Saturday, July 9, 2011

White Sox's Beckham Apologizes For Calling Chris Getz Gay

Here we go again. Another athlete says something politically incorrect and is making an apology for it. This time it's the Chicago White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham. This comes after the Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson gave a caller on a radio show a homophobic blast.

Beckham is good friends with former teammate and Kansas City Royals second baseman Chris Getz. During a game between the White Sox and Royals, Beckham scrawled a message in the dirt saying "Getz Is Gay!" GB. It wasn't picked up by cameras, but it was picked up by some of the fans. All in all it was harmless fun, but in the big scheme of things it's not funny. That point got across to Beckham and he knows that he should've known better.

“Wow,’’ said Beckham again, looking as if he had seen a thousand ghosts and Bob Gibson on the mound. “Chris is one of my best friends. It was a joke. I didn’t know anybody could see. I didn’t mean anything, you know?’’


“I just want you to know that that’s not me,’’ he said. “I don’t use slurs. I have a lot of gay friends. I didn’t mean it as anything ­— you know, like gay as in . . . happy! Or, you know, an alliteration — ‘Getz is gay.’ ’’


“It’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like that with Chris,’’ he said. “And I didn’t even see his reaction. I asked him afterward if he was going to write anything back, and he said no. It was wrong. It was stupid. If I offended anyone, I apologize. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.’’


Beckham seems pretty distraught about the incident and probably wishes he could turn back the clock. The worse thing in his apology was saying he has gay friends. Usually that means he doesn't care for gays. Kind of like when someone says something racist and then says I have lots of (insert race here) friends. I do buy his apology and believes he is truly sorry for it. Next time send him a note like in elementary school.

Joey Porter's Dogs On The Loose Again

Four dogs owned by NFL star Joey Porter got loose early July 2 from his northwest Bakersfield residence and killed a neighbor's dog.


Porter, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals, was cited for not having his dogs on a leash. This isn't the first time Porter's dogs, which appear to be half mastiff, half pit bull,  have been in the news for violent behavior.
In 2006, two of Porter;s dogs escaped and killed a miniature horse at a nearby farm.

Animal control spokeswoman Kim Rodriguez wasn't sure how the dogs got out of their kennel. She also doesn't know what arrangement Porter made with his neighbor. Porter did apologize and was upset about what happened.

Nothing says more than I'm sorry. Porter should receive a heavy fine and based on his dog's past, should be owning a less violent breed. I'm not trying to say he's a bad dog owner, but this is the second time his dogs have escaped and inflicted harm on other animals. Maybe they just snapped or he's raising them to be prone to violent behavior.