The ascendancy of the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James to the top of the mountain has captivated hoop fans everywhere, including us. First, Dave Zirin sings the praises of LeBron and the Cavs, and then speaks with Cyd Zeigler, founder of the website Outsports and author of the new book ‘Fair Play,’ about how the sports world responded to the massacre of LGBT people in Orlando. Finally, we take it to church…seriously…with a recording of Dave’s Father’s Day sermon, as delivered to Plymouth Congregational Church in DC on “Muhammad Ali, Orlando, and the Light of Understanding.”

Cyd Zeigler: https://twitter.com/CydZeigler
Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports
http://www.akashicbooks.com/catalog/fair-play/
http://www.outsports.com/ | https://twitter.com/outsports
Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ. Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler http://www.plymouth-ucc.org/ | Zirin Sermon: https://www.spreaker.com/user/plymouthucc-washingtondc/dave-zirin-m-ali-orlando-the-light-of-un

Music & LeBron mix by Jason St. Clair https://fb.com/jason.stclair.58
Intro Music: ‘The Ruler’s Back’ (Instrumental) produced by Bink https://twitter.com/sommeave
—
| http://twitter.com/edgeofsports | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@slate.com

Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, tells his fascinating story to Dave Zirin, on-stage at University of Colorado Denver. Despite a great college career at Mizzou and slot in the 2014 draft, Sam hasn’t found a home in the NFL. Today on Edge of Sports, Michael Sam weighs the undeniable good he has done for society with honest reflections on what could have been different. Then, our ‘Just Stand Up’ award goes to Julie DiCaro,who, along with fellow journalist Sarah Spain, helped to call out sexist internet trolls with the powerful video ‘More Than Mean’ shot by the ‘Just Not Sports Podcast.’ We salute you.

Our host, the intrepid DZ, is on the road this week in BRAZIL! To the Cariocas, please take care of our boy, and tweet Dave or friend of the show Zach Zill with interesting leads http://twitter.com/zachzill

Special thanks to Avery Balano & Sean Lawton. Music by  Aika https://soundcloud.com/i-am-aika

Michael Sam: http://fb.com/MichaelSamNFL 

Julie DiCaro: http://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro

— 

  | http://twitter.com/edgeofsports | http://fb.com/edgeofsportspod | email us: edgeofsports@slate.com