to move up and down
Bruce Arthur: Jason Collins coming out a new beginning for sports
Nobody expected Jason Collins. Everybody knew that the day was coming, that one of the four major North American sports would see an openly gay player come out before his career was over, and consciously or subconsciously, everybody had an idea of what that person might be like. A star, probably. Good-looking. Articulate. A hero.
But Jason Collins? Thirty-four years old, a journeyman centre, a guy who spent a career being invisible, or being mistaken for his twin brother Jarron? He faced off with Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Finals, the hardest job there was; he gave Chris Bosh fits in a first-round series once, too. But he was faceless a player as you can find, setting screens, being in position, fouling when necessary. Smart guy, admired for his toughness, a favourite of his teammates. But he was an extra in the play.
Monday, with the help of Sports Illustrated‘s Franz Lidz, Collins wrote an honest, charming story about himself, and who he really was. He’s the first openly gay professional athlete in the four major sports in North America.
Week in Review
Political cartoonist Gary Clement takes a look at the week gone by
Related:
A full archive of Gary Clement’s comics
Political cartoonist Gary Clement on the spirit of the Boston Marathon
Gary Clement’s Week in Review for April 7-13, 2013
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner could have second political life in bid for New York Mayor
Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, who resigned over a sexting scandal in 2011, says he’s weighing a run for New York City mayor this year.
The Democrat told The New York Times Magazine in a story posted online Wednesday that “it’s now or maybe never for me” but acknowledged that it’s a long shot because some people “just don’t have room for a second narrative about me.”
Weiner said that his political committee spent more than $100,000 on polling and research by Obama’s longtime pollster, David Binder, but said he doesn’t know when he’ll decide on entering the race.
“It won’t be something as pedestrian as `Do I think I’ll win?’” he said. “It will be something more like `Does it feel like I should be involved in this debate? Someone should be out there saying A, B or C.’”
North Korea missile launch probability ‘considerably high’ as April 15 milestone nears
The prospect of a North Korean missile launch is “considerably high,” South Korea’s foreign minister told lawmakers Wednesday as Pyongyang calmly prepared to mark the April 15 birthday of its founder, historically a time when it seeks to draw the world’s attention with dramatic displays of military power.
The missile is expected to be a medium-range missile with a range of 3,500 kilometers capable of flying over Japan, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told lawmakers in Seoul. Earlier, a Defense Ministry official said preparations appeared to be complete, and that the launch could take place at any time.
North Korea tells embassies in Pyongyang to plan for evacuation
North Korea has asked embassies in Pyongyang that might wish to get staff out if there is a war to submit plans to it by April 10, Britain said on Friday, as it upped the pressure as part of a war of words that has set the Korean peninsula on edge.
Initial reports by Russia’s Foreign Ministry and China’s Xinhua news agency suggested that North Korea had suggested that embassies should consider closing because of the risk of conflict.
The request came amid a military buildup by the United States in South Korea following the North’s warnings that war was inevitable due to U.N. sanctions imposed for a nuclear test and what it terms “hostile” U.S. troop drills with South Korea.
