• Bullying or ignoring injured athletes (including one with a concussion, pressuring them to practice and play anyway.

• Throwing a chair during a locker room tirade (it barely missed a player).

• Psychologically intimidating and belittling players’ skills and effort.

• On a trip with the team, being removed from an airplane because she refused to get off her cell phone when directed to by the flight attendant.

• Ordering players to attend Weight Watchers and pay for it themselves because she thought they were too fat.

• Demoralizing some players so much they needed to get counseling.

• On road trips refusing to allow players out of their rooms except to practice and play games (even on a trip to Hawaii).

What makes it even crazier is that the university administration was told about this behavior over and over again from staff, players and parents. And they did nothing.

Griffin makes a great analogy between what has happened at Oregon State and what many gay and lesbian athletes face. If an athletic department won’t respond to or take action on these allegations against a mediocre-at-best coach, how can any gay athlete expect them to take action against a homophobic coach, particularly one that is successful?

Since the report came out, Wagner has been fired. But she will receive $1.2 million to walk away from the disaster she left behind at Oregon State.

Share on Facebook

As Walker stood before his team then, fumbling for words, he was surprised that none of his players had any questions about his being gay. All they wanted to know about was the baby.

That has not changed much. Players still fawn over [his daughter] Ava, who turns 4 in July, and their parents will occasionally ask about [his partner] Baltimore, who works for an insurance company in Portland. Walker said that his being gay had never been brought up during recruiting and that he did not think it had ever caused him to lose a recruit.

“I can’t say it has, I can’t say it hasn’t,” Walker said of the effect it has had on recruiting. “But it’s never blatantly been an issue.”

Yet still another story about how being openly gay in sports hasn’t affected someone negatively. Hopefully at some point people will see this trend for what it is: The state of being gay in sports.

It’s nice to know the Times is reading Outsports: This is the second story in the last three weeks they’ve gotten from this site. Hopefully they’ll continue to highlight the many athletes, coaches and administrators on this site: The more people who read these stories, the better.

Share on Facebook

In 2007, the Trojans missed out on the national title game after Pacific-10 conference losses to Oregon and Stanford (the latter was a killer). In 2006, USC lost to Oregon State and UCLA, again missing out on a chance to play for the title.

On Thursday, Oregon State sprinted out to a 21-0 halftime lead, but USC rallied to get to within 21-14. A late fourth-quarter interception of Trojan QB Mark Sanchez allowed Oregon State to score the clinching touchdown. USC scored inside two minutes to cut the lead to six, but the Beavers recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock. USC’s top-ranked defense was shredded for 344 yards, while Sanchez was repeatedly harried and had little time to throw.

USC is not yet dead for a national title bid, but will have to win the rest of its games while teams ahead of them lose. Trojan fans weren’t expecting to be scoreboard watching this early in the season.

Share on Facebook