New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is the cover boy for the upcoming issue of the Boston Spirit, the city’s leading gay and lesbian magazine. But, alas, this is not a coming out story.
The Evil Genius, sporting his shiny barber smock in the photo, really isn’t the focus of the Spirt cover story. Sadly. He’s just a prop to illustrate the piece that asks the age-old question: “If one of Boston’s professional athletes announced he was gay would his team and the fans rally around him?” …
Spirit Publisher David Zimmerman said they chose Belichick to be their March/April covercoach because “he is, currently, the most recognizable coach in the New England area.”
The piece, which is not available online, was written by Outsports’ own Cyd Zeigler, and he discovered a real reticence in getting people to talk.
“BTW, not one of the city’s sports teams, except for the Boston Cannons, the lacrosse bunch that drafted an openly gay goalie in 2005, would talk to Spirit reporter Cyd Zeigler, Jr. for the story. But, the scribe notes in a sidebar, at least Patriots spokesman Stacey James returned his calls.”
Note from Cyd: This statement is not accurate; the Celtics did respond to my calls and emails, and the Cannons said that no one at the organization was even able to discuss their drafting of an openly gay goalie two years earlier. I have a sidebar in the article that talks about it.
Using Belichick on the cover is a pretty shrewd marketing choice by the Spirit, and seeing Bill Belichick and “lesbians love” on the same page is kind of funny, but the editors could have been much more provocative by using an active jock to tease the piece. –Jim Buzinski
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 1:14 AM
It would be a slightly cooler article if, you know, they won.
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 10:04 AM
LOL. Well the article was written in December, before the playoffs even started. Whether they won or lost is pretty irrelevant to the article.
on Feb 28th, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I think Bill Belichick looks quite lovely on the cover. There is something wild in his eyes, that makes me think Bill would be as wonderful in bed as Bill is so good at making secret and VERY NAUGHTY films of sexy NFL athletes.
on Mar 1st, 2008 at 1:12 AM
This was briefly discussed on our local sports-talk station WIP, on the Angelo Cataldi show this morning. While one co-host, former Flyers player and current analyst Keith Jones, cracked jokes, Cataldi wondered why Belichick was on the cover and whether having him on the cover of a gay magazine means they’re saying he’s gay or people will think he’s gay (sound familiar, Outsports fans?). The article itself was never even mentioned.