My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 7

With all that's going on related to my cancer, things are kinda tough, including with this blog. But last night I finally got a picture of EVERY baseball cap I own! (For now. Some are quite old and have sweat stains so it may be time for them to go, and there's a Phillies cap or two I'd like to buy if they're available/the right price.)

And so I present the final batch of caps...followed by some cool throwback t-shirts I got recently...

OMG! A 76ers cap! And the 1997 Flyers Eastern Conference Championship. That was a fun ride. Until it wasn't. #chokingsituation

Baltimore Orioles giveaway from a game in 2002, some time when I gave money to Human Rights Campaign (something I'll never do again), and from the golden days of Outsports.

These tees are from Shibe Vintage Sports, and I love them! There are a few more I hope to get soon.

Except for the above, which also comes in red for the Vet's other main tenant, so far I've got some long-gone teams...

Note: this pic is from the Shibe website. My pic turned out a brown color(????) The Bell, from something called the World Football League, looked like a success story when they initially drew over 50,000 to JFK Stadium. Turns out they gave most of the tickets away. It killed the team. The WFL soon followed.

The Star were able to play at the Vet because USFL played their games in the spring. And they won a chapmionship! (See, Eagles, it IS possible!) Then this happened. The Stars were forced to move to Baltimore until the league was killed. #NeverTrump

The Blazers played here for one year before moving. They were from the WHA, the league that the NHL eventually took some teams from. Not the Blazers, of course. The NHL did get a team from Edmonton. Had a kid named Gretzky. Whatever happened to him?

Before Oakland, before Kansas City, they were the Philadelphia Athletics. And look at this list of championships won while they were here (before things went sour and they...you get the idea.)

World Series titles: 1910 1911 1913 1929 1930
AL Pennants: 1902 1905 1910 1911 1913 1914 1929 1930 1931

Phillies? Any comment?

The Firebirds were a minor league hockey team that played at the long-gone Civic Center (fun fact: the building's gone but Civic Center Boulevard keeps the name to this day!) I was at their final home game in 1979 before they moved to Syracuse. Someone outside handed out fliers asking fans to chant "Keep the Birds in Philly!" midway through the 2nd period. The result: dead silence. #ByeFelicia

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 6

Surprise! NOT about movies! NOT about disco! NOT even about cancer! It's more shirts and caps, in photos mostly taken months ago!

Let's start with the Phils, since they're in season -- and doing surprisingly well! Most of these I got from the clearance racks. First one is actually not a t-shirt.

Some from the recent glory days...

Two from 2008 -- one official, one not...

Daily News Sexy Singles: My 2008-2012 Comments

ex-Eagle Curtis Marsh
Sexy Single 2012

Before I get to 2015, I think I should summarize the last few years' posts on this subject. So I'm writing this first, and the second part will arrive later.

The first time I ever wrote about the Philadelphia Daily News' annual "Sexy Singles" feature was in 2008, their 6th year. It was for the Outsports.com blog. The tie-in was that one of their choices was a Philadelphia Eagle, Todd Herremans. He's no longer an Eagle, and he's also no longer single. But I got to expound on the feature itself, pointing out that the 30 selected singles (over 500 names were submitted by readers that year) included a proliferation of people in the fitness industry (personal trainers, gym managers) as well as six employees for local TV and radio stations -- a full 20 percent. As I wrote then, this was "undoubtedly providing lots of free promotion for the paper on their stations. (Or does it really mean that a full 20 percent of beautiful single people work for TV and radio?)" That made for a total of seven local celebrities out of 30, or 23.3 percent.

I did note that there was a gay man among the 30. I also noted: "On a 'favorite single' poll at Philly.com Herremans is currently in 7th place among the men. The gay guy is in last place with just 9 votes. Ouch."

The following year, I wrote on the Outsports blog that for the second consecutive year the list included an Eagle, Stewart Bradley. But I saved my criticism for this very blog, which was a little over a month old at the time. In 2009 there were 37 singles, and 10 were working for TV and radio stations, up seven percent from 2008. They also selected Davy Jones of the Monkees, who lived part-time on a horse farm far, far away from Philadelphia. I wrote: "The paper promotes it as a 'diverse group from all walks of life' and adds, 'Who knows? This could be the year you meet that special someone. And you'll have the Daily News to thank.' As if 99 percent of us would ever have a chance with these celebrities, pseudo-celebrities, pro athletes, models, etc." 12 of 37 celeb types, just a shade under one of three.

My 2010 post was titled "No Gays, No Eagles." The two pro athletes this year were lacrosse players (from the Philadelphia Wings, no longer in Philly). Still, of the 35 singles, 5 worked in local TV/radio and there was a "reality" TV competition show contestant. 8 of 35, just about 23 percent celeb. However, there were another 14 who were trying to become celebrities -- including shopping a TV pilot, graduating from broadcasting school and trying out for "The Amazing Race." And with no LGBT representation (at least openly -- often there's no specific mention of the type of mate a Sexy Single is looking for) for the second year in a row, I referred to the 9-vote polling result I mentioned above: "Maybe that scared them off. That, or I guess everyone in the local LGBT community is either in a relationship or not very pretty."

One Of These Things...

...is not like the other...

I can understand how Outsports is similar to me -- gay, sports -- and as for Jai Rodriguez, well, it's obvious, isn't it? We're both extremely attractive, youthful men. But the Wharton School? And it's "promoted." Or, in other words, an advertisement. I think Twitter needs this...

Eagles Getting What They Deserve

My tweet right after yesterday's latest Eagles debacle was quoted in the weekly NFL wrapup on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog. In case you missed it: "I'll keep saying this til someone listens: Eagles' woes due to bad karma for not addressing DeSean's anti-gay slur."

Obviously there's no scientific proof of this, but it's as good a reason as any. DeSean Jackson called somebody a "gay-ass faggot" on Sirius/XM radio during the summer, while the NFL lockout was still on, offered only a half-assed phony "apology" afterwards, and neither the league nor the Eagles took any action in response -- even after the lockout ended and teams were free to talk to their players again. (I hope you're not tired of reading my posts about it.) Sure, there are lots of problems, but there have been a few bad bounces as well, so why couldn't it be bad karma?

The much-hyped "Dream Team" is floundering. The only sure thing right now on offense is LeSean McCoy, and too often the Eagles don't get him the ball often enough. Michael Vick is struggling (and now has two broken ribs) and the offense is at times fine and other times pitiful. The defense is kind of a mess, especially in the fourth quarter of games. FIVE games lost after having the lead in the 4th quarter is shameful. Andy Reid is his usual arrogant-while-saying-nothing self (although he's somehow 6-for-7 in coach's challenges). And Jackson was suspended for the game yesterday for missing a meeting Saturday because he overslept.

There were reports that Jackson, unhappy with his lack of a contract extension, actually missed/was late for multiple meetings during the week and other players were also late. If that's true, then Reid has lost control of the team. Suspending Jackson might be seen as a good disciplinary reaction but I can't help but wonder what the Eagles would have done if their opponent yesterday had been, say, the New York Giants instead of the Arizona Cardinals. Would Jackson have been out for the game, or maybe just the first quarter?

The Eagles are now 3-6 and it would take a miracle for them to make the playoffs now. And, sad to say, I'm kind of happy about it. I was laughing at their follies a few times yesterday. I don't root for the Eagles to win or lose right now, but I can sure enjoy their troubles since they refused to address DeSean's comment during the summer. You might think that makes me a bad fan, but we'll have to disagree on that one. I'm just on hiatus until...well, I don't know. The media ignored the DeSean story except for a perfunctory report immediately after the story was broken and, even with his current T.O.-like behavior, shows no signs of mentioning it now. There's no pressure on the Eagles to do a thing. So I don't know when my stance will change.

Rant On "It Gets Better" (Plus The Phils' Video)

First, at long last here is the Phillies' "It Gets Better" message featuring Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Hunter Pence, John Mayberry, Jr. and Michael Stutes...



Regarding "It Gets Better," there's been a discussion of its merits on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog in response to a post about a story from Canada. A local paper is doing a series on area gay athletes, and they started with a teenage hockey player who isn't out of the closet and is fearful of people finding out he's gay. The comments have turned into a debate on whether or not the "It Gets Better" project is actually worthwhile.

I am sick of this debate.

Wait. Let me re-state this for emphasis:

I AM SICK OF THIS DEBATE!

If You Don't Know Sports...

Before I started this blog, I used to write a lot of blog posts for the gay sports website Outsports.com's Jock Talk Blog. I'm not sure my posts were all that popular with the site's readers because they more often focused on actual sports (with a particular slant towards Philly teams) rather than any gay angle. (To a great extent that's because Outsports co-founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler Jr. are on top of any such stories very quickly and a post from me would be redundant.) But now and then I found something more Outsports-centric to write about.

Not long after I first began to blog for Outsports, I wrote a post titled "Should some gays not talk sports?" To summarize: as part of a special NFL section in the Philadelphia Daily News, locally and/or nationally famous people with Philly ties were asked whom they thought was the best Eagles quarterback ever. While many named names -- Donovan McNabb, Ron Jaworski -- Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, replied that "My favorite QB will be the first QB to publicly come out…that person will become a hero/role model to many when it happens. Till then any QB that gets the Eagles to the Super Bowl is my favorite." I was mildly critical because I felt that not every question or topic needs a "gay" reply, and besides, there's a big difference between one's favorite quarterback and the best quarterback.

Now I have to be critical again (but this time it's not about Mark Segal).

Losing My Religion (DeSean Jackson Edition)

If you have some working knowledge of Philadelphia's pro sports teams and their fans, you're aware that there are certain teams that we Just. Don't. Like. And there are players on those teams that we Just. Don't. Like. So a comparison of recent events involving Philly players and those from the Do Not Like category is distressing.

In the last couple of months we've had the New York Rangers' Sean Avery speaking out and even lobbying state legislators to get the same-sex marriage bill passed in New York. He's spoken on gay issues in the past and continues to do so even after the marriage victory in New York. Avery is one of those obnoxious, edgy, nasty hockey players that everyone hates, unless he's on their team. And the fact that he plays for the Rangers, still a major rival of the Flyers even though they haven't been all that successful since their last Stanley Cup win in 1994, makes it worse. But in the world of pro sports, speaking out on LGBT equality is, while not as rare as it used to be, still rather controversial.

This week, our attention focuses on NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin, who played his entire career with the NFL's Evil Empire, the Dallas Cowboys. Obviously he was a talented player, but also unlikable, a loudmouth who got into trouble off the field (suspended after arrested on drug charges, both by the NFL during his playing career and by ESPN after he became a broadcaster). But he, too, has spoken out on LGBT issues recently, and now he's on the cover of Out magazine. In the accompanying story (written by Cyd Zeigler of Outsports), he speaks about his late brother, who was gay, and how he also supports full marriage equality and wants the NFL to be supportive when the day arrives that an active player comes out.

Two disliked players from hated rivals, now doing great stuff to help gay people. As you can imagine, I'm a little conflicted. I'm not comfortable with Sean Avery and Michael Irvin giving me reasons to actually, you know, like them.

But I'm also disappointed, because while these opponents are doing these things, what do I have, representing my teams, the teams I love and passionately root for?

DeSean Jackson. And silence.

The Eagles' wide receiver

espnW? How About espnG? Oh, Yeah...

When I was clicking on some Michael Vick links for the post I just wrote, I found an article at something called espnW. (They're also on Twitter.) What is it? The site says, "espnW is a destination for women who are passionate sports fans and athletes."

So I'm thinking, if ESPN is going to have separate sites tailored to specific demographics, where's espnG? Or espnLGBTQ? Or the really long acronym that includes every possible variation? How about a "destination for gays, lesbians, etc. who are passionate sports fans and athletes"?

And then I remembered: there already is such a destination. And as you can probably guess from the logo, they're 10 years old now. Congrats, Outsports.

Hating The Phils -- On TV, That Is

Way back in that magical year of 2008 I did a series of posts on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog in which I reviewed a game broadcast of every major league team (thanks to my subscription to the MLB Extra Innings package that year) as well as nationally televised games on ESPN, TBS and Fox. A summary of my grades for every broadcast can be found here. For the Phillies, I assigned a C-plus grade to the Comcast Sportsnet broadcast of a Phils-Nationals game. One key quote from my writeup: "It’s impossible to imagine a Phillies broadcast without Harry Kalas. It’s unfortunate that the Phillies haven’t built a better broadcast around him."

Sadly, the "impossible to imagine" became the norm in April 2009 when Harry Kalas died. Since then, Tom McCarthy has exclusively done TV play-by-play. Chris Wheeler (1st-3rd innings, 7th inning on) and Gary "Sarge" Matthews (4th-6th innings) handle the "analysis." And the broadcasts have, of course, suffered. McCarthy continues to talk and talk and talk, especially rambling during his innings with Sarge. Matthews still hasn't met a cliche he doesn't like. Wheeler, unpopular as ever, now is even getting on my nerves at times.

Earl's Not Stopping Phils Or Me

Remember those Phanatic Around Town statues I went around photographing? They've all been moved from the spots they stood at this summer, and they're going to be auctioned off to raise money for charity. But until that happens, all 20 statues are on display at Citizens Bank Park starting Friday. This is good because I'll be at the first game of this weekend's series against Milwaukee, and I can finally get a picture of the statue that was at the airport -- the only one I couldn't get, since it was behind the security lines and off limits to anyone without a plane ticket.

As I mentioned here, I got my ticket through a "Social Media" promotion and am supposed to get a "Life is Tweet" Phillies t-shirt. So I'll probably take a picture of that as well and tweeting during the game. If anyone's going to be there and wants to hang out, get in touch with me through email or Twitter. Don't worry about Hurricane Earl -- it's passing well enough offshore that any serious wind and rain will stay down by the coast. In a way, that's sad. One of the most amazing games I ever saw in person had a hurricane involved in the outcome. Here's my post about it on the Outsports Jock Talk Blog.

Meanwhile, the roller coaster ride continues. The same Phillies team that looked to be edging towards a fall when they were swept by Houston last week managed to win 6 of 7 on their road trip -- sweeping 3 from San Diego, winning 2 of 3 in Los Angeles and taking a wild 12-11 win at Colorado.

To All The Parks I've Loved Before...

Apologies to Willie and Julio for the title...

I thought I'd dig up something from the archives of the Outsports discussion board. A thread was started in 2002 about favorite major league ballparks. At the time, I had only been to six. I ranked them thusly: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Veterans Stadium (I made a note that the Vet ranked ahead of the others because of good memories as much as anything else), Qualcomm Stadium and Candlestick Park.

From 2003 through 2008 (during those happy years when I still had spending money) I managed to get to a lot more parks, and updated the list each time. So I thought I'd share my current rankings here on the blog. Ballparks listed in italics have been vacated by the teams that once called them home. Some have been torn down and replaced, others still stand.

Happy Birthdays!

There are two birthdays to celebrate today. First, let's wish a happy 31st birthday to Jai Rodriguez! During the first season of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," an episode aired in early 2004 in which the Fab Five took on the case of a stand-up comic with obsessive-compulsive disorder who wanted to propose to his girlfriend. At the end of the episode, as the Fab Five watched the video of the moment the man proposed, I was really smitten by Jai's reaction. I wrote the following on the Outsports Discussion Board thread for the show:

And the look of pure joy on Jai's face while watching Kevin struggle to put the ring on her finger (while the others were yelling "Put the damn ring on!!") was priceless. I am finding myself just melting for Jai. Is he the youngest of the Fab Five? He seems like the baby of the family. I just want to be his daddy and take care of him. :D

It's been six years since then, Jai, but the offer still stands. Although, financially, right now you'd have to be the one taking care of me. :o

As for the other birthday...

More on the "Mikey" Blog Hoax

There's an update at the Outsports Jock Talk Blog about the "Mikey" masquerade -- the blog by someone claiming to be a 17-year-old closeted high school hockey player but turned out to be a man in his 40s. (Here's the link to my previous post about this story.)

Jim Buzinski's article is about as thorough as it can be, considering that Outsports is essentially a two-man operation. There's no team of investigators, nor are there resources to devote to in-depth detective work. Be sure to read the article because my brief summary doesn't do it justice: "Mikey" is around 48 years old, lives in a suburb of Minneapolis, may be (or may have been) married and has profiles on two sex sites, including Manhunt. Even more worrisome, he seems to have created his "Mikey" persona in part based on actual high school players in the Minneapolis area and had pictures of at least one of these kids (and the kid's brother) on the blog server.

The whole thing finally unraveled because he fell for Jimmy, a 23-year-old Canadian, and the two developed an online relationship. It was Jimmy who caught "Mikey" in the lie.

The "Mikey" Blog: Reality vs. Internet "Reality"

You may be surprised to learn that this post isn't about TV shows such as "The Real World" or "Survivor" or, God help us, "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew." This is about reality as found, or not found, on the Internet.

Back in December, an item was posted on the Outsports.com Jock Talk Blog about a blog written by a closeted 17-year old guy who was a high school hockey player in the Minneapolis area. "Mikey" wrote about his life, being closeted to all except his younger brother and his best friend, and about hockey.

"Mikey" wrote his posts as if he were texting, often abbreviating and being very...casual...about punctuation, spelling, etc. For example: "ive pretty much known i was gay for awhile but tried to ignore it for a long time but its just hard to do it. i told [a friend] and my lil bro this summer and there the first to know bout me, i wish i could tell everyone but im chicken and scared that bein out would screw up chances to play hockey after hs. it toly sucks cause like everyday i lie to everyone i know and love and that just sucks bigtime."

Then there was his comment on Sidney Crosby when he wrote about his favorite hockey players: "someone asked about other guys, like sid the kid. hes amazing but a lil bit too whiny for me." Of course, when I read that I was hooked. ;-)

"Bones" actor on his bipolar disorder

There are many TV shows -- especially now that there are so many new programs on cable -- that I've never watched. With me, it's hit-or-miss as to whether I'll give a new show a chance. Something needs to hook me, and it's unpredictable as to what that something has to be. It may be a particular actor, although that's not a hard rule -- some actors in shows I loved moved on to other projects, and moved on without me. Or, the show features a gay character or storyline, although again, not always. Sometimes it's just a clever promo from the network. In the case of the Fox show Bones it was "Eric Millegan's NBA Trash Talk."

Bones debuted in September 2005, but at the time I wasn't hooked. Then, last fall, I stumbled upon some YouTube videos in which Eric Millegan talked about the NBA and his favorite team, the Portland Trail Blazers. I can't even remember how I found them, and I'm not really into the NBA, but I thought they were lots of fun. Each one starts with his vocal rendition of the old "NBA on NBC" theme (which was composed by John Tesh). Once I found out that Eric was openly gay (and was named “Hottest Up-and-Coming Openly Gay Actor of 2003” by Out magazine) I figured it was a perfect fit for the Outsports blog, so I wrote my piece. That eventually led to Eric's appearance on an Outsports podcast.

It also gave me my Bones hook. Eric was a regular on the series for the first three years and has made a couple of guest appearances since. He played Dr. Zack Addy, one of the team of forensic anthropologists working with an FBI special agent (played by Philly's own David Boreanaz). I watched some reruns of on TNT during a New Year's Day marathon, and then started watching the new episodes on Fox. Eventually I caught up on the entire series.

Recently, Eric posted two new YouTube videos -- not about the NBA, but about his bipolar disorder. He was first diagnosed about four years ago, but says he had suffered from the disorder for a time before that. He discusses how it affected him, times when he felt suicidal (although he never attempted to kill himself), and how supportive his family, friends, co-workers and bosses at Bones, etc. have been. He takes some medications to treat it and also sees a therapist and a psychiatrist, and says he has been doing very well for upwards of a year and a half.

Imagine how difficult it is -- not just for people with this condition but for their family and friends, who see their loved ones acting differently (my first thought was to say "acting weird" but...) struggling, in pain, and aren't sure how to help, or even what to say to them. Then there's the health-care system in this country. Imagine how many people aren't properly treated because their coverage is subpar, or because they don't have any coverage at all.

As a fan of Bones -- and of Eric's NBA Trash Talk, let's not forget -- I'm so glad that he's doing so well now. That's basically what I want for anyone -- actors, musicians, athletes, etc. -- who entertains me so much. They make me feel good through their work, so I want them to be happy and have a good life, whether their careers are enormously successful or they're just a one-hit wonder.

In the second video Eric said that he wanted to tell his story so that others who are bipolar can draw some inspiration from it. So watch the videos, pass the links on...actually, pass on the link to this blog, because I am not above shameless self-promotion...and spread the word.

Phils' Romero vs. idiot fan...oh, and a win!

I wrote about this and a couple of other drug-related issues for the Outsports blog, but I want to expound a little more on J.C. Romero.

Romero came back in early June from a 50-game suspension for his 2008 positive test for a performance-enhancer he says came from a supplement he bought over-the-counter. He’s suing both the supplement’s manufacturer of the and the two stores that sold it to him. After Thursday night’s game at Tampa Bay, a Rays fan was trying to get autographs from Phillies players. When some of them refused, the fan yelled at Romero a comment about steroids. He alleges that Romero told him to “shut the f— up,” grabbed him by the neck and pushed him. The fan called the police and has now hired a lawyer.

Three thoughts:

1) I don't know why grown men are trying to get autographs from athletes except to sell them, especially if it's a photo or a ball or some other collectible. It's ridiculous. Grow up. Leave autograph-seeking to the kids.

2) Romero has to be smart enough to know that jackasses like this guy are going to try and provoke him using the steroid issue, and he has to hold his temper.

3) If this happened in Philadelphia, with a Phillies fan and a visiting player, you just know where the national media morons would place the blame, and it wouldn't be with the player.

-----

And hey, the Phils won today! A 10-0 win at Toronto, with J.A. Happ pitching a complete game. Tomorrow they try again for two wins in a row.

Where do I begin?

Begin at the beginning, they say. Okay.

First, I was born, which goes without saying. But even in the hospital, the day I arrived, I knew I was different from the other kids. I couldn't figure out why, at first. Then, suddenly it came to me! I was a rabbit in a human world...no, wait. That was Bugs Bunny.


Watch What's Up Doc? in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

As for me, well, I am different from the other kids. I mean, do you know any other 47-year-old guys who have, among other things: never learned to drive a car; taken an early retirement (with a sharply reduced annuity) after 25-plus years with the federal government and haven't worked in the four years since; played softball in their local gay softball league for two years, quit, then went back 21 years later; made 19,867 posts in the last eight years on the Outsports.com discussion board, over 9,000 more than anyone else?

That's where the "Joe In Philly" comes from, by the way. I consider it my brand name at this point. That's also sort of part of the reason I've started this blog. Despite the large number of posts on that board there's a whole lot more that I want to say, but I feel I need an appropriate centralized venue. I had my own blog before but I wasn't really happy with it and didn't work very hard, and it eventually died of neglect. I'm now ready to try again, and this time I intend to really work to make it worthwhile. (And, perhaps, if things go well, maybe someday I'll be able to make some money from it. So when you start seeing ads, if you clicked on one every once in a while it might help. Plus, if you tell everyone you know to take a look at this blog, I'd really appreciate it. Also, I have a PayPal account under my e-mail address. I'm just saying.)

So, where do I begin? Stay tuned...