![dodgers gay pride hat dodgers gay pride hat](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0775/9263/products/NY_Yankees_Pride_47_brand_clean_up_navy_cap_lidz_caps_australia_diagonal_right_grande.jpeg)
Here in Chicago, The North-end Sports Bar has been a great sports-bar for 25 years, and many other bars always tied in special Monday Night Football events. And most of the fans wore team jerseys and caps (a lot less expensive then now) and I knew many gay season ticket holders, and their tailgate parties were something special! They even had silver “Candlestick” holders, and crystal beer goblets,too! The 49ers knew a lot of their fan base was gay, and they treated em like Royalty. JP: Not so, I was in San Francisco in the 1980s, and on Sunday, all the gay bars were packed. PMB: Gay sports bars are a fairly recent trend, do you frequent any of these establishments and what could you tell my readers who are unfamiliar with the concept about these joints… It was a victory celebration that everyone, young and old, gay and straight, Republican and Democrat all identified with. As for the Cup showing up here, there and everywhere, it gave Chicagoans and the suburbs something to cheer as a whole. JP: No…I cheered them on while relaxing in my own surroundings. PMB: Did you do anything special the night the Hawks won the Cup? What do you think have been some of the highlights of this past week of post-Stanley Cup hoopla in Chicago? The guy is a first class mensch! ( A person of integrity and honor). Sopel is a special kind of athlete, more than a good guy with class and sportsmanship. And it was his way of showing respect that he had for the Maple Leafs general Manager Brian Burke, who supported his openly gay son Brendan, who was killed in an auto accident. This is needed in all sports…and it will earn him respect wherever he is. He’s going to be around for a long time, and had leadership quality in Chicago, and he takes that to his new teammates in Atlanta.
![dodgers gay pride hat dodgers gay pride hat](https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/holtby_braden.png)
Many of those families and groups had new Blackhawks jerseys and caps! I need to tip my hat to Brent Sopel. Seeing young kids waving rainbow flags, instead of throwing sticks and stones, shows me of the real progress made over the 41 years of this event. Like the different color stripes on the gay flag, these people represented so many ethnic groups.
![dodgers gay pride hat dodgers gay pride hat](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/06/20/JerryandBeaMiller_wide-1151004b4ae3c400e0da0a2309573afb33173bfb.jpg)
I seen so many families cheering on for family members, teachers, and neighbors.
![dodgers gay pride hat dodgers gay pride hat](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFOIWYIWAAARvxG.png)
Not anymore, these were friends of the gay community. For years, there have been many non-gays looking on from the sidelines, but it was only a one day thing. JP: This year’s Pride Parade was great in many respects. PMB: Your thoughts on the NHL’s promotion of the event? As well as families with young kids…it gives them a chance to be cheering a winner, as well as spending time together. Many of the players are young too, and the fans like seeing young athletes…who don’t have beer bellies, or steroid filled muscles. And a great many fans are young, so they haven’t been waiting like us old folks. It gave Chicagoans, gay and straight a chance to see something in person for FREE…that usually has a price on it. PMB: What was your impression of the impact Sopel and the Cup had on the crowd? In the meantime, please check out his new exhibit at Roosevelt University’s Gage Gallery, running now until August 13.īelow are his impressions of the Blackhawks’ appearance at the Pride Parade: And we have pictures, and a thoughtful recap courtesy of Jerry Pritikin- a Cubs die-hard who has been known by the nicknames of “Bleacher Preacher” and the “Gay Forrest Gump.” We’ll have another feature on him later this week. But you may or may not have heard that (now former) Hawks defenseman Brent Sopel and the Cup itself were in Chicago’s Gay Pride Parade this past weekend. As you might have heard, the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2010 Stanley Cup (it was all over the news, and the blogs too).