Not sure if this is the right forum (can we have an "Alleged Gays in Sports" forum), but this is from the NY Post's Page Six gossip column. This whole relationship sounds like a complete sham to me. This was obviously planted to publicize that 1) Piazza's very, very straight, so straight he's banging a Playmate, 2) who just happens to be a new spokesmodel for Killian's. How convenient.
Sham Relationship, Sham Beer
Grand slam
MIKE Piazza is one lucky man. The Mets catcher is dating Playmate Alicia Rickter, who just got named one of four Killian's beer spokesmodels. "I want a big family and I want work that won't make me travel so much," Rickter told PAGE SIX. "I am looking forward to a lot of kids - I am just a girl from Long Beach [California]." Piazza and Rickter have been happy for several months now and are frequent patrons of Show and other nightclubs, although, "We like to just hang out at home most nights."
Full Version: Piazza in the Post
Sounds like a Post make-good from last year. 
QUOTE
William1865:
Piazza and Rickter have been happy for several months now and are frequent patrons of Show and other nightclubs......
I wonder if they go to Show on the nights the male strippers are dancing..... Piazza and Rickter have been happy for several months now and are frequent patrons of Show and other nightclubs......
So when do they run the piece linking Sandy Koufax with Miss Sunsweet Prune Juice? 
I believe the journalistic term for this is... hand job.
QUOTE
Bill W:
I believe the journalistic term for this is... hand job.
Good one, BillW...I believe the journalistic term for this is... hand job.
Isn't this actually like the third or fourth "playmate"/"Miss Universe"/"stripper"-type that Mike has "dated"?
Which seems odd to me, considering he's the "conservative" guy who's a "nice Catholic boy"...interesting choices in women. And if ya gotta beard yourself why not just choose some nice unknown chick, instead of these women obviously seem to be in it for their own PR as well? Then at least it won't all seem so staged...
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Which seems odd to me, considering he's the \"conservative\" guy who's a \"nice Catholic boy\"...interesting choices in women. [/QB]
For what it's worth, I think Piazza's more a libertarian than a conservative. And not all conservatives (even nice catholic ones) are necessarily opposed to dating Playmates, etc. But this whole Playmate thing is still a sham, if you ask me.
I don't know if can agree just from the above article (maybe you know something I don't); but, I just wish this whole charade (or whatever it is) with Piazza would end sooner than later.
It's not interesting.
Not in his favor: it's going to look really cheap if it turns out that he IS staging his relationships. I mean, a Playmate? It just feels weird.
I guess you DO have a point there William1865: he doesn't seem like the "Playmate type" (of suitor). Besides, an MLB player doesn't NEED a Playmate...
[ April 11, 2003, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]
It's not interesting.
Not in his favor: it's going to look really cheap if it turns out that he IS staging his relationships. I mean, a Playmate? It just feels weird.
I guess you DO have a point there William1865: he doesn't seem like the "Playmate type" (of suitor). Besides, an MLB player doesn't NEED a Playmate...
[ April 11, 2003, 11:40 AM: Message edited by: bluebird48234 ]
File this under "me thinks thou doth protest too much". I hate speculation about anyones sexuality, but Piazza just can't seem to stop flapping his gums about it. He gives an interview in the June issue of Playboy and this excerpt is in today's NY Daily News.
QUOTE
Mike Piazza may have made the catch of his life.
The 34-year-old Met says he hopes to settle down and have children with former Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter.
\"She is without a doubt the most beautiful girl I've ever dated,\" says Piazza. Rickter, 30, has appeared on \"Baywatch\" and can currently been seen in Killian's beer commercials.
But he admits he still confesses to a priest after every time they have sex. Piazza received a papal blessing last November.
\"I've got friends who are priests,\" he says. \"If I confess to them, they'll say, 'Hey, we teach that you should wait for marriage, but if you care for the girl, that matters too.'\"
\"We met in L.A. last October,\" Piazza tells Kevin Cook in the June Playboy. \"The first part of my life was totally focused on baseball, but I've grown up a little. Living through Sept. 11 in New York, that has to change you. I'm thinking the next chapter is settling down, starting a family.\"
Not that he minded playing the field.
\"There are the girls you know here and there who you don't have relationships with, but they're not just friends, either,\" he says of his past. \"[They're] friends with benefits.\"
At least all this talk of women should put to rest rumors about - ahem - which team he's playing on.
\"I'm not gay,\" Piazza reiterates. \"[But] if some guy in our clubhouse is confident enough to come out, I'll support him. If he does his job on the field, I'll regard him as a regular guy.\"
And, unlike every other man in New York, he won't be trying to steal Piazza's girlfriend.
The 34-year-old Met says he hopes to settle down and have children with former Playboy Playmate Alicia Rickter.
\"She is without a doubt the most beautiful girl I've ever dated,\" says Piazza. Rickter, 30, has appeared on \"Baywatch\" and can currently been seen in Killian's beer commercials.
But he admits he still confesses to a priest after every time they have sex. Piazza received a papal blessing last November.
\"I've got friends who are priests,\" he says. \"If I confess to them, they'll say, 'Hey, we teach that you should wait for marriage, but if you care for the girl, that matters too.'\"
\"We met in L.A. last October,\" Piazza tells Kevin Cook in the June Playboy. \"The first part of my life was totally focused on baseball, but I've grown up a little. Living through Sept. 11 in New York, that has to change you. I'm thinking the next chapter is settling down, starting a family.\"
Not that he minded playing the field.
\"There are the girls you know here and there who you don't have relationships with, but they're not just friends, either,\" he says of his past. \"[They're] friends with benefits.\"
At least all this talk of women should put to rest rumors about - ahem - which team he's playing on.
\"I'm not gay,\" Piazza reiterates. \"[But] if some guy in our clubhouse is confident enough to come out, I'll support him. If he does his job on the field, I'll regard him as a regular guy.\"
And, unlike every other man in New York, he won't be trying to steal Piazza's girlfriend.
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