This is getting to sound like a broken record: Tiger wins again. Woods, in the past two weeks has won the PGA (to give him three of the four golf majors this year) and the NEC event. When mere mortal golfers win a major they often struggle in their next event, still giddy. Not Tiger. HE shot a career-best 259 over 72 holes. He is the most dominant athlete in any sport today.
BOTTOM OF THE WEEK
WHAT BAD LUCK
We give the bottom this week to Tony Saunders' guardian angel, who was asleep at the switch or too busy watching ``Survivor.''
Saunders suffered an awful injury 18 months ago when he broke his arm while pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It was as ghastly a sports injury as we've seen,as his arm broke as he released the ball. The video still makes us sick.
Saunders was back on the mound Thursday in the minor leagues trying a comeback. But in the third inning he uncorked a wild pitch and fell to the ground screaming so loud it could be heard in the press box. He had broken the same arm again. Doctors say Saunders will regain full use of his arm, but he said his pitching days are over.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
DRAG QUEENS AT THE
CLOSING CEREMONIES: A DEBATE
You gotta love the Aussies.
From the London Evening-Standard:
``Olympics organizers refused to back down from using drag queens in the Sydney Games closing ceremony today despite claims that it would turn the city into `the world capital of sleaze.'
The decision to use between 40 and 200 drag queens, hailed as a breakthrough for gay rights, has provoked protests from church groups and conservative politicians who believe it is an endorsement of a homosexual lifestyle.
Some callers to talk-back radio stations even said they planned to demand refunds for ticket they had bought for the 1 October closing ceremony.
But Games chiefs refused to back down and said the criticism was only a backlash from right-wing reactionaries.
Olympics chief Michael Knight said the drag queens would be part of a segment highlighting Australian cinema and their inclusion should not be seen as a celebration of gay culture.
The drag queens will appear on a float in a celebration of `Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,' a film which won the 1995 Oscar for best costume design and told the story of two transvestites and a transsexual
traveling through the Australian outback by bus.''
The news prompted a discussion among Federation of Gay Games members as to whether showing drag while ignoring other aspects of gay life was fair.
Two letters from FOGG members sum up the debate.
One View:
``I would LOVE for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) or SOCOG (Aussie Olympic
Committee) to publicly recognize the vast numbers of lesbians and gay men involved in staging something like the Olympics - but I doubt that this will happen.
``I want the whole noise on the Priscilla entry to die down and I want the Priscilla entry to remain. Yes - I'd love a better representation of the lesbian and gay community - but this isn't what the entry is about. They might do an entry on ``Babe'' as well and that doesn't mean I want ``Animal Farm''- it's about the MOVIE!
Another view:
``If only the controversy would die down, if only it were just a movie. But it has already taken on a life of its own ... it is already all over the Internet, online polls, newspaper polls, and the G&L press will surely exploit it.
I can't wait to see the nonsense that the rags will print this week. Instead of writing about the 6-8 known
gay and lesbian Olympic athletes, or all of the points you made so well, it will be all about the 'censorship' of our beloved Priscilla.
This will be the next media Ellen DeGeneres ``cause celebre.'' G&Ls will fall
all over themselves to 'defend' this ``MOVIE'', a ``victim'' of right-wing homophobia, and in the end, identify it as an icon of 'our' culture, right up there with Garland,
Streisand, and Liberace.
Many of us do think Ellen was just a mediocre TV sitcom, and Priscilla was an OK depressing comedy.
The trap has already been set, and again we take the bait: Grovel for
``ANY'' mainstream homo-content we can, regardless of how damaging it is, as long as it is ``Fabulous.''
THE KISS THAT
SHOOK CHAVEZ RAVINE
Danielle Goldey and Meredith Kott were like any red-blooded American lesbian baseball fans. But an incident Aug. 8
garnered them headlines.
Goldey and Kott engaged in a full-bore lip lock in the stands at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 8. It was nothing their heterosexual friends
weren't doing sitting next to them.
But eight (!) security guards, prompted by someone complaining about ``those people,'' escorted our lovebird lesbians out the stadium while ignoring the straight couple.
Goldey and Kott, longtime Dodger fans, were justifiably pissed and they got a lawyer to demand an apology or a suit would follow.
To their amazement, and a sign that gays are slowing being recognized in the sports world, the Dodgers offered a sincere apology. They also donated 5,000 tickets to gay and lesbian groups, invited the couple to sit behind home plate and said they would send their employees to sensitivity training. Dodger president Bob
Graziano even took the unusual step of driving to West Hollywood to personally meet with the women.
``I think they stepped up to the plate more than they had to,'' Goldey said. ``All we wanted was an apology.''
Associated Press columnist Jim Litke wrote a thoughtful piece where he concluded:
``Change comes slowly. Most times, it takes something as powerful as the force of law. But every so often, it gets nudged along by something as small and soft as a kiss.''
The letters to the sports section of the Los Angeles Times were somewhat predictable, with some
condemning the ``homosexual lifestyle,'' and others revolted by Goldey and Kott's French kissing in public.
But the best letter came from a South Pasadena man who wrote:
``The biggest shock regarding the women kissing at Dodger Stadium is that they were still at the game in the seventh inning. The new sheriff should sign them up to a multiyear deal.''
FOOTBALL
It's back!
College football started this past weekend with top-ranked Florida State winning by 26 and sleeper team Southern California
pounding Penn State. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech had a game ready to go, but dangerous lightning strikes forced
cancellation.
In the NFL, the dreary exhibition season finally ended. The real games start this Sunday.