Brody's Scribbles... Tim Trent: A Bunch Of Poofs- Good Enough To Come In Third In The World Cup

By Tim Trent (Dartmouth, UK) July 14 | It's about time we had some open and out gay blokes in Association Football, Soccer for my US friends. I read the headline "Bunch of Gay Footballers: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That on Stephen Glenn's blog today, and his article speaks for itself. The basic facts come from The Guardian's article "Storm over 'bunch of gays' in Germany's World Cup team." 

My good friend in Germany says that there is no storm that he can find, though. Looks like the good old Grauniad has picked up either a scoop(!), or something and nothing. Whatever it is, I think we can agree that the remark portrays Michael Becker as a bigot. Der Spiegel says... well, pretty much nothing worth saying on the matter, though it does reveal a lot about Becker: 

"Two months earlier, in a different football era, Michael Becker, Michael Ballack's manager, told me how many German players are supposedly gay. We were sitting in a restaurant above the Mercedes dealership in Luxembourg, where Becker lives. The advantage of coming to this particular restaurant, Becker said, is that you can have your car washed while you eat. He seemed to be in a good mood, and he had every reason to be. The food was good, the sun was shining, and we had come to the restaurant in his Mercedes convertible, with the top down, driving through quiet streets."

Yup. He's got a Mercedes convertible! And, if you read the article, the word 'gay' is in it ~gasp~ five times.  So, what's really important here?

• The German national side was good enough to come third in a fierce tournament featuring the best of each nation's talent
• The German national side potentially fielded some players who happen to be gay
• Football is dreadfully bad about 'allowing' players to come out. Look at what happened in the too short life of Justin Fashanu.

2010 German World Cup Soccer Team  Photo By Der Spiegel

What we need is for all people in all walks of life to be able to come out without fear. We gay folk, ok LGBT folk, are pretty ordinary. We're as flamboyant and as quiet, as sporty and as unsporty, as brave and as cowardly, as law abiding and as criminal as every other segment of society.

It's just that some people are gay. Get over it! 

Tim Trent is a regular contributor to Brody's Notes & Scribbles as a guest columnist and his opinions and expert advice on Data Privacy and Marketing practises can be found on his Blogger site, Marketing By Permission.