Deadspin is a P*ssylicker

Last week our inbox lit up over two articles on the Gawker-owned sports website Deadspin. The point/counter-point pieces took sides over a certain famous NBA player's recent move from Cleveland to Miami, and the most memorable things about them were their titles....

"LeBron James is a C*cksucker" and "LeBron James is Not a C*cksucker"

(We added the asterisks there.)

Okay Deadspin, make a decision. Either he is or he isn't. And if you're only using the term as a figurative metaphor, what do you mean by it?

Nothing good apparently...

"Tomorrow is the day LeBron James becomes the most unlikable person in the NBA, and perhaps all of American sports. I used to think he was okay a year ago. No more. He's the villain now."

So "c*cksucker" equals "villain." It also pretty obviously equates to "gay," in the common parlance. Which is why we sort of have a problem with people using it to slander dudes with. I mean you might as well have said "LeBron James is a Faggot" in your title.

It's funny, despite the fact that far more women are likely to engage in the activity than men, you'll never hear "c*cksucker" employed to denigrate the ladies. (We'll be waiting for Deadspin's "Anna Kournikova is a C*cksucker" piece until the cows come home.)

Now we don't really think Deadspin has a problem with the gays. I mean they're a part of the 'mo infested Gawker empire after all. We're guessing the word "c*cksucker" was used just to be provocative and draw traffic.

And by Deadspin standards their catchy titling seems to have worked. Looks like "LeBron James is a C*cksucker" was one of their most popular pieces last week.

The problem with this type of cynical gay-baiting move (by people who should know better) is every time you do it you sort of pollute pop culture. You make it easier for your readers to throw it about as a slur in casual conversation, and you make it harder for the gays by cementing the notion that the worst thing you can say about a man is that he's queer.

Responding to this sort of crap is really tiresome. First, it rewards bad behavior by driving traffic to Deadspin. And it makes us here at AfterElton.com seem like uptight P.C. gadflies. (It's sorta lonely defending c*cksuckers. You won't see GLAAD issuing any media alerts over crap like this.)

In fact, even though we'd noticed these Deadspin posts last week, we weren't going to bother commenting on them – only yesterday they struck again with this...

"Timofey Mozgov is C*cksucker"

"Today is day Timofey Mozgov becomes most unlikable person in Russian Basketball Super League, and perhaps all Russian sports. I used to think he is okay a year ago. No more. He is villain now."

They're not even bothering to rewrite the damn article! Just swapping in another athlete's name and dressing it up with a fake Russian accent.

Clearly those guys over at Deadspin have hit on what they think is a winning formula: Throw "c*cksucker" in your title and you've struck blogging gold!

Those p*ssylickers at Deadspin should know better!

And yes, we're only using the term here to drive home a point. No offense to actual p*ssylickers intended. We think you rock.