ESPN’s Keith Olbermann Knocks Gay Jason Collins STRAIGHT!

ESPN’s Keith Olbermann Knocks Gay Jason Collins STRAIGHT!

Keith pays tribute to the first openly gay player in one of the four major sports. And it’s not Jason Collins. On “Olbermann”, Keith talked about Glenn Burke, the LA Dodger who was the first openly gay athlete in major sports over 30 years before Jason Collins, and he hits a sweet spot. It’s personal, rational and ends with a shocking twist.
Glenn Burke, the Real First Openly Gay Athlete in Professional Sports
Glenn Keith
“If I can make friends honestly, it may be a step toward gays and straight people understanding each other. Maybe they’ll say, ‘He’s all right, there’s got to be a few more all right.’ Maybe it will begin to make it easier for other young gays to go into sports.” Glenn Burke
Those are the words of Major League Baseball’s first openly gay player. While the national media covers Jason Collins‘ first minutes on the court as an openly gay professional basketball player and the NFL network constantly breaks down rookie Michael Sam‘s combine stats, we forget about the ORIGINAL sports pioneer.
Glenn Burke played 225 games in the majors as a Dodger and as a member of the Athletics, with 523 at-bats, a .237 average, two home runs, 38 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. While those numbers remain far from stellar, he contributed as a spirited member of the locker room, well liked by his teammates.
Dusty Hi 5 Glenn aft HRMajor League Baseball didn’t either know how to deal with his sexual orientation or chose not to. The media wouldn’t touch the story until years after he left the game. Glenn Burke was a trailblazer who arrived on the scene long before our culture knew how to embrace him.
Over the next few weeks, forgive me if I seem apathetic towards media reports about the progress of Mr. Sam or Mr. Collins in their Collins Big Herorespective sports. We live in 2014. A player’s sexual orientation shouldn’t have any bearing on how well they throw a ball or how much weight they can lift. While they may have overcome hardships in their quest to seek a career in professional sports while maintaining their authenticity as a person, it pales in comparison to Burke’s journey more than 35 years ago. Most of us have come a long way since then, although you wouldn’t know it by the actions of a few knuckle-draggers.
I would write more about it, but wordsmith and sports personality Keith Olbermann eloquently sums it up better in 5 minutes than most professional journalists could with an entire novel.
The next time you read or hear a story about a gay athlete, remember outfielder Glenn Burke.
If you have any interest in learning more about his journey, check out his story from the 1982 issue of Inside Sports chronicling Burke’s time as a professional baseball player. Heartbreaking, courageous, inspiring and tragic… all words to describe the tale of professional sports’ first openly gay athlete.
Watch “Olbermann” weeknights on ESPN2 at 11pm ET

Marshawn Lynch’s Quiet Power Behind Seahawks’ Super Run

EDITOR’S NOTE: Michael Silver wrote this piece after an exclusive interview with Marshawn Lynch last week, when the running back wasn’t sure if he would attend Super Bowl XLVIII Media Day. On Tuesday, Lynch did indeed appear at the event to briefly speak with the assembled media before spending some additional time with NFL Network’s …
Continue reading Marshawn Lynch’s Quiet Power Behind Seahawks’ Super Run

ESPN TV Sports Special; MLB Lyman Bostock Special; The Enlightened Coach

SUPERSTAR MANAGEMENT 7633 Sunkist Drive, Oakland CA  94605-3032 (510) 394-4501 http://Superstarmanagement.com Abdul-Jalil on iTunes Abdul-Jalil Front Row @ 1995 ESPY Awards Co-Promoted, Managed and Trained Evander Holyfield versus Riddick Bowe Heavyweight Title Boxing Matches 11/13/92, 11/6/93, 11/4/95 1995 Pizza Hut Commercial with Deion Sanders and Jerry Jones “BOTH” Superstar Management and Hammertime Open Office in …
Continue reading ESPN TV Sports Special; MLB Lyman Bostock Special; The Enlightened Coach

Before Jason Collins

Before Jason Collins
The world is throwing a parade for Jason Collins, the 7-foot free-agent NBA center who came out last month. He was hugged by Oprah, celebrated by “Good Morning America,” and congratulated by President Obama.

But nobody seems to remember baseball’s Glenn Burke, who tried to come out nearly 40 years ago and was stuffed back in.

“How’s Jason Collins going to talk about being the first?” says Burke’s agent, Abdul-Jalil al-Hakim. “Glenn Burke was the first. And he wasn’t any free agent, either. He was in the lineup.”

Glenn Burke was a barrel-chested jokester, a singing, dancing, one-man cabaret. His teammates called him King Kong. In high school, the 6-foot Burke could dunk two basketballs at once, in street shoes. He roamed center field for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A’s in the late 1970s.

Burke was the pulse of the clubhouse. He wore a red jock. He’d jump in the backs of pink Rolls-Royces after games. He invented the high-five (with Dusty Baker). Oh, yes, he did.

He was as out as an athlete could be in the mid-1970s. It wasn’t that he was flaunting it. It was that he couldn’t keep it in.

“When we’d land at airports,” remembers Davey Lopes, the Dodgers’ second baseman. “There’d always be guys waiting for Glenn. We’d go our way and he’d go off on his merry way. We’d go to clubs and women would hand him their numbers. But he’d never call ’em. Didn’t matter to us. We loved him.”

In the famous 1977 Dodgers-Yankees World Series — starring Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Steve Garvey, and Ron Cey — only one rookie cracked either starting lineup: Glenn Burke.

“Nobody tripped that he was gay,” says Burke’s longtime pal, Doug Harris, who produced the documentary “Out” about Burke in 2010. “The people who tripped off it were the Dodgers [management]. They didn’t want to talk about it. He was trying to tell the reporters, but they said they couldn’t write that stuff.”

A List Celebrities Comps for Kentucky Derby, May 5-7, 2013

A List Celebrities Comps for Kentucky Derby, May 5-7, 2013
If you are or have “A List” Celebrities that would like to attend the Kentucky Derby, May 2-4, 2013 you may be able to attend as a select V.I.P. The “A Lister” could receive: air transportation or Private Jet service from major U. S. cities, hotel suites and accommodations, ground transportation, VIP tickets to the Derby, special V.I.P. guest invitations to the exclusive events.
If you are or have “A List” Celebrities that would like to attend the Kentucky Derby, May 2-4, 2013 you may be able to attend as a select V.I.P. The “A Lister” could receive: air transportation or Private Jet service from major U. S. cities, hotel suites and accommodations, ground transportation, VIP tickets to the Derby, special V.I.P. guest invitations to the exclusive events.Contact us ASAP with Celebrity bio for consideration.
Millionaires Row
Throughout the years of the Kentucky Derby, the race has had a special appeal to the celebrity set. The rich and famous that mingle among the Derby Day crowd add a unique dimension to the spectacle of the “Run for the Roses.”
VIP Access
One of the first celebrity sightings dates to 1877 when famed Polish actress Helena Modjeska attended the third running of the Kentucky Derby. In the 1945 book, Down the Stretch, it was noted that Modjeska was impressed by the Derby but even more charmed by the mint julep to which she was introduced by Churchill Downs founder M. Lewis Clark following the race.
Over the years, a stream of celebrities from film, music, sports, politics and wealth have been drawn to the Derby. On at least one occasion, a celebrity with a more notorious background was the talk of the Derby. The 15th renewal in 1889 brought bank and train robber Frank James to Louisville. The brother of famed outlaw Jesse James and a leader in their outlaw gang, Frank was on hand to watch Spokane take the victory over favored Proctor Knott.
Although most of the rich and famous that attend are guests of prominent ticket holders, the Derby has also attracted an impressive roster of celebrity racehorse owners. The group has found that the thrill of running their horses in the Kentucky Derby is as moving as any accomplishment in their professional careers.
During the 1990s this group of celebrity owners grew to include: musician MC Hammer, 1992 Dance Floor, 3rd; composer Burt Bacharach, 1994 Soul of the Matter, 5th, and 1995 Afternoon Deelites, 8th; music producer Berry Gordy, 1994 Powis Castle, 8th; film producer Albert Broccoli, 1994 Brocco, 4th; New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, 1997 Concerto, 9th; and former NBA and current University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino, 1998 Halory Hunter, 4th, and 2001 A P Valentine, 7th.

Free tix to DAVE CHAPPELLE, New Jazz Quartet, Sheila E, Jody Watley, George Clinton, and MORE at Yoshi’s

7633 Sunkist Drive, Oakland CA  94605-3032 Phone  (510) 394-4601 http://Ex-Why.com Aaron & Margaret Wallace Foundation http://Superstarmanagement.com Abdul-Jalil Honored in Port Au-Prince, Haiti and Miami, Fla. for Relief Missions to Haiti Join the Superstars Entertainment and Sports Network Abdul-Jalil’s Haas School of Business Profile Ziggs Profile of Abdul-Jalil Linked In Profile on Abdul-Jalil Abdul-Jalil on Twitter: …
Continue reading Free tix to DAVE CHAPPELLE, New Jazz Quartet, Sheila E, Jody Watley, George Clinton, and MORE at Yoshi’s