On Monday, NBA player Jason Collins came out and made history. In doing so, he became a trending topic and knocked Tim Tebow, Rebecca Martinson, Kelsey Williams, every other 15 second of fame personality “off the homepages.” His story is so important that he even (rightfully so) made the NBA and NHL playoffs take a backseat.
You’ll notice I didn’t even bother to bring up baseball right now. In Chicago anyway. The Bears draft picks are still more interesting than the Cubs and White Sox combined record of 20-31. Both are in last place, so the diamond is like the 4th or 5th most important story right now.
Anyways, Jason Collins is making the media rounds.
Stephen Colbert had the best two lines of all: “I knew once we let in MLS soccer, it would turn all of our sports gay” and “Jason Collins also came out as a Washington Wizard. His parents must have taken that specific news hard.”
On HLN’s Evening Express, Matthew Shepard’s parents spoke out about Jason Collins wearing uniform number 98 to honor Matthew, who was killed in 1998 by two men who prosecutors say targeted Shepard because he was gay. See the clip for more information about that and what Collins’ announcement means for the LGBT community.
Oprah Winfrey will speak with NBA player Jason Collins, his twin brother Jarron and family for their first interview together on a special episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” airing on Cinco de Mayo from 7pm CDT on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
Jason Collins reflects on the worldwide reaction following his revelation and how he hopes his story will further the conversation around equality. Oprah and Collins are joined by his twin brother, former NBA player Jarron Collins, his parents Portia and Paul Collins, his sister-in-law Elsa Collins and aunt Teri Jackson, a San Francisco Superior Court judge and the first family member he came out to.
On Monday night (April 29) on his SiriusXM show “Dirty Pop with Lance Bass,” Lance Bass revealed that he talked to Jason Collins earlier in the day and gave him advice on how to deal with coming out to the public. Audio here and here.
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also an author who also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
Banks has appeared on Comcast SportsNet and the History Channel, as well as Clear Channel, ESPN and CBS radio all over the world. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@PaulMBanks)