Good morning and welcome to The Huddle for today, September 2, 2020. It’s Wednesday.

Your need to read time today is 90-seconds, as usual.

This Morning’s Sports Headlines:

Representation Milestone: Deputy managing editor Alex Reimer reports that Olympian Nicola Adams will become first person to dance with same-sex partner on popular British dancing show

Blaseball: Our Brian Bell introduces us to the newest sport. Well, it’s not really a sport. It’s a splort: Blaseball builds an inclusive example for all sports to follow

Transban Letter: Outsports has been contacted by dozens of academics around the world who are taking a stand in opposition to World Rugby’s proposed transban. This is a developing story which we’ll bring to you on outsports.com.

Basketball, bubbles and Blackness: SwishAppeal reports: Because the 2020 WNBA season is ‘bigger than basketball,’ players may need to step away

In other LGBT Sports news…

New NCAA LGBTQ award: Allegheny women’s basketball coach Kate Costanzo is nominated for a new award in NCAA Division III: the inaugural LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award.

Also new this morning…

Behind the scenes at Real Salt Lake: Employees describe toxic RSL culture: ‘rotten from the top down’

Essay of the day: Conservative activism manifests itself in “sports boycotters”

Check this out: Have you visited the Secret Base? Find out about this new feature from SB Nation here.

OutShouts:

Nicholas Lee and Etienne Aduya give an Outshout to volleyball ref Stephanie Shostak, a member of GO! SPACE since 2016.

If you’re an LGBTQ person in sports looking to connect with others in the community, head over to GO! SPACE to meet and interact with other LGBTQ athletes, or to Equality Coaching Alliance to find other coaches, administrators and other non-athletes in sports.

Highlights from Social Media:

Thanks to our Brian Bell for sharing this news from the WWE!

Out figure skating icon Johnny Weir is so very excited. Click to hear him explain why:

Who’s Jason Collins got his eye on at the U.S. Open?

Gay athlete Sam shared a pic on Instagram of himself and his retooled bike, gearing up for the 545 mile ride from San Francisco to L.A. “This will be my fourth time participating in AIDS LifeCycle!” he wrote. We found him via the hashtag #gayathletes

View this post on Instagram

Just picked up my bike from the “spa” – he got a little work done, they lubed him up and he’s ready to get rode hard for a good cause! Also it’s finally starting to feel like spring weather is coming – which means outdoor training! In the next three months I’ll be on this bike as much as possible to physically prepare for my 545 mile ride from San Francisco to LA. This will be my fourth time participating in AIDS LifeCycle! Thank you again to all of the generous people who have donated to my ride so far – and all of you have sponsored me generously many times in the past. Your continued support is amazing. After only one short month I’ve reached almost 40% of my fundraising goal and I’m confident that with your help I can hit 10,000 this year! Please follow the link below and join me in this amazing cause ❤️❤️🐶🚲💪🏻 http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/samuelbarrus #aidslifecycle #aidslifecycle2020 #sanfranciscoaidsfoundation #trekbikes #gayathletes #fundraiser #cyclinglife

A post shared by Sam (@seb916) on

Podcast Du Jour

Nearly every day of the week, Outsports has a new podcast for your enjoyment. Today it’s The Trans Sporter Room, featuring a conversation with out transgender youth soccer referee Jacqueline Harper-Grubb. She’s had a remarkably smooth transition, thanks to a supportive spouse, family, friends, her job and sports league officials in Springfield, Missouri. Plus Karleigh and I discuss the players’ walkout, the rugby transban proposal and an all-star panel of trans women athletes that featured Karleigh and many past guests of the podcast. And stay to the end to hear Jacqueline, Karleigh and me talk about Star Trek and Babylon 5!

This and all Outsports podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and on every platform where you find Outsports!

Today’s Sports Calendar

WNBA:

Minnesota Lynx vs. Chicago Sky at 7 p.m. EDT

Los Angeles Sparks vs. Dallas Wings at 8 p.m. EDT on CBSSN.

Washington Mystics vs. Seattle Storm at 10 p.m. EDT on CBSSN.

NBA PLAYOFFS:

Miami Heat vs. Milwaukee Bucks at 6:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

NHL STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS:

Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars at 8 p.m. EDT on NBCSN.

ONLY NATIONALLY-TELEVISED MLB GAME:

San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at 9:40 p.m. EDT on ESPN+

TENNIS:

Click here for ESPN’s schedule for the U.S. Open and yesterday’s results.

SOCCER:

Click here for ESPN’s schedule of soccer action today.

Share your thoughts in the comments below or email us at [email protected]

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. The next edition of The Huddle will appear tomorrow morning on Outsports.com Stay safe!

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