There was a time when jocks talked non-stop about homos, queers, and fags.
All right, stop right there. Let's be honest, it still happens in plenty of locker rooms, even locker rooms full of adults.
It's not pretty.
But by and large, people have been learning one way or another that homosexuals are actual humans, and it's not sensible or nice to refer to them as sub-humans. So the word "fag" is out, and rightly so.
But that doesn't mean jocks don't still need some shorthand to talk about whatever the opposite of macho and tough is. And for some reason, in the minds of a lot of them, that often comes back to sexual orientation.
Increasingly, I have noticed, the PC way to be that kind of non-PC is to throw in the word "Brokeback." Works like a charm! You throw in the word "Brokeback" and you're kind of making fun of gay people, but you're also kind of making a mini-homage to a gay-friendly movie. When the PC police come calling, instead of being down 1-0, it's a tie game.
Phil Jackson, it appears, kind of fell into that trap. ESPN.com news services report:
The Spurs made 13 3-pointers in their 107-92 victory, and Jackson was asked if too much penetration was leading to open outside shooters.
"We call this a 'Brokeback Mountain' game, because there's so much penetration and kickouts," Jackson said. "It was one of those games."
The 2005 film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.
"The remarks are in poor taste, and the Lakers have assured us such remarks will not occur in the future," league spokesman Brian McIntyre said.
I am simply not sure what he meant there. I am not sure whether or not he actually demeaned homosexuals. He might have just chosen the wrong analogy, made the wrong joke.
Nobody wants to live in a world where jokes on this list of topics are off-limits. In the long run, humor will be helpful to the healing that has to happen.
But we're not there yet. Not in a jocular sports setting. In a room overloaded with testosterone, you don't get to throw in a "Brokeback" and play it for laughs. Not yet. Not in a world where gay kids commit suicide at a rate that dwarfs the rate of straight kids, presumably at least in part because of the ostracization that happens in places like that locker room.
(There's a reason professional sports lag behind just about every field, including even ministry, in having people come out of the closet. Gays who play sports are receiving messages their sexuality is not welcome here.)
Homophobia is real and wrong. This kind of joke is certainly not the worst thing in the world, but it's sure not smart or helpful.
