Outsports: The Site for Gay Sports Fans and Athletes

Updated: April 26, 2000
TOP OF THE WEEK
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

Martina has always been a revered icon in the sports world and in the gay community. The most dominant player of her era, Martina was also notable for being among the handful of out professional athletes. Her openness hurt her in the endorsement area though she is now pitching Subaru's.

It was heartening to hear that Martina has signed up to play in Wimbledon doubles this year with South Africa's Mariaan de Swardt. Martina has won 19 Wimbledon titles of some sort and is one shy on the record held by another of our favorite gay athletes, Billy Jean King. You go, girl!

Apparently $22.8 million isn't enough green to stay clean.

Carter, a Denver Bronco cornerback signed to a huge free agent contract a year ago, was suspended by the NFL for the 2000 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The ban will hit hurt Carter where it hurts most-in the wallet. He is set to lose $3.5 million in base salary, and he might also have to reimburse the Broncos a prorated portion of his $7.8 million signing bonus, the Associated Press reported.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

SMELLS LIKE TEAM SPIRIT

Ever dreamt of owning a sweaty, smelly pair of Troy Aikman's sneakers? Well, here's your chance.

The Dallas Cowboys are selling apparel of players-that were actually used in a game. Some of the items are listed simply as "team"-no specific player can be listed. But, the more expensive items come from the chest of Deion Sanders and the feet of Troy Aikman. A pair of shoes worn by Troy in a game is now running at $1999.99. At that price, we'd hope he'd be IN the sneakers when they're delivered.

SWIMMING

The competitive swimming world is abuzz with the appearance of a full-body swimsuit made from material akin to sharkskin. The suit, made by Speedo, is said to cut down on resistance, thereby making swimmers go faster. In Olympic-caliber meets, hundredths of a second can mean the difference between a gold medal and not placing.

Swimming's governing body-FINA-has approved use of the suits, but some swimmers object claiming they give an advantage borne more from technology than talent. We agree. Why not just attach little rockets to a swimmer's feet and make it drag racing under water.

Russian Olympic champion Alexander Popov thinks the suits are a fad and he has no plans to wear one.

``I couldn't care less,'' Popov, 29, told Reuters in a telephone interview from his home in Australia. ``I wouldn't care even if they swam in suits designed for deep sea diving.''

Our biggest complaint about the suits isn't their technological advantage. It's that one of the charms of watching swimming is to see super-fit guys in Speedos. We're not too turned on by sharkskin.

For the third straight year, an 8-seed has topped a 1-seed in the first round of the NHL Playoffs as the San Jose Sharks topped the St. Louis Blues Tuesday night, 3-1.

After leading the series 3 games to 1, the Sharks squandered games 5 and 6, and the series momentum
seemed to be in the Blues favor going into Game 7 in St. Louis. But, 21 saves by Steve Shields proved the difference as the Sharks stunned the Blues.

The game all but ended with seconds left in the second period when a 75-foot shot by San Jose's Owen Nolan somehow bounced into the net past goalie Roman Turek to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead.

St. Louis, which had the league's best record, found that home ice in Game 7 meant nothing. Asked about the importance of home-ice advantage, Sharks center Mike Ricci told the Oakland Tribune,
"You get to wear your white shirts, I guess."

A Michigan couple has named its new baby boy Espen after ESPN. Espen Allen Blondeel was born to Chad and Alisha Blondeel in January. The dad, a huge SportsCenter fan, met stiff resistance from mom until he was able to find Espen in a baby-naming book. It means ``God-bear'' in Danish. Another sign of the decline of Western Civilization. Coming next, kids named Vee H. One, E! and Nickel Odion.

WNBA

Shaq was, again, drafted into a professional basketball league. This time, she's headed to DC.

With the second pick in the WNBA draft on Tuesday, the Washington Mystics selected Tausha Mills, a 6-3 center who graduated in 1998 from Alabama.

"She's referred to as a female Shaq," WNBA president Val Ackerman said. "She may grow into that, literally and figuratively. She caught the attention of coaches with her size and strength and nice touch."

Nice touch? Apparently, she doesn't completely resemble her Lakers namesake.

BASEBALL

In a first for baseball, 11 players around the majors and some coaches sat our Tuesday night games to protest the removal of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relative. Elian was reunited with his father when federal agents raided the home and seized the boy.

The action wound up having an impact on the Marlins, who had only 19 players and were forced to use a pitcher as a pinch-hitter in a loss to the San Francisco Giants.