NBA center Jason Collins came out today via magazine cover (the best way to come out, I think, if you have that luxury), and I encourage you to read everything you can about it. Here’s a snippet from the Sports Illustrated story:

I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.

I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand. (via SI.com)

You’re going to read a lot of unnecessary commentary about it today, so I’m not going to beat you over the head with another LIBERAL BALLYHOO thing about the importance of a gay athlete in pro sports in the 2010s. I will, however, help you deal with some of the shit you’re gonna read in advance, because it’s almost cripplingly obvious.

Here’s your field guide:

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Naturally, we’ve been very happy about the rise of Ronda Rousey and what it means to the future of women in UFC and just Mixed Martial Arts competition in general. But as much fun as it has been to talk about the successful, charismatic and, well, attractive Rousey, I’ve regrettably ignored what is an equally important – or maybe even arguably more important – story in Rousey’s opponent, Liz Carmouche, becoming the first openly gay fighter in UFC history.

The move is a nice one for UFC President Dana White, who famously dropped an F-Bomb (f*ggot, not f*ck) in an interview several years ago, as he can now boast of the UFC’s universal inclusiveness with both women and homosexuals all in one fell swoop. PR stunts aside, though, it’s just good for everyone, as long as it’s not the only thing that defines Carmouche. I’m sure she’d like to be known as a UFC champion, in addition to being a champion for equality.

In the meantime, her presence is a win-win for everyone involved, as the UFC takes a step forward in fighting the stigma of White’s mistake, while Carmouche goes into her championship match at UFC 157 on Feb. 26 against Rousey with not only female MMA fans supporting her, but also gay MMA fans, and that’s something that means a lot to her.

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There’s no point in getting all maudlin and preachy about this, but it should be shown to as many people as possible: Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar showed up to Saturday’s game against the Boston Red Sox with “you are a faggot” written on his eye-black in Spanish. Somewhere an entire high school of Alabama football fans just got really into the Blue Jays.

The words under Mr. Escobar’s eyes were “TU ERE MARICON,” which can be translated as “You are a faggot.” Other possible translations of the phrase lack the homophobic connotation, but are nevertheless offensive.

Mr. Escobar, a 29-year-old native of Havana, Cuba, has been seen at other games this season with different Spanish phrases written on his eye black. (via The Globe And Mail)

The other translation that is offensive but not homophobic is, “you are a pussy”. Long story short, there’s no way he thought he was writing “you are a jerk” on his face in Spanish, and no matter how he translates it it was something stupid and awful. Like I said, I don’t need to hop up onto a soap box and start pointing giant fingers at a dude who wrote “you are a faggot” on his face in magic marker, and unless Sarah Palin starts TwitPicking herself wearing a Yunel Escobar jersey we can probably just roll our eyes, dismiss Yunel’s contributions to baseball with a wanking motion and continue not giving a shit about the Blue Jays.

Here’s a statement from the people who do care about the Blue Jays, the Blue Jays:

The Toronto Blue Jays do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday’s game. The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter.

Alex Anthopoulos, Sr. VP Baseball Operations and General Manager will be available to the media tomorrow afternoon at Yankee Stadium and we expect him to be joined by Yunel Escobar, Manager John Farrell and Coach Luis Rivera. Details and location for the media availability will be announced tomorrow.

I hope Yunel’s response to the media is either “a less important person did it and didn’t tell me what I was sticking to my face” followed by a mailroom firing or “I AM a homophobe, losers!” followed by a bunch of crotch-chopping. Maybe next time he’ll skip the slurs and go straight to the offensive eye-black classics, like “DONG 3:16″.

[h/t to Big League Stew]

"And all he wanted to talk about was where I got my underwear."

The fun of any Olympics is political subplots, as politicians, special interest groups, and various mouth-breathing hate mongers can use the global focus of this gathering of the world’s greatest athletes as a chance to draw attention to themselves. One of the issues that has people fired up leading into the London games is the inclusion of nations that enforce laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians, and many people think that those countries should be banned, while others think they shouldn’t. And while the argument is important, it’s probably rather unfair and distracting to the openly gay athletes who are competing in this year’s Olympics.

But since I hate politics and giving credence to those who discriminate, let’s talk about the lighter side of Olympic homosexuality, as it was believed this week that all of the gay that was descending upon London had crashed the gay singles app Grindr. Of course, that had some people (who I won’t name) freaking out because they thought this was the surest sign of the pending gaypocalypse. Turns out they were wrong. And stupid.

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And some dudes dig it too, don't hate.

He should be your favorite player, too. Two reasons:

1. He knows what The Dugout is and agrees with me about Brian Wilson.

2. He isn’t afraid to call out Kiss Cam homophobia:

After a game in Anaheim, the pitcher tweeted: “They put two guys on the ‘Kiss Cam’ tonight. What hilarity!! (by hilarity I mean offensive homophobia). Enough with this stupid trend.”

McCarthy considers it incongruous for MLB teams to sponsor “It Gets Better” antihate campaigns and not banish this brand of humor.

“The whole thing bugs me on a non-homophobic level, because it’s awkward,” he said. “… I just hate it.”

…

“If there are gay people who are coming to a game and seeing something like that, you can’t assume they’re comfortable with it,” he said. “If you’re even making a small group of people … feel like outcasts, then you’re going against what makes your model successful.”

How awesome is that? That’s the kind of positive human rights stance we need more of from our celebrities — less Lady Gaga-esque “GOD BLESS THE GAYS” pander-rousing from behind a podium and more sane, observant people going, “hey, it’s stupid to treat people like this, let’s stop doing that”. And if we could get rid of the Kiss Cam completely, that’d be a bonus.

Brandon McCarthy, you are awesome no matter how long it takes Oakland to provide some run support and help you stop losing games.

I almost said “jumpshots”. Whew!

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Links

Event Recap: NY Giants Super Bowl XLVI Victory Celebration - The best part was when Mark Sanchez showed up. At least that’s what I assume happened. [Smoking Section]

Funny, Sexy And Awesome Cosplay Of The Week - Be sure to check out my cameo in yesterday’s cosplay gallery. Yes, I am nerdy enough to be Hooded Justice for Halloween. [Gamma Squad]

Lindsay Lohan Is Taking This Modeling Thing Seriously - … or at least she’s settled into a nice position as “lady with big boobs who smokes and people take pictures”. There are entire fetish tubes for that. [Smoking Section]

Ten TV Relationships That Should Never Happen. Ever. - I don’t agree with this list. I think Jim absolutely SHOULD cheat on Pam with Vanilla False Pam and become the Big Bad of the show. [Warming Glow]

Trailer: Bourne’s Legacy Gets Renner’d - One day America’s gonna wake up and say “oh my God, Jeremy Renner’s face“. [Film Drunk]

10 Morphing GIFs That Will Have You Seeing Double - This gallery has really spot-lit the fact that Orlando Bloom’s head is the size of a lima bean. [UPROXX]

25 Animals Who Think They’re People - Be the baby, kitty. BE THE BABY! [Buzzfeed]

The Funniest Anti-Gay Counter-Protests - If you hate gay people enough to make a condescending posterboard sign about it, stop picketing funerals and go to a pro wrestling show. [HuffPost Comedy]

Movies That Should Get the 3D Treatment - This should be a link to a blank white page. The only movies that should exist in 3D are Hugo and that Jaws movie coming out in 2015. [Adult Swim]

Nazi Moon Film More Popular Than Angelina Jolie - That’s a solid headline if I’ve ever read one. [Moviefone]

The Best Films You Never Want To See Again - Sorry, Pajiba, I want to see The Godfather at least several more times. Part II as well. Part III I could live without. [Pajiba]

The Phantom Menace Sucks, But These Posters Don’t - They didn’t finish the headline: “…Do Anything To Make Me Want To Pay To See It Again”. [Unreality]

The Girl Who Loves to Eat Plastic Will Haunt Your Dreams - /glares [Brobible]