Compete April 2013 by COMPETE Magazine

A Compete Retrospective Sports. Diversity.

Jeff

Kagan Our First Athlete of the Year

Retired

Pro Athletes

Come Out

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Kissâ&#x20AC;? Shown on ESPN

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

BELIEVES THAT EVERYONE SHOULD FEEL SAFE, AT HOME,

AT WORK AND IN THEIR

COMMUNITY. HRC AND ITS

SUPPORTERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WORK EVERY DAY TO ENSURE THAT

THIS VISION BECOMES A REALITY.

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FROM THE SkyBox by Eric Carlyle, Co-Founder

Big Changes Underway As Compete enters its 7th year of publication, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve decided to make Compete your favorite local sports magazine. What I mean is that Compete is transitioning from a broad-based national sports magazine to a more locally focused sports magazine. Our readers will get to read more about their hometown sports scene. Over the next several months local editions of Compete will start appearing in cities nationwide. Our reach will be much larger but our focus will be more about you. We officially expand distribution in the Phoenix market next month. Future editions include Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more than a dozen major cities. Our expansion isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just limited to the United States. Plans for Canadian and British versions are in the works, too. In preparation for our expanded distribution, we present to you this very limited-run issue of Compete. We are adjusting our distribution schedule so the magazine will appear mid-month instead of end of month. To make that shift, the April issue will be distributed primarily via our digital network of online, smart phone and tablet applications. Our first local edition debuts mid-May in Phoenix with the expansion and re-launch of Compete in Phoenix. We will be talking about our rollout plan in our May issue. In the meantime, enjoy the new content in our April issue as well as some very special classic features. See you in May.

Eric Carlyle, CEO eric.carlyle@mediaoutloud.com

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| COMPETE | April 2013

APRIL 2013 Volume 7, Issue 4

FOUNDERS CEO/Publisher/Sales Eric Carlyle • eric.carlyle@mediaoutloud.com CIO/Website Production David Riach • david.riach@mediaoutloud.com

COMPETE MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Connie Wardman • connie.wardman@mediaoutloud.com

Ally Editor Matthew Fish • matt.fish@mediaoutloud.com Community Editor Ty Nolan • ty.nolan@mediaoutloud.com Art Director Jay Gelnett • jay.gelnett@mediaoutloud.com Contributors Harry Andrew, Bryce Carter, Renee Chase, Ian Colgate, Jason Galea Ph.D., Amy Jones, Jeff Kagan, Miriam Latto, Lisa Mansfield, Chris Mosier, Brian Patrick Photographers Gregg Edelman, Don Thompson, William Waybourn COMPETENETWORK.COM Associate Editor Ty Nolan • ty.nolan@mediaoutloud.com Compete Radio Executive Producer Joe Dugandzic • joe@qtalkaz.com Social Media Chris Lembke • socialmedia@competenetwork.com COMPETE SALES & PARTNERSHIPS (ALL BRANDS) Media Sales Executives Robbie Anderson • robbie.anderson@mediaoutloud.com Matthew Martin • matthew.martin@mediaoutloud.com Copyright 2012 MEDIA OUT LOUD, LLC 4703 South Lakeshore Drive, Suite 3 Tempe, Arizona 85282 P 480.222.4223 • F 480.889.5513 Compete is a trademark of Media Out Loud, LLC Mission Statement Compete unites the world through sports.

www.competenetwork.com www.facebook.com/competemag @competesports

12 A Decade of Dunking 16 Jeff Kagan

Our 1st Athlete of the Year

22 From the Trenches

Esera Tuaolo

28 No Jesting, It’s Jousting 32 And the Winners Are... 36 The Kiss Seen Round the World

KICK–OFF 6 Grandstanding 8 Face Off 10 Left Field

Departments 42 Sports

Honoring Those Injured and Killed at the Boston Marathon

44 Fitness

Keeping You Flexible and More

Overtime 50 Gym Bag 52 Events/On Deck 54 Sports Yearbook

Cover Photo Jackie Warner. Photo by Vivian Zink.

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Grandstanding Letters to Compete Magazine

Hudson Taylor is “Tailor-Made” Loved the story on Hudson Taylor. I’ve heard the name and recently seen some stuff on Facebook but I never really knew anything about him, why he was involved. Now I think he was “tailor-made” to lead the fight for straight athletes to support gay athletes. Ralph Greibel – San Diego

March Madness Has Hit! Wow –Those uniforms compared to Fruit Stripe gum? Good comparison but the taste is all in the gum! Chris Chavez – Los Angeles I remember my uncles talking about that Texas Western game but never understood the importance of it until I read the story [“The Game That Changed Everything”] Matt Jones – New York Reading that story on the brackets sounds just like my family. I can’t figure out how such normally bright people make such crazy, off-the-wall picks! [“If It’s March, I’m an Underdogmatist”] Karen Postlewaite – Atlanta

Packaging Question I want to know if I buy Andrew Christian underwear, will it come packaged with Colby Melvin? Sonny Burrell – San Francisco

2012 Compete Sports Diversity Award Winners Thank you doing stories on the Compete Award winners. I liked the piece on the awards you did in January but I wanted to know more about the winners. I like to know why someone is picked for an award. From what I’ve seen, Jack Mackenroth [Dec. ‘12 issue], Molly Lenore [Feb. ’13 issue] and Aaron Walton [Mar. ’13 issue] are all very deserving. Great job! Kevin Garrity – Los Angeles

From the Catbird Seat by Connie Wardman, Editor-in-Chief

We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby!

Every once in a while we kick around the idea of including some of our stories that are “oldies but goodies.” They’re not only good reading, they’re also a reflection of just how far we’ve come in our pioneering efforts in sports diversity. And our decision to refocus Compete to a more local flavor has given me the perfect opportunity to do just that. But not to worry! All of the things you love in Left Field – Face Off, letters from our readers, blogs, Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down – and the Sports, Nutrition and Fitness Departments as well as information from Overtime section – our Compete All-Stars and the Sports Yearbook – are all current information. But the major stories reflect the people and sports organizations we’ve covered since we began publishing seven years ago … everything from our very first Athlete of the Year story on Jeff Kagan, an early anniversary for the WNBA and the story on retired NFL pro Esera Tuaolo who announced he was gay after he retired from active play. We included some more recent stories like the Compete Sports Diversity Awards Engineered by Lexus where we announced our 2012 Athlete of the Year, Jack Mackenroth in addition to many more deserving athletes, organizations and companies. Of course we had to include the first gay kiss seen on major television network ESPN between out pro bowler Scott Norton and his husband, Craig Woodward as well as the story on out jouster, Jake Nodar (I think we’ve gotten more long-term comments on this story than any other). While our new direction is very exciting, so is this issue! I feel a bit like the Disney Corporation, retrieving timeless stories from the “vault.” Whether you’re reading them for the first time or rereading them, I hope you enjoy the content as well as the view they provide of just how far we’ve come. Keep Smiling,

Connie Wardman, Editor-in-Chief connie.wardman@mediaoutloud.com

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“Best of the Best”

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FaceOff

The Question ... How do you think Magic Johnson’s open support of his gay son will impact the gay athletes now considering coming out? Matthew Fish Ally Editor

Ty Nolan Community Editor

matt.fish@mediaoutloud.com

rofessional sports have always embraced athletes and individuals with astonishing talents that lead by example. If an athlete takes the steps necessary to become a professional player and uses his or her leadership skills to help the team, then why should sexual orientation play into the equation? Magic Johnson is leading by example and all he has to do is love his child. When Magic performed the flashy no-look passes that led to easy scores in the Lake Show days of the 1980s, some might think that those beautiful assists are as good as it gets when it comes to the magic that is truly Johnson. But I think one of his best assists happened most recently, one that wasn’t involving a basketball. Magic Johnson happily supports his openly gay son … period. He was willing to do a series of interviews to bring home the point that the love he and his wife have for son, EJ is unconditional. For any gay athletes now considering coming out, this assist will no doubt impact them in a very positive manner. Helping people to overcome fears of ridicule and banishment might be the most important assist Magic can dish out. I have learned that in order to feel better about things that are unknown, you must educate yourself about the unknown. Drawing attention to uncomfortable unknowns is both necessary and therapeutic. With Magic Johnson talking about loving his son no matter what, coming out can now be a “cooler” thing to do than staying in the closet due to fear. As professional sports and the gay world collide and slowly start to mesh, the more that we support, learn, and teach others about the need for equality, the better the world becomes. We all need acceptance. And for gay athletes, the gut-wrenching decision to come out publically may now be accomplished easier with Magic’s assist, this one without a basketball. Seeing the culture change for the better and knowing that acceptance is improving has been exciting. I lend my assist in any way that I can. Although my assist may not be as noticeable as Magic Johnson’s current assist, it still lends positivity to better understanding, acceptance and unity.

ty.nolan@mediaoutloud.com

was trained as a traditional American Indian Storyteller. There’s a Native American proverb that states that “The one who controls the Story controls the world.” For me, this emphasizes what media specialists call “the narrative.” It ties into one of the most basic ideas of being Human – how do you know what you know? For the vast majority of people, this sort of knowledge base is so deeply embedded that it’s difficult to trace an idea back to its source. It feels like “It’s just always been this way.” This is why TMZ’s treatment of Magic Johnson’s openly gay son is significant to me, and hopefully to professional and amateur athletes who are considering being as open as EJ Johnson. For many generations the LGBT community was demonized. The reason for that is the Story wasn’t being controlled by members of the community but rather by others. This is why homophobes will use the word “homosexual” instead of “gay“ – and it’s why you can’t find an LGBT organization calling itself “The National Homosexual Organization.” And this brings me back to TMZ. It’s strictly tabloid fare that usually employs a mocking tone in covering celebrities as well as their children. But their video clip on EJ lacked that tone. TMZ will normally “add the snark.“ But for this story they didn’t. They reached out not only to Magic Johnson for a comment but also to Kobe Bryant. And neither NBA Legend supplied any snark factor. Instead they not only offered the loving support of a healthy family but in Kobe’s case, he served up common sense. For Kobe this really wasn’t a story worthy of being on a television tabloid. TMZ wasn’t controlling the narrative. The ones who told the Story—Magic and Kobe—normalized it. They normalized EJ. The gossip blogs which are usually far nastier than TMZ did not focus on EJ being gay. Instead they joked about the fact he was apparently wearing a fur coat. That led writers to comment on the appropriateness of wearing fur in 2013. It was precisely the same comment they would have made about David Beckham or Venus Williams wearing fur. And that gives me hope for LGBT athletes considering coming out. The narrative is changing. It’s being normalized. A homophobic remark on the field suddenly reflects on the speaker – not on the target of his or her hatred. That’s a very different Story. It’s one that provides a Happy Ending.

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| COMPETE | April 2013

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KICKOFF

Left Field

From the Compete Blogs

lthough we are all about sports diversity at Compete, the new civil rights movement in the U.S. has included sports, job protection and marriage equality into the same forward push. Equality, after all, is about having equality in as many areas of your life as others have in theirs. And thanks to Facebook, we’re now able to see and count responses to campaigns in real time with real numbers. An indication of just how far and fast we’re moving is the response to the HRC’s recent campaign. On March 25th HRC took its well-known yellow-on-blue equal logo (shown on our March cover of Compete Magazine with Hudson Taylor) and changed it to Courtesy of ‘Gay Marriage pink-on-red to support USA Facebook Page’ marriage equality, asking www.facebook.comGayMarriageUSA Facebook users to change their profile picture to the red logo to show personal support. It took many by surprise to learn that almost THREE MILLION Facebook users changed their profile picture. But it wasn’t long before people’s creative juices kicked in, showing lots of interesting variations on the theme, including personal pictures, cartoon characters, even fangs. But one of the altered logos that perhaps best expresses the intent of the HRC campaign is the nine-in-one from Gay Marriage USA’s Facebook page. Comparing the proportion of American users who logged in the day after the launch of the new HRC campaign to those users who updated their profile picture in the week prior, Facebook came up with the following numbers: • Roughly 2.7 million people changed their picture for some version of the HRC red logo. • 2.3 percent self-reported females users updated their profile photo compared to 2.1 percent self-reported male users. • Of the top 25 counties in the U.S. that showed the largest support, many were hometown college towns – the number one in support numbers coming from Washtenaw County, home of the University of Michigan. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who changed his or her profile picture in support of marriage equality.

GLAAD Makes its Mission Statement More Inclusive

ongratulations go out to U.S. GLAAD for revamping its mission statement to include a transgender focus. It has formally dropped “Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation,” that created GLAAD. From now on, it will be known as “GLAAD, the LGBT media advocacy organization.” The change is called a “natural progression that reflects the work GLAAD’s staff is already leading,” according to Wilson Cruz of GLAAD. He continued to say that “We respect and honor the full name that the organization was founded with, but GLAAD’s work has expanded beyond fighting defamation to changing the culture. Our commitment to marriage equality, employment non-discrimination and other LGBT issues is stronger than ever, and now our name reflects our work on transgender issues as well as our work with allies.” There had been earlier suggestions to include transgender people as well as a petition to add transphobia to its media reference guide. In an interview with MSNBC.com, GLAAD spokesperson Rich Ferraro said that “This is a reflection of the work we’re doing today, and a reflection of the work the gay and lesbian community needs to be doing.” He continued to say that it is changing societal attitudes that have enabled them to expand their mission. However, the name was hindering that in many instances. Regarding the transgender community, Ferraro said that “There have been huge increases in support for gay and lesbians, and for marriage equality. We’ve noticed that trend and wondered how we could use the tactics that the gay and lesbian community had used to get to today’s tipping point.”

SPORTS QUIZ

As we come to the end the 75th annual NCAA March Madness, who was the only basketball player in history to lead the NCAA, the ABA and the NBA in scoring? A: Rick Barry

Facebook Users Turn Red for Marriage Equality

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| COMPETE | April 2013

Thumbs UP Thumbs DOWN THUMBS UP to

Four Major League Soccer players

Omar Gonzalez and AJ DeLaGarza of the LA Galaxy, Stephen McCarthy of the New England Revolution, and Chris Seitz of FC Dallas, who joined Hudson Taylor … to tell out London-based pro soccer player Robbie Rogers that he doesn’t have to leave soccer if his only reason is because he’s gay.

THUMBS UP to Mark Mihal

… for surviving a fall into an 18-foot sinkhole with only a “fairly severe” shoulder injury. The ground collapsed underneath him while he was walking on a golf course fairway in Waterloo, Illinois. Now that’s a “hole in one!”

THUMBS Down to

Retired NBA coach Phil Jackson … for his apparent loss of connection with reality as he tells an interviewer he has never encountered a single gay player in the NBA. When asked if the NBA needed to be more inclusive, he called it a ridiculous question, saying “None of us has probably ever seen it in all of our careers. … There’s no inclusiveness to be had so it’s really a strange question to come out.”

THUMBS UP to

Rabbi Jason Klein— openly gay Hillel rabbi at the University of Maryland … for his election as leader of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. This is the first time an openly gay man has headed a national rabbinical movement.

THUMBS UP to

Actor James Franco … for being open to gay film roles even though he says these films are costing him advertising campaigns. The films “Kink” and “Leather Bar” both premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and he won the Independent Spirit Award for his performance in the recent film “Milk” as Harvey Milk’s boyfriend.

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| COMPETE | April 2013

A DECADE OF

o, we’re not talking donuts; we’re talking about 10 years of hard-driving, hard-fought and won games and titles for the Women’s National Basketball Association, better known as the WNBA. Played over the years by some of the very best female athletes ever to take the court, this year’s win by the Phoenix Mercury over the Detroit Shock marks the 11th WNBA

Championship Series. It also marks the first time a team has taken the league title on the road. Yes, indeed — it most certainly is the sweet taste of success for many WNBA fans who have spent the last decade supporting the once-fledgling league. Although formed in 1996 as the counterpart to the male-only NBA, the league has definitely come into its own. Far from being a lowly handmaiden to the men’s

dunking

organization, it has blossomed over the decade into the longest-running professional team sports league for women in U.S. sports history.

The WNBA’s first season began without much pomp and ceremony on June 21, 1997, with just eight teams, following on the heels of a highly publicized Olympic gold medal run by the 1996 USA Basketball Women’s National Team. Since that time, four teams

… and we’re not talking donuts!

have folded and two others have morphed

into different teams with different locations, leaving the current number of teams at 13, six representing the Eastern Conference and seven representing the Western Conference.

As the league gets more exposure and its fan base continues to grow, WNBA president Donna Orender has revealed that league expansion could take place as early as the current off-season, indicating a potential for new teams to be playing in the coming ’08 season. And with average attendance figures for the ’07 season ranging from a low of 3,710 in Chicago to a high of 9,749 in

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| 13

<<<

The Phoenix Mercury overcame adversity to become the first WNBA team to win the title on the road. Diana Tavrasi, coach Paul Westhead and the Mercury hoist their WNBA trophy, their first in the 11-year history of the league.

<<<

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“

This is a tremendous vote of affirmation and validation of 11 years of hard work of the amazing athletes that lead the way for the WNBA and the growth in our fan base.

”

— WNBA president Donna Orender, on the announcment of an eight-year deal with ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 for television rights beginning in the 2009 season.

Detroit, there are anywhere from nine to 15 markets reportedly interested in new WNBA franchises in cities on both coasts and in-between. While a popular success with a loyal core of both athletes and fans from its inception, attendance at WNBA games still runs only about half the average attendance of its NBA counterpart. As a result, the league has been subsidized by the NBA to the tune of almost $12 million dollars a year to cover operating losses. But financial prospects appear to be looking up. In July the WNBA announced an eight-year deal with ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 for television rights beginning in the 2009 season, although the financial terms weren’t revealed. It is, according to Orender, “a tremendous vote of affirmation and validation of 11 years of hard work of the amazing athletes that lead the way for the WNBA and the growth in our fan base.” However, there’s still no word on whether the NBA will continue to subsidize the league or if the WNBA players will see any of the fees trickle down into their paychecks. And therein lies the rub for many athletes and fans alike. When you compare where WNBA salaries started to where they are now, it reveals a slow but steady progress upward. Listing figures from 2003 to 2007, Women’s Basketball Online Web site shows minimum players’ salaries from 2003 at $30,000, a figure that increased to $32,400 by 2007 for those with up to three years in the league. And for those veterans with 4+ years, the 2003 minimum moved up from $42,000 to $49,134 in 2007. With an average salary of approximately $55,000 for the women, it’s a very far cry from the average NBA salary of $4.9 million, a fact that causes many women athletes to play in basketball leagues in Europe and Australia to supplement their income during the WNBA off-season! That, however, is expected to change for the better as the fan base continues to grow. What will expand that fan base in large part are the actions of the WNBA stars themselves, both active and retired. For example, WNBA Champion Houston Comets guard, Fran Harris, Ph.D., has launched a leadership magazine that targets college students. Little girls who grow up loving basketball finally have some worthy professional female role models to emulate. And the importance of that was firmly brought home by the 2007 WNBA Championships MVP, Cappie Pondexter of the Phoenix Mercury. She has a tattoo on her left arm that she had done while still a high school student. It’s the WNBA logo with text that reads, “The Future.” If you can dream it, you can achieve it. But achieving a dream of playing in the WNBA is made much easier by the decade of dreams, hard work and struggles of the women who have gone before. They’re the heroines who have opened the door for a whole new generation of players. Congratulations to the entire WNBA — may your next decade of dunking be just as sweet! SOL

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www.SportsOutLoud.com

Resides: Brooklyn, New York Employment: Manager of Program Scheduling, HBO; former chair of HBO Out, the network’s organization for GLBT employees Favorite Athlete: Mark Messier Hobby: Genealogy Favorite Movie: Hedwig & The Angry Inch Best Sports Memory: The New York Rangers Stanley Cup victory in 1994 Favorite Book: The Catcher in the Rye Relationship status: In a relationship

PHOTO © PATRICK CHIN-HONG

THE JEFF KAGAN FILE

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| COMPETE | April 2013

athlete of the year In New York City sports circles, JEFF KAGAN is a mover and a shaker — not to mention a pretty good hockey player

By Buddy Early AY HOCKEY WOULD NOT EXIST IN NEW YORK CITY IF IT WEREN’T FOR JEFF KAGAN. At least that’s what any number of people will tell you when you ask them about the man’s influence and importance. In 1999, Jeff founded the New York City Gay Hockey Association and has since been a part of its growth, both as a year-round player and contributing member of its board. If that weren’t enough, the

39-year old Jersey native recently turned his attention to helping launch the New York City Gay Basketball League. And he doesn’t even play basketball! In fact,

pretty much every gay amateur athlete in the Big Apple area can thank Jeff for something —whether for his advice, his mentorship, his help with fundraising or his commitment to strengthening both the gay sports and general GLBT communities. It’s not any one of his accomplishments within the gay sports community that has earned him the distinction of being named the first-ever Sports Out Loud Athlete of the Year. It’s all of them. Perhaps the single most significant thing on Jeff’s sports resume is not his athletic ability or on-the-ice accomplishments; the most significant thing is his role with Out of Bounds NYC, a non-profit organization he co-founded with the mission

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| 17

As an important member of the NYC gay sports community, Jeff Kagan has been able to maintain the love for sports he has had since childhood.

of promoting and developing sports and sporting camaraderie in his GLBT community.

“I was short and fat … and very intimidated by anything sports.”

Jeff and friend Will Smathers founded OOB out of

Family members got him hooked on hockey — watch-

discontent with the management of Team New York, the

ing, not playing; before taking up the sport as an adult he

local gay sports umbrella organization. According to Jeff,

still had to learn how to skate on the ice — which led to

what they saw was a lack of devotion to local athletes as

that becoming his sport of choice. He plays nearly every

the organization was emphasizing participation in the

week out of the year in the league he founded. His

Gay Games. Since the founding of OOB, Jeff says, the

current team is the Wizards, which began its latest

two organizations have begun working together and

season April 26.

have created a stronger sports community in the New York area.

Through hockey, he got involved with NYC’s annual Sports Ball, a fundraiser that raises money for local teams

“The other teams all over the city have been very

and organizations. He started as the representative for the

happy to see us (going strong),” said Jeff, who currently

league, and then co-produced it the following year. The

serves as treasurer of OOB and secretary of Team NY.

gala raises in the area of $50,000, which is distributed

Because of his participation in these organizations,

formulaically amongst the groups that participate.

Jeff is known all over the city by gay athletes, whether

For all of Jeff’s efforts in his community, it is no

they play rugby or volleyball, softball or football. His

surprise that Athlete of the Year is not his first honor. In

willingness to help a fellow athlete excel goes hand-in-

2003 he was recipient of the Time-Warner Andrew

hand with his willingness to aid people during tough

Heiskell Community Achievement Award, which is given

periods in life.

annually to employees of the corporation for their tireless

“I can see how much it’s changed my life,’ Jeff said,

volunteer work. For his roles in promoting gay sports, he

referring to his taking up sports after moving to the big

was featured in the books Jocks 2 and The Outsports

city in the mid-90s. “I can picture someone else in the

Revolution: Truth & Myth in the World of Gay Sports.

same position I was in when I was coming out.”

Despite his accolades and the praise of colleagues,

With team sports having such a huge impact on him

friends and fellow athletes — many of whom wrote to

in his life, Jeff believes strongly that it can do the same

Sports Out Loud on Jeff’s behalf — he remains a man who

for others.

doesn’t boast about his own work and accomplishments.

“When you get involved in a sports team … your self-

(See “The Importance of Sports in My Life” on the follow-

esteem improves because you are doing something

ing page, Jeff’s application letter, for proof of this.) His

positive with your life. … It’s that self-confidence that a

impact on both the gay sports and general GLBT com-

lot of gay people lack when coming out.”

munities in his city stand on their own merit. Clearly,

Admittedly, Jeff is an average athlete. He tried a number of sports as a kid, but found no success.

when naming the first ever Sports Out Loud Athlete of the Year, there could be no better choice than Jeff Kagan.

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Jeff Kagan had support for his Athlete of the Year application from numerous people. The following is a sample of what they had to say. “He is constantly making ‘the rounds’ to meet with people and do whatever he can to promote the expansion, development,

PHOTO © PATRICK CHIN-HONG

In others’ words:

and awareness of sports, especially among the members of

THE IMPORTANCE OF SPORTS IN MY LIFE

the GLBT community, both locally and nationally.”

by Jeff Kagan

Will Smathers, Co-founder, Out of Bounds NYC “If his work with the NYCGHA, Out of Bounds and Team New York were not enough, Jeff recently spearheaded the creation of a new LGBT basketball league in New York. And Jeff lobbied for its creation simply because he saw a need for such a league in our community. This altruistic act is no less remarkable than any of his other achievements and is typical of the work Jeff has done and continues to do for our community.” Amy Lesser, Publisher, GO Magazine “He is the kind of person who is willing to relinquish something material in order to make room for the more important things in life, like love. Jonathan Graf, Chairperson, HBO Out “Because of him and his efforts over the last decade, LGBT athletes have myriad opportunities to continue to play, and those who never felt comfortable playing on straight teams or who abandoned sports at an early age, have an opportunity to rediscover the joy of sports.” Byrne Harrison, President, Out of Bounds NYC “Jeff is also a kick-ass hockey player.” Doug Fields, HBO Sports “If Jeff Kagan does not win this award, there is no justice in the world.” Kevin Jennings, Founder and Executive Director, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network

As a child, sports were never a big part of my life. I was small and not as competitive as my classmates. A thrilling game of bombardment would leave my entire body, as well as my ego, badly bruised. When I was 13, my parents convinced me to try baseball, so I joined the local Little League. Out in right field, I was afraid of that little ball falling from the sky as if it were an atomic bomb. As an adult, living in New York, I started playing volleyball and softball, and then eventually ice hockey. I had hoped these experiences would be better ones than when I was 13, and they were, but there was still something missing. I didn't feel like I fit in. Looking back, I realized that it wasn’t the experience of playing that was lacking something, but rather the player (me), “missing the experience.” I was in the closet until age 27, mostly due to fear: fear of being rejected by my family, my friends, co-workers; fear of isolation; fear of the unknown. I had carried the burden of being closeted for so many years and it affected my experiences in everyday life, including sports. I was always the weakest on my team in any sport I played, missing catches or striking out. Aware that weakness is a common stereotype of (male) homosexuality, I became paranoid. I fell victim to the stereotype, as so many gay men do. I never stayed involved in any particular sport long enough to improve at it. With inspiration from Ellen DeGeneres and her life-changing decision to come out publicly, my life changed as I did the same. I first told my siblings, then my parents, then friends and co-workers, and even my hockey teammates. I found that each time it was easier and easier. And the more people I told, the better I felt, as I no longer worried about losing their love, friendship and support. As a result of coming out, I didn't quit hockey as I did baseball and volleyball years earlier. It no longer mattered if I was a weak player. I had nothing to hide, which revitalized my self-confidence and led me to play harder and stronger, actually improving in a sport for the first time. It was an upward spiral! The better I got, the harder I’d try, the more confident I became. I beat the stereotype! And this experience led me to want to help others to do the same. Since then, I have been committed to continue working to eliminate stereotypes and provide a safe environment for members of the gay community to fulfill their athletic aspirations. Sports should be a welcomed part of everyone’s life, not only for the athletic aspect, but for the social, as well. Thanks to sports, I have met some of my closest friends, and I have become stronger and happier than I've ever been.

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TO THE PLATFORM Former NFL lineman ESERA TUAOLO uses his own coming out experience to serve a greater purpose IN MY NINE YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL JOURNALIST, I’ve never before been starstruck when conducting an interview. I’ve chatted with celebrities, authors, leaders and politicians — by telephone and in person — but it wasn’t until my recent interview with Esera Tuaolo that I was truly nervous and a bit tongue-tied. You see, I have experience as an actor, a writer and a leader; but as much as I would like to think otherwise, my athletic skills are only slightly below average. So talking with someone who played for nine years in the National Football League (the most grueling, difficult sport to master) … well, it made me feel, for the first time, wholly inadequate. Furthermore, it doesn’t hurt Tuaolo’s standing with me that, since coming out in 2002, he has been an amazing leader in our community. He’s not just an outspoken advocate for equality, but an example to all athletes — amateur and professional — of how living openly and honestly can effect change in our society. As I spoke with Tuaolo about football, coming out, his singing career and gay politics, one thing kept coming up: his role as a servant. He considers himself a servant to his family, to his church, and to both the gay community and his community at-large. Everything he has done this past decade, and everything he continues to do in 2009, are things he considers his calling. And he is very comfortable doing so.

BY BUDDY EARLY

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| 23

But it wasn’t always that easy. His days playing

Tuaolo hopes that his experiences can help current

defensive tackle in the NFL were some of his darkest.

and future professional athletes when it comes to their

He was faced on a daily basis with both his personal

own homophobia. The release and promotion of his

demons and the culture of homophobia that surround-

book helped him land a gig as the first-ever openly gay

ed him. Remaining in the closet while also maintain-

speaker at the NFL’s Rookie Symposium. During the

ing a hyper-masculine reputation with his teammates

symposium’s diversity training program, he spoke to

— most of whom threw around anti-gay slurs as often

the league’s 255 rookies about the hurtful words he

as “hello” and “good-bye” — kept him tortured. The

heard in the locker rooms, and about how the anti-gay

depression lasted throughout his playing career and

attitudes affected him as a man.

up until the point he decided to come out.

One of the rookies, remembers Tuaolo, asked him,

“If I hadn’t had my children and Mitch (his partner

“So if you’re a fag, and I call you a fag, is that offen-

at the time, with whom he split in 2007) … I’d probably

sive?” Luckily, he says, it wasn’t even necessary for him

be six feet under right now,” he told me. “At the time I

to respond, since the groans and eye rolls from the rest

was going through a lot of hurt and pain.”

of the room let this particular rookie know that his

The coming out process for Tuaolo meant a brand

question wasn’t appreciated. Tuaolo says he simply

new life for him. He was able to shed what he has

told the crowd: “Any time you use the term faggot,

called a “costume” that he wore for most his life. And

queer or homo and hurt someone, it is wrong.”

in the seven years since that episode of HBO’s Real

While he thinks he had a huge impact on the

Sports in which he announced he is a gay man, his life

league’s rookies that year, he is curious that he hasn’t

has changed dramatically. He has been special guest at

been invited back for the three symposiums since. He

numerous Pride events and gay equality functions

is currently preparing a proposal to the NFL, hoping to

across the U.S., has spoken to many groups, including

get his foot back in the door so that he can educate the

other athletes and legislatures, about discrimination

players. It’s something he believes the NFL — and all

and intolerance, and has written a book about his in-

pro sports, for that matter — cannot ignore for much

the-closet experiences.

longer, because, as he put it, “The wave is coming!”

Alone in the Trenches: My Life as a Gay Man in the NFL tells the agonizing and compelling tale of a dirtpoor Samoan immigrant who won a football scholarship to Oregon State, played in the Super Bowl and

“It’s the responsibility of the owners (to make sure their players are educated),” he stated. And with the ideal role model like Tuaolo, how can owners not address this issue?

then made a life-changing decision that ultimately

“It’s my calling now. Coming out and going through

saved his life, his family, and his Christianity. It

what I’ve gone through … I think it’s my duty to help

exposed the behind-the-scenes world of professional

young athletes.”

football and what happens on the field and in the

His calling may be to show athletes that their precon-

locker room. (Co-authored by John Rosengren and

ceptions about gay people are not always accurate. Being

published in 2006, it is available for purchase in hard-

a rough and mean defensive lineman doesn’t exactly

cover and paperback on Amazon.com.)

match the image that most of them have of a gay man.

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“IT’S MY CALLING NOW. Coming out and going through what I’ve gone through … I think

IT’S MY DUTY TO HELP

young athletes.”

>>>>

Tuaolo poses in front of Chicago’s Soldier Field, where he served as an ambassador to the 2006 Gay Games.

>>>>

Since retiring from the NFL, Esera Tuaolo has been a spokesperson for gay equality and a role model for gay athletes. His appearance on the cover of The Advocate announced to the world that there are indeed gay players in professional sports.

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“The perception of a gay guy is like Jack on Will &

a number of very personal songs, including “Oh God.”

Grace,” said Tuaolo, who believes public figures like

The song is about him coming to terms with who he is,

himself,

balancing all the aspects of his life, including religion.

John

Amaechi,

Billy

Bean,

Martina

Navratilova and Sheryl Swoopes help shatter the

One of Tuaolo’s favorite lines from the song is:

stereotypes many hold about gay people. In professional sports, the biggest insult you can

If your name is love

make towards another player is to question his sexuality.

then reach down from above

When Terrell Owens wanted to make quarterback Jeff

and show those who preach damnation

Garcia look bad to his teammates and to the public, he

that we are children, too

responded to a question about Garcia being gay by saying, “If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.”

The CD is a lifelong dream of Tuaolo’s, who has been singing since he was five years old. As a rookie,

“It’s supposed to be a macho sport … and any time

he sang the National Anthem before a Packers-Bears

you tie in homosexuality it is always a sign a weakness.”

game, and he repeated the performance at the 2006

But Tuaolo doesn’t consider himself a role model.

Gay Games in Chicago. He was also a part of the proj-

This is where the idea of him being a “servant” enters

ects NFL Jams and NFL Country. Establishing a singing career is what Tuaolo set out

the picture. “I’m definitely just a servant … my role is to aid in any way possible.”

to do upon his retirement from the game. The man who never thought he’d be drafted into the NFL —

This ideology stems from his religious upbringing

he figured he would go be a professional surfer — also

and his faith, something he questioned because of

is interested in being an actor. Clearly, his myriad of

what he had heard for years from right-wing funda-

interests and pursuits are at odds with the brute

mentalist preachers.

mentality we associate with NFL players, particularly

“It took me a while to get to that point because of all

those on the Lines.

the hate I was (exposed to),” said Tuaolo, who was

Every year you have to fight for your job in the

raised in the Pentecostal Assembly of God Church but

NFL, which is what Tuaolo says “separates the boys

now is a devout Lutheran.

from the men.” Having successfully proven his tough-

Today, he challenges people, including his children,

ness and commitment in nine consecutive training

to learn from the Bible and find the truth for them-

camps, Tuaolo not only defies stereotypes, he shatters

selves. He argues that you wouldn’t write a research

them! In fact, he has no qualms admitting to missing

paper based on what others simply tell you, so why

the physical nature of the game, and the rush of

would you approach religion the same way? You

hitting and tackling opposing players. Without

wouldn’t; you’d do your own research and come to

any irony, he says he believes “every athlete who

your own conclusions.

retires from any kind of physical sport should get

The place God has in his life is even evident on his new CD, out in January. The self-titled project contains

some counseling.” Two accomplishments stand out in his career, which

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ESERA TUAOLO

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS > > > > >

Set school record at Oregon State with 14 sacks, 23 tackles for loss and 27.5 quarterback pressures First-team All-Pac 10 as a senior Drafted 35th overall by the Green Bay Packers in 1991 Named to All-Rookie Team in 1991 Played nine seasons with the Packers, Vikings, Jaguars, Falcons and Panthers

THE ESERA TUAOLO FILE

BORN: July 11, 1968 POSITION: Defensive Lineman COLLEGE: Oregon State HOBBIES: Singing; volleyball; his children; traveling FAVORITE TEAM: Minnesota Vikings ULTIMATE DUET PARTNER: Christina Aguilera #1 QUALITY IN A POTENTIAL PARTNER: Honesty NICKNAMES: Mr. Aloha (in college); Big Daddy (currently)

saw him play for five different teams. He was selected to

Although he still wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expecting to be drafted, he was

the 1991 All-Rookie Team and later played in the 1999

taken with the 35th overall pick, and he immediately

Super Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons. But it was neither

realized his life was about to change. In the nearly two

of those things that he remembers most fondly. No, he

decades since that day, his life has changed in more

says it was draft day that was the highlight of his career.

ways than he ever could have imagined.

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Photos courtesty of The History Channel â&#x20AC;˘ Photos by Zach Dilgard 28

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June 2013 2012 | COMPETE | April

Jousting! it ’s

by Brian Patrick

Move over King Henry the VIII—forsooth, thou hast a jousting rival—Jake Nodar. Perhaps the appropriate question here is, whaaa? According to The History Channel’s description of their latest hit show, “Full Metal Jousting features full-contact jousts with competitors going head-to-head on horseback in brutal tests of strength, endurance and courage.”

nter Jake Nodar. A true adventurer at heart, this out athlete has gone from being a horse trainer to a participant in the Discovery Channel’s 2009 “Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment” to a cast member on “Full Metal Jousting”. Then throw in several other less-extreme challenges, like a bicycle trip from Saint Augustine, Fla. to Santa Monica, Calif., and you start to get a picture of this modern-day Indiana Jones. Some might think Nodar was born in the wrong century. But this transplant to West Hollywood is very comfortable living in the city…as long as he has access to his horses and adventures in the great outdoors. Obsessed with horses and wildlife photography since he was a

little boy growing up outside of Baltimore, after high school he volunteered at a horse rescue in exchange for riding lessons. Spending the 1999 year in Colorado at a horse training school, he returned to Maryland to start his own horse training business. But once his bike race ended at the Santa Monica pier, he knew California was his new home and moved his business to the Los Angeles area. He now trains about eight miles away in Griffith Park and also does free-lance riding. Nodar has never hidden the fact that he is gay but he had a dramatic public coming out on national television during the Alaska show. This show was a very real survival experience! And on episode seven, the pro-

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| 29

ducers had him read a personal letter to his remaining team members letting them know that he, the rugged hunter and one of only four members who survived the entire journey, was gay. He made some great friends on the show and some members of the production crew were the ones who let Nodar know about the opportunity to appear on another upcoming extreme reality show, “Full Metal Jousting.” All applicants for the jousting series were required to have riding experience. 50 candidates were selected and put through an extensive five-day interview and physical exam, including a CAT scan. Of that number, 30 were flown in three groups of 10 to just outside Jackson, Mississippi where the series was filmed to evaluate how well each person operated under pressure. Of that group, 16 made the final cut. Mississippi is hot and steamy, even in October. So with temperatures around the 80° mark, the 16 latterday knights stood in suits of armor weighing 85 pounds while the trainers began to hit them with a battering ram, readying them for the experience of a lance impact at full speed. The next step in the process was mounting one of the 14 horses and riding at a gallop while the coach hit them with a lead-filled baseball bat. Then came the addition of the grand guard, the 12x12 inch metal plate bolted to the left shoulder that is the acceptable strike zone for the lance. Although Nodar had riding experience in both rodeo and jumping, he admits that no amount of physical training or mental preparation can ready you for your first impact—there is simply nothing that compares. Although unhorsed on several occasions before he was eventually eliminated, he says he managed to fall well and wasn’t too badly injured. But for him, the worst part of the experience was the recoil on the right shoulder when he’d hit his opponent at full gallop. And falling well is important since each of the draft horses weighs approximately 2,000 pounds, a neces-

sity for carrying the weight of a 200-pound man, 85 pounds of armor and another 35 pounds for the saddle and other gear. Obviously, a staff medical doctor and an ambulance were always on the set, ready for those runs to the emergency room. In one freak accident, a lance managed to penetrate the tiny opening in the armor’s groin area on one of the jousters, requiring him to have his scrotum stitched. Nodar quickly added that right after that accident, he packed as much industrialstrength foam as he could fit along those openings in his own suit of armor. Since he was living with 15 straight alpha males for an extended period, the big question was if his being gay ever came up or was an issue. And the subject did arise. In one of those self-conscious moments when you’re meeting a bunch of people you’ll be living with but don’t know yet, someone tried to break the ice by laughingly asking if anyone was gay. Never one to hide who he is, Nodar acknowledged that he was. Some people mumbled a bit after his answer but he said he never experienced any homophobia on the set. In fact, the one fellow he was most worried about accepting him wound up being his best friend on the show and they recently spent a week together camping in Oregon. Beyond his beloved horses, the 33-year-old Nodar plays the guitar and yes, he’s single. He loves being outdoors—hiking, camping, snow-boarding and taking wildlife pictures. And his feet are starting to itch for a new adventure, maybe by the fall. The good news is that Compete has his number so those of us who aren’t quite so adventurous can live vicariously through his upcoming travels. Who knows what will come next.

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June 2013 2012 | COMPETE | April

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Compete Sports Diversity Awards and StandUp Magazine Launch Engineered by Lexus

And the Winners Are â&#x20AC;Ś 32 16

The Compete Sports Diversity Awards and StandUp Magazine Launch Engineered Engineered by Lexus was held last month in Atlanta with Compete Ally Editor Matt Fish as master of ceremonies. In addition to the Athlete of the Year, Compete also honored individuals, organizations and companies, both gay and straight, for their leadership in the area of sports diversity within their spheres of influence. Here are the winners who inspired us, those who are taking positive action to make the world a better place for everyone.

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April 2013 2012 For reprints please contact the Publisher. | COMPETE | December

Photo by Paul Beauchamp with Carma Productions

Lexusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Tim Bliss

2012 Amateur Sports Team, League or Organization Team DC This award honors an LGBT amateur group, whether a team, league or organization, that promotes gay sports and diversity within its ranks. Team DC was this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s award winner. As the umbrella organization for a number of LGBT sports within the Washington DC area, the organization provides a network of sporting outlets for local LGBT community members and promotes participation in local, regional, national and international amateur sports competitions. And for the last eight years, Team DC has held a fashion show and Model Search that raises as much as $9,000 each year to not only support their operation but it has also enabled them to start a College Scholarship Program for LGBT student athletes. Brent Minor, the executive director for Team DC, accepted the award on behalf of all their members.

Photo by David Atlanta

2012 Professional Sports Team, League or Organization NBRPA This award goes to a professional sports team, league or organization that is openly and courageously taking the lead to make sports diversity within professional sports the norm rather than the exception. Our award winner this year was the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA). This organization, now under the visionary leadership of CEO Arnie Fielkow, has launched a number of programs to encourage the retired Legends of Basketball to participate as global ambassadors in outreach programs, becoming positive and visible role models. A recent example is the seven-day trip to Israel this past summer by 14 NBRPA members. They played basketball with Israeli and Palestinian youth in a war-torn area of the world, helping to bring acceptance of diversity through sports on a global level. Accepting the award for the NBRPA was Paul Corliss, their vice president of communications and marketing.

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17 | 33

SPORTS. DIVERSITY.

Molly Lenore

2012 Inspiring Athlete of the Year

Walton Isaacson

Aaron Walton

2012 Corporate Community Partner

NOVEMBER 2012 • $ PRICELESS

WWW.COMPETENETWORK.COM

2012 Inspiring Athlete of the Year Molly Lenore This award honors an athlete, either LGBT or straight, whose continued devotion to his or her sport inspires other athletes of all ages to maintain an active involvement in sports. Winning this year’s award was Molly Lenore, a diehard football player and a transgender person who credits LGBT sports and its resulting community for enabling her to fit in, to be an athlete, teammate, mentor and friend. As a commissioner of the New York Gay Football League since 2008, she has been an active player on both men’s and women’s football teams, and she will co-chair the women’s division for the National Gay Flag Football League’s Gay Bowl XIII being held in Phoenix in 2013. A resident of New York City, Lenore was on hand to receive her award in person.

34 18

2012 Corporate Community Partner Award Presented by Lexus Walton Isaacson This award honors a corporation whose ongoing localto-national support of diversity on a regular basis makes the changes we wish to see in our shared world. Winning this year’s award was Walton|Isaacson, a fullservice brand-building agency with offices in Beverly Hills, Chicago and Tokyo. The corporation, whose mission is to become the “planet’s most interesting agency” is known for helping Fortune 500 brands to build authentic relationships with their consumers. Co-founder Aaron Walton is widely recognized as an expert in using entertainment and pop culture to land diverse accounts from Whirlpool to Lexus to Magic Johnson Entertainment. Walton was there to accept the award on behalf of Walton|Isaacson.

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April 2013 2012 For reprints please contact the Publisher. | COMPETE | December

Photo by Paul Beauchamp with Carma Productions

Nike’s Quinton Hawks

Patrick Davis, CEO, Ben Cohen Worldwide

With the introduction of Compete’s sister publication, StandUp Magazine published under license from Ben Cohen Worldwide, LLC, this year’s Ally Award was officially renamed the StandUp Magazine Ally Award. The award this year honored Nike’s Tim Hershey, vice president of their North American Retail. Hershey was selected based on his professional and personal stand to change sports culture and by living the StandUp message that “true champions stand up.” He was recognized for his executive leadership in supporting the first LGBT Sports Summit at Nike and his commitment to making sports a better place to play. Nike’s Quinton Hawks accepted the award on Hershey’s behalf. But perhaps the biggest winner of the evening was good sportsmanship based on the official launch of StandUp Magazine which is committed to stories highlighting the best of sports culture – of positive role models, fair play and doing the right thing for the right reason. The launch announcement was made on November 14th, named Stand Up Day in honor of Ben Cohen’s father who was killed trying to break up a bullying incident. This new premium specialty magazine is published on a quarterly basis and you can subscribe to it by going to: www.standup-magazine.com.

Photo by Paul Beauchamp with Carma Productions

2012 StandUp Magazine Ally Award Tim Hershey of Nike

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| 35

The Kiss Seen Round

The World by Connie Wardman

Unless yoU’ve been living Under a rock, yoU’re almost sUre to have seen it –the kiss seen roUnd the world! Together, the PBA and eSPn made unexpected history at the end of december when they televised gay professional bowler Scott norton and his husband, Craig Woodward embracing and kissing.

hree cheers for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) for showing Scott and Craig kissing after Scott won the 2012 PBA Chameleon Championship, his second PBA Tour title. And it’s not just the kiss that’s groundbreaking. It’s also the fact that throughout the competition, the commentators made multiple respectful references to Craig as Scott’s husband or spouse. Scott revealed that when he won his first PBA championship in 2011, he and Craig were living together (they’ve been together for four years) and they kept referring to Craig as Scott’s “friend.” It wasn’t honest and for everyone who knew and loved them both, it made them uncomfortable. So Scott sat down with the PBA folks in charge once he knew he would be in this televised tournament. He asked them to afford the same courtesy to Craig that they would to the spouses of the other competitors. The fact that they agreed to it is a huge leap forward in equal treatment for the LGBT sports community. For an international organization to recognize LGBT athletes in the first place is important; and then to recognize their partners and spouses who are there to cheer on their loved ones with the same level of attention and respect they grant the partners and spouses of straight athletes is a real breakthrough.

24 36

We also want to thank ESPN. Although the event occurred in November in Las Vegas, ESPN didn’t broadcast the footage until December 30th, giving the sports network plenty of time to edit out their kiss and embrace as well as the husband/spouse references had they chosen to do so. After the show aired, there were some homophobic comments on the PBA’s Facebook page that ranged from name calling to saying that Norton shouldn’t win because he’s gay. But they were relatively innocuous and they certainly can’t diminish this amazing change in the way an international sports organization and a major sports network have chosen to present a gay athlete. They have shown Scott as a whole and real human being who is no different from any other competitor, and they have shown Scott and Craig as a loving married couple. This is a huge step forward for the LGBT community because the sports world is really the last bastion of that illusionary vision of “manliness” where homophobia isn’t simply tolerated, it’s almost expected. Gay athletes have been required to be uncomfortable, to live a public lie so other people aren’t uncomfortable. Historically, gay pro or amateur athletes have either waited until after they’ve retired to come out or they didn’t come out at all. Scott made history by coming out in 2011 while still a working

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January 2013 2013 | COMPETE | April

professional athlete. Here he is, breaking barriers again in 2012 – not through a campaign or protest of some kind but rather by living who he is openly. He is a regular human being just like everyone else and so is his husband, Craig. They both have jobs, they both have family and friends who love them and most importantly, they love each other and have chosen to spend the rest of their lives with one another. For most of us on the planet, it doesn’t get much better than that! On one hand, this story is another example that gay athletes most certainly can play at the highest levels of their chosen sports. On the other hand, it also provides a beautiful real-life example of a same-sex marriage in action. It demonstrates that LGBT couples can have the same need for love and support from their partners as straight couples. If you don’t already know Scott Norton, allow me to introduce him to you. His engaging personality and easy manner at first disguise the fact that in addition to being a great competitor, Scott is also a serious game-changer for the LGBT sports community. We first interviewed him in 2011 after he was named the PBA’s 2010-11 Rookie of the Year. Following that announcement, on May 19, 2011 the PBA ran Scott’s “official” coming out statement on their website. In it, he declared his support for gay athletes and revealed his own sexual orientation. He wrote that “It is extremely important for me to come out to show other gay athletes, both current and future, that it is important to come out to show that we are just like everyone else. It’s important to show people that being gay has nothing to do with one’s ability to do anything as a man, least of all

compete at the highest level of sports.” He continued to say that “Being gay doesn’t define who I am as a person or as a professional athlete. I’m also a professional bowler, lawyer, caring, compassionate, strong, and many other things.” We were all very impressed with Scott. In fact, the judges for our first Compete Sports Diversity Awards in 2011 selected him as the winner of our Emerging Athlete Award. We believed then and now that they made a great decision since that award is presented to a gay athlete who is emerging as a serious contender in his or her chosen sport, whose continuing athletic development indicates a rising star. While he didn’t officially come out as a gay man until 2011, Scott has never hidden his sexual orientation and fortunately, for the most part he’s not been faced with an overwhelming amount of discrimination over the years. At the time, we discussed how amazed we all were at how little flack he received from the bowling community. It even surprised Scott since he says he had always viewed bowling as a blue-collar pastime – he really expected many bowlers to be offended or angry. But thanks to his mother, Scott has been an integral part of the bowling community since he was in utero … really! He is the son of legendary bowler Virginia Norton, holder of eight professional titles and a member of the Halls of Fame of the U.S. Bowling Congress, the PBA, the State of California, Los Angeles County and Orange County. Coached by his mother, Scott knew by age four that he wanted to be a professional bowler. Under Virginia’s coaching, at age 18 he won 21 amateur bowling titles, a gold medal at the Junior World Amateur Champi-

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onships and, as captain of the adult team, Scott won the Adult National Amateur Championship, the youngest person ever to win it. Perhaps the reason he is so well accepted by the bowling community is because people have known and loved him from the time he was old enough to hold a bowling ball. Once you’ve met someone as a person and decided to like him, discovering that person is gay isn’t such a big deal anymore. In 2008 Scott realized his childhood dream when he joined the PBA as a professional bowler. By the time we met him in 2011, Scott had already won four PBA Regional titles, won his first PBA Tour Chameleon Championship, been named Rookie of the Year and come out as the organization’s only gay professional bowler. As if this wasn’t enough to keep him busy, along the way Scott (also known on the tour as “the Counselor) earned a law degree from the University of CaliforniaHastings College of Law. In 2009 he passed the California

26 38

Bar Exam on the first try (an event he says was the worst experience of his life) and opened his own law practice. And on the personal front, he and Craig, an executive with United Healthcare, were already living together and planning a wedding on October 22, 2011 in Laguna Beach, California. Following their wedding, Scott embarked on the 20112012 bowling tours and had a disappointing season. As we talked about his emotional response to winning this recent Chameleon Championship, he said that winning is a drug – even worse than a drug. From a win standpoint, it had been so long since he had been in the winner’s circle that it was a flood of pent-up emotions when he won this title. Following his poor showing last season, he and Virginia worked hard on several things that needed improvement. Clearly, that coaching paid off. To get to this final, Scott defeated PBA Hall of Famer and all-time titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the semifinal match. Then in this finals tournament, Scott won his first match against Fawaz Abdulla from Bahrain, the first bowler from the Middle East to make a PBA finals telecast. In the final match Scott played against Jason Belmonte of Australia. As the 2011-12 Player of the Year and five-time tour winner, Belmonte was a tough competitor. They were tied and Scott needed a strike to win. You could hear the crowd noise quickly elevate as pin-after-pin fell. As they announced that Scott was the winner and presented him with the trophy, he pulled a sticker from his jersey with TR on it and placed it on the trophy. Many of the people in attendance were also wearing the same sticker which Scott explained was to honor Tony Reyes, a dear friend to many in the bowling world who died unexpectedly a month ago. Then as the win began to sink in, Scott began to cry. Craig joined him and they embraced and kissed just like any other married couple would do in such a magical moment. As the pictures of them went viral, the rest, as they say, is history. It’s been carried on “yahoo.com,” “Huffington Post” and “afterelton.com,” to name just a few. There is a new Facebook fan page for Scott— facebook.com/ScottNortonBowling—and another page dedicated to getting him on the Ellen DeGeneres show— www.facebook.com/GetScottOnEllen. The latter has two clips from The Huff Post Live interview where you can listen to Scott talk about all this unexpected attention. In case you’re not involved in bowling and think this is only a big deal to Scott Norton and his family and friends, that thought is incorrect. Bowling is huge. A favorite sport of many athletes (yes, we count it as a sport), it also draws lots of retired pro players from many sports, especially those with lots of wear and tear on their bodies. In fact it

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was just announced that tennis icon Billie Jean King has become the first woman owner of a Professional Bowlers Association League team. In an announcement by PBA Commissioner Tom Clark, he said that King “joins Los Angeles Clippers star Chris Paul, former Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl champion running back Jerome Bettis, former NFL all-pro receiver Terrell Owens, actor/ comedian Kevin Hart, comedian Chris Hardwick, and Pittsburgh Steelers all-pro linebacker LaMarr Woodley as owners in the ESPN-televised PBA League which debuts as part of the PBA Detroit Winter Swing Jan. 19-27 at Thunderbowl Lanes in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, Mich.” Coincidentally, Scott is a member of the team that King just purchased. So in spite of people all over the globe seeing a genuinely tender moment between loving same-sex spouses, I’m happy to report that the world hasn’t come to an end as predicted by many. Scott will continue to compete and to attend to his law practice. And Scott and Craig will continue to grow as a couple. Celebrating their first anniversary this past October, they purchased a home and are now living there with their two cats. The future looks bright for them as a couple and for the LGBT community

as the individuals in this segment of our population finally get treated with the equality and dignity they so richly deserve. Things will never be the same again – not for Scott and Craig and not for the LGBT sports community. How exciting to live through a moment that you know has forever changed gay sports. But thank goodness Scott has a great sense of humor and an ability to take it all in stride. Just take a look at the Facebook post comparing his serious “game face” to the now famous Grumpy Cat. One of the biggest changes in his life? After spending years being known as “Virginia Norton’s son,” the tables have finally turned – people now ask Virginia if she is Scott Norton’s mother.

IaBowling TV The InTernaTIonal arT of BowlIng TV, better known as IaBowling TV, provided the behind-the-scenes video and photographs of the now well-publicized Scott and Craig kiss on national television within hours after the show had aired. IaBowling TV’s clip of the event gained over half a million views within two days after the news broke. a media companty focused on promoting the “art of Bowling” around the world, the IaBowling TV team is made up of best friends Jaime Perez (videographer/editor/marketer) and rosito “rJ” guimond (photographer). The men, who are both gay bowlers, provide their content at no charge to promote the sport of bowling. Their combined experience has enabled them to cover bowling in the U.S., asia, africa, europe and the Middle east. If an event is not covered, live streaming services are provided for the tournaments at no additional charge.

www.iabowling.tv 28 40

•

Jaime shoots, directs, edits and publishes the behind the scenes videos for all the current eSPn Professional Bowlers association shows while rJ photographs the events and captures some of the most emotional pictures. To contact IaBowling TV please email: jaime@ iabowling.com IaBowling TV helped establish the elite Youth Tour. This enables boys and girls to compete nationwide in tournaments for scholarship prizes. In addition to bowling under competitive circumstances, each youth bowler is pictured, interviewed and filmed to prepare them for real-life situations that arise in a professional event. The finals in each division are also filmed with commentary as if they were part of an actual television event. Those films are available for them to watch later on www.iabowling.tv. for more information, go to: www.eliteYouthTour.com.

www.eliteYouthTour.com

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A sporting event is generally a happy event, something we look forward to attending whether weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an athlete, a spectator or someone involved in putting on the event. But the bombing at the April 15th Boston Marathon has shocked the entire world with its senselessness. Killing three and injuring over 200 runners, marathon workers and spectators, it has left all of us at Compete Magazine stunned. Like the rest of the world, we have been shocked by the dreadful horror and yet touched and uplifted by the bravery and courage displayed by everyone involved. We ask you to join us as we take this opportunity to honor those brave souls who were injured, those who died and those responders who ran into harmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way to help others.

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Yoga I

by Miriam Latto

Offers Benefits for Athletes

f you’re a die-hard athlete, whether a professional or weekend one, yoga may be your ticket to better performance. With a career limited by ever-aging physical capabilities, we know that professional athletes do lots of physical training to maintain their competitive edge and extend their careers as long as possible. Many are now turning to yoga for the physical benefits of increased flexibility. It also helps shorten recovery time after injuries and may prevent some of them from turning into career-enders. Joe Johnson, a six-time NBA All-Star, is now 31 and practices Bikram Yoga, sometimes called hot yoga because the studio temperature is held at over 100 degrees. In a recent Huffington Post interview with Jordan Schultz, he says that “It’s pretty strenuous as far as a workout. It loosens me up, actually. If we have to be at the gym at 5:30, I’ll go about 3 and I get out at 4:30.” He continues to say that he goes straight to the arena from yoga already loosened up and ready to play. The big name in yoga for lots of pro athletes is Kent Katich, owner of the Yoga Court located in Los Angeles. His work with athletes is always focused on helping them get the most out of their abilities – to build their balance, strength and flexibility as part of their regular conditioning routines. Having

coached some of the world’s best athletes over the past 15 years, he has also been instrumental in including yoga into athletic programs across the U.S. Although ESPN has called him the “yoga guru of the NBA,” Katich is involved with athletes from a multitude of sports. He says that in the past lots of athletes had been turned off yoga by television images of women in tights posing in hyper-flexible positions and Indian gurus chanting and meditating. While many of the athletes he works with first began yoga simply to improve their physical condition, Katich says that an increasing number are now embracing its mental side for improved concentration, focus, discipline, clarity, calmness and an awareness and control of the breath. The athletes now recognize that in addition to the wonderful physical benefits of yoga, the mind/body/spirit aspect of the discipline is also beneficial for relieving the drain caused by constant travel and the physical demands of their sports. Another yoga devotee is 20-year-old Steven Jackson, a three-time NFL Pro Bowl running back. The league’s active leading rusher who just signed a threeyear contract with Atlanta, said in the same interview that “It keeps the limbs limber. … I feel good when I stretch, especially after traveling so much.” There are a number of different types of yoga based on your preference but they all provide mental, emotional and spiritual advantages in addition to the physical ones. So if you’re an athlete looking for a way to improve your performance, try some yoga. It may not turn you into a professional athlete but you’ll certainly benefit from it in more ways than one.

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Dr. Brent Moelleken Compete ALL-Star By Harry Andrew

recently interviewed Dr. Brent Moelleken, a Beverly Hills Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon to discover how a busy Beverly Hills plastic surgery practice works. Dr. Moelleken believes that when you’re ethical and do good work, you build a solid reputation and a busy practice. His practice is proof positive that belief is correct. As a double board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in Beverly Hills and Santa Barbara, Dr. Moelleken’s education background includes Harvard University, Yale University School of Medicine, UCSF and UCLA. Dr. Moelleken has innovated numerous procedures on the face and body that have attracted patients from around the world. He has published and presented many of his innovations in peer-reviewed journals so that others can take advantage of these advances. Often appearing in Best Plastic Surgeons lists, Dr. Moelleken also has numerous television credits. He was on the original NBC’s “Extreme Makeover’s” Extreme Team and was a leading doctor on Discovery Health Channel, CNN, and shows like “Oprah,” “E! Entertainment,” “Dr. Oz,” and “Extra,” to name a few. Nevertheless, you quickly learn that he’s very simple and straightforward. While he agrees that there is an artistic touch to plastic surgery, he really sees himself more as an architect working to improve the features within a solid foundation. He believes in hard work and humility, and in an interesting twist, he also thinks that surgery itself is ultimately humiliating since you can never achieve a truly perfect result. Dr. Moelleken understands the societal pressure to look good and project an appearance of youth and vitality. Nowhere is that more true than in the gay community. Unfortunately, in their quest to look youthful, an entire generation of gay men have had overzealous plastic surgery and now have the scars to attest to it: men in their 40s and 50s who look funny due to rounded eyes, pulled faces and excessively altered appearances. Having trained in this environment, Dr. Moelleken has catered his Beverly Hills practice to revisional surgery, particularly of the eye area and the face. As a result, revisional facelifts make up most of his practice. Dr. Moelleken is always honest with patients,

‘telling them like it is’ so there are no unhappy surprises at the end. Noting that a 50-year-old cannot be made to look like a 25-year-old, the doctor’s surgical philosophy is to give individuals the best version of what they are already rather than an altered appearance that results from trying too hard. He notes that athletes are the biggest irony – they are in great physical condition but look terrible due to sun overexposure. From his experience, he says that the happiest people are those who do their best with what they have. That can include plastic surgery to freshen a look. But like it or not, diet and exercise are an important part of you looking your best. Making a lifestyle change to eat better and get some exercise combined with plastic surgery that looks natural can be the best recipe for a happy and confident life. In addition to his paid clientele, Dr. Moelleken also uses his considerable skills to give back, working a couple of months a year at the West Los Angeles Veterans Hospital, where he is an attending physician, teaching plastic surgery residents at UCLA and heading his own 501(c)(3) charity, the About Face Surgical Foundation, for victims of natural disaster or abuse.

For more information about Dr. Brent Moelleken and Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, visit his website: www.drbrent.com.

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Fred Says Compete ALL-Star

Dr.

Rob Garofalo knows the importance of the healing power of animals. In 2006 he was diagnosed with cancer and then faced a number of personal, professional and healthrelated challenges over the ensuing years, including being diagnosed with HIV. Although he’d never had a pet before, during this low point in his life he did a “puppy Chicago” web search and the image that popped up forever changed his life – it was a Yorkshire Terrier puppy he named Fred. And recognizing Fred’s ability to heal, Dr. Garofalo launched Fred Says, an organization that sells cute greeting cards of, who else – Fred! The money goes to support an estimated 10 million young people worldwide aged 15-24 living with HIV. As the director of Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Gender, Sexuality and HIV Prevention Center and the attending physician and director of the Adolescent/Young Adult HIV Program, Lurie has been the primary benefactor so far. But the organization will be selecting new benefactors. On April 1, new products were introduced, including a Fred Says leash and mug as well as a plush toy of Fred. And on April 10th, Dr. Garofalo and Fred Says join Advocates for Youth on Capitol Hill in D.C. in a lobbying effort in observation of Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

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Charles “Charlie” Blaisdell, J.D. is the best testament for the benefits of testosterone therapy – it improved his life so significantly he switched careers from trial lawyer to business owner, all to help others experience the same dramatic, life-changing benefits. And it’s not just for men. While many men and women understand the benefits of more energy, better muscle tone and improved sex life, it’s really the heart–health benefit that is most important. Low testosterone or Low T deprives muscles of androgen which eventually leads to muscle atrophy. Since the heart is a muscle, it can be seriously affected. Thanks to technology, geographic location isn’t important since the company utilizes telemedicine. The company physician makes a personal call for every single refill. And while they get a number of referrals from primary care physicians, a referral isn’t necessary. If a man or women is experiencing the symptoms of Low T without confirming blood tests, they can contact Boston Testosterone Partners directly. They are very accessible. Blaisdell says the difference in his life is so remarkable that he even provides his cell phone number for after-hours calls.

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EVENTS GAY SPORTS EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY Find more events online at competenetwork.com

APRIL 2013 Aquatics

Rodeo

TNYA Swim & Dive Camp Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Mar 31-Apr 6 All Out Swim 2013 Toronto, Ont. Apr. 20

SCCGRA Rodeo School Sacramento, Calif. Apr. 13 Rodeo in the Rock Little Rock, Ark. Apr. 26-28

Basketball

Softball

Coady Roundball Classic (CRC) Chicago, Ill. Apr. 20-21

Bowling Gotham Open Bowling Tournament Jersey City, N.Y. Apr. 12-14 Columbus Ohio Midwest Invitational Classic Columbus, Ohio Apr. 27-28 OK Classic Tournament & Scratch Masters Oklahoma City, Okla. Apr. 15-17 Funlovers California Spring classic Fountain Valley, Calif. Apr. 27-29

Golf 12th Annual Rainbow Challenge Golf Tournament Palm Springs Apr. 13-14

Polo 4th Annual International Gay Polo Tournament Wellington, Fla. Apr. 13

Saguaro Cup Phoenix, Ariz. Apr. 12-14 Yale Cup Invitational New Haven, Conn. Apr. 13

Volleyball Irvine Splash 8 Irvine, Calif. Apr. 6 Last Dig in Denver XVI Denver, Colo. Apr. 6 Atlanta Hotlanta Classic 21 Atlanta, Ga. Apr. 20 Santa Barbara Spring Challenge III Santa Barbara, Calif. Apr. 20 Cleveland Lake Erie Classic Cleveland, Ohio Apr. 27 Baltimore Charm City Invitational 28 Baltimore, Md. Apr. 27

On DECK Next month in Compete Magazine May’s issue? We have just one word for it—swimsuit. It seems hard to image that it’s our seventh annual “droolicious” swimsuit issue. How cool is that! And it’s chock full of hot bodies, ah, I mean swimsuits. If your body isn’t beach-

ready yet, time to start getting in shape for the swimsuit season. It’s also the debut of our new more locally-focused issue. Containing the same great national stories, features and departments you love but now a section that gives you a look at your local sports and happenings in the gayborhood.

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| COMPETE | April 2013

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Yearbook

This Month In Sports History: April

69 year old Gordie Howe begins playing AHL game with Syracuse Crunch -1997

Pancho Gonzales retains tennis title by winning a tournament playing under table tennis rules - 1955

1st U.S. figure skating championships held; won by Dick Button & Gretchen Merrill - 1948

1st game at Camden Field, Baltimore Orioles beat Indians 2-0 - 1992

8th Seniors Golf Tradition: Jack Nicklaus - 1996

Oliver McCall beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavyweight boxing title - 1995

PGA establishes Golf Hall of Fame - 1941

5 Miami Heat beat New York Knicks ending 15-game NBA winning streak - 1994

10 J. R. Richard throws major league record 6 wild pitches in Astrodome - 1979

Jackie Robinson becomes 1st black in modern major-league baseball - 1947

2nd lowest NBA scoring game - Detroit Piston 72, NY Knicks 61 - 1992

Pete Rose becomes 1st NL to get get 4,000 hits in a career - 1984

1st major league baseball game outside U.S. played (Montreal Canada) - 1969

100th Boston Marathon won by Moses Tanui of Kenya in 2:09:15.9 - 1996

1st televised baseball game, WGN-TV, (White Sox vs Cubs exhibition) - 1940

Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football - 1995

Pistons and 76â&#x20AC;&#x2122;ers get into a fight accruing $162,500 fines (NBA record) - 1990

Chicago Bulls win record 72 games in a season - 1996

Against Mariners, White Sox pitcher, Philip Humber, pitches 21st perfect game in MLB history & third perfect game in team history - 2012

New York Yankees don pinstripes and hat-in-the-ring logo for 1st time - 1915

General Tire World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Norm Duke - 1994

Highest scoring baseball game in 17 years Twins 24, Tigers 11 - 1996

Heavyweight champ, Rocky Marciano, retires undefeated from boxing - 1956

New Jersey Devils set all time playoff mark for penalty minutes - 1988

Pittsburgh is last major league city to play a home game on a Sunday - 1934

Penguin Mario Lemuix ties NHL playoff record of 4 goals in 1st period - 1989

As Met pitcher David Cone argues a call at 1st base, 2 Braves score - 1990

Source: www.brainyhistory.com

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| COMPETE | April 2013

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