5 Locker rooms embrace gays Falcons say no to homophobia after U.S. collegiate player comes out By MADELYN FORSYTH espite controversy regarding some gay pro athletes coming out recently, Langara athletes tend to look at skill over sexual orientation. According to the Southeastern Con- ference in the NCAA, American college football player Michael Sam is consid- ered to be a top-five draft pick this com- ing NFL season and is one of the top de- fensive players. Sam came out two weeks ago, poten- tially jeopardizing his draft prospects. While NFL executives and head coaches say it shouldn’t affect his career, others have said the NFL isn’t ready for an openly gay player. Matthew Chan, a Langara badminton player, doesn’t think much would change if he had gay teammates but thinks it is different in professional sports. “It’s just because you have to market yourself, right? As an athlete you're really a brand and then there [are] still a lot of conser- vative people out there so if you are out, then you’re limiting your brand to the people that support gay [people] or just don’t care,” Chan said. Rhea Silvestri, 21, is a Langara bas- ketball player. She said Sam’s sexual ori- entation shouldn’t negatively affect his chances. “T think that’s ridiculous. I mean it doesn’t change his skill,” said Silvestri. “That would be really stupid if that’s the reason he doesn’t get picked, because he came out.” Silvestri has openly gay teammates and said it doesn’t make a difference on or off the court. “When you’re on the court that’s all you focus on,” she said. “Leave your personal issues off the court and when you’re on there you just play the game.” Veteran NBA basketball player Jason Collins announced he was gay in April and has just signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets. The pressure for pro athletes to stay quiet about their sexual orientation is nothing new, but B.C. Lions wide receiv- er Marco lannuzzi is working with the CFL on eliminating homophobia in sports in the off-season. In an interview with The Province last week, Iannuzzi said he wouldn’t care if a teammate was gay. The CFL also fined two players re- cently for anti-gay comments on social media. Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen ex- pressed his thoughts on why things need to change in the NFL. His state- ment has since gone viral. “You beat a woman and drag her down a flight of stairs, pulling her hair out by the roots, you’re the fourth guy taken in the NFL draft,” he said. “You love another man, now you’ve gone too far.” RHEA SILVESTRI Langara Falcons basketball player 66 I think that’s ridiculous. Imeanit doesn’t change his skill It was way too early for Olympic gold GRAHAM McFIE photo Team Canada fans line up outside Library Square Public House to watch the Men’s gold medal hockey game at 4 a.m. Sunday. 66 No one is going to stay up until five in the morning to watch HAMID TAHER Canada celebrates gold while some Langara stu- dents refuse to get up to watch Canadian glory By GRAHAM McFIE Ithough Langara students showed Paes in the men’s hockey gold edal game, for most it was not enough to get up for the 4 am. puck drop. “The only problem I had with it was that it was in Russian time,” said gen- eral science student Hamid Taher. “No one is going to stay up until five in the morning to watch.” Taher said he would have watched the game if it was aired at a different time. Criminal justice student Ryan Parker thought of an alternative way to watch the game at a more conventional hour. “T just PVRed it,” said Parker. “I watched it when I woke up.” Team Canada shut out Team Sweden in a 3-0 win Feb. 23, earning Canada an- other gold medal in the last event of the Sochi Olympics. In Vancouver, snow flurries and a steady zero degrees Celsius chilled Team Canada fans who sought company in the few pubs that remained open for the game. Long queues stretched from the entrances. For the occasion, the B.C. government allowed pubs to remain open later un- der the prerequisite that these pubs no- tify the government by Feb. 21 at noon. However, they could not serve alcohol during the game. Terry Rowsell is a communications policy and planning analyst for the pro- vincial government. He listed eight venues that had made the request, but stressed that this did not guarantee that they were open Sun- day. The Georgia Straight highlighted Li- brary Square Public House and The Pint Public House & Sports Bar as two pubs that opened on Sunday. Those celebrating at Library Square were shown on live on national televi- sion among a handful of other venues across the country watching the game. Double your chances at rolling up Tim Hortons’ annual Roll Up the Rim comes back in its 50th year, with one in six chances of winning By KARLY BLATS tion at Tim Hortons has not at- tracted more students than usual to the already busy coffee shop on cam- pus. This year marks Tim Hortons’ 50th anniversary. The restaurant is cele- brating by doubling the chances to win on their roll-up cups, rather than the original single roll. Although chances may be doubled, only one win per cup is possible. In the early stages of the chain’s an- nual promotion, campus employee Ki- ran Johal said she hadn’t noticed a drastic change in the number of cus- tomers coming through to get their daily caffeine fix. “We're always busy,” said Johal. She added that there hadn’t been any major wins yet, “just some coffee and do- nuts.” Across the campus at Starbucks, baristas agreed their number of pa- trons hadn’t gone down. Christine Ho has worked at the cam- pus Starbucks for four years. She said she hasn’t noticed a decrease in cus- tomers since Roll Up the Rim started and that “every day is busy.” Tim Hortons first began Roll Up the Rim in 1986 when the largest prize was a snack pack of Timbits. Deland Jessop, an instructor in Lan- gara’s school of management, said the promotion isn’t likely to create a major boost in sales for the restaurant but is probably kept going to keep customers happy. “There’s very few marketing events where it becomes so engrained in the customer’s mind,” said Jessop. “If all of a sudden they stop doing it, it might irk some customers.” Sticking to routine plays a big part in many Langara students’ coffee shop choices. Computer science student Jimmy Li said he drinks Tim Hortons coffee re- gardless of possibly winning a car. Syeed Rafid, an arts and science stu- dent, said he’s not persuaded by Tim Hortons’ promotion and remains con- sistent with his coffee choice. “Tm a Starbucks guy,” he said. Business management student Steve Iverson disagreed. “T always drink Tim Hortons but I come more often now that it’s Roll Up the Rim,” said Iverson. In addition to in-store contests, Tim Hortons is also holding an online game called Rockin’ RRRoll Up Roulette, of- fering 10,000 more prizes on their web- site. T:: Roll Up the Rim to Win promo- ‘PLEASE PLAVAGAIN/ REESSAYESSP © - Of FREE Coffee & Food Prizes! o° ES GRATUITS et de prixen nou KARLY BLATS photo To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Tim Hortons issues a bonus roll.