The Gays Vs The Footyball: Snore!

As ever, I look forward to not reading this article later...

PS More gay soccer balls from Robbie Rogers in GQ. Zzzz...

Homophobia In Football: Case Closed

Well there you go - thanks for that.

Not sure how they'd know you're gay though.

Do you go round matches doing bumming?

PS Number of days since the Independent last published an article about homophobia and football: 5 (five) - which was published 11 (eleven) days after the one before that.

One trusts their readers share the Indy's fascination with this subject.

Update: The Indy's next article about homophobia and football - a feature on Robbie Rogers - appeared 3 (three) days later.

Back of the net!

TalkingSport: Generic The Gays In The Sports Article Bingo

"It was noticeable how minor an issue Cruz's sexuality was. Apart from the occasional boo when he entered the ring..."

Sean Ingle, TalkingSport for The Guardian.

Orlando Cruz. Defiance! Inspiration! Special indeed! Welcome change. Twitter. Man's world. Patronising generalisation about working-class types. So why can't football? Fans? The Media? Justin Fashanu. Sad. Homophobic chants. Quote from bogus Observer story about footballers wanting to come out. Citation from online fans survey that's about as reliable as asking whoever you met at the bus stop. Quote academic. Fascinating research. 3,000 professional footballers in Britain. None! A little strange. Anton Hysen and Robbie Rogers. Typical. Fifa. Qatar. End with a vacuous platitude eg "They should be judged only on how they perform." Fin. Send invoice.

Two points deducted for not asking; "Is [something] the last taboo?" and not mentioning the Sochi Winter Olympics.

• Image from a photo gallery on Mirror Online; Spornography! The most accidentally inappropriate sports pictures ever. Some unfortunate coincidences have formed the basis for a hilarious new picture book, Sporno!

"LOL!!! THEYS LOOK GAY!" etc.

Robbie Rogers: So Brave!

Here is Robbie Rogers on America's Nightline talking about how he quit football and came out.
Or vice versa.
But remember: He's a cute li'l hottie and thus SO BRAVE!

Robbie Rogers: Come Out And Not Play

I know things will change. There will be gay footballers. I just don't know when and how long it will take. The next step is how do you create an atmosphere where men and women feel it's OK to come out and continue to play? It's a great question. Football has so much history. It's a great sport with so much culture and tradition. But I'm positive there will be changes...

The Guardian runs the first interview with Robbie Rogers since he came out in February - he says he turned down some big money from other publications, presumably for a salacious and sensationalist "shorts round our ankles in the dressing room" take on things.
He seems a decent fellow, and here also combats another popular prejudice - that footballers aren't very bright.
Though the Guardian feature has left me none-the-wiser really as to why he decided to come out and quit professional football; beyond he "became acutely aware of the impossibility of being a publicly-out gay footballer."
And that's called sad.

PS The interview was re-staged for some video things for Google+ Hangout - who get a rather prominent plug.

Adoption: Oh, Yes We Can

"I regard marriage as an institution that has developed over many centuries, essentially for the provision of a warm and safe environment for the upbringing of children, which is clearly something that two same-sex partners can't do."

The Guardian. 

I've been trying to find some dirt on this creep, David Jones.
And apparently he's a homophobic Tory cunt.

As with how the story about Robbie Rogers' coming out yesterday soon became about how much support he was getting from other footballers, perhaps what's most noteworthy here is how Jones's views on gay adoption have seen him criticised by many on the Right, when they were once Tory Party orthodoxy.
David Cameron soon distanced himself from his comments - see the Daily Mail article, which also includes the original Welsh TV interview that Jones later did a distinctly half-hearted reverse ferret over. 

Robbie Rogers: Hello Goodbye

United States and ex-Leeds United winger Robbie Rogers says he is "stepping away" from football after announcing he is gay.

Rogers, 25, who was released by Leeds in January after a loan spell at Stevenage, is only the third footballer to publicly declare his homosexuality.
"I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity," said Rogers.
"Now is my time to step away. It's time to discover myself away from football."*
The Football Association said it would fully back Rogers, regardless of whether he continues his career... 

BBC Sport. 

Like so many people, Fagburn says well done and good luck and that.
As a proper gayer I don't have a clue who he is, but a football fan fag friend tells me that Rogers really is someone of note in the world of sport ("Unlike Hysen...")
And I'm told there was "not a peep" that he wasn't as other soccer players. 
It does seem rather sad though that Rogers could only come out after he'd left professional football.
Or that he decided to come out and so felt that he had to leave professional football.
Fagburn also wonders if there's anything more to this story.
Still, can't wait to read all those rehashed 'Football - The Last Closet!' articles in the media next week.
Zzzz...

* From Robbie's coming out message on his website.