John Amaechi - The Man in the Middle
The Man in the Middle - of a storm?
The mystery surrounding the impending release of an NBA stars' forthcoming book has been resolved. It's been all over the American news, on ESPN (unsurprisingly as they're publishing the book and have him scheduled to a special interview to promote the book) , Sports Illustrated, OutSports and Deadspin as well as the BBC.
Incase you're still none the wiser, John Amaechi is using his forthcoming book to come out and announce he's gay. And? Is that it? Is this really an issue for anyone other than him?
It's a remarkably depressing thought that we still have a culture where athletes have to hide their sexuality simply because sport doesn't know how to deal with something that's perceived as different. On the basis of statistical probability, there must be many gay athletes currently playing various sports and yet because of the culture of sports and its inherent machismo and unwillingness to embrace difference, it's an environment that won't accept openly gay athletes.
The usual excuse offered for not having an openly gay athlete on a team will somehow affect the fabled notion of team unity. Although truly archaic, it's still widespread - see the remarks from LeBron James and Shavlik Randolph in the Sports Illustrated piece. Indeed coach Jerry Sloan, Amaechi's former coach at the Jazz (who Amechi is thought to criticise heavily in the book) when asked if knowing Amaechi was gay would have mattered replied
"Oh yeah, it would have probably mattered."
Probably mattered? In the NBA where players are routinely exposed for sexual and violent misdemanours? That truly is warped thinking.
Homosexuality is certainly one of the taboos of professional sport. Despite that, I'm constantly amazed how keen sportsmen are to indulge in sexual acts with their teammates present, if not actively involved. It seems as if it's fine to get involved in sexual situations with other blokes - as long as there's a token women (or two) involved. Read Perry and his tales of multi-team participation for more of the depressing details or if you're very interested search out the infamous Sunderland bedfest (no links to that one, you can search for it yourself!) But then, of course, that type of behaviour doesn't harm team unity - it's just a laugh, right?
Still, for all the depressing predictability of the reaction, there are signs of hope. SI's Phil Taylor writes a thoughful and reflective piece. Also in The Guardian today, Nicky Campbell discusses the concept of team spirit and the losening of the drinking culture in British Football. Gordon Strachan's thoughts on the issue are particularly interesting. Whilst not exactly the same situation as the NBA issue, the basic tenents remain the same - namely the requirement of sport to subjugate its participants into conformity over individuality.
It's an incredibly slow process and maybe we won't get any real change until a star player (with all due respect that's probably a label Amaechi would struggle to achieve) comes out. Maybe we should look for a star performer who is gay, tee-total (and a member of Friends of the Earth for good measure) to really shake the sports world!
One final thought. To define anyone by one facet of themselves, be that their sexual orientation or indeed their race, is to ignore the numerous other components of their being. Amaechi appears a more thoughtful and reflective athlete than many of his contemporaries. He has had a very different upbringing and his is a potentially interesting story. Would it have been too much to hope that the book could have been published and marketed on that basis rather than his just his outing?
About This Entry
‘John Amaechi - The Man in the Middle’ was posted by Liam Doyle on Thu, 8th February 2007 at 15:00:45 GMT and filed under basketball.
