Good morning and welcome to The Huddle for today, September 22, 2020. It’s Tuesday.

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

This Morning’s Sports Headlines:

OUTSPORTS EXCLUSIVE: HBO’s ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’ pulls planned report on trans student athletes. My question this morning is… why?

Karleigh Webb reports that Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont told Betsy DeVos: ‘Butt out… Leave our kids alone’

At 10 a.m. EDT: Our Ken Schultz writes that Before demanding Olympic ban for Iran, America needs to clean up its own house

At 11 a.m. EDT: Outsports co-founder Jim Buzinski reports that LGBTQ baseball fans on Facebook are sharing their love of the game, from homers to hotties

In other LGBT Sports news…

Yale News: Confronted with federal funding threats over trans athletes policy, New Haven BOE discusses legal recourse

CT Post columnist: Withholding federal funds over transgender-athlete policy is cruel ploy

Also new this morning…

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll fined $100,000 for violating NFL face mask policy and team fined $250,000

Giants don’t see any problems with MetLife Stadium turf

Paul George’s speech after Clippers’ Game 7 loss to Nuggets was met with eye rolls, per report

OutShouts:

Meet Equality Coaching Alliance member Nile Clark:

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:

WEAR YOUR DAMN MASK!

A legitimate question from ESPN’s Rachel Nichols:

Billie Jean King is elated at the class of 2021!

If you want your social media post to be included here, or to share one showcasing LGBTQ sports, email us the link at [email protected] or tag @Outsports on Instagram or Twitter!

Podcast Du Jour

Nearly every day of the week, Outsports has a new podcast for your enjoyment. Today, Outsports bids farewell to Randy Boose, host of Level Playing Field. Here’s his message about today’s final episode, in which I appear as his guest:

“Thank you so much everybody for listening to my podcast. I had a lot of fun doing this, I learned a lot about the LGBTQ community and also myself. My guest this week is the managing editor of Outsports, Dawn Ennis. We chat about a few different topics and she asks me why I am ending the podcast. I hope you enjoy, I will still be active on twitter under @LPFPod. You can also follow my personal account at @randyb_SC.” Listen here:

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 SEMIFINALS:

Connecticut Sun vs. Las Vegas Aces at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2

Minnesota Lynx vs. Seattle Storm at 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN2

NBA FINALS:

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets at 9 p.m. EDT on TNT

NHL STANLEY CUP FINAL: NO GAME SCHEDULED

MLB NATIONALLY-TELEVISED GAMES:

New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays at 6:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Mets at 7:10 p.m. EDT on ESPN+

Texas Rangers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks at 9:10 p.m. EDT on FS1

Oakland Athletics vs. Los Angeles Dodgers at 9:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN

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!