The real language of athletes and fans in and around sports

When Presidential candidate Donald Trump tried to dismiss his vulgar comments about women as "locker room talk," it ignited a conversation about what exactly conversation in sports locker rooms are all about. Some athletes painted a sanitized picture of high-level academic conversations intended to address the pressing issues of the day. Others admitted that there are sex jokes, but nothing to the level of Trump's vulgarity.

Yet we hear from athletes all the time about the crude commentary in locker rooms. Gay athletes in particular find it troubling because they feel they can't exactly launch into talk about the body parts of other guys in a sexual way. 

Now news comes that some Green Bay Packers thought quarterback Aaron Rodgers was gay because he wouldn't engage in talk about penis size and his sexual conquests. That is, demeaning women is so common in the locker room, you are assumed to be gay if you don't engage.

Couple all of this with the homophobic chants and harrassment that still exist in corners of sports, and we have a robust conversation about what kind of language truly exists in sports.