Nets sign Jason Collins

[joeybee12]

Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete in North America's four major professional sports Sunday, signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets.

Collins checked in with 10:28 to go in the second quarter and received a round of applause from the Staples Center crowd.

"Sometimes in life something happens and there's an opportunity," he said shortly before taking on the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night. "I'm very thankful for this opportunity. That's why I work so hard, why I train the way I do so that when I do have an opportunity physically I'm not worried about my conditioning or cardio or anything along those lines."

"The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision," Nets general manager Billy King said in a statement. "We needed to increase our depth inside, and with his experience and size, we felt he was the right choice for a 10-day contract."

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/10506550/jason-collins-sign-brooklyn-nets

BTW, 10 days is standard when signing someone new (except in the draft) to protect the team in case the player has some sort of injuries...hopefully everything works out and the contract is renewed/

[Fearless]

1. The gears of change grind along...

[sheshe2]

2. I posted about this article last year...I'm from Massachusetts~

As a senior at Stanford, Collins was a college roommate for about six months with then-sophomore Joe Kennedy III, who now represents Massachusetts in Congress. In his account, Collins writes that he realized he needed to go public when the Democratic congressman walked in Boston's gay pride parade last year -- and Collins decided he couldn't join him.

"I didn't doubt for a second, knowing he was gay, that he would be the one to do it," Kennedy told the AP on Monday. "I've never known him to look for publicity, or to look for the spotlight, but given that no one else would raise their hand, I knew he would do it."

Added Kennedy, "I'm so proud of him. And I'm so proud to call him a friend."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jason-collins-to-march-in-boston-gay-pride-parade/

[Fearless]

3. I remember seeing that!

(Also from MA here.)

It was wonderful!

Also there's this...

And this...

http://bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox_mlb/boston_red_sox/2014/02/david_ortiz_is_ok_with_gay

[sheshe2]

4. You are from MA!

Well hello Fearless!

I loved the vid and the link.

Gotta love Ortiz. His mom raised him well. My parents did the same. There was never any question. We are all the same.

[Fearless]

5. +1