Amaechi’s Opening Up New Doors for Gay Athletes!
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by user LastRow
Let’s take a stroll down memory lane for a moment here. Remember when for some odd reason Mike Piazza felt the need to hold a press conference, to tell the world that he was indeed heterosexual to dispel the rumors that he was gay? Later Big Mikey would go on to marry a Playboy Playmate…Of course he would, why wouldn’t he? That press conference which was held inside Shea Stadium, well, it was almost as humorous as Roger Clemens throwing a 95 MPH heater with a bat no less at Piazza mistaken it for "the ball". Nevertheless, Piazza emphatically said there was no truth to the rumors about his gayness…I wonder if he might want to reevaluate any part of his situation now given what the sexuality status has brought to John Amaechi?
Now fast forward to last month Amaechi became the first NBA player, (current or former) to acknowledge his homosexuality with the release of his memoir, Man in the Middle, which is currently on The New York Times Best Seller List. The news spread like a California wildfire on news media outlets….Opening up all sorts of debates and conversations. Everybody chimed in…Mavericks owner Mark Cuban went as far to say this. "From a marketing perspective, if you're a player who happens to be gay and you want to be incredibly rich, then you should come out, because it would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective," Cuban said."You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete, and that'll put money in your pocket." Now one thing about Cubes, love him or hate him, you have to give him his dues…While some of his brain farts & theories may be off the wall at times, in regards to this, not only was MC right, he was dead on!
On Monday, "Big John Stud" became the first openly gay male athlete to sign an endorsement deal with a mainstream company. HeadBlade Inc., creators of a popular head-shaving razor, announced Monday it had signed Amaechi to a multiyear deal. You mean that’s all I would have to do to get an endorsement deal is to declare I’m openly gay…Hell, it might be worth it? See Mike Piazza, you thought that being homosexual was a bad thing. You missed the HeadBlade Inc. boat on this one pal…By the way, don’t think for a second we all don’t see through that whole "Playboy Playmate cover up thing"! Same goes for you Jeff Garcia, for I have legitimate proof of that buddy…Carmella will find out eventually!
"I think it's fantastic that HeadBlade has approached me to endorse the brand," said Amaechi in a statement. So HeadBlade found their man, (no pun intended) to take their product to new heights…Along with this, Headblade is taken Amaechi to new heights. You could say this might be the perfect marriage…I know, I know, I couldn’t resist! At least give me some credit, I didn’t go Tim Hardaway or anything like that. Speaking of him, I wonder what he thinks about all this? Ever since he opened his mouth and inserted his foot, his life has been in a tailspin. First, the David Stern boots him out of Las Vegas, then his co-owned car wash in Miami takes his name off the business…If that wasn’t enough, last we hear of this cat, his home was about to be repoed! I guess it might be better to be Pacman Jones than this cat? At least it’s better to be John Amaechi!
Concerned about endorsement deals in the past is one reason some male athletes stay in the closet during their careers. "John Amaechi is the newest face of the brand because he embodies many of the qualities representative of a HeadBlader," HeadBlade chief executive Todd Greene said. "He is a man comfortable in his own skin and he's not afraid to go against the grain." Hey, Tim, how conformable are you now boy? You like your new loser life? All because you were uneasy about someone else’s flabba bata ding dong brushes up against you!
It’s just like Mark Cuban suggested…."When you do something that the whole world thinks is difficult and you stand up and just be who you are and take on that difficulty factor, you're an American hero no matter what…"That's what the American spirit's all about, going against the grain and standing up for who you are, even if it's not a popular position." It’s clear Amaechi knows who he is and both HeadBlade and him are proud of it! Even though he wasn’t a difference maker on the court…Off the court, to say he’s changing the game, or at least trying to that might be a little bit of an understatement! Although to say John Amaechi is inventing an entirely different new game and knocking down barriers one by one for the homosexual athlete…No truer words could be said!
Zing
I'll be here all week