I'd like to thank all the people who sent in replies to my post. I was so impressed at the wide spectrum of thoughtful replies.

I'd like to use some of them for my story. Would any of you be willing to share your real names and hometowns with me? If not, I fully understand. I may use the quotes anyway attributed to usernames. But if so, please e-mail me your name and your username asap at swebby@mercurynews.com.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sure, you can quote me, if you want. My name is Brian Urlacher and I live in Chicago.



Seriously, let us know when your story appears and share a link to it.

Looking forward to reading your article.

Hope you caught my post as well, notice i put it up after you started this thread.

Use me name.....it's cool.

For those who missed it, Sean Webby's article was printed today (along with several quotes from this website). You can read the article here and the OutSports comments here. (You'll need to register, but it's free and painless.) I think he did a good job (in the space provided) covering most of the ground he needed to. I'm curious to know what kind of response Sean Webby gets from his article - hopefully, he'll keep us informed.

LXN

Thanks for bringing the actual article to everyone's attention.

When I was out and about this afternoon, I stopped at a cafe and by chance saw today's front page of the Mercury News and the article, which I enjoyed a lot.

The quotes from one lesbian about how she was a Giants fan before knowing she was a lesbian was classic honesty, and the one from another woman who says she goes to women's basketball games, instead of bars, because it's an ocean of lesbians, were my fave guotes.

But really, I was annoyed the reporter didn't have the courtesy to alert us to his article appearing in print.

I estimate it would have taken two or three minutes to share the news with us that his excellent article was on page one, but I guess he couldn't be bothered.

Kind of rude of him, IMHO.

I know enough people in the media (including me) that I don't consider it a slight. Sure, it would've been nice to know. But he's probably already on to assignment next, and he did thank us (on the board and individually) after getting his quotes. The fact that he researched and wrote the article, and got it on the front page, no less, far outweighs any slights, real or imagined.

LXN

I agree with Lexington. Plus, perhaps he notified Jim and/or Cyd via e-mail and they hadn't gotten to post the links yet.

I went to Google News and searched for "Outsports," and got both links. By clicking on the links from the Google News page I was able to read both without registering. It's good work, even if I wasn't quoted. eek! It does, however, include this:

YES! The return of scottie, Media Whore!!!

Just read the article. Good piece. Nice to see some of our Outsports friends quoted in the article and the "fans speak out" comments. I'm going to forward the article to my Blue Jays contacts who, after over a week, have still failed to send me any information on Blue Jays Pride Night which is just 6 weeks away.

Hey... I'm in here. Thanks for the link. First, a letter of mine gets published in the Mar. 19, 2001 Sports Illustrated, and now this :cool: !

Sure, your letter appears in SI, then America is attacked on Sept. 11. Now, you're quoted in the Mercury News and a plane heads towards the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Maybe you should keep yourself out of hte news!

JIP - Your jealousy is showing, and that is no way to get a date. We could start calling you the Outsports Whore, but we won't, for now....

[ May 11, 2005, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: scottie ]

>>>We could start calling you the Outsports Whore, but we won't, for now....

And how does one go about doing that?

LXN

I'm not jealous! I love your Media Whore-dom! (Whore-ness? Whorality?)

CRAP! I could not remember what my f**king id was when I used to read the paper on line a year ago. So I created a new one. And the stupid site does not recognize it.
So I can't read the interview with me.
ass**** registration. I always use fake info anyway.

No need to register, just go to bugmenot.com and enter "mercurynews.com".

Did you try my instructions above (going through Google News)?

What a horribly offensive potty mouth we have going on... sheesh...

Oops, respected poster... carry on!

Yes, I went to google and entered outsports. Got a long list that did not include the article. Tried googlenews.com and got a list of stuff that had no connection with outsports.

At Google News I typed in "Outsports Webby" and got the article itself, but not the "Fans Speak Out" sidebar with quotes from Outsporters. When I typed in "Outsports Fans" at Google News the first article was a Washington Blade article about a possible Gay Night at the Nationals. The next two are the "Fans Speak Out" sidebar and the main article.

Let's just put an end to the this little Laurel & Hardy routine...

LXN

-----------

Complex field for gay sports fans

By Sean Webby

Mercury News


The night was less about being gay for Dottie Ames than it was about garlic fries and girlfriends and watching their beloved Giants.

``I was a Giants fan before I was a lesbian,'' said Ames, 62, of Larkspur. She was one of about 250 fans who took part in the second sold-out Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender singles night at SBC Park on Monday.

Events like this are spreading throughout North American professional sports, particularly in baseball. ``Gay days'' have been sponsored by the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox as well as the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics.

The trend shows that some teams are trying to develop a better relationship with their gay fans.

It appears to be working. Said San Francisco resident Peter Bray, 46, on Monday: ``I support the Giants because they support me.''

But the relationship between gays and their teams is far more complex than a simple block of discounted seats, a free drink and a shout-out on the electronic scoreboard.

Are some teams marketing to gays and lesbians to make a social or political statement? Or do they just need to sell more tickets? Should a gay person support a pro team when there are no openly gay players? Are there differences between the way lesbians and gay men support teams?

What, if anything, does it mean to be a gay sports fan?

Money motivation?

The Giants started their singles night last season when Carl Stein of San Francisco suggested to the team that it match its singles night for straight folk with one for gays.

``The Giants were very positive right from the start,'' Stein said. ``Everyone had a great time, other than the fact the Giants played poorly and lost.''

Jarrod Dillon, who coordinates the Giants' special events, said the team's motivation is twofold:

``First and foremost my job is to sell tickets,'' Dillon said. ``We try to come up with creative and new ways to do that, and if we can bridge a gap or create something that can build a bridge to a community that we haven't reached out before, that's great.''

The Giants are at the vanguard, the only pro team in the Bay Area to hold such an event. Will the A's, 49ers or Warriors, for example, follow?

``They are great fans, no question, and our ownership is extremely active in the gay community,'' said Kirk Reynolds, a 49ers spokesman. ``But we have only eight dates where we play at home. It's not like the Giants with so many other dates to fill the seats.''

``We haven't broken into that demographic,'' said Raymond Ridder of the Warriors.

Many fans surmise that money is the driver.

``No sports team would hold a left-handed Eskimo pipe-welders day -- not because they're against left-handed Eskimo pipe-welders, but simply because the payoff would be too small to make it worth doing,'' said David Kramer, a fervent Giants fan who lives in Colorado, in an e-mail.

Sports marketing experts say teams like the Giants are smart to court the gay crowd.

``It would be unwise to turn your back on any market,'' said David Carter, founder of the Sports Business Group, a Los Angeles marketing firm.

``Maybe 50 years ago you could just market to Ozzy and Harriet. But I don't think that today that holds up.''

Some ``Gay days,'' however, haven't gone smoothly.

When the Texas Rangers sold about 200 tickets to a gay group in 2003, church groups protested, and one urged straight fans to turn in their tickets in protest.

But others have been remarkable successes.

In Philadelphia, Larry Felzer helped organize one of the most popular gay day events: 1,500 turned up to watch the Phillies.

``I went into this pretty naive, insisting to friends that this was a night of fun and nothing else. But I soon realized that this is political,'' Felzer said by phone. ``I realize that this is something that is raising awareness and potentially breaking stereotypes.''

And -- dream of dreams -- Felzer got to throw out the first pitch.

``I was warned not to throw it underhanded because I'd set the cause back 50 years.''

It's a complex issue

For gays, like everyone else, being a sports fan is mainly about fun. But it is also a surprisingly complex -- even controversial -- issue.

Some believe there is a disconnect between gay culture -- particularly among men -- and the sporting world.

Many men interviewed for this story said they had been ostracized as children when they tried to join a game.

``There is some residual stuff that many of us feel,'' said San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano, a Giants and 49ers fan. ``The little gay kid who is the last one being chosen. So hey, if you don't feel welcome, why should you be cheering people on?

``But not every gay kid was small and weak and didn't make a team. Even though there are some sour feelings, why not still support the team? Why should they throw the baby out with the bathwater?''

OutSports.com is a popular Web site devoted to the idea that being gay and being a sports nut aren't -- and shouldn't be -- mutually exclusive.

``There is a longtime perception that gay men are not as interested in sports as straight guys,'' said Jim Buzinski, co-founder of the site. ``That's just not accurate. We are the guy sitting next to you in Row B.''

Most gay fans said they wish the major sports teams had openly gay players, but that it didn't affect their fervor.

``First there will have to be the gay Jackie Robinson. That person will be the hero,'' said Bob Palacios, 37, of San Mateo, whose heart belongs to the San Antonio Spurs.

``I hope in my lifetime it will be a matter of fact, that no one will really care. Because that is what sports is really about, it's not about the person, it's about the team.''

Fans first

It is widely known that women's basketball has a large gay fan base. In 2002, a group of lesbians staged a ``kiss-in'' to protest their perception that the WNBA's New York Liberty had not acknowledged them.

Doris Owyang, 40, a San Francisco journalist, said her friends tell her, ``Why go to a bar when I can go to a Stanford basketball game and see an ocean of lesbians?''

Owyang said she and many other gay women were strongly drawn to watching and playing sports.

``A lesbian pickup line is, `Do you play softball?' '' she said.

And yet Owyang said she does not consider herself a ``lesbian'' fan, any more than an ``Asian'' fan.

``I like sports. I like competition. I love Cal football. I go crazy when Michelle Kwan is on the screen. I like Annika Sorenstam. I don't care if she's gay'' or not.

Owyang and others said their fervor isn't affected by the perception that professional sports still have an exclusionary culture.

``Homophobia is not exclusive to sports. Welcome to life.''

And this...

LXN

----------

The fans speak out


The following quotes were culled from a discussion board on OutSports.com, in response to Mercury News questions posted there about the nature of being a gay fan.

"If one didn't support a team without any openly gay players then one would have no team to support. In my book I can still support a team where a player makes Rockeresque comments as long as the team deals with it fairly and accordingly. Hopefully for every Rocker or Shockey, there's a Ken Griffey Jr. out there making positive statements. In the end, my support for a team won't change based on the statements of a select few."

-- Igortvi

``I'm not sure how being a `gay fan' is different from being a `straight fan,' or if there is any difference at all. Being a fan of any sport is already a self-defining process that allows an instant connection with others with whom one may not have any other connection. Go to any game; people with seemingly nothing in common are cheering and booing together, without questioning one another's life away from the game.''

--Adam J. Rich, Los Angeles

``I don't buy the argument that there is no such thing as a gay or straight fan. Guys are constantly talking about women when they're at sporting events: how hot the cheerleaders are, the occasional hot girl in the vicinity, who they left at home, who they work with. . . . And yet we -- the gay fans -- are supposed to say nothing like that, lest we reveal our differences?! To me that says that we're second-class fans: Our seats, while bought at the same price, are in fact worth less. We have less freedom to be ourselves. Generally, I think sporting events are scary places to be an out gay man, and I wish that wasn't so.''

-- Brent Mullins, Los Angeles

``I do tend to feel like a minority in the sports world because I am gay, and I feel like a minority in the gay world because I am a sports fan. I don't feel the need to identify myself as a gay sports fan. But, if I need to be identified as one in order to bring to light the fact that gay sports fans actually exist, then so be it. For what it's worth, I am the biggest sports fan of any gay or straight person with whom I interact on a daily basis.''

-- Stephen Cohen, Alexandria, Va.

Must you ruin my fun? wink

One of the lessons I've always had trouble learning is this one:

When people bitch about their problems, they don't want their problems solved - they simply want to bitch about them.

Apparently, I'm still learning.

LXN

Well, I for one thank you for providing a solution rather than commiseration.

The point about rooting for teams without visibly gay athletes is a good one. I've always been very proud of the way my beloved Bruins supported Sheldon Kennedy when he revealed his history of molestation. Another team might have been plagued by titters and jokes, or chosen to ostracize the guy to avoid association with the homosexual-themed scandal. But Boston offered support in a mature manner and didn't let off-ice issues affect the way the game was played.