he said what...

as somebody who keeps close tabs on the sporting world, i have been bombarded by a story this evening, the cause and effect of which spans much wider than the esoteric sporting niche. to summarize, phil jackson, the coach of the l.a. lakers referred to his team's game a few nights ago as a "brokeback mountain" game due to the large amount of penetrating and kicking out. phil has subsequently been raked across the coals (burning brightly with the flame of p.c.-ness) by the seven or eight columnists and other commentators who have broached the subject of the comments on a couple of espn shows.
it's quite true that i've stood firmly on the right side of the politically correct line that's been drawn through our society, but it's difficult for me to find in jackson's comments anything that defames the homosexual community; he could have easily substituted "porno" for "brokeback mountain" or for that matter, any other term that insinuates sexual activity. so far as i can see, he did nothing but identify the film as one that includes a few sexually charged scenes. i was unaware it was socially impossible to bring up the idea of homosexuality without some sort of slander intrinsically linked.
i can't determine which is more upsetting to me...the idea that somebody can be nationally lambasted for trying to bring a little color to the normally mundane post game interview process or the thought that all of the talking heads feel compelled to take such an assertive stance as to how wrong and tragic his comments were. jackson has since come out with a less than half-hearted public statement (which aired before the lakers game last night) during which he apologized to gays, texans and horses for any possible offense taken. as far as this blogger is concerned, the blatantly sarcastic tone of the apology is a proper response to all the issue taken.
for referential purposes, i am not as homophobic as i probably once was...i strongly feel that if a man wants to spend his life with another man he should be able to do so without catching any grief from me. it is still difficult for me to accept the idea of gay marriages as to me it represents the first step down a slippery slope of societal perversion, which is to say that i feel it is unnatural. further explanation will lead this posting down a long and winding road that for now i'm not quite up to sojourning. my how quickly benign blogs can transform into an entirely different monster. best wishes to all...