Cultural Oddsmaker: Next Prominent Gay Athlete

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On the heels of the unsurprising news that WNBA-er Sheryl Swoopes is a lesbian, there is rampant speculation in the sports community about who will be the next major sports figure to step forward. We don’t think this will be as a big a deal as most people suspect—it may result in some players requesting seperate locker rooms and cause Jeremy Shockey’s head to explode, but that’s expected—and will ultimately be better for professional sports in the long run. Oddjack has pooled together a list of suspects based on passed rumor, innuendo, and guilty-by-association reasoning who we suspect will be the next professional athlete to publicly admit their homosexuality. After the jump, see who we handicapped as the next brave individual to step forward.

· Bruce Chen, SP, Baltimore Orioles: Soft-spoken Asian pitcher who’s been bounced around the league and at one point fingered as the mysterious lover of Out Editor Brendan Lemon who penned an article about having an affair with a prominent National League East pitcher(Chen was with the Philadelphia Phillies at the time)and members of the Philadelphia talk radio circuit were ready to pounce all over the story—but held off due to legal concerns. Last year’s resurgence in Baltimore can only reignite speculation and a possible admission soon to follow.

Odds: 6/1

· Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts QB: Even though Jeff Garcia was half-heartedly “outed” by Terrell Owens, it appears Peyton’s relationship with a country star may be what prompts him to step forward. Although he’s married, Manning’s strange ,handsy relationship with country music star Kenny Chesney.(The fact that Chesney’s marriage to Renee Zellweger ended due to “fraud” charges from her doesn’t help.) Peyton’s laid back attitude, questionable smirks, and down home country attitude have lead him down the unfortunate path of questionable sexuality. Probably too high a profile player to have the guts to step forward, but the decrease in offensive production this season is cause for alarm. He may be “distracted.”

Odds: 14/1

· Mike Piazza, Catcher, New York Mets—Yes, it’s an obvious one, but even after his awkward press conference proclaiming his heterosexuality the rumors still dog him. One doesn’t need to go very far on the internet to find evidence.—many residents of Port St. Lucie(the Mets’ spring training headquarters) claim Piazza was spotted on numerous occasions at the gay clubs in the area. And are Playboy playmate’s not the perfect beards? However, his staunch denials and marriage make it more likely for him to come out well after his done with baseball. But maybe a trade next season will have him seeing things differently.

Odds: 8/1

· Tony Stewart, NASCAR—Many in the NASCAR community have their suspicions about the sports alleged “bad boy”—his volatile temper may be a result of his pent-up sexual frustrations that in a such a testosterone laden sport have manifested itself in a strange way. There were also rumors circulating that he had a gay affair before his NASCAR career took off. Would make sense in a Judas Priest/Rob Halford sort of way.

Odds: 3/1

· Kordell Stewart, QB, Baltimore Ravens—Almost too obvious, but also one that resulted in a spectacular non-denial(“A rumor is a rumor, you look it up in the dictionary it will tell you exactly what it means. I’m Kordell Stewart, the guy who worked with you guys and … has made some great plays around this place. And I don’t want any fan or any knucklehead outside of this organization make you feel any differently about me as a player.”) by him when the rumors spread during his tenure in Pittsburgh. If Kordell takes over the starting job in Baltimore, be prepared for another round of rumors that may lead to his outing eventually in a public manner. This would also result in the inevitable Baltimore Gay-vens marketing campaign.

Odds: 1/5 (prohibitive favorite)