Oh, no. Not another new blog

Oh, yes. It's true.

I've decided to take a different tack with the writing I am doing about college sports. I have put the label of the Pigskin Pundit to rest for the foreseeable future.

It has been interesting over the last five years to have spent time here. I only wish I had committed to it more. But sometimes, life happens and you just have to ride it out.

Feel free to visit me over on my new home on the web: Seventh Year Senior

NFL Draft Prospect Michael Sam Comes Out

Image courtesy of http://www.hrc.org/



Sometimes when you're laid up sick for a few days, and the weekend is rapidly coming to a close, you don't have time to pay attention to things that might be going on in the world. I was too busy getting caught up on the cleaning I couldn't do on Saturday, trying (and failing) to have my kid finish his book report for Thursday, and generally attempting to cram two days worth of errands into a small window.

So imagine my surprise when I hopped in my car this afternoon and heard the breaking news that former Missouri Tiger football player, All-American and SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Michael Sam was gay.

Unbelievable.

Not that a gay football player is unbelievable; we know they exist. But to have one be so bold, so upfront, so honest...and before he is drafted into the NFL no less.

That's what is unbelievable.

The timing is crucial, and it does matter, as Cyd Zeigler points out in this behind the scenes story for Outsports.com. The fact that Sam was not out but not necessarily hiding deep in the closet either led to internet speculation and the story about his sexual orientation was not going to hold as long as they would have liked.

So the timetable was accelerated, and here we are on February 9, facing a bit of history.

The big question is: Now what?

On Caleb Hannan and his Dr. V. story

A piece went up recently on the ESPN/Bill Simmons site Grantland. Titled "Dr. V's Magical Putter" it was ostensibly a piece about a piece of golf equipment that, while unusual in appearance, seemed to work wonders for those who needed to improve their short game.

The writer, a freelancer from Denver named Caleb Hannan, wrote the long piece that started out as what looked like a personal essay about discovering this putter. Then...it went in a different direction.

As John Stansberry (of Lonely Tailgater) put it:

I don't think Bill Simmons pays a lick of attention to what goes up on Grantland. But if he does, Dr. V’s Magical Putter shoulda been nixed.
— Lonely Tailgater (@LonelyTailgater) January 18, 2014

Hard to argue with him upon further reading.

I want to point you towards a post by author Maria Dahvana Headley. Don't tell me it's too long; didn't read. Read the whole damn thing. Because it is by far one of the best things you're going to read about this situation.

My own thoughts? Well, there's this: Overall, I found the piece to be in desperate need of editing. I felt that the piece was too focused in on the writer and his thoughts/emotions/feelings throughout the duration of the article. It was an exercise in self-indulgence; too inwardly focused.

Now, maybe that inward focus is what led to my biggest issue with the article: the callous disregard of the person who ultimately became the true subject of the piece—Dr. Vanderbilt herself.