I don’t want to pile on to the Colts’ loss in the Super Bowl, but when other people have avoided post-loss handshakes it’s made headlines so I think this deserves some comment. It seems Colts quarterback Peyton Manning wasn’t interested in sticking around to shake the hands of the New Orleans Saints after he blew his team’s chance at winning their second title in four years; He was too focused on rushing to the locker room to sulk. He didn’t even stay to see the last tick of the clock, making his way to the tunnel before the clock struck zero.

When other players and coaches, like Randy Moss and Bill Belichick, have made hasty exits after losses it’s been big news. Some of the same publications who chastise other people for doing it were making excuses for Manning; And you have to search the nooks and crannies of the Web to find out that Manning refused to shake the hands of the players who beat him. Pretty classless of the reigning NFL MVP.

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From Portland, Ore., gay publication Just Out comes a great story of a local gay-sports community leader who left home to help in Haiti. Kody Leonard started playing tennis with Team Portland Tennis six years ago and quickly became a leader for the organization. So why did he leave the comforts of Portland for Port-au-Prince?

Everyone has seen the coverage and I’ve seen the (many) reports from colleagues out in the field. Victims are facing such terrible conditions, lacking the most basic needs while I am at home in Portland fussing over who has the best coffee in town.

You can follow Kody on his Mercy Corps blog.

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I’ve rarely been as pissed at the Super Bowl ads as I was yesterday. CBS rejected two gay-themed ads (albeit the production value of one was so low that I would have rejected it) because of their “standards,” yet the commercials they allowed unleashed a barrage of violence, alcohol and nudity. They rejected a fun, unoffensive ad featuring a fictional gay former pro football player, yet they accepted at least three ads with men in underwear, two ads of women stripping, people going to outlandish lengths to get beer, and countless ads featuring violence. Plus, of course, they allowed four airings of ads from an anti-gay hate group.

If they’re so interested in protecting kids and families, why did they show ads with kids slapping and punching adults? Watch a video chronicling all the Super Bowl ad violence after the jump.

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What were they thinking? The Focus on the Family ad that aired during the Super Bowl aimed at fighting abortion instead promoted domestic violence with Tim Tebow tackling his mother. When it aired, everyone at the party looked at each other with a “what in hell did I just see” look. You can see it after the jump.

The first Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad aired on CBS at about 2:10pmET today. It starts with Pam Tebow elluding to the suggested abortion of her son Tim, and then the Heisman Trophy winner joins her.

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While Tim Tebow helps Focus on the Family attack abortion rights during the Super Bowl, we figured you’d rather watch him walk around in his underwear while doing some working out for Gatorade. Thanks to the Sun Sentinel for being on-hand for the workout session.

Check out the video after the jump.

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Saints-Colts in the Super Bowl. Two great offenses, two great quarterbacks. But will it be a great game? Sometimes, the games we most anticipate fall flat, while ones that seem ho-hum going in are great.

I already made my pick: Colts by 7. Who do you have? And why? Take our poll: Continue reading →

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Reaction to the death of Brendan Burke has been strong from many corners of North America. People in sports, the mass media, and from gay communities have shown an outpouring of emotion for the young gay son of Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke.

The Leafs observed a moment of silence and dedicated their 5-0 win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night to Brendan:

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Brendan Burke.

What a tragic story — Brendan Burke, 21, was killed in a crash on a snow-covered road in Indiana on Friday. Burke came into national prominence from an ESPN.com piece about him in November. The story detailed the love and acceptance Burke got from his dad, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, after coming out as gay.

Brendan Burke, 21, Canton, Mass., and Mark A. Reedy, 18, Bloomfield Hills, Mich., died at the scene of a two-vehicle accident at U.S. 35 north of Economy. The accident was reported at 2:50 p.m. Continue reading →

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For the last 18 months I’ve appeared regularly on one of radio’s gay-friendliest sports talk shows, The Michael Irvin Show. I called the show’s producer this morning to find out when we were going on, and he told me the show had not been picked up; And while the show was supposed to air today from the Super Bowl’s radio row in Miami, ESPN pulled the plug on today’s broadcast in response to a civil lawsuit filed against Irvin alleging he raped a woman in 2007.

Irvin’s lawyer, Larry Friedman, said the woman used the threat of the lawsuit to try to extort $1 million from Irvin.

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There will a ton of hot players to watch Sunday in the Saints-Colts Super Bowl, but reserve Colts receiver Sam Giguere probably won’t be among them. The 24-year-old, 5-11, 215-pounder from Canada will likely be one of the team’s inactives.

Giguere was active for only one game but the Colts like his potential as a receiver and kick returner. He is called “Guns Giguere” on Colts’ blogs for his huge arms. There aren’t many receivers as well-built as Guns Giguere: Continue reading →

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A gay, mentally challenged, biracial high school student in Eastern Washington, Benjamin Grundy, is being told he cannot perform all of the routines with the girls on the squad. Instead, he’s only allowed to stand there waving his arms. Ben’s mom wrong a very long letter to the Seattle Weekly outlining all of the issues. Among them:

After approximately the first week of practice, the coach implied to me that Ben’s male anatomy might be moving around. I told her I would get him a jock strap to resolve this potential issue. I was ignored. However, because Ben’s ordered uniform had some sort of manufacturing issue, his coach did indeed go and get him a really nice shirt, which she had embroidered, etc. With the warm up pants from his football cheer team and the shirt, he looked like a cheerleader. The shirt was long and the pants were close enough. I went to the first game, and Ben did most of what the girls were doing. He was happy, and therefore, so was I. That was the whole point… that he was doing something that meant a great deal to him.

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Outspoken advertising maven Donny Deutsch has weighed in on the rejected Mancrunch ad for the Super Bowl saying not enough gays watch football to warrant the ad buy. He told Larry King:

It’s hard to argue that it makes sense to reach a very targeted audience of gay males in America by advertising to this mass audience. So you can’t say with a straight face that that was a smart media buy, can ya?

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Former Belmont University basketball standout Sheika Taylor is turning her eye to fashion and releasing a clothing line specifically designed for more masculine women.

“It is inspired by my own masculine style, but features a lot of my creative personality,” she said. “I strive to display elements of art in my garments by using different techniques.”

She said her new clothing line will be heavily marketed to lesbian females (particularly those that self identify as “studs”, but added that “the garments will not just scream out gay.”

Taylor hasn’t left the sports world, volunteering as a coach at Nashville-area Springfield Middle School for boys basketball, girls volleyball and softball.

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Not only has CBS agreed to break its policy against political advocacy ads, but they helped the anti-gay Focus on the Family craft their anti-abortion commercial starring Tim Tebow! Gary Schneeberger, spokesperson for Focus on the Family, told the Daily Beast:

We’ve worked with [CBS] almost since the beginning. Our senior vice presidents talked to CBS executives throughout the process. It was a very cordial, very professional, fruitful relationship.

You know what Cyndi Lauper would say: Money changes everything.

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In my Super Bowl for the Clueless column, I wrote about New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, an outspoken advocate of gay rights, including marriage. Fujita, a Cal Berkeley grad, is very passionate about social issues and at Super Bowl media day, he did not back down from his views, addressing gay rights and also Tim Tebow’s Super Bowl ad.

“It’s just me standing up for equal rights,” Fujita said. “It’s not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it’s the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly. … There is a certain stigma that comes with being from Berkeley. And I’m proud of that stigma.” Continue reading →

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