I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation.

We’ll know we’ve made progress when an athlete announces they're gay and the public reaction is a collective yawn. Judging by the media feeding frenzy generated by Jason Collins’ coming out, we’re clearly not there yet. The good news is that we’re a whole lot closer than we were just a few short years ago. Except for a few knuckleheads like ESPN’s Chris Broussard, the sports world- and society in general- appears willing and able to accept a gay athlete.

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a teachable moment.

Host Brad Stein is joined by former Oregon Duck & Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft choice Justin Phinisee. They talk to Boise Bandits wide receiver AJ Allen & running back Kevin Page about the new football league & their plans to get back to the NFL. They also discuss the PDFL's impact on the NFL & CFL, plus recap the Portland Boltz’s 2nd exhibition game. 

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The Kentucky Derby is this weekend and if the Oregon State Beavers baseball team was in a horse race, one could say they are in the final straightaway heading for the far turn. In their peripheral vision is a slight glimpse of the finish line. Longshot? Not likely. Destiny’s darling? Let’s hope so. Flowers, banners, trophy and last but certainly not least, the dog pile. Keeping an eye on the prize. Remember, I’m all in with these guys.

After the team struggled against the lowly Washington Huskies, any nervousness could be understood as OSU took on the USC Trojans. Luckily, the Beavers were facing the team with the worst ERA in the conference and pulled out the sweep, taking the three game set. The team hammered out 34 hits in three games. While USC committed no errors all weekend, OSU had four. Significance? Clearly Pat Casey has the squad minimizing their mistakes. Furthermore, the pitching staff only gave up three walks total in three games and held the Trojans to a total of five runs in three games. A positive template moving forward towards the postseason.

By now you are well on your way to a chiseled and ripped physique, and you might already be dealing with injury or at least a ton of soreness. This week, we are going to talk a little bit about what to do when it happens. I urge you to nip this in the bud because injuries can set you back in your training, or worse still bring it to a complete standstill.

Common practice encourages icing an acute injury and heating a chronic injury. Unfortunately, most of us do not understand the difference between acute and chronic so we self-treat with whatever feels right. Honoring your physiology with the proper use of the two can reduce your down time.

One closet door flew off its hinges when an active player said, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

The last sentence defines the sort of fan you are.

You either react in horror and break out a bible verse, or wish Jason Collins the best for next season.

How would Portland fans react if he made his announcement to the Oregonian as a Blazer? They'd name a street named after him? Maybe a parade?

It's the Portland way, man.

UFC 159 had more than a few memorable moments. It was a card built around West Linn's Chael Sonnen, a middleweight fighter coming off of a loss, who skillfully campaigned his way directly into the cage against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The day before the event, Nick Catone (9-4) was hospitalized due to dehydration, a result from his strenuous weight cut. His fight with James Head (9-3) was soon after declared canceled. Saturday night, the remaining 11 fights on the card begun, and so did one night of bad luck. There was Yancy Medeiros (9-1) and his dislocated thumb, the bad decision victory given to Ovince St. Preux (13-5) after an accident eye poke landed on Gian Villante (10-4) in the second round haunted the fight, Alan Belcher (18-8) receiving a fight ending eye poke that gave him 8 stitches, and the awkward and shocking toe injury that Jon Jones (18-1) suffered in his successful title defense against Chael Sonnen (27-13-1). It must have been a full moon. Yet in the midst of all the jumbled chaos, there were moments of beauty. And one of those moments was the first fight on the event's main card. 

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It probably shouldn't be a surprise that last year's battle in the WHL Finals is getting an encore. With the Edmonton winning game seven by a 2-0 score on Tuesday, it setup a return match with the Oil Kings vs. the Portland Winterhawks. This time, Portland has home ice advantage and a whole lot more to redeem for.  The Hawks were able to shut down Kamloops 4-1 last Friday, turning back Chase Souto's rather tactless rant, but it's not a fight they haven't faced before. 

The Portland Winterhawks have a great deal to fight for. Since losing GM and Coach Mike Johnston for the balance of the 2012-13 season and playoffs, the situation has become a battle in adversity. Johnston won't be able to attend the WHL Finals when Portland hosts Edmonton and won't be behind the bench if the Hawks represent the WHL in the Memorial Cup. His teachings, though, have been well promoted by Assistant GM & Coach Travis Green, who finished leading the team to a 57-12-1-2 record and impressive series wins over Everett, Spokane and Kamloops. The Hawks players have had a few extra days for rest, video reviews and practices to prepare for this round.

With a 12-17 record, the Seattle Mariners have had a sordid start, but there are still optimistic hopes that these all-stars will band together and create something magical. While the Mariners lost yesterday's game, 7-2, the M's were still in competition for the most hits with 10, meaning that the spark is alive. We’re just waiting for all the matchsticks to alight! After all, there are 162 games in a season, and there have been signs of majesty.

On Monday, the boys in blue defeated the hot Baltimore Orioles, 6-2, with left-handed starter (and former Oriole), Joe Saunders pitching his first complete game in a year. Last night, we also welcomed back another Saunders, Michael, and he ended up hitting a home run in the Mariners first at-bat for the win. It was good to have his presence back on the field, as he is someone full of energy. With our other center fielder Franklin Gutierrez out, again, with another injury, the “cleated gazelle” was welcomed home on the fresh green grass and at the top of the order. The Los Angeles Angels have Peter Bourjos; we have Saunders!

Jason Collins is a hero … to someone.

By now you’d have to have had your head buried 3-feet in the sand not to have heard NBA veteran Jason Collins’ declaration that he is gay.  This week’s Sports Illustrated is headlined by Collins’ announcement and by doing so, the 34-year-old center has again started a conversation likely to bring out the best and worst our society has to offer.  Since I first became aware of this, at roughly 10 AM yesterday morning, I’ve heard comments for and against him, applauding and degrading who he is, and people questioning the nobility of his actions, along with the motives behind them.  While not the first professional athlete to “come out,” – retired NBA player John Amaechi, Olympic diver Greg Louganis, Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas, and University of Portland and U.S. National Soccer Team star Megan Rapinoe are a few of the prominent athletes to have done so – he’s the first in any of America’s “Big 4” sports to have done so while still active in his profession.  Sure, Collins is a free agent who by all accounts is in the waning years of a relatively nondescript career, but if signed prior to next season, he’ll be the first American sports player to navigate a professional locker room while wearing his homosexuality on his sleeve.  And call it what you will, but that takes some bravery.

It never felt like an MLS game. The atmosphere was great, matched by the quality of play on the field. There was attacking intent, solid refereeing, and two class franchises contesting a pendulum of a game that went back and forth, until it came to a rest in the camp of the Portland Timbers.

The final score was Portland 3, Sporting Kansas City 2 Saturday night, in a match that would have looked more at home in the Netherlands or Germany. It was a landmark evening for the Timbers. Not only did Portland win their first road game almost six months earlier in the season than they did last year, but the Timbers out-footballed one of the best teams in the league, coming from behind twice, and leaving Kansas City as the hottest team in North America. 

At UFC 159, Chael Sonnen was unsuccessful in his third attempt at UFC gold. However, unlike his two exciting performances against the greatest fighter in the world in Anderson Silva, Sonnen's fight against Jon Jones was the most lopsided loss of the West Linn native's career. Jones, the highly-regarded 24 year-old Light Heavyweight champ, used his superior size and grappling to dominate and down Sonnen, before finishing him off with vicious ground and pound in the first round. The only damage that Jones sustained was a badly broken toe that he inflicted upon himself, but Sonnen was unable to capitalize on the gruesome injury.

It stands to reason that the sixteen teams that make the playoffs every season are usually the sixteen best.  Sometimes an 8-seed slips in over a slightly better team, but 82 games are a good barometer for which teams deserve to play for the title.

If that is the case, the Portland Trail Blazers could learn a thing or two from some of the sixteen teams that made it that far.

Oklahoma City Thunder: A star carries you.  A team of good role players may work well together, but it is that rare superstar that will take your team to new heights.  The Thunder have that in Kevin Durant, and even without Russell Westbrook for the rest of the playoffs, they are never in a bad situation because Durant is there at the end of the day.  The question for Portland is whether LaMarcus Aldridge or Damian Lillard can be THAT player.