The Sports Info Business

Are you suffering from information overload?  If you are a hard core sports fan or an employee in the sports management industry, chances are you are extremely focused on the news that impacts your world.  Beyond wins and losses you probably focus on team-related news including trades, sponsorship news, promotions and of course news stories.

So you may have missed yesterday’s effort by The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who asked asked Americans to wear purple on Oct. 20 to show their efforts to support the end of anti-gay bullying.  I’ll be honest.  I heard something about it but didn’t really know too much until I saw a few Facebook postings related to it.

From CBS News in traditional media to Mashable online, it seems that a majority of media have being weighing in on the issue since several homosexual teens recently committed suicide after being bullied by peers.

From the sports side of media however, I noticed little was written and said about this news.  It is something that is just not talked about.  Not much has changed over the years.

Not much was said until I ran across one press release that ran on Business Wire.  The news release promotes a special that focuses on one athlete dealing with conflict in his workplace.  That workplace happened to be the Major League Baseball field.

Here is what the press release said in part.

Out. The Glenn Burke Story tells the dramatic tale of Burke’s Major League career as an outfielder for the Dodgers and as a starter in Game One of the 1977 World Series, to being traded to the Oakland Athletics the following season, and then walking away from the game that he deeply loved in 1980. Many of Burke’s teammates were aware of his homosexuality during his playing career, as were members of management. And many of those teammates believe that his sexuality led to the premature derailment of his baseball career.

Several former players including Reggie Smith and former Dodger and current Phillies coach Davey Lopes were interviewed for the story.  I found these clips that Smith and Lopes spoke of  Glenn Burke.

I think we are a more tolerant society today than 10, 20 or even 30 years ago.  However, listening to new reports of teens killing themselves of being bullied is unacceptable.  I didn’t know Glenn and he was not part of the team when I joined their front office in 1994.

The timing and release of this documentary by the promoter was not an accident.  I have not seen it so I cannot comment on the quality of the film.

It is by all means, still a hot topic based on these recent media stories.

Respect and tolerance are two words we need to use more often when referring to all people.

Humans first, then we can worry about all of the other stuff.

Enough said.