Jim Buzinski

Only 5% of execs think sports fans are less likely to support a team with an openly gay player

Our roundup of sports news from the media includes a priest in Washington state saying gays can’t be Boy Scouts because they dislike team sports; Robbie Rogers settling in; and a shocking Onion report on the hundreds of gay NHL players. Priest’s anti-gay letter says gays “dislike team sports’ – seattlepi.comA liberal national group, Catholics […]

A former Hofstra lacrosse player contends his dismissal as an EMT was because of his sexual orientation. The ambulance services denies the charge.

(This published in 2004). “I love baseball, but the majority of baseball hates a faggot.” Dug Funnell doesn’t mince words. This sentence was one in a long letter Funnell, a baseball fanatic, has sent to more than 5,000 players, managers, owners, front office officials and broadcasters in the past 15 years. It’s been his way […]

(This story was published in 2001). Mike Bryant’s research into gay male athletes has allowed him to combine the personal with the professional. “I wanted to help to break down the stereotype that gay men can’t possibly be athletes,” said Bryant of his masters research project “Gay Male Athletes and the Role of Organized Team […]

(This story was published in 2003). Ashly Massey, an eighth-grader in California was forced to spend two weeks in the principal’s office while her classmates were in gym class. Her offense? She disclosed she was a lesbian. The student had been sent to the principal’s office because the physical education teacher was uncomfortable with Massey’s […]

(This story was published in 2001). A 13-year-old video has proven to be an effective attention-grabber for Dave Pallone. It’s from April 30, 1988, and shows Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose in a vehement argument with Pallone, the first base umpire, in the ninth inning of a Reds-New York Mets game. Pallone and Rose go […]

(This story was published in 2004). In many ways Brandon Triche is your typical college senior, frazzled by pulling an all-nighter after a computer erased most of a term paper due for his communications class. In other significant ways, though, Triche’s life has been far from typical. Half-Native American, half-Caucasian, adopted at birth by religious […]

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said he hopes a gay player in the NFL will come out if it will make their life easier, and that he would fully accept him. In an interview with CNN in London, Luck was asked about having an openly gay teammate: It’s the 21st century and I know I […]

(This story was published in 2006). The unspoken secret of the new game show “I’ve Got a Secret” is the cast, which includes former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean. The show, which debuted April 17 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern on the Game Show Network (check your local cable or satellite listings) is an update […]

(This story was published in 2006). The unspoken secret of the new game show “I’ve Got a Secret” is the cast, which includes former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean. The show, which debuted April 17 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern on the Game Show Network (check your local cable or satellite listings) is an update […]

(This story was published in 2001). “Mental malfunction.” “Gays are going to hell.” “As bad as drug-dealers.” These anti-gay slurs were typical of much listener response to the gays in baseball issue on radio talk shows in the Heartland and Bible Belt in the past week. Cyd Zeigler and myself were separately interviewed on two […]

Jallen Messersmith was raised Mormon, overcame bullying and is openly gay on his Catholic college's basketball team in Kansas. And he goes on more dates than his teammates.

(This story was published in 2003). Related: Keith Olbermann responds to this column (see bottom of page) Judging by the reaction to a gossip item about Sandy Koufax, one would have thought the New York Post had accused him of helping Saddam Hussein build weapons of mass destruction. Or of having become a San Francisco […]

(This story was published in 2002). A baseball player in New York calls a press conference to declare his heterosexuality and the story fires up the sports world. A female pro basketball player in New York tells a magazine she’s a lesbian and the public yawns. The reactions to Mike Piazza and Sue Wicks confirm […]

(This story was published in 2001). During the Cold War, Kremlinologists in the U.S. regularly got out their magnifying glasses to study pictures in Pravda, the Soviet Union’s official newspaper. By analyzing who had joined–or who was missing from–the podium at various parades and functions, these Soviet experts would attempt to dissect the shifting power […]

(This story was published in 2001). Lesbian basketball fans and gay Major League Baseball players have been all the rage in the sports media the past two weeks. This alone is unprecedented. The mainstream media barely acknowledges the existence of gay athletes or fans. Having the issue raised in, among others, The New York Times, […]

(This story was published in 2002). Sports talk radio, for the most part, is to intelligent discourse what pork rinds are to gourmet cooking. The medium is populated (with some exceptions) by hosts who are loud-mouthed and obnoxious and callers who are clueless and obnoxious. It’s “Animal House” on the AM dial with “Bob from […]

He enters the game in the 77th minute for the Los Angeles Galaxy, three months after coming out.

The newest member of the L.A. Galaxy is eager to get back on the field and play the sport he loves. It's quite a change from when he first came out.