Let me update you about what’s going on in LBGT sports this summer.
It’s been a slow summer for LGBT sports news, so I thought I’d touch on a few relevant sports stories that are going on.
First, Brett Favre is back with the Minnesota Vikings for his 20th year in the NFL. Most people are sick of hearing about Favre and chalk his waffling up to a needy ego. While there may be some truth to that argument, I can’t help but root for the guy. He’s so likeable and fun to watch. And while his back and forth routine of “should I or shouldn’t I retire” is as played out Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok,” when he finally pulls the trigger and returns to the football field I always welcome him back with open arms.
For those all those Roger Clemens fans out there (insert sound of crickets chirping), your boy is being brought up on indictment charges for lying to Congress. Clemens testified before Congress, even though he didn’t have to, in order to vehemently deny the fact that he used HGH throughout his Hall of Fame career. The same ego that took him from a washed up Boston Red Sox pitcher to a New York Yankee hero towards the end of his career is about bite him in the rear.
With all the evidence piling up against him, it’s hard to believe that Clemens will be able to get out of the final inning unscathed. Remember what happen to Marion Jones? The former Olympic sprinter ended up doing jail time for the same thing — lying to the Feds during a performance enhancing drug investigation.
Out lesbian and professional boxer, Melissa “Hurricane” Hernandez is focused on taking “womyn’s” boxing to the next level. She recently won her fourth title, claiming the WIBA Lightweight belt after an eight-round match in Mexico on Aug. 14. Hernandez is a real life Million Dollar Baby, and has enough clout to put her money where her mouth is.
Lastly, there’s been a lot of talk lately about whether or not cheerleading is a “sport.” Back in July, a federal judge in Connecticut rule that cheerleading is not an official sport that colleges can use in order to meet the gender equity requirements issued by Title IX. Apparently, a bunch of women on the Quinnipiac University volleyball squad sued the school in 2009 after their program was going to be cut due to budgetary reasons and replaced with a competitive cheerleading squad.
Let’s look at this logically. What qualifies as a sport? Contact? No, because there’s no contact in volleyball, swimming, etc. And if it’s a matter of competition, the very name itself—competitive cheerleading—accomplishes that. You have to be physically fit to be a cheerleader, and if you’ve ever watched competitive cheerleading on ESPN then you know that you have to endurance and be quite athletic as well. Just because there’s no NCAA Tournament for cheerleading doesn’t mean it’s not a sport.
I think that if something as non-athletic as target shooting can be considered a sport, then so should cheerleading.