SilverNitro

It's not very big here, unfortunately. It would need to be someone from one of the big 4 North American leagues, the NFL (American Football), NHL (Hockey), NBA (Basketball), or MLB (Baseball). MLS soccer might count too, maybe. At least one of these sport that would garner enough media attention to spread awareness.

I'm glad he finally took the courage to come out! I was pretty much in the same shoes as him (without the professional soccer playing part). I find it very unfortunate that he decided to immediately retire from soccer as soon as he came out. Looks like I'll need to wait another time for a trailblazer to come out and continue playing American professional sports afterwards. It's going to be tough for the person, but I'd not be surprised if he will receive a lot of positive support for doing so. http://www.samesame.com.au/news/international/9467/Pro-footballer-comes-out-and-retires.htm His personal coming out post: http://www.therobbierogers.com/ I wish him best of luck on his journey, and I hope he comes back to football/soccer!

It was for a while where I'd have a fear of taking off. I don't mind flying as long as I have the window seat. Taking off is always scary for me, even today, but I try not to let it affect me as I have no power over it. My favorite uncle died 10 years ago from a plane crash while taking off, so I guess that's why I have had this fear. It also inspired me to get into the engineering and inspection field, where I am currently employed at now, so I can ensure defective parts that may lead to crashes does not escape my eyes. (RIP Uncle Mark C. , still miss you, even to this day!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Midwest_Flight_5481 It's also another reason why I will REFUSE to fly US Air. I don't TRUST them at all. If there's a slightly more expensive flight to the same destination that's not US Air, I'd take it. Other than the take-off part, I usually find flying fascinating, mostly due to my interest in geography, and the ability to see the ground from up high.

LOL, he's definitely evolving into Chewbacca! If you want facial hair, check out Greg Zanon of the Avs! I'm not sure if it's ugly or badass lol.

Very good chapter. It looks like there will be a lot of work for everyone involved. I'm quite nervous for Andy. The way leukemia is described in this chapter makes me feel it's being told by personal experience. I can definitely feel the gravity of the situation reading it. I'm looking forward to reading more of what will happen. Thank you!

Hmm, unless they live far away, you should ask for another meet-up, especially now that you have a valid reason of not seeing them for a while! Itd be hard to say no to! Work sucks at some point for everybody =/ at least that particular shift is over for now. Congrats on the nominations!

I figured I'd share a recipe I picked up when I was in Vancouver, Canada a few years ago. I make it occasionally, and it's awesome. Crispy Baked Halibut -4 Halibut fillets (1 3/4 inch thick) (NOTE: Since I live in New York, Halibut fillets aren't always available. I've done the exact same recipe with Tilapia, and it's just as good.) -1/2 tsp. salt -1/4 cup cooking oil -1/4 tsp. minced garlic -grated Parmesan cheese -cornflake crumbs Combine oil, salt, and garlic in a bowl. Marinate fillets in oil for approx. 10 minutes. Drain fillets. Roll in Parmesan cheese on a plate, then cornflake crumbs on a separate plate. Place in greased baking dish. Bake at 450 Degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until fish flakes when fork-tested. Serve immediately. It's pretty good! I hope This help make somebody's dinner worthwhile!

As a deaf guy, I'm pretty much so used to it that quite often i don't even feel like I'm disabled. Most of the time, I don't really have any issues, especially with phones today. I can pretty much text anyone, and if i need to order anything from a fast food place, i can just type out what I want on a notepad on my phone, then show what i typed out to the person. However, I've met a few people who are pretty much ignorant or intolerant or just plain impatient. quite often, Id say 90% of the time, i wont catch all of what you may say to me, and Ill ask to repeat until i can piece together enough to understand whatever someone is telling me. It annoys me whenever a person would roll their eyes when asked to speak again, or speak EXTRA SLOWLY like a retard (seriously, you should try watching people's face when they try to speak to me like they're speaking to a 1 year old child.). All I ask is patience and speak clearly and normally. if nothing work, the old pen and paper (or notepad on phone) will always be on hand for me. I never really have had any issues, however when I finished school, and started a full time job, I realized I should try to find a way to improve my hearing. My natural hearing, assisted with hearing aids can only go so far (68+ Db, i can hear with hearing aids, 95+ without, I have "profound hearing loss"). I decided to get a cochlear implant, and overhaul my brain on how to perceive sound. It is working out well for me so far 7 months after surgery (feel free to ask me if you'd like to find more details!), however, among the more traditional deaf people, and people who are proud to be deaf, receiving an implant would be an insult to the deaf culture (kinda in a way like I'm working on trying to turn myself straight, similar concept). so it sometimes make me feel kinda detached to deaf culture, while still kinda detached to the normal culture, since I'm still considered deaf, and now, me being freshly out of the closet, freshly detached from the "straight" culture, and still trying to work my way into the gay culture. i often feel like I'm stuck in a crossroad in the middle of nowhere, trying to decide whether to go north, south, east, west, northwest, southeast? definitely lots of changes for me to work out right now. I never really have had any bullying issues in the past in school. its probably because if its behind my back, i just simply don't hear about it, or if someone tease me, i just take it as a joke and tease them in return. i guess it helps that I'm not easily offended at all I figured here's a good place to share a little bit of my story. If there's any question or anything you're curious about, feel free to ask me! I'm usually in the chatroom too as well. Cheers!

I'm loving this story so far. The issues with Joey so far seems like he hasn't really forgiven his father for what he have done to Joey yet, despite Joey being a very forgiving person. However I wonder if resolving this issue would be taking a backseat with the news about Andy's condition. Looks like it'll be tough in times ahead. While reading thru Cody's confession, I was thinking ahead, thinking that he would eventually be a new adopted brother to either Andy or Roger/Joey, and become a significant part of the story. Though him being appointed to another family in good standings for who he is seems to work out well. It's probably better off for the story in it's entirety to maintain the focus on the 3 musketeers (and J.T. too), rather than divide the focus even more by adding another significant character. Although I hope to see more of Cody around, younger kids like him are very impressionable and would do well with good kids like the 3 musketeers around him! Overall, so far, great story, and I'll be waiting to read future chapter updates, keep it coming! Thank you! 01/26/13

You can contact me anytime if you need. Please don't hesitate to do so!

This brought tears to my eyes. At least he now know for sure that he is loved, no matter how bad it may seem, no matter how final it may be. He is at peace now, and sharing your memories of him is what will keep his spirit going on. I'd like to share this: after reading this paragraph, I realized, my best friends have been there for me at some point in my life, and I love them as a brother too. This paragraph has inspired me to go and let them know my appreciation for them. Thank you for this realization. I know this is a tough time, but at least I can say this: The worst is over, and it can only get better over time. Keep Cody's spirits strong. He is definitely in my memories too as well. Thank you for sharing this.

At least if things doesn't go well, there's supposed to be a strong draft class in the top 5 this year. But I still think Iginla still deserve another shot =/

Sexiest rookie goes to Marcus Foligno anyway!

I am definitely interested. I can get up to 5 days off from work (plus sat+sunday), but my only concern is transportation and where to stay. Flight will most likely set me back about $600 from Western NY to Cali. Road trip is what I'd love to do, but I can't afford it with my own vehicle though. Any suggestions on either transportation and living spaces?

WOW! They sure look happy wearing these.... abominations? LOL!