Say What?

Social media storm over gay kissing

By the time the NFL finally held its draft, there could be no shock about Michael Sam being the first openly gay athlete to join the NFL.  The shock came, however, when video played on ESPN showing Sam receiving massage and a passionate kiss from his male lover after the St. Louis Rams drafted him on the seventh and final round.

Former NFL running back Derrick Ward tweeted:  “I’m sorry but that Michael Sam is no bueno for doing that on national TV.  Man U got little kids looking at the draft.  I can’t believe ESPN even allowed that to happen.”

Miami safety Don Jones found the scene “horrible,” for which he was promptly fined by the NFL and dispatched to sensitivity training.

Most viewers had no complaints about sports coverage blending with reality TV, though there may have been jealousy on the part of straight men hoping for video of A.J. McCarron making out with his bride, Katherine Webb, who stars in an upcoming reality TV show.  However, McCarron was not nearly as happy about his selection in the fifth round as Sam was with his call in the seventh.

McCarron reportedly hurt his stock in pre-draft interviews with NFL teams.  He made a point of mentioning unreported injuries he had as a quarterback at the U of Alabama:  “I sacrificed a lot to play for coach Saban and that university.  I played through a lot of injuries, and we never leaked it because that’s just the way it is.”

Johnny Football didn’t say ‘no’ enough

In an interview with Jon Gruden on ESPN, Johnny Manziel said he made far too many public appearances in his whirlwind tour of America after he won the Heisman Trophy to cap his freshman football season.  “I should have stayed in my realm of Texas A&M and hung out,” Manziel said.  “I did too much.  I didn’t say ‘no’ enough.”

Sterling has another not so Magic moment

Hoping to undo damage from a racist rant that was audiotaped, Los Angeles Clippers exiled owner Donald Sterling only exacerbated his image problem and increased speculation that he’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Sterling said of Magic Johnson:  “I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.  . . . He has sex with every girl in every city and he gets HIV.”

Sterling’s rambling discourse caused viewers to agree with his semi-estranged wife, Shelly, that he’s suffering from “the onset of dementia.”   Mrs. Sterling, who lives in separate quarters of the same house as Donald, told ABC’s Barbara Walters she’s been in the process of divorce for 20 years.

The Sterling controversy began when his mistress, V. Stiviano, released audiotape of Sterling asking her to not associate publicly with Johnson.  Tommy Lasorda, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, said he hoped Stiviano “gets hit with a car.”  As fate would have it, Stiviano a week later drove a Ferrari (a present from Sterling) into the back of a Range Rover, according to TMZ reports.

San Antonio is the butt of Barkley’s humor

Charles Barkley, the ever unfiltered voice of the NBA on TNT, loves to take verbal shots at San Antonio, a city he regards as too small and too boring.  However, he recently cited San Antonio for having women who are overly large.  Barkley, once known as the Round Mound of Rebound, with a physique that was hardly svelte, said of San Antonio:  “There’s some big ol’ women down there.  . . . That’s a gold mine for Weight Watchers.”

San Antonio city councilwoman Shirley Gonzalez responded by pointing out that the city’s obesity rate has fallen below the state’s average “for the first time since you wore those tight shorts in the 80s.

While San Antonio prides itself on its slim-down to a 28.5% obesity rate, researchers rank Texas among the top ten most obese states in the union.  Barkley is standing his ground.

Mariano writes: Cano ‘lacks passion’ 

In his autobiography, The Closer, newly retired Mariano Rivera cites a lack of passion in his former New York Yankees teammate Robinson Cano, now with Seattle:  “I don’t think Robby burns to be the best. . .  You don’t see that red-hot passion in him that you see in most elite players.”

Rivera said he would rather have Boston’s Dustin Pedroia playing second base behind him than Cano.