Posted on 10/27/2005 9:21:26 PM PDT by The Old Hoosier
This is a transcript of a ridiculous, almost farcical interview from earlier today on CNN.
We've got presidential aides being indicted and Miers withdrawn, and the White Sox winning the World Series for the first time in 88 years, and Hurricane Wilma, and probably five other things, and sure enough, they have ten minutes on CNN for this crap, a "coming-out" story for someone no one has ever heard of in a league no one watches or cares about, and how she's going to screw up her 8-year-old son. (And I thought they were all lesbos anyway in the WNBA.)
The so-called "reporter" Kyra Phillips has her lips so tightly affixed to Swoopes' ass the whole way through that I'm amazed she can talk at all. In an honest world, this woman would never work in television again.
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ANCHOR: The president trying to take a tour of the devastated areas there in Florida since Wilma hit. We've brought you live pictures throughout the past couple of days. Lack of water, lack of ice. A lot of people in certain parts of Florida pretty desperate for help, hoping to get some answering from the president as he starts to tour that area right now in Pompano Beach. We'll follow the president and bring you more live pictures as we get them.
Well, she's a legend on the court, with more records than we've got time to enumerate. But that long list happens to include three- time MVP for the WNBA. Sheryl Swoopes is also the first woman's basketball player to rate the honor of having a Nike shoe named after her. She's got game, that's for sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, we got Swoopes mixing it up with one of the -- (INAUDIBLE) and Sheryl Swoopes flips up from behind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS: And now she's mixing it up off the court as well with the decision to come out about her sexuality. Sheryl Swoopes joins me live from Houston to talk about why she decided to take this step and what she thinks it means for her career. Sheryl, great to see.
SHERYL SWOOPES, WNBA PLAYER: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: Well, what happened, Sheryl? Was it a person, a moment? Something deep in your heart and you just thought, this is it, I've got do it now?
SWOOPES: I think it was a combination of all of those things. You know, I've been with my partner now for about six years -- seven years. And I just felt like I've been living a lie for at least seven years and have not been able to be who I am, haven't been happy and just feel like I've been sacrificing that part of my life. And you know, it got to a point to where, you know, I said, all right. I'm ready to do it, and, you know, there's no better time than the present.
PHILLIPS: You mention your partner, Alissa Scott (ph). Tell us about her.
SWOOPES: Wow.
PHILLIPS: Tremendous support.
SWOOPES; Absolutely. You know what? She's my best friend, first of all. We talk about any and everything. And, you know, like any normal couple, we have our fights and arguments and disagreements. But the love of my life and she has been there with me and for me through thick and thin and is definitely a big supporter of mine. And I couldn't be happier right now.
PHILLIPS: And, obviously, the two of you had to talk about this, a pretty huge move. And, you know, she's involved with athletics as well and I know that it's frustrating for you. And actually, I want to hear it from you, you know, whether it's any type of female athlete. So many times, you hear people say, oh, she's a really good athlete. Yes, she's gay. There's this stereotype. Does that just drive you nuts?
SWOOPES: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Because it's so not true.
SWOOPES: It's definitely not true. And I think especially when you talk about female sports -- it doesn't have to be just basketball or softball or soccer -- I think any time you talk about professional or women in sports, period. And as you said, especially if they're good at what they do, you know, there's got to be a reason behind that. And that reason is usually, oh, well, she must be gay.
And I think it's so unfortunate because it's really taken away what the focus should be on, which is just how great of an athlete we are. You know, we're just as good as the men are, we're just as competitive, we work just as hard. And we're fun and exciting and we're a joy to watch.
So it's very frustrating for me, as a female athlete, not just a basketball player, the fact that, you know, that's usually what people want to talk about when they talk about women in sports. Because there's so much more to what we bring to the game than our sexuality.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk about some of the fears for a minute, Sheryl. I have other friends that play professional athletics, and they're gay, and they don't want to come out because they're very concerned about sponsorship. They'll say oh, no way, Kyra, such and such just took me on and there's no way I'm coming out of the closet. Did you ever feel that way, that if you did come out, there could be financial repercussions? That you could lose your job, that you could lose your big sponsorship, you could lose your tennis shoes?
SWOOPES: You know, I have to say that that has definitely been in the back of my mind. But until I watched the "L Word," and I saw Dana, who played tennis on "The L Word," and she came out and she had huge sponsorships. No, I'm kidding.
You know, obviously, I think that's a huge concern for a lot of people who are in my shoes and who are battling with whether they want to do it or and not. And that was in the back of my mind. You know, if I would have wanted to do this four or five years ago, I probably would have -- for the simple fact of, you know -- I don't know if I'd lose my endorsement deal with Nike, what is the WNBA going think, what are they going say? And you know, even more than that, you know, what are the fans going to say?
And those were huge concerns of mine. But I have to say after doing this yesterday and, you know, all of the media yesterday and today and in speaking with my sponsors, everybody has been very supportive. And it's just made it a lot easier for me and it's -- it just makes me that much happier that I decided to do it.
PHILLIPS: Now, let's -- well, let's talk about sponsorship for a minute, because you're coming out and talking about how you're going to represent this lesbian cruise lines. Now, it's not Nike, yet, you've had your deals with Nike. So it easier because this is a lesbian cruise line that you don't -- you're not so concerned? Or -- do you still have a deal with Nike right now? Is that -- now are you concerned about that? You know, play out the difference here among...
SWOOPES: No, I still have a deal with Nike. I'm actually with Nike for another five years.
PHILLIPS: How did they react to this?
SWOOPES: I spoke with Ray Pom (ph) from Nike a couple of days ago , and she said Sheryl, you know what, we're proud of you, we're happy for you, we support you, we're behind you. This isn't going change our relationship, and you know, if there's anything we can do, we're here for you, and that was very, very, very comforting to me just to hear that coming from her.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
SWOOPES: And with Olivia, going back to the first question you asked me about people being afraid of losing sponsorships, you know, I -- it's good to know that I can actually represent a company such as Olivia and not be afraid of losing my job, you know.
PHILLIPS: It's comforting.
SWOOPES: Absolutely. It's very comforting. You know, they're representing everything that I want to be able to do and, you know, that's live, and be free and be able to be who I am and, you know, there are other people who can relate to where I'm coming from. And Olivia is a very strong and powerful company, and hopefully the relationship that I'm going have with them will be one that will last for a while.
PHILLIPS: Sheryl, let me ask you about your son Jordan, named after, of course, your hero and friend Michael Jordan, eight years old. How is he dealing with this? How are you talking to him about this?
SWOOPES: You know, I try to not overwhelm him. Even though, in my opinion, he's the smartest 8-year-old I know.
PHILLIPS: He had to grow up fast. He's got a famous mom, and now this is a whole another step.
SWOOPES: But you know, there's only so much information that I'm going give him right now, and there's only so much he even wants to hear, but you know, we had a discussion about it the other day and, you know, he said OK. You know, he was fine with it. He knows, but he doesn't really know.
But again, I feel like what I'm doing right now probably couldn't have happened at a better time, and you know, Jordan absolutely loves his mom. He's very protective of his mom, which is, you know, the same thing I am, and I would absolutely do everything in my power to protect him, and I know it's going to be hard. I know it's going to be difficult for me. It's going to be difficult for him, because there are some mean and ugly people in this world, unfortunately, but hopefully I will be able to prepare him enough where when people come to him and say ugly things, you know, your mom is gay, or you have two moms, and you know, he'll be okay with that and he'll understand how to respond to that, you know, and we just got to cross those bridges when we come to them.
PHILLIPS: Well, Sheryl Swoopes, you're beautiful, you're smart, so what if you're gay. You're an incredible athlete. You're a tremendous role model.
SWOOPES: Thank you. Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: Well, I thank you for talking with me today.
SWOOPES: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: My pleasure.
SWOOPES: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Coming up in the second hour from LIVE FROM, stranded in Mexico and looking for a way out. Just ahead, the latest on American tourists seeking federal help to get out of there.
Also, the latest from Washington as Harriet Miers withdraws as Supreme Court nominee. We're live with the latest.
Don't go away.
Swoopes' story made the front page of the Dallas Morning News. What a sick joke. 1. We all know that the WNBA has tons of lesbo players and fans. 2. It might be something of interest in the WNBA section of the Sports Page but not the front page of the paper. 3. The MSM continues to promote a pro-homo agenda. Probably has much to do with the number of poofters who own (Sulzberger at NYTimes) or work for MSM.
Listen, Swoopes, if you're gay, we don't care.
The first time a public coming-out was done, it was lame, but at least it was creative at the time. Now, it's just old.
THIS will HELP the WBNA?????
Notice how many times she uses the phrase "you know...". The only other person I've heard speak publicly, who uses the words "you know" so often, is Hillary Clinton. I wonder if it's a lesbian thing?
None...so why announce it to the world ?
bye-bye troll
Enjoy your 15 minutes on FR.
Without lesbians nobody would care about the WNBA.
If you (and she, and innumerable others) kept it to your/her/his selves, no one would know, and therefore no one would care.
Sounds good to me.
Unfortunately, those promoting the "gay" agenda do everything except keep it to themselves. As in the interview above.
Homosexual Fawing Agenda Ping.
Read it if you can stand it.
In the groove of "homosexuals are nature's noblemen".
Freepmail me and DirtyHarryY2K if you want on/off this pinglist.
The reason is simple: Swoopes coming out of the closet doesn't generate anywhere near the controversy that an active male player will if he comes out of the closet. Can you imagine the incredible firestorm of controversy that player will generate if he declares he's gay? He'll end up being shunned by his fellow team members, the team's fans, and could lose any advertising endorsement deal very quickly. Note that even Nike--who is probably one of the more pro-gay/lesbian companies out there--will likely NOT come to the defenese of a prominent male athlete that declares he's gay due to potentially huge loss in sales.
SHERYL SWOOPES, WNBA PLAYER: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Freudian slip?
the fact that the WNBA actually PUSHES lesbianism at you is galling.....
this is sad because there are legitamate good players, both hetero and homosexual that playwomen's sports, and most of them would rather have their personal lives be their personal business......
Who was it (?), P.J. O'Rourke that said "homosexuality was the love that dare not speak its name. Now it's the love that won't shut up."
afraid the typed word on message boards are not getting the rejection message out anymore
What?!?! A member of the WNBA gay? Next you'll be telling me that there are lesbians in the LPGA!
("Denny Crane: Gun Control? For Communists. She's a liberal. Can't hunt.")
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