Sports
NEW CONTRIBUTOR: Michael Stakem at the Nationals
Not our best night offensively. And defensively? Well there’s not much to be done when the other team hits safely thirteen times.
It’s been a few weeks since I caught a game at Nationals Park with friends from the G-Nats (a gay Nationals fan group) which is a few weeks too long. There is little I enjoy more than spending time with friends watching our town’s well-dressed baseball players hard at work on a hot summer evening.
So I’ve been going to the new ballpark ever since it opened and it wasn’t until the Night Out game this year that I realized just how good the view of the field is from the standing-room only section in straightaway center. For this Tuesday’s game against the Florida Marlins (a.k.a The Fish Sticks) I decided I’d camp out there for the first inning. The first inning wasn’t too bad as the Nats only gave up one run in the top of the first.
It was time to join up with my friends in the G-Nats as random fans in the bullpen probably wouldn’t have been too keen to hear a stranger’s opinion on the game and how its players look. On the way to the group seats I picked up garlic-parmesan fries with bacon aioli dipping sauce for dinner; the food is priced about double what could be charged in a restaurant but that’s ballpark food for you. Anyways, the Nats were being no-hit by the Marlins until the 5th when Laynce Nix smashed a solo HR over the fence in right field. The next inning Michael Morse would double in Ryan Zimmerman giving us our second and final run of the game. Not our best night offensively. And defensively? Well there’s not much to be done when the other team hits safely thirteen times.
Song of note: relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus enters games to Katy Perry’s “Firework”. There was a brief write up on the Nat’s official blog the other week and here’s the short version: he sang along with it at a bar, used it as his walk-on music in the minors, was called up, and has kept entering to it because he’s superstitious. He did okay Tuesday night: two outs and only gave up one hit so maybe it’s helping him out.
Interested in going to a game? This coming Monday August 1st tickets can be had for only $1 and you can get certain food items for $1 (full-priced drinks).
Some sights from the game:

To celebrate the ending of the football lockout the four presidents decided to put a football spin on their race. Teddy was caught and stripped of the ball and Tom would eventually win the race. (Photo by Michael Stakem)

Top of the 9th and the Marlins go on another run. These three runners would eventually score. (Photo by Michael Stakem)
Michael Stakem has been a Washington Nationals fan since their 2005 inaugural season.
More than a dozen LGBTQ athletes won medals at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday.
Cayla Barnes, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter are LGBTQ members of the U.S. women’s hockey team that won a gold medal after they defeated Canada in overtime. Knight the day before the Feb. 19 match proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
French ice dancer Guillaume Cizeron, who is gay, and his partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry won gold. American alpine skier Breezy Johnson, who is bisexual, won gold in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, was part of the American figure skating team that won gold in the team event.
Swiss freestyle skier Mathilde Gremaud, who is in a relationship with Vali Höll, an Austrian mountain biker, won gold in women’s freeski slopestyle.
Bruce Mouat, who is the captain of the British curling team that won a silver medal, is gay. Six members of the Canadian women’s hockey team — Emily Clark, Erin Ambrose, Emerance Maschmeyer, Brianne Jenner, Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin — that won silver are LGBTQ.
Swedish freestyle skier Sandra Naeslund, who is a lesbian, won a bronze medal in ski cross.
Belgian speed skater Tineke den Dulk, who is bisexual, was part of her country’s mixed 2000-meter relay that won bronze. Canadian ice dancer Paul Poirier, who is gay, and his partner, Piper Gilles, won bronze.
Laura Zimmermann, who is queer, is a member of the Swiss women’s hockey team that won bronze when they defeated Sweden.
Outsports.com notes all of the LGBTQ Olympians who competed at the games and who medaled.
Sports
US wins Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey
Team captain Hilary Knight proposed to girlfriend on Wednesday
The U.S. women’s hockey team on Thursday won a gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime. The game took place a day after Team USA captain Hilary Knight proposed to her girlfriend, Brittany Bowe, an Olympic speed skater.
Cayla Barnes and Alex Carpenter — Knight’s teammates — are also LGBTQ. They are among the more than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes who are competing in the games.
The Olympics will end on Sunday.
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
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