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A R T S & CU LT U RE
Avant garde
» continued from page 12
assured, Osgoode will watch it grow and expand,
following along with an appetite for food and
travel. As for how she will manage the blog after
graduation and entering practice, she is not worried; with stricter scheduling and the right time
management, Annie says she will continue to
keep blogging.
When asked if she would have done anything
differently in her life so far, this is what she tells
us.
“In life? Probably shouldn’t have had three
lattes today. But other than that, I have no major
regrets.”
Annie gives these words of wisdom to all
students and readership community: “Do what
makes you happy and don’t let other people tell
you what law school is supposed to be. If I had
listened to everyone’s advice, I probably wouldn’t
have lasted past 1L. Everyone in law school is
brilliant in their own way and we can all learn
from each other.”
Michael Sam
annie is c u r r ent ly see k in g c u l ina r y ins p i r ati o n in taiwan .
» continued from page 14
dise (Exhibit A: Tim Tebow). Perhaps the savvy
general manager will consider the makeup of its
fan base and city before drafting Sam. Would
he be better positioned for success in San Francisco or Seattle than in Jacksonville or Tennessee? These are the kinds of questions that will
be asked over the coming months. In any case,
Sam will be amongst the biggest stories leading
up to the NFL Draft, and once the third round
hits, every team in the market for a pass rusher
will be scrutinized for their decision to take, or
not to take, Michael Sam.
Assuming that Sam is drafted into the NFL
and earns a roster spot, he will face another set
of questions and challenges. First off, how will
Sam’s sexuality be received by his teammates?
It proved to be a non-issue at Missouri, and I
believe that the same would hold true in the
NFL. For all the criticism directed at professional athletes, they remain professionals. They
have a job to do that requires their undivided
attention, and I believe they would welcome any
teammate who helps their team win. In addition,
NFL players are generally in their 20s, and have
grown up in a generation with widespread exposure to homosexuality and a general distaste
for homophobic behaviour. Nonetheless, the
recent Miami Dolphins bullying scandal proved
that the NFL locker room is still dominated by
machismo. While perhaps not as common as
The Obiter Dicta
it once was, the use of homophobic language
remains an issue in the locker room environment. Any team that drafts Sam would have to
recognize (as any team should) that that form of
language has no place in their locker room or
any other for that matter.
The conduct of opponents is another issue
that Sam likely faces. While one would hope
that opponents have the professionalism and
maturity to treat Sam like any other player, the
fact remains that trash-talking is a part of the
game and opponents will go to great lengths to
get under a player’s skin. It is possible that Sam
may be the target of directed taunting based on
his sexuality. While I am sure he has tried to
prepare himself for this, it is up to the league,
and opposing coaching staff ’s to take a zero-tolerance approach towards this kind of behaviour.
Unfortunately, teammates and opponents
are