Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Yesterday on ESPN
Yesterday, I was part of ESPN's Outside the Lines segment on Brittney Griner, presumably because of this piece I wrote for the Huffington Post.
It's a weird thing to do an interview like that. The process is the same as when I talk to CNN or other national news organizations: I go to the WCCO studios down the block from my office at St. Thomas and sit in front of a camera. I don't get to see the others on the show or the host-- I'm speaking to the blank screen in front of me.
There is something wrong with such an unnatural setting for a discussion like this one, which was about the most human of topics. It is a hard subject to talk about, because there is so much nuance and risk of over-statement. I love Baylor, and I admire both Brittney Griner and Kim Mulkey. The piece was about Mulkey supposedly telling Griner not to talk about her sexuality. One subtlety to this is that really coaches should tell students not to talk about a lot of things via public media-- bad professors they have conflicts with, or a fight with a parent, or sex. It's part of coaching, really, to advise students how to deal with the media. (It's a different story, I think, with pro players).
That (coaches advising star players) is not the real issue at Baylor. The real issue is whether the University is ready to embrace a broad discussion about the role of gay men and lesbians at the school-- for example, if the bar on employment there makes sense.
Next... Star Trek?
It's a weird thing to do an interview like that. The process is the same as when I talk to CNN or other national news organizations: I go to the WCCO studios down the block from my office at St. Thomas and sit in front of a camera. I don't get to see the others on the show or the host-- I'm speaking to the blank screen in front of me.
There is something wrong with such an unnatural setting for a discussion like this one, which was about the most human of topics. It is a hard subject to talk about, because there is so much nuance and risk of over-statement. I love Baylor, and I admire both Brittney Griner and Kim Mulkey. The piece was about Mulkey supposedly telling Griner not to talk about her sexuality. One subtlety to this is that really coaches should tell students not to talk about a lot of things via public media-- bad professors they have conflicts with, or a fight with a parent, or sex. It's part of coaching, really, to advise students how to deal with the media. (It's a different story, I think, with pro players).
That (coaches advising star players) is not the real issue at Baylor. The real issue is whether the University is ready to embrace a broad discussion about the role of gay men and lesbians at the school-- for example, if the bar on employment there makes sense.
Next... Star Trek?
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Very good discussion yesterday and I loved when you talked about the student meeting in the cafeteria and the fact that these discussion are going to happen whether the administration is ready for them or not.
Lots of mixed emotions.
Fact: Baylor Nation adores Brittney Griner. That was true last year, last month, last week, and today.
I would be surprised and hurt to hear her say her experience at Baylor was not amazing and wonderful.
For the record, I can only vaguely remember a moment when I was not aware that Brittney was gay at Baylor. When told of her lifestyle explicitly the first time, I can only vaguely remember my non-reaction.
To the broader question of BU policy in re human sexuality: Baylor promotes "purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm." Baylor does not condone any deviation from that summum bonum.
If Brittney has engaged in activity that falls short of that high bar, she is not the first Baylor student to so transgress.
However, I continue to believe that Baylor's policy celebrating sexual restraint and the sacredness of marriage has played a very positive force in the life of students over the years. The policy on homosexuality is consistent with Baylor's overall policy on human sexuality and Baptist traditions.
I applaud Baylor as an oasis of old-fashioned values.
Fact: Baylor Nation adores Brittney Griner. That was true last year, last month, last week, and today.
I would be surprised and hurt to hear her say her experience at Baylor was not amazing and wonderful.
For the record, I can only vaguely remember a moment when I was not aware that Brittney was gay at Baylor. When told of her lifestyle explicitly the first time, I can only vaguely remember my non-reaction.
To the broader question of BU policy in re human sexuality: Baylor promotes "purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm." Baylor does not condone any deviation from that summum bonum.
If Brittney has engaged in activity that falls short of that high bar, she is not the first Baylor student to so transgress.
However, I continue to believe that Baylor's policy celebrating sexual restraint and the sacredness of marriage has played a very positive force in the life of students over the years. The policy on homosexuality is consistent with Baylor's overall policy on human sexuality and Baptist traditions.
I applaud Baylor as an oasis of old-fashioned values.
I'm with Waco Farmer. Lots of mixed emotions.
I feel especially bad for Mulkey, who went to bat for Griner repeatedly, gave her space to be herself, and now will be the object of scorn and criticism on the recruiting trails and throughout many quarters of women's basketball. Unfairly, in my view.
Only a couple of months ago, as Griner came off the Ferrell Center court for the last time, she gave Mulkey a warm, happy embrace and picked her up off the floor. Griner is young, still, and needs better advisers at this stage of her life.
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I feel especially bad for Mulkey, who went to bat for Griner repeatedly, gave her space to be herself, and now will be the object of scorn and criticism on the recruiting trails and throughout many quarters of women's basketball. Unfairly, in my view.
Only a couple of months ago, as Griner came off the Ferrell Center court for the last time, she gave Mulkey a warm, happy embrace and picked her up off the floor. Griner is young, still, and needs better advisers at this stage of her life.
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