By The River

With the season over, Penn State University today pushed lesbian-hating women's basketball coach Rene Portland out the door. Portland termed it a "resignation," but almost nobody is buying that. Penn State settled a lawsuit last month filed by former Central Dauphin High School player Jennifer Harris, who had accused Portland of harassing her off the team out of an incorrect belief she was gay. Portland didn't announce a new job, but my bet is she ends up coaching at a conservative Christian college that agrees with the "no lesbian" policy that brought her grief at Penn State.

Like it or not, lesbianism is part of women's sports, especially at the college level. No, not every girl or woman who plays sports is gay. But some are. How did Portland recruit new players these past couple of years? As one friend commented, it's like if Santa Claus hated elves or a Boy Scout leader hated kids. Sure, you can say that lesbian players can go elsewhere. But if they are Pennsylvania residents, why should they not be allowed to play at the university their tax dollars support? One wonders if Joe Paterno protected her over the years. It's hard to say what made Portland the way she is: one would have to be a psychiatrist to know that.

Posted by David at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For that small subset of people who are fans of both the Detroit Tigers and the Harrisburg Senators, last night's American League Championship Series game between the Tigers and the Oakland A's became a nail-biter of particular poignance in the bottom of the 9th inning.

The Tigers, who had played well all night, were up 8-5. The A's had two men on, and the next batter was Oakland's power hitter, Milton Bradley, who had already hit two home runs that night. And Senators fans went, oh shit! Here we go again!

Bradley played for the Senators in the 1999 season. He was already showing the anger and attitude that would get him into trouble with umpires and fans from time to time, but he had also proven himself to be a tremendous hitter. Fast forward to the end of the 1999 season and the Senators are playing in a five-game series for the Eastern League crown. It is the deciding game, and the Senators are down by three. Bottom of the 9th, two outs, but the bases are loaded.

Whack! Bradley hits the first pitch out of the park for a grand slam, giving the Senators the Eastern League title. Blogger Matt Bruce, who follows Oakland, wrote earlier this summer that it was one of the 10 greatest home runs in Minor League history. So we Tiger fans were glad that Bradley was held to a single that didn't turn into an RBI. The next batter hit a fly ball that was caught, ending the game and putting the Tigers up 2-0 as they head into Game 3 in Detroit Friday night.

Posted by David at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)