Sports: Football, Baseball, Bball, Hockey, Etc. Vol. II

[Jeff Wrangler]

Former catcher and long-time baseball commentator Tim McCarver has passed away.

I remember him catching for the Phillies. It was mentioned in the TV report I saw that veteran Phillies ace Steve "Lefty" Carlton considered McCarver his favorite catcher.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I believe I heard local news sportscasters say Phillies pitchers and catchers are already in Clearwater.

It's better than being in hot water. 

[fritzkep]

 

[Lyle (Mooska)]

The March 4th Saturday Night Live Guest Host is going to be Travis Kelce.
(And I'm sure his brother will show up, too, don't you think?)

It's not unusual to have a sports star as host on occasion. I remember early in it's run in the late 1970's that Fran Tarkenton was a host.
___

I looked it up: Tarkenton hosted on January 29, 1977.

All sports stars who have hosted SNL; some have hosted more than once:

Bill Russell, O.J. Simpson, Coach John Madden, Bob Uecker, Alex Karras, Mr. T. and Hulk Hogan together, Marvin Hagler, Yankees Manager Billy Martin, Walter Payton with Joe Montana, Carl Weathers, Wayne Gretzky, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley (4 times), Nancy Kerrigan, George Foreman, Deion Sanders, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (5 times), Derek Jeter, Jonny Mosely, Jeff Gordon, Andy Roddick, Tom Brady, Lance Armstrong (the musical guest was his wife, Sheryl Crow!), Peyton Manning (his brothers Eli and Cooper and his parents also appeared--it was Peyton's birthday), LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Eli Manning, Ronda Rousey, John Cena, J.J. Watt and Travis Kelce.

That's 33 people. May sound like a lot, but SNL has been on 48 Seasons and, to date, 942 episodes!

[Flyboy]

Travis is a natural for the media, and a little Ego-crazy too! You should watch his appearance on Jimmy Fallon.....wild! PLUS, Travis looked soooooooo HOT that night... .....he's great, IMHO, not afraid to speak his mind, that for sure! I bet Jason, and maybe his Mom will be on SNL with him, somewhere. I quit watched SNL YEARS maybe decades ago, but sometimes I record it, like when Jake was Hosting! haha.......I'll record this one with Travis, for sure. 

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I did see him on Fallon. He's quite a character.
___

Yesterday I noticed my neighbor going somewhere and he had a Mahomes Jersey on.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

White Sox minor league player Anderson Comas comes out with Support from White Sox:
“I’m gay and I’m a professional athlete.”
https://www.outsports.com/2023/2/19/23606647/anderson-white-sox-mlb-minor-league-baseball

[gnash]

I don’t follow sports, but hopefully these guys that come out (and the ladies) don’t get harassed or bullied like before, on or off the field. Or on social media.

And at least it not as much as before.

You’d think SOME progress has been made!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

Hi, Jimmy!

My kind of clumsy observation is that it seems to me a preponderance of the professional sports guys who come out are black and I wonder if dealing with racial issues gives them some kind of experience of handling those issues where they feel coming out isn't going to be much different in dealing with that issue, so why not? Whereas the white guys might be dealing with an adversity of sorts; issues they never had to.

[gnash]

Hi Lyle—

Oh I wasn’t aware of that… maybe so. I would hope that color doesn’t matter but in the scheme of things it’s probably a huge issue.

I remember a statement that a friend told me in Los Angeles — he was close friends with football player Dan Turk — he said Dan had told him that every single NFL team had at least one gay team member. And this was in the late 1990s.

The closet door in professional sports must be bigger and heavier than it seems!

[Lyle (Mooska)]

I think so, too.

Dave Pollone wrote this book in 1990: Behind the Mask: My Double Life in Baseball. He was a professional Major League Baseball umpire. He did a book signing at the Unicorn Bookstore in West Hollywood and I met him there. After that he was around West Hollywood for at least two years. I saw him in the Revolver a few times. I had occasion to talk to him a couple times. In his book he mentioned that he knew of a large number of MLB players that were gay. He didn't acknowledge who they were, of course. This was 33 years ago!

In 2014 another MLB umpire came out while he was still working. Dale Scott. So an umpire has come out while active in the MLB, but no active player as yet. I believe every other major league sport has had at least one active LGBT player except baseball. Sometimes I wonder if that's because...well, baseball is a team sport, but it's also a sport where players have their moments alone...at the plate, making a play...they can be standing in the outfield more subject to the fans than if you're on a basketball court or football field, say. I mean, players are announced before all major sports, but what other sport does each player get introduced every time they come up at bat to play? During the game it's possible you could be introduced 4, sometimes 5 times.

[Flyboy]

IMHO, there are PLENTY of Gay players in all major sports, it only stands to reason, right? Percentages being what they are and all.
Most of them KNOW their careers would suffer a huge hit if they came out while on active status. Not to mention Salaries!! 

Sorry to say, except in Ice Skating, and maybe Olympic Gymnastics? Those sports, the athletes are less hesitant to come out, from what I've seen. Which doesn't discount at ALL the athleticism that is required of those sports. I think coming out for them isn't the same negative outcome as some other sports. This is all just my opinion!! 

[Flyboy]

KU won today, for anyone following the NCAA tourney here! K-State plays tomorrow! 

[Flyboy]

KU loses...........now it's on to K-State at MSG in NYC!! Tomorrow night, on TBS! For those who care!! 

[Flyboy]

K-State wins again, in a nail-biter OT at MSG!! Now onto the Elite Eight on Saturday! Against, WHO? Never heard of that team!