Posted on 02/14/2007 7:28:00 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
Tim Hardaway: 'I Hate Gay People'
cbs4.com
Feb 14, 2007
(CBS4) MIAMI Former Miami Heat superstar Tim Hardaway told a local sports radio show that he hates gay people.
Hardaway made the comments while he was being interviewed by Dan Le Batard on 790 the Ticket Wednesday afternoon.
The five time All Star was asked how he would deal with a gay teammate.
First of all I wouldnt want him on my team, said Hardaway. Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I dont think thats right and I dont think he should be in the locker room when were in the locker room.
Le Batard took Hardaway to task, pointing out that his comments were flatly homophobic and bigoted, but that only seemed to stir up the former point guard.
Well, you know, I hate gay people, Hardaway said in response to Le Batard. I let it be known I dont like gay people. I dont like to be around gay people. Im homophobic. It shouldnt be in the world, in the United States, I dont like it.
Hardaways comments come on the heels of a groundbreaking revelation made by former player John Amaechi, who became the first professional basketball player to openly identify himself as gay.
Amaechi became only the sixth male atlhlete from one of the four major American sports (NBA,MLB,NFL,NHL) to admit he is gay.
Former NFL running back David Kopay , offensive lineman Roy Simmons and defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo just recently came out.
Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland Athletics in the 1970s, and Billy Bean, a utility player in the 1980s and 1990s, have also come out.
No player has ever publicly admitted to being gay while currently playing for one of the four major American sports.
Of course he "regrets" it now.......... sometimes you gotta wonder if these people ever use their brains before they speak............
Even apart from this subject the NBA is no longer even interesting with all of its malcontents and people with criminal records. David Stern can keep his precious NBA as far as I am concerned.
Nah - he'll just do rehab. That is what everybody does. Racist remarks? Rehab. Bigot remarks? Rehab. Diss the Jews? Rehab. It's almost laughable.........
Oh I forgot. Homosexual relationships with inappropriate and/or minor people? Alcohol rehab.
LOL!
I can't stand to listen to Thompson.... But it sounds like his treatment of the subject is in agreement with 95% of the mainstream sports press.
My question: Would John Amechie's book have gone anywhere but the bargain bin had it not been for Hardaway's comments? Doesn't anyone else smell a "stunt" here?
Once he's off the subject of college hoops he's out of his league. On rare occassion when he dips into the cultural issues I usually have to turn him off.
What was interesting about yesterdays program was how incredibly "wooden" it was. I half expect that Coach Thompson and his cohorts met to strategize how to steer the calls.
All of the men who called in were too nice to "the Coach". They let him turn their Christian faith against Hardaway's comments, while leaving the rainbow brigade on high ground.
"Doesn't anyone else smell a "stunt" here?"
I kinda doubt it.
Hardaway sounds like someone who really doesn't like being around homosexuals, but simply doesn't have the tact to know how to say it without getting burned at the stake.
If this were a preconceived stunt Hardaway would have thought out a way to pump Amechie's book without loosing his hide.
I think Hardaway's only "sin" is publicly voicing what I daresay many people actually believe.
Would a woman be publicy crucified if she said she wouldn't want men in her locker room? Let's assume not, as society has deemed it not appropriate for men and women to share a common locker room.
That begs the question: why does society enforce this separation? Its to keep the sexes apart, of course, and to provide privacy to the opposite sexes.
Is it no less a privacy concern that heterosexual males feel that same discomfort sharing a locker room with homosexual males?
Let's turn it around: gay males say straights should not worry because they (gays) won't make passes at them in the locker room. If a straight man used that as a reason to share a locker room with a female, I suspect he wouldn't get very far.
So, while its not politically correct to voice such opinions, and even called gay-bashing, I think its actually a double-standard on the part of society that men and women are kept apart, for whatever reason, but those same reasons can't be used to keep straight & gay men apart.
What if he had said he hates perversion? If someone said, "I hate perverts", would that be a big deal? I'm with him on this.
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