For those in the bottom of last week’s leaderboard:  Sean Avery (20 points), Swimmer Diana Nyad (18) and actor Billy Dee Williams (15), it was unwelcome news to start the show. The announcement of who was safe and who would go was done in batches and in round two Billy Dee found out the Force was with him. Yes, as predicted, his Star Wars-infused disaster of a Cha Cha Cha was a fan favorite and he was safe despite having the lowest judges scores.

Diana Nyad was eliminated within the show’s first hour.

Avery said in his rehearsal package, which featured him in a couple of quick shirtless takes, that he didn’t want to be the first to go home, and he was saved from that. Instead, he went second.

Unlike Nyad, Avery found out about his elimination after his group of three, which included actress/housewife NeNe Leakes and Australian pop star Cody Simpson, danced as the final three of the evening.

Here’s Avery’s work from last night, including the rehearsal footage, Salsa, judging, post-dance chatter and elimination.

I wonder, if Avery had the Salsa last week, would he have survived this week? In last week’s scores he was a single point off of NeNe, game show host Drew Carey and hunky singer James Maslow. I doubt he could’ve beaten Drew in the viewer votes, but I can imagine a scenario in this alternate universe where he could’ve overtaken either NeNe or James.

Avery looked far more at ease with the Salsa, even seeming to enjoy it. His comment about DWTS wanting constant smiles was excellent, although he had to understand it was part of the game too. No one wants to vote for someone who doesn’t look like they are having a good time. In the dance itself, he looked good. There were some footwork issues, but he had rhythm and he certainly moved and lifted Karina confidently. The final spin in the air was outstanding. The judges appreciated the work he put in too, giving him a 21 out of 30.

He would’ve been more protected had he survived this week. The leaderboard had five people (if you count him) at the bottom together. Billy Dee had an unfortunate Tango, which gave him another 15. There was a four-way tie at 21 with Drew, NeNe, actress Candace Cameron Bure and Avery. But we’ll never know how that might have panned out.

Three athletes are still in the running for the Mirror Ball. Skaters Charlie White and Meryl Davis are at the top this week, both earning 25. Charlie did a great tango and Meryl flew threw the air in a great Swing number. They’re tied in first with James. Paralympian Amy Purdy snagged a 24 for her Swing routine, which was also outstanding.

So with Avery out, PuckBuddys coverage of Dancing with the Stars concludes. If another NHL’er shows up in future seasons I’ll be happy to do this again.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some gratuitous ab-action, courtesy of James Maslow, who also did a Salsa this week. This was scored four points higher than Avery’s.

Jeff is excited to bring his love of dance competition shows to PuckBuddys after blogging about both “DWTS” and “So You Think You Can Dance” at jeffandwill.com. Jeff’s regular PuckBuddys beat includes the Red Wings and reviewing fiction that features gay hockey players. In addition, he’s written a young adult novel, Hat Trick, which details the coming out of two high school hockey players. He’s currently working on two sequels to that book. You can follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc.

If you missed this last night, his official promo picture sums it up. His partner, Karina Smirnoff is clearly into the moment, but he stands there looking as if he wants to be anywhere but here.

Is it nervousness because he’s distinctly out of his element? Maybe. His debut dance was Contemporary, which I thought was a mean choice to throw at competitors in the first week. Three dance styles were on display last night: Cha Cha Cha, Foxtrot and Contemporary. None of the styles are easy, but Contemporary requires fluid movement and a major connection to your partner and the music. Usually the stars get to start with some ballroom basics and move on to the more complicated dances. I don’t recall a season where Contemporary was unleashed so early.

Let’s go to the video for Avery’s performance, as well as the judges critiques and his post-dance interview with Erin Andrews.

Yes, Avery said he was trying to channel Ren McCormack from 1984’s Footloose, specifically the famous scene where he danced in the abandoned warehouse. Anyone else as shocked as I am by this revelation?

The dancing hockey player ended up with a judges score of 20, out of a 30. Carrie Ann and Bruno gave him sevens while Len went with six. The six was more in line with what I thought the dance deserved. Avery’s movements were clunky and lacked passion. A couple of the judges called him intense, but Karina didn’t seem in the same intense space that he was and it made for a lopsided performance because they weren’t emotionally connected.

Avery was outscored in Contemporary by both Full House actress Candace Cameron Bure (scoring a 25) and Olympic Gold Medal ice dancer Charlie White (scoring a 27, the night’s highest score). Let’s look at Charlie’s dance, which I’ll admit gave me goosebumps. This is what Contemporary should be.

How did the other athletes do last night? Charlie’s skating partner Meryl Davis scored a 24 with a great Cha Cha Cha. Paralympian, and newly minted Bronze medalist snowboarder, Amy Purdy also got a 24 for her Cha Cha Cha. Swimmer Diana Nyad got 18 points for her Foxtrot.

At the end of the show, White was at the top of the celebrities and actor Billy Dee Williams was at the bottom with 15. Avery’s 20 put him third from the bottom with only Diana and Billy Dee trailing.

Of course, this is really a popularity contest, so how well someone dances often matters less than how big their fan base is. Can Avery pull more votes than a beloved actor from Star Wars, who milked that for all it was worth? That’s a tough call, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Avery was eliminated next week. If not next week though, I don’t think Avery will make it to the halfway point unless he starts to act like he wants to be on the show and put in the work to improve his technique.

Who do I think ultimately wins the Mirror Ball Trophy? My money is on the ice dancers. Meryl and Charlie are going to duke it out to the end. Charlie will get all my votes because he’s so damn cute. Tough competition will come from actresses Bure and Danica McKellar, snowborder Purdy, as well as Australian pop star Cody Simpson.

To wrap up this week, let look at the truly disturbing number from last night, showing Disney marketing synergy run amok. It’s like a missing scene from the Star Wars Christmas Special. Here’s Billy Dee Williams doing a Cha Cha Cha to the Disco version of the Star Wars theme.

Jeff is excited to bring his love of dance competition shows to PuckBuddys after blogging about both “DWTS” and “So You Think You Can Dance” at jeffandwill.com. Jeff’s regular PuckBuddys beat includes the Red Wings and reviewing fiction that features gay hockey players. In addition, he’s written a young adult novel, Hat Trick, which details the coming out of two high school hockey players. He’s currently working on two sequels to that book. You can follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc.

DWTS has at least one athlete each year, and season 18 is chock full of them, including newly minted Olympic Gold Medal ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis, swimmer Diana Nyad, para-olympian Amy Purdy. That’s five of twelve competitors who all know how to train and win.

Winners of the show often come from an athletic background too: Emmitt Smith (NFL player, season 3), Apolo Ohno (olympic speed skater, season 4), Helio Castroneves (Indy 500 driver, season 5), Kristi Yamaguchi (olympic figure skater, season 6), Shawn Johnson (olympic gymnast, season 8), Hines Ward (NFL player, season 12), and Donald Driver (NFL player, season 14).

How will Avery fair? He’s got a great pro teacher, at least to start the show with, having been paired with Karina Smirnoff. She’s never won the coveted mirror ball trophy, but she’s finished top three in the past two seasons.

However, in these behind-the-scenes shots that ABC released (above), Avery looks none-to-happy to be there. If he’s not committed to going for it, it’s going to be hard to win the audience’s favor and even harder to actually learn the dances.

The competition isn’t going to cut him and slack either. You’ve got people like Davis, White, Big Time Rush member James Maslow, and singer Cody Simpson who know how to move and keep rhythm (though for the pop singers, that doesn’t always translate to ballroom success).

So, over the coming weeks, I’ll be your guide to DWTS as Avery dones ballroom sparkles. You can expect I’ll keep up with the other athlete competitors as well as my personal DWTS crushes — pro Derek Hough, the winner of more championships than anyone else (he coached Glee’s Amber Riley to a win in the fall and is paired with Amy Purdy this season) and newly promoted pro Henry Byalikov, who has killer abs and is partnered with Diana Nyad.

If the show runs as usual, there’ll be 10 weeks of competition. Lots of new stuff happens this season with a new co-host, Erin Andrews (now with Fox Sports and 3rd place winner from season 10), as well as new things happening with the music since the house band was fired between seasons. Plus, it’s been announced that at some point in the season the celebrity/pro combinations will change and the audience will vote on that.

So, look for a review of the previous night each Tuesday for as long as Avery’s in the competition. The dance party starts next Monday, March 17, on ABC.

Jeff is excited to bring his love of dance competition shows to PuckBuddys after blogging about both DWTS and So You Think You Can Dance at jeffandwill.com. Jeff’s regular PuckBuddys beat includes the Red Wings and reviewing fiction that features gay hockey players. In addition, he’s written a young adult novel, Hat Trick, which details the coming out of two high school hockey players. He’s currently working on two sequels to that book. You can follow him on Twitter at @hockeyguynyc.

We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season: friends, family, a great team, and a very welcoming hockey community. Oh yeah, the Russian Mafia too… 

As we head into our second year, we take stock of our small handful of successes as well as the occasional failures. We’re coming to grips with one major setback and we’re trying to remedy it. Because we’re tribal in our devotion to the Caps, our fanaticism dictates slavish allegiance to them. It’s business and personal with us, but we sometimes lose sight of contributions that come from other teams and players; many of whom we should be thankful for, too.

Sean Avery of the New York Rangers, deserves thanks as well – not for his rinksmanship – but for his dedication to the larger cause. He’s a Ranger after all, and an unapologetic prick on the ice, so of course our default is to dislike him.

He recently blocked us on twitter. Why? We invited him to follow us:

Blocked, we soul-searched (for about five minutes). We’ve put team rivalries aside, tempering our hatred for the Leafs and Flyers because of the Burkes. We thought we could make nice-nice – but no dice.

We think he has ‘sensitive skin,’ and took our entreaty the wrong way, personally. We tried again.

So much for catching more flies pests with honey than vinegar. Where does that leave us? Simple: In section 406 of Verizon on Friday as the Caps host the Rags. We’ll be the loud ones wearing red and chirping the crap out Sean and his band of Blueshirt misfits.

We hold out hope, that in the spirit of the holidays, he unblocks and then follows. Will we be nice to him? Two chances – slim and fat; and fat just left town on a northbound for Pickering.

We’ll also be very thankful to whoever can engineer the detente. This could be another gay marriage initiative that Sean Avery can get behind. After all, it is legal in both New York and DC.

Sean, will you gay marry us?

For perhaps the last word (at least in this news cycle), on the Simmonds-Avery conflagration, we look north of the border to Andrew, our Leafs correspondent.

We’ve been cobbling together a stable of writers and are lucky we found him.  He brings a well-trimmed beard and a well-turned phrase to his work.

This smart and hopefully growing squad of writers has underscored an important point for us – hockey could be every bit as much about the larger culture as it is about what happens on the ice. -Craig

“It seems everyone and their mother has an opinion on the Avery-Simmonds incident. There’s the GLAAD staunch rebuke and demanding of an apology. There’s the NHL’s split opinion. There’s the general public’s split opinion. The general consensus was, you guessed, a split decision. Rewind to a few days prior and Bananagate.

You had the NHL, the Commish, players, coaches, London residents, the mayor ALL calling it classless, tasteless and offensive. Which of course it was. But it raised the question to me: Why is an overtly racist act met with such fire, but Simmonds act was met with only a relative dull roar?

“I read a rather interesting Tweet I’ll call the Matt Barnaby approach. He tweeted: “I said nasty sh** on the ice and where it might not b (sic) right it should stay on the ice!! Simmonds is a great kid and in NO way would he have…Meant malice by saying things he did. Good kid and great player. Leave it alone!!”

I could very well have responded with the It’s like Whatever Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas. Yeah, unless it’s herpes mindset. I wanted to. I wanted to be offended and come to the vehement defence of my gay honour. I wanted to ride that white horse, wielding that sword of justice and hack away at the chains of oppression and defamation. I really wanted to. But I didn’t.”

Why? Because, though I didn’t want to, I knew why Simmonds said it.

In hockey, as in pretty much all professional sports, it is an ultra-masculine environment. It’s a bunch of jacked-up, sweaty men essentially playing War. And what’s more masculine than war?

Oppositional sides each trying to encroach in the other’s territory and deliver a fatal payload. Think of The Longest Day or The Green Berets. Even in The Birdcage, John Wayne is used as the prime example for Nathan Lane to follow to be more masculine  (Start at about 1:40 if you don’t want to wait). Each and every tactic in war needs to be used to gain the advantage: fighting, dirty hits, trash talking…

Ah, trash talking. In any regular environment, calling someone a f*cking asshole would suffice. That person that cut you off? Flip him off and call him a stupid fucker. Bastard, bitch, pretard, douche baguette…there’s any number of ways you can insult the average person because in the common realm these words are still taboo to a degree.

In hockey? Calling someone an asshole is essentially calling them a silly goose. It doesn’t pack the same punch. But hockey is ultra-masculine, so how do you attack someone in that special sphere? Go after their masculinity. And what’s one effective way of doing that? Calling them a faggot. It’s the same way they trash each other by saying they banged their mother or sister or wife or whomever.

In that very specific frame of reference, the word is used not as a way of slamming gays but of a quick shot at the only thing hockey players have truly exposed on the ice: their masculinity. There are no pads or visors for a man’s feeling of manhood.

Yes, by saying that there is a social perception of the inextricable link between gays and non-masculinity. Obviously it is not true and based on archaic and offensive stereotypes ; the typical gender roles in today’s society are based on years of stereotyping and lack of understanding (homosexuality has only been legal for 30 years in Canada, for instance).

But this is what players have to go on, they live within this realm, the realm of static gender roles (how many current female hockey players are there? And how many male cheerleaders around the ice?  It is the language they speak. Is it inherently wrong? Of course. But am I offended? No. As Matt said, he didn’t mean it. I do not condone the action of saying it, but I understand why Simmonds did. The word is, like has been said before, more about context than the definition in this case.

That being said, and understanding why he did it, does not make it acceptable. This is, however, a chance for the NHL to really kick some ass and get ahead of the curve. Instead of the weak sauce excuse from the League of “Yeah, we can’t really tell what he said despite knowing exactly”, own up to it. Have a hockey mea culpa. Admit that, yes, in hockey we call other guys faggots.

Yes, the term is offensive, but it is not under any circumstance meant as a slam to gays. Make a league “It gets better” video. Use Brian Burke as a shining example of acceptance in hockey and as a positive role model for players/coaches/owners etc. to follow.

Maybe this will change the language hockey players currently speak. Maybe this will change the frame of reference they live in. Instead of just accepting the pink elephant in the room, call it out, fight it and start showing that it isn’t acceptable to use. Even in a special context like a hockey rink.

I do get offended when I hear “fag” said in common parlance. When I hear teens of today call something they don’t like “gay”, I get really pissed off. Or when straight friends call something faggy, I kick their ass. We should not leave it alone because that kind of offence in REAL life does have REAL consequences. I’m sure we’ve all heard about the tragic recent suicide of Jamey . This has happened countless times before and, sadly, will not go away overnight.

There needs to be people, like Sean Avery, who are in this masculine sphere who come out against homophobia. For anyone who follows rugby, Ben Cohen does the same thing. He started the Stand Up campaign to fight gay bullying.

These straight men, who play in a hypermasculine sphere, are great examples of how perceptions and feelings are slowly changing. And if what I’ve read is true, the newer generations are far more pro-gay than previous. So who knows, maybe in 20 years calling someone a faggot will be a thing of history.

Look at Wayne Simmonds himself. A black man playing hockey. Years ago it would have been unthinkable. The Leafs have (at least in some capacity, for now) a Muslim player in Nazem Kadri. Old thinking is changing. Progress is being made. But it’s a slow process. Opinions won’t change at the drop of a puck. The NHL needs to use this as an opportunity to demonstrate that the old way of business is simply not right. Make examples of people from this season on. Have a PR blitz. Let speakers come in and let players know how hurtful “faggot” can be. And how fatal.

Show all hockey players that just because it’s accepted, it doesn’t mean it can go on ad infinitum.

Remind them that they are role models.

Remind them that there are both gay and straight boys and girls who take what they do and say as gospel.

Make hockey the example to the rest of sports, and the world.

Because, as we all know, “the good old hockey game is the best game you can name, and the best game you can name is the good old hockey game.” ”

We hope you follow Andrew on twitter @manbearpiglpu

Here we go again. Another pro athlete was caught flinging a homophobic brick during a game.  Outrage followed by lame denials or scripted apologies.  Everyone distracted for ten minutes, until the next Miller Lite commercial.  Gay hockey blog weighs in; nobody cares.

I’m no lip-reader, but some things you just know.  And I know that Wayne Simmonds called Sean Avery a “fucking faggot” yesterday, followed up by the terser “Hey Fuck!”  Something I don’t know, but suspect strongly: not a single player or ref hasn’t heard the same before.  Lots.

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Irony Police, Line 1!  Simmonds, a black player (and no, the term is not African American as Simmonds is a Canadian national) for the Flyers is caught taunting another player just a week after he was taunted by a spectator chucking a banana peel on the ice during a shoot-out.  Avery, a straight man who is vocal in his support of gays and lesbians but otherwise a taunter of the first degree, is taunted with the one word that probably hurts him least, but some of his fans the most.  And all this on the same day it’s revealed the NFL has included in its players agreement a first-ever (for the NFL) non-discrimination clause including sexual orientation.  Umm…you can hang up the phone now.

We’re unclear what the NHL’s position on this is, or what actions may follow.  Simmonds’ blather came directly next to referee Tony Sericolo – if anyone could not only corroborate but also provide context, it’s the zebra standing right there.  We all know NHL safety czar Brendan Shanahan has been on a tear lately, lowering the boom on players who make lousy hits: is there anyone in the NHL who monitors player behavior?

And should there be?  As we’ve written before, we’re no fans of the ‘faggot’ word – it’s deeply cutting for some people – but we’re even less of a fan for banning words outright, lest they pollute our oh-so civil dialogues.  (Notice nobody – nobody – gives two shits for the other ‘f’-bomb employed.)  Is faggot – or just fag – the worst thing you can call someone – or more accurately, the most offensive term for the GLBT community?  Depends.  Queer, homo, sissy, Nellie, Buttercup, tranny, pansy, fruitcake…I’ll spare you the rest, mostly because you’ve heard them all before.  Each of these and many, many other words could be equally as hurtful to another individual as the f-bomb, depending on their experience.

Yes, some words are worse than others; but making one single word “bad” misses the entire point.  It’s less the word, but so much more about how it’s flung at who and for what effect.  Was Wayne Simmonds literally accusing Sean Avery of enjoying sex with other men?  Really not likely.  Was he just grabbing the easiest, nearest word from his experience that lands like a rock to the face?  Probably.

The problem isn’t a word, but the attitude.  And attitudes can change – just five minutes listening to Willie O’Ree not only opens your eyes about what professional players thought was OK on the ice 50 years ago, but about how much attitudes have changed – in the rink and outside.  The same is happening with sexual orientation – but clearly the past week shows there’s room for much improvement on both fronts.

Casual racism was more or less accepted then – now it’s not.  Casual homophobia is still more or less accepted now – but soon, I hope, it won’t be.  At least if good people continue to stand up and say “this must change.”

So now back to your Miller Lite commercial.  “Man up” says the gravel-voiced announcer, as a self-loathing ad-man’s idea of what friends look like when ridiculing one of their pack for being girly.  “I’m gonna have to take away your man card,” says one.  Uh-huh.

I’d like to see you try that with me, ‘faggot.’

Westboro Baptist Church “pastor,” provocateur and noted miscreant, Fred Phelps, is at it again.  Taking some time off from his favorite outdoor sport of spreading his blasphemy at military funerals, he’s now chasing the headlines and is trying to inject his noxious views into the AveryReynoldsGoddard affair.  As we stated in January, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?  Have you left no sense of decency?”

Fred Phelps: Pittsburgh Penguins fan

We were honoring the official 30 day mourning period that was called for by President Obama following the Caps’ implosion in Tampa Bay last Sunday evening.  We flew our Caps flag at half-staff, covered the mirrors inside the home, wore black arm bands and were making our ways through Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief – we were stuck at stage 6: fist-shaking rage and bitter, seething resentment. But we were making progress.

We take the mourning period seriously and that meant no blogging. We did make exceptions for the Kentucky Derby but that’s like saying we’re not going to observe Purim. Then along came Sean Avery. 

We spent a couple days trying to get some thoughts together on his announcement supporting the same-sex marriage initiative in New York State, but there was little that we could add to the initial round of positive press he’s already received.

We struggled to articulate a contrarian view if only for the simple reason that we hate him – he’s a dick, and we let it pass.

Even casual readers know that Mr. Avery is no stranger to these pages. Despite his previous pro-gay pronouncements, we still took our shots at him, granted, some of them cheap.  He was an easy target and we made sport of his restaurants, his fashion (non)sense, the models he’s banged and of course his antics on the ice.  But the more we ruminated over his latest news, the more defanged we felt.

It’s not easy for us to say this, but attaboy Sean. We’ll check our parochial tribal loyalty to the hometown team at the door, and give credit where credit is due.

Although this was an easy step for Avery to make; a no-sweat lay up and a natural progression for him considering his past supportive statements, Fashion Avenue buddies and of course, the two cities that he’s made his home in, Sodom and Gomorrah. Still, role models on issues like this can come in all shapes and sizes and there’s no rule that says insufferable pricks like Avery can’t have a positive impact.

But the Avery news alone wasn’t reason enough for us to head back to the keyboard. Then along came Uptown Hockey. Over the course of a few hours yesterday afternoon, they drilled a puck into a social-political hornets nest and caused quite a stir on the Internets and twitters.  They later tried to calm the swarm with an obtuse clarification then another reclarification. To review:

Very sad to read Sean Avery’s misguided support of same-gender “marriage”. Legal or not, it will always be wrong.

To clarify. This is not hatred or bigotry towards gays. It is not intolerance in any way shape or form. I believe we are all equal…

But I believe in the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman. This is my personal viewpoint. I Do [sic] not hate anyone.

Todd Reynolds

The tweets belonged to Uptown VP, Todd Reynolds (son of company founder, Don Reynolds), and we’ll take him at his word that he doesn’t hate anyone.

We’ll also give Reynolds and Uptown wide latitude to tweet anything they please, and have whatever views they wish – we’re First Amendment fundementalists, even if the Canadians aren’t.  The Reynolds may have hinted at their social conservatism all along – their website stating they represent players and their families ‘the right way.’ Right way or wrong way, the Reynolds are probably stinging a bit from those online hornets.

We could take some cheap shots at Uptown and question how wading into such choppy political waters serves their clients, but we won’t.  We could also point out that a certain element of their corporate logo bears a striking similarity to that of a gay fanboy hockey blog, but we won’t.

But it was yesterday’s brief burst of vitriol aimed at them that speaks every bit as clearly as Avery’s statements – the rank and file of this sport, player and fan alike, could be far more progressive and forward thinking than most had previously thought. Uptown learned that the hard way.  The Reynolds have since gone on record re-reclarifying with language that smacks of ‘hate the sin, love the sinner,’ and we’ll leave it at that, agreeing to disagree, despite what we consider to be their archaic and backwards views.

If we can give Sean Avery a pass for his past obnoxious behavior, we can do the same with Don and Todd Reynolds. Sean has earned it however, but we seriously doubt we’ll see the Reynolds marching in the Toronto gay pride parade, or making any serious or significant amends for that matter, just more re-reclarifications perhaps. Whatevs, haters (or non-haters) gonna hate, but we won’t. And for that matter, we’re not even all that inclined to sign the Uptown spanking petition that’s going around.

Go Bobcats!

While Uptown’s landing page proclaims “Commitment. Dedication. Integrity,” we’re reminded of two stand-up guys in the sports business – high fives to our new pal Hudson Taylor of Athlete Ally and an old pal, Peter Lasagna, lacrosse coach at Bates College in Maine. 

We’ve known Peter since junior high school and later went through thick and thin with him on the gridiron, and like a true Baron Brother, he stepped up big and got his athletic director and the entire college on board to host Hudson this week for a discussion on “Respect for all Individuals.”  Later on Thursday, Bates will be the first university to organize a campus-wide signing of the Ally pledge:

I pledge to lead my athletic community to respect and welcome all persons, regardless of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Beginning right now, I will do my part to promote the best of athletics by making all players feel respected on and off the field.

Don and Todd – you guys can sign the pledge too. It’s got nothing to do with marriage, just commitment, dedication and integrity. And Sean, you can be the first NHL player to sign on.  We’ll drop you a line later this week to discuss.  Now that we’re pals, of course.

When gay life collides with the mainstream sports world, it seems to happen in clusters. Two weeks ago we saw a peculiar convergence, and last week, yet another.

We’re already bored with Kobe Bryant’s latest faux pas.  Moments after the news broke about him muttering “fucking faggot” to a zebra, we knew exactly what the ensuing hours and days would feature: damage control kicking into high gear by the Lakers’ PR team, NBA brass mouthing additional nonsense, and the Repeat Offender himself, issuing a (non) apology and then embarking on a mea culpa, stations of the cross tour, one that hit all the right destinations of Gay, Inc., (HRC – Human Rights Campaign) and GLAAD – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).

These two groups must’ve been on the Lakers’ front office speed-dial, because in no time at all, calls were being made and joint statements released.  F Kobe and the remorse he rode in on. He really matter doesn’t matter, and this little brush fire he ignited has alreay flickered out. Hockey matters, not Kobe’s silly little sport.

The far more important news of diversity and tolerance in sports, whether on court, ice or turf, often happens in out-of-the-way places such as Hershey, Pennsylvania, and again to their credit, GLAAD had a piece of that action too.

Gay guys: This is another type of Bear...

Making some major, minor league hockey news (stick tap to Emily of Japer’s Rink), was Abigail Habbert and her partner, both fans and season ticket holders of the Hershey Bears, the Caps kick-ass AHL squad. Starting in January, some fucktwit fans were hurling anti-gay slurs around the stands.  Abigail stepped up and lodged a complaint with Bears management. Despite the team’s security head confronting the alleged vulgarians, the taunting continued.

Then some forward progress:

Abigail reached out to GLAAD, and this week it was discovered that the team had actually been speaking with the wrong fans.  The head of stadium security told us they’ve found the actual parties responsible for night after night of homophobic slurs being shouted.

Hershey Entertainment Complex Security Director Jason White told us his crew will soon be working on an announcement that will play during games, warning fans that discriminatory conduct or language will not be tolerated.

Progress indeed and attagirl Abigail for following through.  We guess Gay Inc., can serve a role in situations like Kobe the Klown or the Bears Boors, but we’ll suggest other strategies that may end up having more teeth.

Brian Burke

Of course whenever a household name like Bryant drops an F Bomb, the righteous indignation squads will suit up for battle and that’s probably a good thing.  Even better perhaps is the spade work done by heroes in the straight community who work tirelessly to build bridges and educate the teams and wider public.

Patrick Burke

Seen in these pages before has been the work of the Fabulous Burke Boys, Leaf’s GM Brian and his son Patrick of the Flyers, who both carry the torch of their Brendan.  On behalf of better understanding and true inclusion and acceptance, Brian and Patrick have rekindled a light that was extinguished much too early.

Coach Hudson Taylor

Another bright star in this effort is Hudson Taylor, All-American wrestler and coach of the Columbia University team (Go Lions!). Hudson started Athlete Ally last year, “as a resource to encourage athletes, coaches, parents, fans and other members of the sports community to respect all individuals involved in sports, regardless of perceived or actual sexual-orientation or gender identity or expression.”  In just a few short months, AA has already made considerable inroads with school athletic departments (including one that a dear friend and old football teammate is a Lax coach at – Go Bobcats!).

There’s one other straight ally we’ll mention, even though we often find it difficult to spit out his name – Sean Avery.  But after yesterday’s narrow, last-minutes loss to his loathsome Rangers, compounded by his hooliganism and the.worst.zebras.ever. (unindicted co-conspirators), we’ll leave it at that. We look forward to Wednesday, Sean.

Our other suggestion for fans that find themselves in the same place as Abigail and her gal pal – whip out the camera and document the inappropriate behavior – then ship us the file.  We’ll make the offenders famous, infamous, and quite possibly instant Internet pariahs, too. (If it’s not streamed online, it never happened).

We won’t ever discount the work of organizations like HRC and GLAAD, but to us however, nothing guarantees inaction and perpetuating the status queer quo quite like the public relations drag show that is a carefully crafted and nuanced press release. And someone needs to explain to us – is the word ‘faggot’ so radioactive that neither of these organizations can even spell it out in their press releases?  “…f***ing f***ot,” was all we saw.

We’ve been known to toss the word around once or twice, but maybe because we can, being fags ourselves gives us the right to use it, no?  Someone who dares embrace the word fag is our new pal Ricky of TheSportsFag dot com. That URL has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it?  Ricky does some quality work and last week offered us some space for a guest post.  We told the short story of this site so far, still in its infancy, yet playing in the increasingly busy intersection of sexuality and sport.  We wanted to share what we’ve found perhaps to be most gratifying from our four short months – a nascent readership that largely hails from outside of the gay community:

…we went on the hunt for a readership, one that might get the concept and appreciate an unorthodox take on the sport. Lo and behold we found it and it wasn’t at all what we’d expected. The gay crowd didn’t take to us nearly as fast as the straight hockey community did… We’ve been embraced and welcomed by the mainstream sports media, fellow Caps hockey bloggers and fans of many stripes.

Hockey has proven to be the great equalizer. You won’t see us on Sports Center or in the nation’s editorial pages leading the charge for gay diversity in sports, that isn’t our mission. We’re here to document the convergence of gay life and one of the most heterosexual outposts in the solar system, NHL hockey.  And next season?  We’d love to see sharks.puckpuddys.com; bruins.puckbuddys.com or even God forbid, rangers.puckbuddys.com.

Granted, our readership is relatively small, but from those few numbers that put up with these occasional shenanigans, we’ve already made some new great friends.

Hockey – Is there anything it can’t do?

If the League would schedule more than a measly 82 games, we wouldn’t have to go here…

It’s Fashion Week in New York and you know what that means.  The Rangers have a conveniently scheduled home stand, so that their resident fashion plate Winger can stalk the catwalks.

Little do most hockey fans realize, their sport has been intertwined with the world of fashion long before Sean “crushed velvet underwear” Avery hit the scene.

The major design houses of Paris, Milan and 7th Avenue are littered with former players.

Forgotten over the years was Karl Lagerfeld’s standout performance with the German National team at the 1936 Winter Games in Garmisch.

More recently, Project Runway host Michael Kors, had a very long and successful career in the ECHL, AHL and GHL, where he was know as “Slutty Slutty Pucky.”

Despite Avery’s recent supportive comments about welcoming gay players into the sport, which he is to be commended for, we’ll still feel like cross-checking and boarding him a few more times.

Avery is as much associated with fashion as he is with being a dick on the ice.  He spent his 2008 off-season interning at Vogue magazine, and later parlayed that industry seasoning and experience into a position as “muse” by design house Commonwealth Industries. And managing to be bigger dicks to Sean than we are, the New York Times had an absolute field day with that Fashion Avenue hire:

“Sean Avery, the hockey player turned fashionista, thinks skinny lapels are out. This he said while standing in front of a rack of suits and shirts with skinny lapels.

A month into his latest job as muse to the designers of the peachy new men’s label Commonwealth Utilities, Mr. Avery’s fashion edicts, it seems, are not yet absolute.  But he’s trying.

The designers, Anthony Keegan and Richard Christiansen, hired Mr. Avery to bring a jolt of excitement to their brand, which had a memorable start last season at a presentation where models stripped down to their underwear and changed into several outfits right in front of the audience.”

We’ll just leave it right there at stripping.   Sean better stick with his day/night job because we’re not sure about the long term viability of Commonwealth.  First off, it’s hard to believe that the style featured at the right didn’t catch on, especially among hockey fans.

(Commonwealth: Heroin Chic called and they want their good name and dignity back from your Spring 2009 collection).

While the house did release a Fall/Winter 2010 collection, they haven’t posted anything to their blog since June 2010.  And as they say in the fashion biz, publish or perish!

But enough about Sean Avery’s gay pals pecs sideline.  Let’s wade further back into the rich history of John Henric UK clothes, to the high water mark of bad fashion, the late 1970’s, and another NY Ranger, this time Ron Duguay.

Beyond posing for this Farrah Fawcett – style wall poster for gay boys, Duguay and some of his Rangers teammates -Phil Esposito, Dave Maloney, and Anders Hedberg, were tricked into filming a Sasson Jeans TV spot.  View at your own Dazed and Confused peril.

Fast forward 30 years and little has changed.  Duguay is hosting Sirius XM Radio’s Ice Breakers and booked Avery as his guest not that long ago.  What hockey topics did they explore? Hard to tell from this clip but banging fashion models was definitely covered.

The 70’s also featured another hockey player doing a fashion spread in the glossy mags, in this case it was former NY Islander D-man and Captain Dennis Potvin.

Not a shy guy at all, he posed in some Jockeys tightie bluies along side other top jocks such as Jim Palmer, Pete Rose, and Steve Carlton.

Maybe there’s a lesson here – if you want four Stanley Cups and a spot in the HoF, a little chest hair couldn’t hurt.

In other fashion news, Ryan Kesler, right, of the Vancouver Canucks has his own line of casual wear.

There wasn’t much we saw that interested us on Ryan’s site, save for this tasteful ensemble he’s sporting here.

A world away, Croatian hockey player Luka Novosel, takes fashion one step further.

Lucious Luka is a freind of the activists too, and he believes that less is more and that fur is murder, as he demonstates on the left.

Luka, we’re still not convinced.  Convince us some MOAR.   And by MOAR of course, we mean less.

And taking hockey fashion to its absolute minimum, we can’t tell if these boys are actual players, but the HIV awareness public service they’re a part of, is what we would consider to be a very successful ad campaign.

Lastly, any hockey fan worth his sweat, will remember this runway scene from Slapshot, not to mention its blue streak of homophobic profanity.  We love this movie.