Tim Hardaway hates the gays...

This may seem a little outdated, it is my first post in about ten months. Yet here I sit, newly rededicated to this blog with a bold mandate to blog weekly. The mandate provided by my inner sense of justice and desire for change inspired by the greatest of all corporations and their ingenious boarding system which allows me to stay on my ass for an additional 30-60 minutes while I commute back and forth between Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa. I've digressed. More on why I am always passenger #16 later, perhaps tomorrow.
One more digression, the man who invented Gatorade died today. It's sad when anyone dies but the lawyer in me can't help but wonder what idiot cut the deal that has garnered the University of Florida only $110 million in royalties since 1973 when Gatorade holds the lion's share of a $7.5 billion dollar a year industry. Seems like UF should get more, maybe that's just the homer in me talking.
On to the subject of this post,
You may be saying, "Moe, this Hardaway is a gay basher stuff is old news." I agree, but how often do we lose sight of a story without examining its ramifications.
Oh Timmy, I was a big fan of yours. The alley oops to Zo', the killer crossover (the first), the three-pointers without the slightest ball rotation, you were the man in Miami. We knew you weren't at your best, the injuries never plagued you in Golden State with Spree and Mullin spreading the floor. But you were tough for us when we needed you. All those Eastern conference playoff games against the Knicks kept us enthralled. We chuckled with you as Jeff Van Gundy hung precariously to the the tree trunk that is Alonzo Mourning's left leg while you pulled at Oak's right arm.
But you had to open your mouth. Even Dan Lebatard (horrible Miami sports writer I refer to as "Lebastard"), let you know you were out of line. Now you have apologized. The fact that John Amaechi is such a well-spoken intelligent guy made you look more foolish than the everyday homophobic jackass. I'm okay with that.
Let's look what has happened in the months since Hardaway's admission of hatred for all that is gay.

The hypocrisy of the NBA has been exposed and those opposed to gay marriage are called what they are, Hardaways (sorry Penny, Lil' Penny). Players and coaches alike have been chastised by the league for the blurting an array of comments from bad jokes (Phil Jackson's attempt at stand-up) to slurs (numerous players have made anti-gay comments).

If the NBA is going to chastise its players and coaches for making comments, the league may want to consider something stiffer for the owners of the Seattle Supersonics who spent over a million dollars to fund an anti-gay marriage group. How can you be against gay marriage and not be against gay people as a whole.

At least one other gay sports figure has come out since Mr. Amaechi's disclosure. Kyle Hawkins, club lax coach, was dismissed after coming out on a web site. After reading several articles on the subject, it's clear that Hawkins was a bit of a disciplinarian especially when you consider that lax was a club sport at the University of Missouri with each player paying about $2,000 each year to play on the team. The questions around his termination echo the underlying problem when discussing homosexuality in sports. If there wasn't such rampant homophobia and hatred of gays in sports we wouldn't even have to ask why Hawkins was fired. Instead, we are left to wonder whether his players were unhappy with their record or their coach's sexuality.

Let's be honest with ourselves, why don't some folks want gay people to get married? I know, the bible, they choose to be gay, marriage is a religious institution...blah, blah, blah, bullshit. Since when is marriage a religious institution. Can't you get married at a courthouse, didn't Captain Stubing preside over some nuptials. I'm pretty sure marriage is a legal institution but not necessarily a religious one. Maybe some folks who are against gay marriage also disapprove of atheist marriage.
It is a very black and white issue for me. Either you think that gay Americans are entitled to the same rights and benefits as the rest of us, or you hate gay people (privately or Hardaway style). If you don't care, so be it. You recognize what most of us recognize, allowing homosexuals to marry, divorce and receive marriage benefits will not change anything about your life.
Except that it might affirm that being gay is a valid acceptable way to be. Something I believe most of us already know.
One more note on the subject of homosexuality in sports: I want to like Tony Dungy but am beginning to despise everyone who lends credence to their own hatred of homosexuals by couching it in terms of their religious beliefs. It's akin to the, "I was just following orders,"defense which doesn't fly with anyone anymore, does it?