Each week, Outsports stops the clock for an instant reply of the week that was. It’s our way of memorializing the glorious victories, the ignominious defeats, and the players and personalities who made them, lived them or just couldn’t avoid them.
I realize my roster may differ from yours, and I welcome your comments, contributions and critiques. I read them all! Details on how to reach me are below, after my look at the week’s winners, losers, and one man whose fate is undecided as of press time.
Undecided: Seth Dunlap
I won’t brand the gay radio host or his station WWL in New Orleans as either a winner or loser but this now criminal case took a wild turn this week. The station’s owners, Entercom, accused Dunlap of tweeting from the station’s account that he is “a fag,” and say he demanded more than a million dollars. Police are now investigating, but Dunlap — through his attorney — denied the allegations. He even took a polygraph to show he did not tweet that slur. We’ll see how this all shakes out in the days and weeks to come.
Winner: Megan Rapinoe
The USWNT champion received the FIFA Best Women’s Player of the Year award, and in a charged acceptance speech, offered praise for other soccer activists.
Loser: Baylor University’s anti-LGBTQ administration
Rice University’s Marching Owl Band showed its support for Baylor’s LGBTQ students, by spelling out “pride” as people ran on the field waving rainbow flags at halftime of Saturday’s Baylor at Rice football game in Houston. Baylor administrators refused last month to recognize an LGBTQ student group, citing the Christian school’s “human sexuality” policy that prohibits students from engaging in “heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual behavior.”
Winner: Piper Niven
WWE’s Piper Niven rang in Bi Visibility Day by publicly coming out as bisexual. “Happy Bi Visibility Day! Guess who’s ready to tell the world,” Niven tweeted Monday morning with a cheeky picture of the Scottish NXT UK star pointing to herself.
Losers: UFC fighters Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodríguez
After their MMA fight ended prematurely, Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodríguez called each other “puto” and “faggot” and got into a fight in their hotel lobby the next day.
Winners: Robbie Rogers and LGBTQ Lakers fans
Robbie Rogers will be honored at the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2nd-ever Pride Night on Oct. 16 when the Golden State Warriors visit the Staples Center for a preseason game.
Losers Sex traffickers in Nigeria, thanks to Joanna Lohman
Retired lesbian soccer player Joanna Lohman traveled to Nigeria for about nine days to teach soccer skills to local girls as an empowerment and team-building tool against sex trafficking. Lohman told Outsports: ”Part of the program is showing young women that there are other options, and sport is a tremendous resource for them to change their future,” Lohman said. “It allows them to become part of the team. Most of the young women in these areas are very isolated. So part of becoming a team is very empowering for them. It allows them to have friends and local coaches and adult figures who are accountable for them.”
Winner: Lee Cary
Lee Cary felt lost after coming out as gay. But he has found personal and professional satisfaction with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Losers: Opponents of trans women athletes
When the International Olympic Committee executive board meets next week in Switzerland, the agenda reportedly will not include a recommendation for a new set of more stringent guidelines governing the inclusion of transgender athletes. The Guardian reported Thursday that the delay in the long-anticipated stricter rules is being blamed on a lack of consensus among scientific experts.
Winner: Jacob Lancaster
Playing football and idolizing Billy Porter have rarely gone hand-in-hand. Jacob Lancaster is breaking the mold while still in high school.
Loser: The rapist who attacked Jonathan Vriesema
When he was a 21-year-old senior in college, he was sexually assaulted by a person he was close with. Jonathan Vriesema is now dedicated to promote inclusiveness of LGTBQ people in athletics.
Winner: Mack Beggs
An ESPN 30-for-30 short about trans wrestler Mack Beggs notes the unseen stories behind the headlines and where he’s at now.
Losers: Wrestlers Psycho Clown, Cain Velasquez and Brian Cage
AAA’s New York CIty debut delivered high-flying action, colorful characters and blatant homophobia including the “puto” chant during multiple matches.
Winners: Katie Sowers and the 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are off to a hot start for the 2019 season, one of the “surprises” of the season so far. And they’re doing it with an openly gay coach on the staff. Katie Sowers came out publicly in 2017 after she had been hired by the 49ers.
That’s all for this week! I’ll bring you a fresh list of winners and losers next Saturday. Got a name I missed, or want to challenge my choices? Comment here or on Facebook or Instagram, tweet at us, message me via any social media, or just plain email me at [email protected] Thanks!
