I read or have read a lot of blogs in my time, as well as a lot of sports journalism, and I have to say that Henry Abbott's True Hoop and kind-of-group-ish ClipperBlog are truly outstanding examples of both, and a great example of what "non-mainstream media" can aspire to. Despite the fact that they're "only" about basketball.

Normally, though, I wouldn't bore my esteemed readers (both of you) with those observations. But they have had the two most meaningful responses to the recent news that an ex-NBA player is gay, and I think their posts on the matter are worth reading.

Kevin at ClipperBlog, in particular, responds to claims that the news is ho-hum, or just to get attention. His point is that, while it's not a big deal that one guy is gay, it's one step along the path toward openly-gay, active professional athletes, which would be a big step toward a day when things like this don't happen:

Twice in Anaheim this season, slurs were unleashed in my close proximity - once, Dodgers fans were targeted as homos, the other time the pinstripers were serenaded with a variation of the Gonzaga fave, "Broke-back Yank-ees."

Further, I can't help but quote the end of the piece:

At the risk of sounding maudlin, I'm rarely happier than when I go to a ballgame. It's a sensual feast: The buzz outside the turnstiles, the sounds, the pageantry. I'm hopeless: I love watching sports, always have; I was a fan long before I was gay. But with the possible exception of the night the Clippers hoist a championship banner in the rafters at Staples, or the presentation of World Series rings to the Dodgers, the moment I look forward to most is the day when I can applaud an openly gay ballplayer during opening introductions. I think anyone over the age of 18 who sports a player's jersey in public is an unrepentant dork and a drag queen in his own right, but damned if I won't don that guy's uni. Because pride is an inexplicable human force.

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