Fallout from coming out

Peterson getting attention after discussing sexual orientation

More in this column: • Shopping for a new boss • Pork barrel for the racing crowd • Mixed messages

Let’s face it, track and field is only news in this country every four years at the Summer Olympics. Case in point: Tim Montgomery pops a world record in the 100 meters over the weekend -- we’re talking “World’s Fastest Man" -- and it barely registers amid the noise from NFL and college football games.

But if you’re talking sexual orientation, it seems folks are all ears.

That may be why U.S. indoor 800-meter champ Derrick Peterson is running for shelter after declaring in Genre magazine this summer that he is homosexual. Peterson followed up with a statement saying he’s straight. For the record, those close to him describe Peterson as confused at the moment.

OK, that much is obvious.

Just don’t utter another peep about being misquoted. Or being victim of media entrapment.

From what we’ve been told, Peterson, a nice guy and talented athlete, was convinced by a friend of a friend to discuss his sexual orientation for public consumption. Peterson acknowledges saying he was unsure about his sexuality in the interview, but was caught off guard when the article portrayed him as exclusively homosexual. And he naively thought the article wouldn’t get much play in the mainstream media.

The fallout may be a factor in the miserable European season Peterson suffered through. Reached at his home in Columbia, Mo., he described the last month or so as a painful whirlwind. “This is something in my life that is an ugly thing,’’ says Peterson, the 2000 NCAA champ who is a serious candidate to qualify for the Athens Olympics. “I’m just trying to get rid of it. I’m at peace with what has happened. I’m at peace with the people who allowed it to happen, and I am just moving on in my life. I know there is stuff out here and I can’t worry about what people want to think. I can’t deal with this any more.’’

As for Peterson’s waffling on his story, his marketing guy, ex-Olympian Rich Kenah, says it was a personal deal and that there was no pressure from Adidas, his sponsor, or anyone else in the sport. “He told me that everyone in the sport has been supportive of him, no matter who he is,’’ Kenah offers. That may be true but -- as other athletes know -- running on about sexual orientation is a no-no.

Shopping for a new boss

Word is the search committee for the next NCAA president has whittled its list of candidates to under a dozen, and plans to interview each by the end of this month. Tulsa President Bob Lawless, chair of the search group, predicts the names of two or three finalists will be passed on to the NCAA executive committee for final interviews by late October.

Baker-Parker, an Atlanta-based search firm, kicked off the process by interviewing about 80 candidates. The job is among the more lucrative sports administrative posts, with an annual compensation package in the neighborhood of $1 million -- triple what most college presidents bring home, though less than what many big-time college football and basketball coaches are paid.

And the finalists? “It is a very diverse mix in terms of background, gender and ethnicity,’’ Lawless says.

But the search committee obviously remains hush-hush on who they’re eyeing to replace Cedric Dempsey. One person close to the committee said the list includes an athletic administrator, which is taken to mean a conference commissioner since it’s doubtful an athletic director will be seriously considered.

According to college sports insiders, the short list could include: former Kansas chancellor and American League president Gene Budig, former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley, former Rep. Tom McMillen, Big Ten Conference commissioner Jim Delaney, Mississippi chancellor Robert Khayat, University of Miami president and former secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala and LSU chancellor Mark Emmert.

Mike Slive might be a viable candidate had he not recently landed the SEC post. If the committee really wanted to shake things up, a former NCAA director suggested former U.S. attorney general Janet Reno. It almost certainly won’t be a TV executive, as the NCAA has taken enough heat for commercializing college sports.

Pork barrel for the racing crowd

These kind of grants typically go for things like helping rural towns purchase a fire truck or lighting for a high school athletic field, but rarely are lawmakers so generous with their end-of-session grants. The racing facility is owned by a local city and country development authority, which contracts with a private management firm.

Mixed messages

If the NCAA had any PR sense, it wouldn’t let its product be associated with these kinds of sponsors.

Hello, Met-Rx is only one of the leading supplement manufacturers, a company marketing products containing the banned substances Andro and ephedra. Why, you’d jump in bed with a company that shops products you’re so opposed to makes absolutely no sense.

The controversy about Playboy’s association with the college game is old news, of course, though the issue has most often focused on the exploitation of women. What’s overlooked is Playboy’s also big on gambling, a major NCAA taboo -- hosting its own on-line casino and sportsbook.

“This kind of stuff is off the chart unconscionable,’’ says Marc Isenberg, co-author of The Student-Athlete Survival Guide and a college sports watchdog. “The NCAA doesn’t mandate that these types of sponsorships don’t take place. They don’t speak out against them when situations like this occur. They have been outspoken about ephedra, but they don’t take it to a level where heads are going to roll if schools accept money from companies that are promoting products that are harmful.’’

Isenberg has been brushed off after voicing concerns to Cedric Dempsey and folks who run NCAA headquarters. Now, he’s shipped out letters putting the association’s executive committee on the spot, and it’ll be interesting to see if the group of mostly college presidents gets the message.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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