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What an amazing day it is!! Jason Collins(center for the Washington Wizards, think NBA people!!) has become the first active, professional athlete to come out as gay! What an amazing this he has done, & what incredible support he has received from his fellow players, coaches, celebrities & the PRESIDENT of the United States! Thank YOU, Jason Collins! You’ve done more then you know! This is beyond thrilling!
Yesterday news broke with NBA player, Jason Collins, coming out as the first openly gay and active men’s professional athlete. Sports Illustrated’s website has an article/open letter from Collins detailing his reasons for coming out. While being gay isn’t as controversial as it once was in the past, it still takes an amazing amount of courage for anyone to come out of the closet, especially for someone in the public eye.
Collin’s started his NBA career in 2001 with the New Jersey Nets after attending Standford. After spending 7 years with the Nets he went on to play for the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and finally the Wizards. This summer he’s slated to become a free agent with intent to pursue another contract.
Though Collins has received mostly positive and supportive reactions from athletes and non-athletes, there’s definitely been some shade thrown his way. According to the NYTimes, Mike Wallace, wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins sent out a Tweet saying: “All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys.” The tweet was later deleted and Wallace apologized for the comment. Also, on ESPN, NBA analyst Chris Broussard called Jason Collins a sinner. Who the hell isn’t a sinner though? Here’s video of Broussard’s comment.
Collins wrote in his Sport Illustrated piece, “I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.” Although he admits he would rather someone have come out before he did, he decided to do so since no other athlete has.
It’s great that Collins chose to come out and be the first to go through the motions so that other athletes and other people in general can see that coming out isn’t the death of a career, image, etc. The unfortunate part about Collins coming out is that it might not create as much change as an All Star, championship winning athlete coming out. Nonetheless, congrats and best of luck to him.
If you’re like me you don’t just fill out one bracket, and if you do you’ll probably change it roughly 10 times. Some people will say “it’s proper” to only fill out one bracket, after all your gut feeling is just that. But who really cares if you win your office pool with one or even ten brackets, money is money! Trust me, if you win you’ll remember that for years to come. Let me get back to the task at hand, because I am blabbing on.
This year unlike many others the field is wide open. Sure you have your number 1 and 2 seeds, but lately those are not always a lock. Last year alone we had two #15 seeds upset #2 seeds in the first round. #15 Lehigh over #2 Duke and #15 Norfolk State over #2 Mizzou. One is unthinkable, but two! That parallels with rapture, oh wait never mind. Here are a few tips to help you fill out your last second bracket.
– Sure it’s easy to fill out a “chalk bracket” aka the higher seeds always win, but seriously my friends 19 month old son can do that, what’s the fun in that? Exactly, there isn’t any so don’t be that goober and don’t go “chalk”
– A 9 seed over an 8 seed IS NOT AN UPSET. So don’t stick your chest out if do.
– Always pick at least 1 #12 seed over a #5 seed, every tournament this upset happens. Sometimes more than once. If I had to choose two, which I did take Ole’ Miss over Wisconsin and Oregon over Wisconsin. Both Ole’ Miss and Oregon have been ranked this season, both won their conference tournament and both are hot.
– The “ballsy” upset. For me I’m taking #8 NC State over #1 Indiana in the second round, and #12 Ole Miss over #4 KSU and #1 Gonzaga. Not saying you have to, but JUST DO IT.
– Duke; Duke is a love/ hate relationship. Those who love will have them in the final four every year, those who will have them bowing out in the second round to Cincinnati.
– Then there is the bracket where you want to pick a big school but don’t like that they have a low seed. Oregon is a 12, hell UNC is a 9. Don’t hesitate to pick a power school with a low seed, heck Gonzaga is a #1 and their schedule consists of upstate New York JV teams.
– The stubborn bracket. This is the bracket that will have all chalk with the exception of 3 games, and those games are easy pick em’s. This is most likely that old college alum who is in his 40s and tries to relieve the glory days any chance he can.
– Last but not least we have the rando brackets, short for obviously random. This could be the best mascot, or the best food or the best travel destination. AKA Gonzaga would lose in all of them.
I’m not tell you who to pick or how to pick it, but have a little fun with it! My Elite 8 is #1 Louisville #3 Michigan State #12 Ole Miss #2 Ohio State #4 Michigan #2 Georgetown #8 NC State and #2 Miami (The U), with Louisville, Ohio State, Michigan and The U. With The U winning it all. Will this happen? Of course not, it never does. That’s why last year out of millions of registered online brackets only 4 people had them perfect. What I will say is, sit back enjoy the games, take off work, head to the bar and let the madness begin!