Heard enough about Michael Sam?
Sorry, that story is not going away anytime soon.
Last Sunday, Michael Sam announced to the public that he was gay. It wasn't a big secret around Columbia, the person who told me about the news that night said he had known for a couple of years.
I guess my facial expression said something to the effect of "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's no big deal," came the reply. And to him and his generation, it's not.
The only reason Sam said anything publicly was a media outlet was planning to do a story about him being gay. He decided to beat them to the punch and take control of the story himself.
It's been a week and you haven't heard another word from Sam, he said he doesn't want to be the face of a movement. He attended Saturday's basketball game at Mizzou Arena as part of the football team being honored for its Cotton Bowl victory last month and left without talking to reporters.
The NFL Combine will be held this week and it will be a chance for Sam to let his playing ability do the talking for the 32 teams preparing for May's draft. It will be a big story then, then one more time as he arrives at training camp.
Then it's all about football. Which is all Sam can ask for. And deserves.
III
I want to take a few paragraphs to remember a friend.
If you've attended a high-school sporting event around Jefferson City anytime in the past 20-plus years, you probably saw Pat Forbis on the sideline.
Pat was an athletic trainer who worked with Jefferson City and Helias High School athletes both at games and during their rehabilitation from injuries.
Pat passed away Wednesday after a short illness.
He is the first athletic trainer I really got to know well. And he taught me about the importance of trainers to teams and the players they look after. It gave me an appreciation that continues to grow about the work they do.
Baseball games, with their laid-back pace, provided the best opportunities to talk. We'd pull our lawn chairs up next to the fence at Vivion Field or the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex and it would take just a few seconds and Pat would be talking about politics or coaching rumors or the weather or life in general.
Pat always had some stories. I will miss hearing them.