March Madness

It's early springtime and that means that we're now at that point on the sports calendar where we transition from basketball into baseball. To mark this ocassion, for the next three weeks, the on-court phenomenon known as March Madness: the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship begins. The March Madness event is a single elimination collegiate tournament that eventually produces the national champion who gains a years worth of bragging rights and high school recruitment benefits among this country's colleges and universities.

I happen to like basketball. It's one sport I was able to decently perform as a child and teen. It captured my attention when we played the traditional game of "shirts and skins," where one team removed their shirts in order to distinguish itself from the opponents who kept their shirts on. Being a gay teen, shirtless guys on the hardwood court provided unlimited eye-candy without bringing too much focus onto myself. Playing without a shirt was as close to playing naked as I became aware of my preference for nudity.

This affection for the game of basketball has followed me all my life. Even now, as an adult, I enjoy a neighborhood pick-up game or watching televised games, collegiate or professional. Yes, I continue to look at the men: the players, the hoops hunks. I can't change who I am, my sexuality. At the same time, I also admire the skills, the athletic prowess and the competition. I really enjoy the game.

Why post a picture of NBA-star Kobe Bryant with an article on NCAA basketball? Aside from the obvious: he's a naked black man and I'm a white man who appreciates the beauty of all black men, he's also an accomplished player. True, he's had problems in his past, both on and off the court. Who among us hasn't? Then there's that stiff fine he had to pay last year; imposed by the NBA for a homophobic slur he uttered during a televised game. Well, he apologized publicly for it and I believe that he's truly sorry. Can we now move on? Besides, he is a handsome man: the epitome of a hoops hunk!

I'll be viewing the March Madness spectacle while nude in the privacy of my home. Hopefully, in the company of a few of my black nudist friends as we discuss the game plays and the physiques of the players. March Madness is a good thing for gay men everywhere: why watch anything else?

Respectfully,

Black Lover Naked