Straight Shooter

I want to talk to LZ Granderson, but his cell number is busy. America's favorite gays-in-sports commentary hotline is locked up like the H&R Block help-line on April 14th. Well, it's not busy, actually. The phone number is no longer receiving calls. Has Tim Hardaway gotten to him? Shavlik Randolph? Actually, maybe it's John Amaechi, ticked off that Granderson had called him out for waiting until he'd retired, had a book deal, a media tour, and all the publicity machinations in place before coming out. "What's up?" I email. "Sorry, everybody was calling me about Tim Hardaway, and my voicemail got full," he writes back a minute later. "Try now." So I do, and after five minutes of chatting about the All-Star game and the NFL, the senior writer for ESPN The Magazine says, "Hold on, I need to get this one." "They want me to come on World News," he laughs, a minute later. "Tim Hardaway cracks on gays and suddenly you're in demand." And it's a fitting conundrum for Granderson, and also ESPN -- the sports media and entertainment company signing his checks -- somewhere between an opportunity and an annoyance.