Because soccer isn't gay, but once in awhile it kinda is.
Posts tagged major league soccer
Major League Soccer: Don’t Cross the Line 2013
03/15/13
Major League Soccer and MLS Works have released the 2013 edition of their “Don’t Cross the Line” PSA campaign with some of the league’s biggest stars participating.
Check it out:
Gay Soccer Player Would be Accepted, MLS Survey Finds
02/27/13
Grant Wahl conducted a preseason survey of MLS players and found that an overwhelming majority said a gay soccer player would be accepted in their locker room.
Wahl, senior writer for Sports Illustrated, spoke with 18 players on the condition of anonymity. He specified on Twitter that while anonymous, these players were veterans and some of the best players in the league, “clubhouse leaders [and] thought influencers.”
The specific question he posed was, “Would a gay player be accepted in your team’s locker room?” 17 players said yes. Only one said no.
I really appreciate the anonymity Wahl allowed the players here. I don’t think we would have gotten the answer of “no” with a fear of wanting to appear politically correct. While Major League Soccer would be a great environment for an out player–and I say the best in the US–it shows we aren’t one hundred percent there yet in all corners of the league and we still have some work to do. That honesty is important to the process and a great reminder of the work ahead.
David Testo and Robbie Rogers, the only two out MLS alumni, take on opponents.
You can check out all the results of Wahl’s survey at si.com.
Robbie Rogers: Major League Soccer Reacts
02/20/13
My retweet finger was working overtime on Friday after Robbie Rogers came out thanks to the outpouring of support from his past teammates and competitors. But beyond the Twitter support on Friday there have also been wide ranging posts of encouragement from the Major League Soccer family.
The Columbus Crew, with whom Rogers spent the entirety of his MLS career, released a statement of support yesterday. Former captain Frankie Hejduk, who also played with now-out David Testo, said, “Robbie is and will always be a great friend, a great teammate and a great player to me. I’m fully supportive of anything he decides to do with his future. I wish him the best in the next chapter.”
Robbie Rogers’ current MLS rights are held by the Chicago Fire through a trade along with Dilly Duka for Dominic Oduro. On the Fire website Head Coach Frank Klopas said, “Yesterday I thought he was a very good player and I still think that today. Should Robbie want to return to the game, we would still be open to him being part of the Fire.”
Houston Dynamo Win on the Road and Prepare for New Home
03/13/12
The Houston Dynamo captured a big win against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center this weekend. The Dynamo, who made it all the way to the MLS Cup Finals last season, have not won their first game of the season since 2006.
It looked like the Dynamo would walk away scoreless in their first regular season match of 2012 when the game remained scoreless at the end of 90 minutes. It was Andre Hainault who notched the game winner in stoppage time to help the Dynamo walk away with three points. Hainault, who was married last November (boo!), is no stranger to scoring goals. Hainault scored three goals last season, with two of those goals coming in the Dynamo’s post season playoff run.
gay4soccer Poll: Should There Be More Consequences for Homophobic Language?
02/15/12
by gay4soccer
in Issues
This week we covered Vancouver’s Lee Nguyen sending a Tweet with homophobic language to teammate Brad Knighton.
He apologized, and we took his apology and desire to do more to make up for the Tweet as sincere. But there have been recent cases — in both other sports here in the US and in soccer abroad — of stiff penalties handed down to players who have Tweeted similar things.
Hockey minor leaguer Justin Fontaine received a two-game suspension for a Tweet about the Foo Fighters with the same f-word used by Nguyen during the Grammies.
Today the English FA charged West Ham’s Ravel Morrison for using homophobic language on Twitter and recent Tweets involving that f-word have resulted in fines of thousands of pounds.
So what should the US Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer do? Should they do more, or is the way Nguyen’s situation has been handled both by himself and by the Whitecaps sufficient?
If you have any other thoughts or solutions, please leave them in the comments.
Anton Hysén: The “Guys We Like” Interview
01/24/12
Anton Hysén wants to play in Major League Soccer.
Born in Liverpool and currently playing in Sweden’s Division 1 for Utsiktens BK, Hysén fell in love with the United States while in college, attending North Carolina Wesleyan in Rocky Mount. While the small school is in NCAA’s Third Division and didn’t provide much exposure to soccer in the States, Hysén nonetheless grew to greatly enjoy his time in America as well as the Americans he encountered, and ventures back as often as is possible.
Noting “I like everywhere; it’s still America,” where he plays isn’t much of an issue, he just wants to play professionally in one of the great cities in a country where he has come to enjoy his time. To him living and playing in America “would be an amazing feeling,” a feeling he’s had since his time in North Carolina. read more…
An Open Letter To Simon Borg
(This post was inspired by a short Twitter conversation with SBNation writer Kevin McCauley, and based on the recent furor over Simon Borg’s comments during the April 30th edition of the ExtraTime Radio podcast — also posted on Waking The Red. )
Dear Simon,
Hey, how are ya? It’s me, John.
You probably don’t know me yet (or you never will…either way), but I am a huge TFC supporter. I’ve been that way for about six years now. I live in Calgary, which means I have to travel to a lot of TFC matches. In six years, I’ve been to almost all the stadiums on the West Coast, and wear my TFC swag proudly around town.
Oh, but there’s something you probably should know about me: I do bat for the other team…yep, queerer than a three dollar bill. AND I’m seeing someone, too — who doesn’t happen to be a soccer fan. I know, shocking right? I’ll give you a few moments to recover from the shock.
Anyway, where were we? Oh right…me. As I was saying, I’m seeing someone right now, who is a huge science fiction fan. I don’t claim to be an expert on shows like Battlestar Galatica, but does that make him less appealing to me? Nope. The opposite is true; he knows I am a sports fan, and knows about my TFC supporting ways. Does he have a problem with me spending my time writing and covering the team for SBNation? Heck, if he did…he would’ve dumped me right after my trip to LA for the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final.
read more