Well, This is Going to be Interesting

Aspiring sportswriter Britton over at Kansas State University writes about Shalee Lehning, pre-arrival to Atlanta.

A quote:

However, it was more than optimism. With the final games of her career suddenly in question, Shalee turned to her strong faith upon hearing the news of her condition (mononucleosis).

"What she said to me that morning was 'It's in God's hands, it's whatever he chooses,'" Jane said. "I still remember her saying that."

Shalee knew she had to assure her mother about the outlook of her senior season. To console her, Shalee sent Jane multiple text messages quoting Scripture, including Jeremiah 9:11 and Proverbs 3:5-6.

These passages helped assure Shalee of her strength, and put the condition in the hands of her faith.


The role that religion plays in sports is a little bit different in the WNBA than it is in any other sport. In baseball, basketball, and football it's almost de rigeur for players to lean on their faith for inspiration/motivation, and to give public thanks to the Great Pitcher/Rebounder/3rd-and-Long-Specialist in the Sky. Most of the players come from backgrounds or cities where their faith is loud and showy. However, the worst flack that a player (or team) might get is that they are all bunch of "God-squadders" or "Jesus freaks". (As Tommy Lasorda said, "If it was God that helped you hit that home run, what was he doing when you struck out?") There will be teasing and jokes, but no true locker room conflict.

My understanding, however, is that the big schism in the WNBA is not homosexuals vs. straights. Most young straight women born after 1980 don't really care whether someone is gay or not. My understanding is that the schism in the WNBA is "out homosexual vs. out Christian". The male sports don't have that problem because the culture of macho is so ingrained that to this day, no male athlete from a major sport has ever come out of the closet during his playing days. (That closet must be pretty damned full right now.) In the MLB, NFL and NBA the tacit assumption is that all players are straight - a convenient fiction, certainly.

There is always the danger that a clash could result. A lot of WNBA players aren't publicly out, but they are out of the closet in pretty much every other way. I assume that most GMs simply pray that each side of the locker room can avoid deliberate provocations and everyone will get along - that the out homosexuals won't try to spark a Dykes on Bykes Parade in the locker room and that the out Christians won't try to prosletyze their teammates or jump on a soapbox screaming about The Lord's Fiery Judgment (TM). Even so, GMs are probably wary about out Christians - with a large percentage of WNBA fans being lesbians, and with many lesbians having been at the end of a "you're going to Hell" tirade (sometimes launched by their own families) it just takes a little bit of a spark to fire up the sensitive in a bad way.

But hey, Katie Feenstra got along with everyone as far as I can tell. I don't think Shalee Lehning will have a problem, either, if she makes the team. Thanking Jesus for getting over that knee surgery is one thing; quoting Leviticus is another.

Sheryl Swoopes and Coming Out

Outsports writes a review of a new book by public relations expert Howard Bragman called "Where's My Fifteen Minutes?" Bragman has handled the "coming out" (of the closet) parties of more than one celebrity, including Sheryl Swoopes:

The gay community itself doesn’t always make it easy for those who come out. Sheryl Swoopes, the great WNBA star, was the first pro athlete to come out at the peak of her career since Olympic diving medalist Greg Louganis. When I met Sheryl, she was quite upset because she was facing enormous disapproval from the power brokers in the lesbian community. Sheryl wasn’t buying the party line, and she was telling the world that her decision to become a lesbian was a choice.

This book might be worth a read, if you're a public relations person.