months ago, basketball star Sue Bird carried the American flag in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics. Yesterday speedskater Brittany Bowe carried Old Glory in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
Bowe replaced bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, who'd tested positive for COVID.
That's the story, anyway. I suspect there's really just a tacit understanding in the American camp these days that the flagbearer should be a lesbian.
- August 2021
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Image by Lynn Greyling from Pixabay
While the Olympics were unfolding, Russians fumed on state-run TV over the presence of openly gay and transgender athletes in Tokyo. One male talk show host wore a wig and mocked transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard before calling trans folks "psychopaths." On another talk show, a guest who's a member of the Russian parliament, said he was "disgusted" by gay and transgender people. Pointing to an image of Hubbard, he declared, "We stand opposed to all this smut and perversion, strongly opposed."
I'd like to know the Russian word for "irony," since all this moral indignation comes from the country that was officially banned from the Tokyo Games due to its penchant for stuffing its athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.
Russia: home of state-sponsored doping and state-sponsored dopes.
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Photo: Facebook
We've entered a new era. The NBC announcers for the Olympic women's basketball competition spoke freely about Diana Taurasi's wife and son, and how nervous Breanna Stewart was proposing to her girlfriend. During the men's diving, the announcers highlighted Tom Daley's husband and son, and the fact that Jordan Windle was raised by a single gay man.
Human-interest stories have always been a facet of Olympic coverage. I was pleased to see that this included the reality of gay lives, and I award NBC a bronze medal for its efforts.
I award NBC a gold medal for choosing skater Johnny Weir to co-host the closing ceremonies. I assume the network picked Weir to appeal to a younger audience, but it was a risky choice, what with his singular designer outfit, mile-high pompadour and mammoth Olympic-rings hair clip. Weir is undeniably more of a flamer than the Olympic cauldron.
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Photo: FacebookThe finish of the gold-medal women's soccer game this morning was riveting.
These Olympics will end soon. How can I be expected to return to eating granola without a side of high drama?
- July 2021
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Photo: Facebook
Ballpark Figures
The U.S. Olympic softball team plays for the gold on Wednesday against Japan. It's probably a good thing the opponent isn't Mexico.
American catcher Amanda Chidester, you see, is engaged to Mexican shortstop Anissa Urtez.
I can imagine Chidester sliding into second and taking her fiancee out. To which Urtez might later respond, "If I ever see your spikes again, you're doing the dishes for the next 60 years."
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Image by Yazan Rihan from Pixabay
Marching to a Different Drummer
Outsports has alerted me to something extra to look for when I watch the Tokyo Olympics' opening ceremonies later today: six out LGBTQ flag bearers.
Argentina, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, the U.S. and Venezuela chose queer athletes to lead their teams into the stadium.
I wonder what Howard Cosell would say?
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