I hate Tressel...
but he sometimes does some classy things.
http://www.outlookcolumbus.com/issue.html
is a link to an gay-oriented magazine (which I read on ESPN due to Rittenberg, to give full credit) that contains an interview from Tressel (p. 32) about LGBT issues. Apparently, he's the only Division 1 coach who has spoken openly about the need for acceptance of LGBT people without first saying and apologizing for something homophobic (i.e. the Hawaii coach). As much as I hate Ohio State and their sports program, there are times when they earn my grudging respect; this is one of those times.
The dong punch is a particularly classy move.
"The best part: Michigan fans, the primary rival fans, are far too conscientious and polite to make homophobic slurs, while SEC fans would see this in a rival coach and instantly mail him cock-shaped cookies. We'd eat them, but seriously, they are cookies, and cookies are good no matter what they're shaped like."
It's almost like he read this thread...
one could argue that to him, engaging in buttsex with either a girl or a guy is all good, man. 'cause it's buttsex, and buttsex is good no matter to what the butt's attached.
When should we start mailing him these cock-shaped cookies? I'm not quite sure of the intricacies involved in this brand of etiquette. Should they be decorated, with like sprinkles on the balls and white icing around them? Do we gift-wrap them? Do we include a note? If yes, how formal should that note be?
That's really surprising and just a great thing to see. I'm sure a lot of coaches would consider that request from that publication and say, gee, I'd like to but some people might be put off by it so.... sorry. But Tressel did it. Props to him. Wish more coaches would do the same.
when I first read that Tressel gave an interview to a magazine that billed itself as, "a lifestyle and advocacy publication that serves Ohio's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community"...I wondered why it was such a big deal that Tress was giving another interview to Bucknuts.com??
Good on Tressel, but I found that article very offensive, particularly at the end when the interviewer says "GO B---S!" I don't have to stand for that sort of filth.
Actually, he was a great coach with a darn good record over the years. He just couldn't beat Michigan and the fans got him booted out! Tressel is a pretty good coach though he chokes against the SEC teams. I could see him on his way out if RR starts winning. You know one day the law of averages will be in our favor and we'll start a nice 3 or 4 game wining streak against OSU! I hope it starts this season, if not during the 2011 season! I'll feel sorry for Trassel, just like Cooper when the OSU AD gives him the boot in 5 years after losing to RR for the 4th consecutive season!
(if I understand the history correctly) Cooper was hired from ASU because of his 1987 Rose Bowl victory over UM.
The Cooper era was sort of like a waking dream, having an undefeated, #2-ranked OSU team to beat up on every year no matter how sucky the season was up to then.
that most politicians won't even touch this topic with a ten foot pole but a major football coach will.
Says a lot about the guy. He obviously will say what he believes is right.
Yeah but Tressel doesn't have to worry about reelection. All he has to do is win and not punch any opposing players.
Maybe I missed something but I clicked on the link and it took me to a page with a sassy white man with a head band on..wait is Tressel gay? F@ck him he coaches Ohio St!!
you have to go through the site's directory to page 32.
for not respecting him for this. In other words, who cares?
Didn't the baseball team play them earlier this week?
I wonder how the Redneck Rocker will handle this. With sophistication and tolerance I bet.
Tressel's always been a stand-up guy and he runs a much tighter ship than Cooper ever did. Interesting to see that he was the first coach to speak up like this since he is such an old-school guy in most respects.
I love how this topic is a blatantly taboo subject on this board, yet because it promotes one side of a certain belief everyone is cool with it. Replace the article with someone saying the exact opposite thing about the exact same subject and this board would have melted down and the thread would have been closed within minutes.
... we're getting destroyed by Ohio State?
I wrote the following piece and submitted it to the Daily, which ran it November 2, 2009, with a couple of edits from my original.
http://michigandaily.com/content/letter-editor-homophobic-chants-dont-b…
That I had to write that, I think, speaks volumes about how far the U-M athletic community still has to go on this. I mean, come on, we've had a highly visible, (most likely) gay person on the field for every home game in the last two years -- so why haven't we figured this out?
I know that Tressel's granting of the interview to "Outlook: Columbus" isn't going to make all OSUck fans immediately cease using anti-gay insults, especially against those of us M folk brave enough to risk vandalism and assault and such down there, but it's a much-needed start and a first step down that path for OSU. I only wish that we might do the same thing.
We also probably have gay players on all of the sports teams. In terms of numbers alone, it's foolish to think that just because they're not shouting it from the rooftops, they're not there. And they can hear what people say.
Regardless of your feelings on the issue, I think the least we can do as a fanbase is ensure that all players (and other fans) feel like part of the Michigan family.
To sound completely after-school-special, one of the cool things about being a sports fan is that it allows me to set aside my differences with other people and have something in common with them. I'm sure I wouldn't agree with some of you on politics, or religion, or whether it's pop or soda, but we can all agree on one thing, and that's that we really need to beat the Buckeyes this year.
I doubt your first sentence is true. The fact that X percent of the population may be gay does not necessarily mean that X percent of athletes are. Different groups are drawn to different endeavors. Hispanic and Asian people, for instance, are not represented in anywhere near proportional terms in college football or basketball, while black people are dramatically overrepresented. We've probably had some gay athletes, but probably not all that many. By and large, gay people seem not particularly drawn to sports.
A statement that "By and large, gay people seem not particularly drawn to sports" is probably mostly true of men's team sports. There do tend to be more gay folks in individual sports, where there really isn't the locker-room culture to contend with, and there are quite a few lesbians in women's sports, of both the team and individual flavors.
i cant get over the fact that Tressel has had so many issues over boosters from his time @ YSU to OSU. maybe im biased, but i cant help but think he is dirty in some way or another.