Battered, the Celtics Have Enough to Advance

BOSTON — Nate Robinson danced, hollered and thumped his chest with enough force to revive a struggling heart. It might have been enough to summon the ghosts of past Boston Celtics icons. Soon, his pace had the entire TD Garden crowd moving at his frenetic rhythm

The Celtics walked onto the court battered and left it replenished Friday night, thanks to a jump-start from Robinson and the steady hands of the mainstay Paul Pierce in a decisive series-clinching 96-84 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. The final score represented the closest Orlando got to the Celtics in the second half.

Boston clinched the series, four games to two, but not without some added muscle spasms and concussions after winning the first three games and facilitating an Orlando resurgence.

The Celtics will play in the N.B.A. finals for the 21st time in the franchise’s decorated history against either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers can clinch the Western Conference title on Saturday night.

If the Lakers win, the finals will represent a rematch of the 2008 finals that concluded with Boston hanging a 17th championship banner. The same result would satisfy the TD Garden crowd who erupted into a “Beat L.A.” chant early in the fourth quarter.

While Robinson helped stretch the lead to 18 points in the first half, Pierce sealed Orlando’s elimination by totaling game highs of 31 points and 13 rebounds.

“We’re real excited about this,” Pierce said. “Going to soak it all up. There’s nothing like it. Being the only team — one of the last teams standing. All 28 teams got to watch us now.”

Before the season, Celtics Coach Doc Rivers placed a blank championship banner at the team’s practice facility, representing the organization’s quest for another title. It seemed like a lofty goal during the regular season, in which Boston struggled for stretches before revving in gear for the playoffs, beating the Miami Heat, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the defending conference champion Magic.

“Obviously, one is special, but the other groups have a couple and we’d love to join that club,” Rivers said. “But we’ve got a tough road.”

Friday’s party started early, and Robinson played master of ceremonies for a dizzying nine-minute sequence. From being exiled on a losing team (the Knicks) to sitting on a winning one, there are few players who have experienced Robinson’s peaks and valleys. There may be even fewer who can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour faster than Robinson.

Robinson sent the capacity crowd into delirium in the second quarter. First came two 3-pointers, then he outhustled Jameer Nelson for a loose ball, drawing a flagrant-1 foul when Nelson pushed him from behind. Next, Robinson dropped in a 23-foot jumper followed by a high-arching one-legged floater.

Robinson then attempted to dunk over Dwight Howard, who fouled him hard and sent him to the free-throw line.

The scene needed only a bow for its completion. The display is mostly new here, but it had been seen in New York before Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni soured on Robinson last season and benched him for 14 games, prompting his February trade to Boston.

Rivers stressed as early as the regular season that Robinson would have an impact on a playoff game. Until Friday, though, Robinson had sat plunked near the end of the bench and contributed mostly by encouraging. Rivers decided after Game 5 when Robinson capably conducted the offense and played well defensively that that he would increase his playing time Friday.

“I told him after almost every practice during the playoffs, I made a point of going over to him and telling him to stay engaged,” Rivers said. “At some point, you’re going to win a game for us.”

Rivers might as well have played the role of a sage. Robinson had played more than 10 minutes only once in Boston’s 16 playoff games before Friday, and Rivers did not play him at all in seven of them.

“I get no credit out of this,” said Rivers, who added that Robinson had stayed focused while sitting on the bench for more than 30 games.

When the blur of Robinson settled and he took a seat with 3 minutes 27 seconds left in the second quarter, Boston led by 16 points and took a 55-42 halftime lead. Robinson had detonated for 13 points. His emergence even left Rajon Rondo, who provided Boston with a healthy start with 12 first-quarter points, on the bench as he dealt with muscle spasms.

“Today was that day,” Robinson said.

The Celtics never looked back in the second half. Ray Allen opened it with two 3-pointers early in the third quarter and finished with 20 points.

“We came out of the locker room, I think ready to go after it,” Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Then he knocks down two huge 3’s and it goes to 19 and gives them a big cushion to work with.”

The Celtics beat the Magic at its own game and made 10 of 22 3-point shots, while outrebounding Orlando, 45-35.

The loss completes a reversal for Orlando after the Magic reached the finals last season and painlessly swept their first two playoff rounds against the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.

The Magic joined the Cavaliers as stranded passengers on Boston’s joy ride. Unlike Cleveland, Orlando’s core is under contract for the long term.

“It’s as disappointing as it gets,” Van Gundy said.

Howard scored a team-high 28 points and earned the scorn of Boston fans for his hard fouls and the lingering sentiment for his inadvertent elbow that left Glen Davis with a concussion on Wednesday.

“We went down because we didn’t play as hard as we could,” Howard said. “That’s the way you have to look at it.”

Davis checked in four minutes into the game for Kevin Garnett, who received his second foul by attempting to karate chop Howard’s arm free of him. On the first opportunity afforded him, Davis drove hard through the line where Howard fouled him. He followed with a layup on Boston’s next possession.

Rasheed Wallace, bothered by back spasms, entered for the first time with about a minute left in the first quarter, but was forced to leave the game in the fourth quarter.

The talk on the day off also concerned the conditions of Wallace, Davis and Marquis Daniels.

The Celtics’ medical staff cleared Davis to play after he warmed up and took jumpers on the court, and the crowd cheered as Davis raised his arms to the sky and acknowledged them before the game.

Daniels, Rivers said, briefly lost feeling in his hands after colliding with Orlando’s Marcin Gortat on Wednesday. He was also told he had a concussion and may be sidelined through the finals. That was the only sour note on another page added to Celtics lore.

“Everything we wanted to do from the beginning, it’s happening now,” Boston’s Tony Allen said. “It’s on us to go out there and complete this journey.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/basketball/29celtics.html?ref=sports

New Stadium’s Name Could Venture Outside U.S

The Jets and the Giants are talking to “two or three” international companies about acquiring the naming rights to the generic-sounding new Meadowlands Stadium, the Jets’ owner, Woody Johnson, said Friday.


They’re taking a hard look at it,” said Johnson, who declined to name the companies.

In 2008, the German insurance company Allianz nearly put its name on the stadium for at least $25 million a year, but a revelation by The New York Times of the connections the insurer had with the Nazi Third Reich killed the deal.

The naming-rights market froze when the recession devastated some banks and carmakers that had put their names on stadiums and arenas. Citigroup was scorned by some for spending $400 million over 20 years to put its name on the Mets’ new stadium while taking federal bailout money.

But two factors should help the Jets and the Giants sell the stadium’s name: the slowly recovering economy and the N.F.L.’s decision to award the 2014 Super Bowl to the New York area. The $1.7 billion stadium has other assets: its location in the nation’s No. 1 market; the presence of two N.F.L. teams; a guarantee of a game every weekend during the season; and a vigorous commitment to add other events, like concerts and college football and soccer games.

The Super Bowl adds octane to the teams’ efforts to sell the stadium name, although Johnson said that “it’s hard to put a finite number” on it. “The Super Bowl is additive to the excitement of the building,” he said.

The guarantee of next year’s Super Bowl has not led to a naming deal at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex. With business strong at the stadium, the Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, is not in a rush to make a cut-rate deal.

Industry experts wonder if a Meadowlands Super Bowl will help boost the price to what Allianz was willing to pay. “The days of thinking they’ll get $25 million may be gone,” said E. J. Narcise, the principal of Team Services L.L.C., which last month got Yum! Brands to sign a long-term deal to put its name on the new arena for the University of Louisville men’s and women’s basketball teams.

Narcise added: “Right now, the market is very cautious. It’s like a homeowner with a property that has a certain value. Do you sell it now or wait until the market corrects itself? You need patience.”

The teams have reasons to be impatient. There are fears of a second recession, so waiting for a deal may mean leaving money on the table. The earlier a sponsor signs up, the longer it can tie its image to a stadium. How long do teams want to let the name new Meadowlands burn into fans’ brains?

The pool of naming rights buyers at the highest-priced level is smaller than it was before the recession. Those now in talks can exert more leverage than suitors could before the economy’s near-death experience.

Ben Sturner, the chief executive of the Leverage Agency, says he thinks the Jets and the Giants are likelier to get $15 million a year for the rights. “It’s still not a prime environment for a long-term, mega-dollar deal,” he said.

And Steven D. Korenblat, a partner at Bryan Cave who negotiated the Citigroup deal with the Mets, said a deal at the Meadowlands could be as short as five years, not for 20 or more, the kind of agreement that provides long-term stability.

“That way, the level of financial commitment can be gauged against how quickly the economy can bounce back and sustain a very significant transaction,” he said. “What the sponsors are willing to pay is what will govern.”

He added, rather ominously, “It’s hard to think of a company that is not currently affected by the economy that would want to be the first one to step forward in this market.”

One indicator of the state of the naming-rights economy occurred this past January when Sun Life, a financial services company, agreed to a five year-deal for a modest net annual fee of $4 million for the naming rights to what had been Land Shark Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, Pro Player Park and Joe Robbie Stadium in prior incarnations. The agreement was announced less than three weeks before the stadium hosted the Super Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla.

John Mara, whose family is a co-owner of the Giants, said Thursday that if the teams had to wait a year, they would. But he does not think it will take that long to find the right sponsor. “The activity has picked up in the last couple of months,” he said. But he said the roster of suitors had not increased since the Super Bowl announcement.

Johnson, Mara’s stadium partner, refused to describe the status of the talks with the international candidates.

But he said, “I’m happy to be negotiating with someone.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/football/29sandomir.html?ref=sports

N.C.A.A. Is Looking Into Former Kentucky Player

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Two years ago, Eric Bledsoe was a star point guard without the grades to meet the N.C.A.A.’s minimum standards and needing to find a new high school. He solved both problems by moving to A. H. Parker High School and now, after one season at the University of Kentucky, he is awaiting a lucrative payday in next month’s N.B.A. draft.

The changes in Bledsoe’s academic and athletic prospects have attracted the attention of the N.C.A.A., which has sent investigators to at least three places in Alabama to ask about him. The N.C.A.A. does not talk about its investigations, and the scope of this one is unknown.

But Bledsoe’s academic makeover and the extra benefits he apparently received could be another blow to Kentucky Coach John Calipari, who led teams at Massachusetts and Memphis that had their records and Final Four appearances expunged after rules violations were found under his watch.

Interviews with those connected with Bledsoe’s life in Birmingham revealed potential violations.

¶Brenda Axle, the landlord for the house where Bledsoe and his mother moved for his senior year of high school, said that Bledsoe’s high school coach paid her at least three months’ rent, or $1,200. By moving there, Bledsoe was eligible to play for Parker, which he led to the Alabama Class 5A title game. Maurice Ford, the coach, denied paying the money.

¶A copy of Bledsoe’s high school transcript from his first three years reveals that it would have taken an improbable academic makeover — a jump from about a 1.9 grade point average in core courses to just under a 2.5 during his senior year — for Bledsoe to achieve minimum N.C.A.A. standards to qualify for a scholarship.

¶A college coach who recruited Bledsoe said that Ford explicitly told his coaching staff that he needed a specific amount of money to let Bledsoe sign with that university. The coach, who did not want to be named out of fear of repercussions when recruiting in Birmingham, said Ford told him and his staff that he was asking for money because he was helping pay rent for Bledsoe and his mother. Ford denied this, saying, “I don’t prostitute my kids.”

He said he had done nothing wrong, adding: “I’m a poor black man. And when one black man tries to help another black man, there’s always something wrong.”

Calipari did not return a telephone call and text message seeking comment. A Kentucky spokesman said he was tending to his ill mother.

That Bledsoe — a 6-foot-1, 190-pound point guard — is on the verge of living out his N.B.A. dream would have been hard to envision in the spring of 2008. Bledsoe had lived an itinerant life for much of his high school years, often staying with friends or relatives, while his mother held jobs such as working at an adult book store and doing custodial work at a hospital.

By the end of his junior year, Bledsoe had attracted a solid list of college suitors, but the question of where he would play his senior year lingered.

Most of Bledsoe’s teammates at Carol W. Hayes High School, which was closing at the end of the school year, were transferring to Woodlawn, another local public school. But Steve Ward, his former coach at Hayes, had concerns about Bledsoe’s shaky grades and directed him to a local private school, Central Park Christian, where Ward thought Bledsoe would receive the academic attention he needed.

Bledsoe met with Levan Parker, Central Park Christian’s headmaster and former basketball coach; showed him a transcript; and picked up an application. The next day, though, Bledsoe’s mother, Maureen Reddick, called Central Park and said her son was going to attend school in California. Not long after, he enrolled at Parker.

Initially, the Alabama High School Athletic Association ruled that Bledsoe was ineligible to play at Parker, based on its transfer rule, but in November 2008 it cleared him to play, said Steve Savarese, the executive director of the A.H.S.A.A.

The A.H.S.A.A., the Birmingham City Schools Athletic Department and Ward were asked about Bledsoe by the N.C.A.A. assistant directors of enforcement Kristen Matha and Abigail Grantstein. They asked about everything from Bledsoe’s grades to his car to the circumstances surrounding his transfer, according to those who were interviewed by the enforcement officers.

“Definitely it was suspicious,” Ward said of the transfer. “He was in Woodlawn’s zone when Hayes shut down. His mom is bouncing around because she doesn’t have a steady job, so he moves to Parker’s zone. Of course I think it was a little suspicious.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29recruit.html?ref=sports

Yankees Find Stride, With a Few Adjustments

The Yankees’ favorable schedule, with 13 of 16 games against the three worst teams in baseball, gives them a chance to fatten their victory total and improve their standing in the American League East. That is one way to look at it. Here is another view, courtesy of General Manager Brian Cashman:

“I cringe. The way we’re playing right now, we’re a team you want to play.”

Want may be too strong a word, at least after the Yankees thrashed one of those cellar dwellers, the Cleveland Indians, 8-2, on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. Hardly any team looks forward to facing the Yankees when they are staggering because they are capable of erupting at any time.

Phil Hughes pitched seven sturdy innings, and Robinson Cano went 3 for 4 to pace a 12-hit barrage that also included a two-run homer by Nick Swisher that clanged high off the right-field foul pole. Cano’s seventh-inning grand slam scored Curtis Granderson, who showed no ill effects from the left groin injury that sidelined him for the last month.

“A good day across the board,” said Granderson, who went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Granderson said he was eager to see how his body responds Saturday after playing a full nine innings, especially with a day game scheduled. He expects to be in the lineup again, and the Yankees are glad to have him. Heading into Friday, the Yankees were tied with San Diego for the second-best record in baseball, but they had scored only 15 runs in their previous six games.

With the team arriving from Minnesota after 4 a.m. Friday, Manager Joe Girardi resisted the temptation to stray from his original plan of resting his cleanup hitter, Alex Rodriguez, and his catcher, Francisco Cervelli. Cano slid into the cleanup spot for the first time in his career, and his final hit landed in the second deck in right field, a rocket that turned a close game into a rout and earned him a curtain call from the crowd of 44,634.

“It’s always good to taste what it feels to be a cleanup hitter,” Cano said.

Granderson received a similar reaction during the first inning from the bleacher creatures, who had not seen him patrolling center field since May 1. In his absence, the Yankees went 13-11, playing more games without him than with him. From his vantage point, Granderson said he thought that the Yankees (29-19) happened to play several hot teams — Detroit, Boston, Tampa Bay — and that his presence might not have meant much.

But his injury, as well as those to Nick Johnson and Jorge Posada, thrust reserves into expanded roles and forced Girardi to tinker with the bottom of the lineup. Granderson regularly batted seventh before he was hurt, but he hit second Friday, and Girardi suggested he would continue to hit there against right-handed pitching until Posada returns.

For their corresponding roster move, the Yankees preferred flexibility over experience. They designated the veteran outfielder Randy Winn for assignment and kept the rookie utility player Kevin Russo, whose ability to play five positions gives Girardi options. Girardi seemed to be leaning toward Russo this week, starting him in left field the previous four games, and Winn, after hitting .213 in 29 games, said he was hardly shocked that the Yankees discarded him.

Less surprising was that Hughes reappeared as a force Friday, rebounding after two shaky outings to strike out eight while allowing two runs. He had been throwing the wrong kind of strikes — splitting the plate, not grazing the corners — and, as a result, struggling to finish off hitters: all nine runs he allowed in those starts were scored with two outs. His second pitch Friday, a fastball to Trevor Crowe, caught the outside edge for strike two, and Hughes put him away with a curveball, beginning a run of five consecutive strikeouts that flaunted the breadth of his repertory: curve, fastball, fastball, curve, cutter.

Hughes retired his first eight hitters, and 10 of his first 11, before encountering another precarious two-out situation. With runners on the corners in the fourth, Jhonny Peralta laced a double into the left-field corner, cutting the Yankees’ lead in half, to 2-1. After watching Luis Valbuena foul off two full-count pitches, Hughes unspooled a curveball that surprised Valbuena as it dropped over the plate for an inning-ending strikeout. The confidence Hughes showed in that pitch reflected an observation made before the game by the veteran Chad Moeller, who caught Hughes twice in 2008, that he had “grown up more.”

“I’d done it a lot last year as a reliever and it seemed like every time I’d get into a big spot, I’d throw a lot of 3-2 curveballs,” Hughes said. “I really hadn’t done it all that much this year, and Chad put it down as the first sign he gave, so I was like, that’s a good idea.”

INSIDE PITCH

Jorge Posada (hairline fracture in right foot) will not rejoin the Yankees when he is eligible to be activated from the disabled list Tuesday, but he is walking without a protective boot, and Joe Girardi said he was making swift progress. Girardi said Posada would start doing movement exercises and should start hitting off a tee soon. ... Alfredo Aceves received a second epidural shot in his lower back as the Yankees explored treatments to avoid surgery. Brian Cashman said they would have a better read on Aceves’s progress in about a week. ... The Class AAA right-hander Amaury Sanit was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/baseball/29yankees.html?ref=sports

Live ‘Glee’ Favors Exuberance Over Plotv

Perky to the max, the television phenomenon “Glee” shed its plotlines and flaunted its young troupers’ gusto and its karaoke repertory for “Glee Live! In Concert” on Friday night, starting a sold-out three-night stand at Radio City Music Hall that completes a four-city tour.

The Fox TV series is like a John Hughes movie turned into a jukebox musical. It follows the long odds and small victories of New Directions, an underdog glee club full of ethnically and sexually assorted high-school misfits. They sing and dance through pop hits that, like greeting cards, say succinctly what the characters are feeling. Meanwhile, they bond as a group and learn to stay proud of being different, a message reiterated weekly.

The cast’s performances of the cannily chosen songs — rock, R&B, show tunes and dance-pop — are choreographed production numbers verging on music video. They also have a lucrative second life in the pop charts, often spurring sales of the original versions as well. The show is a camp extravaganza, a therapeutic boost and a marketer’s delight.

At the concert, “Glee” was the star, not its individual performers: the clear-skinned 20-somethings who play its teenagers. Songs were staged to recall the show: mattresses and pajamas for Van Halen’s “Jump,” the same Lady Gaga costumes that appeared on May 25 in “Bad Romance.” Cast members were referred to by their roles, not their names, and most solos were quickly absorbed back into the group.

When Lea Michele, who plays the ambitious Rachel, belted “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl” with full Streisand drama, other cast members rained on her parade by making their entrance down the aisle, diverting the squeals and applause. As if reminding all concerned that they could be replaced, the concert also included a second dancing choir, Vocal Adrenaline (New Directions’ rival), which doubled as gold-robed gospel singers for Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”

Some “Glee” cast members are fully developed singers, some not. Ms. Michele is an accomplished, high-voiced belter; Chris Colfer, who plays the gay, fashion-loving Kurt, has an equally high and pure voice that has been underutilized on the show. Their duet on “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” — which vows to “trust my instincts” — was the best matchup in the set.

Cory Monteith, who plays the quarterback and drummer Finn, has an eager but thin voice. Mark Salling, as the bad boy with the Mohawk haircut nicknamed Puck, exercised a capable baritone, as did Kevin McHale, who plays the wheelchair-bound Artie. Naya Rivera, who plays the cheerleader Santana, briefly revealed another strong voice during a duet with Amber Riley, whose character, Mercedes, regularly sings climactic high notes with R&B melismas. Jenna Ushkowitz, as Tina, beamed through Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” one of the show’s many anthems of self-respect.

The lineup at Friday’s performance included a bonus. On tour, the show’s two adult leads — Matthew Morrison as the glee club’s teacher, Will Schuester; and Jane Lynch as its nemesis, Sue Sylvester — have been relegated to video. But at Radio City they also showed up onstage. Mr. Morrison strummed a ukulele and sang “Over the Rainbow.”

The concert set list was split almost evenly between songs about romance — from Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It” to Journey’s “Faithfully” — and songs about inner worth, like Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” (Journey had the plurality of song credits; the cast also performed its “Any Way You Want It.”)

Regardless of subject or lyrics, angst was banished. Everything arrived with a big smile and, usually, a group dance that had cast members strutting, kicking or arm-waving. At a time when rock musicals are taking over Broadway, “Glee” insists that in its happy-ending universe, Broadway pizzazz could swallow rock’s past instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/arts/music/29glee.html?hp

As ‘Don’t Ask’ Fades, Military Faces Thorny Practical Issues

For opponents of the ban against homosexuals serving openly in the military, the steps by Congress this week to repeal the policy, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” were a major victory. But now they are girding for what may be an equally difficult task: the transition to a force where straight and openly gay servicemen and women live, work and fight alongside one other.

Some homosexuals in the military say they are worried about how that process will work and whether they will be treated differently if they publicly acknowledge their sexual orientation. Some raised concerns about being harassed, assigned to separate barracks or shunned by colleagues who had been friendly before.

“In an idyllic world, getting rid of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and saying ‘Everyone here is welcome’ is great,” said a 29-year-old lesbian in the Army National Guard, who asked that her name be withheld because she could still be discharged under the rule.

“But the policy actually allowed for a lot of protections,” the soldier said. “Getting rid of it completely without modifying it is kind of worrisome. The number of incidents against gays in the military is going to increase.”

Indeed, both opponents and supporters of the ban say a host of thorny practical questions will face the Pentagon if Congress gives final approval to legislation allowing the repeal of the ban, which could happen this summer.

Will openly gay service members be placed in separate housing, as the commandant of the Marine Corps has advocated? What benefits, if any, will partners or spouses of homosexual service members be accorded? Will all military units be required to treat homosexuals the same? And what training will heterosexual officers and enlisted troops receive to prepare them to serve with openly gay soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines?

“The reality is, getting rid of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ doesn’t ensure that all lesbian and gay service members will be equal on that day,” said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. “There will continue to be challenges to make full equality for gays and lesbians in the armed forces a reality.”

Similar questions were asked when blacks were allowed to integrate previously all-white units. But that transition was not without its difficulties too, including instances of racial violence.

A Pentagon panel has begun studying the issues around gays serving openly as part of a broad review of homosexuality in the military, which will include surveys of thousands of service members and their families. The panel, led by Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of the United States Army in Europe, and Jeh C. Johnson, the Pentagon’s top legal counsel, is supposed to deliver its report by Dec. 1.

Under an amendment moving through Congress, once that report is finished, the White House and senior Pentagon leadership must certify that repealing the ban will not be disruptive to the military. Once that certification is made, final repeal will occur within 60 days.

The House approved the amendment on Friday as part of the bill authorizing more than $567 billion in Pentagon programs and spending. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the amendment on Thursday, and the full Senate is expected to take up the authorization bill later this summer.

“It could be late 2011 before this is implemented,” said Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, a nonprofit organization.

Supporters of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” who still hope they can stop it from being repealed, fear the effect on the military if it is.

Elaine Donnelly, a leading supporter of the ban on homosexuals serving openly, said she expected major fights over housing issues, including whether gay couples should be allowed to live together on bases, as married heterosexual couples are. “Same-sex couples in family housing will become a reason for families to decline re-enlistment or a change in station,” she said.

Ms. Donnelly, president of the Center for Military Readiness, a nonprofit policy group, also predicted fierce debate over rules governing antidiscrimination policies toward homosexuals. She said she and other supporters of the ban worried that service members who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds would be denied promotions, a policy she called “zero tolerance” toward anti-gay discrimination.

“Over a period of time, not all at once, people who find themselves out of step with zero tolerance will not re-enlist,” she said.

Mr. Nicholson called such concerns “political posturing,” asserting that tens of thousands of gay people already serve in the military, many open to their closest peers, without problems.

Gay advocates said that federal law would prohibit same-sex spouses from receiving the financial and health care benefits that heterosexual spouses receive from the military. But they said some privileges, like hospital visitation rights, might be given to same-sex partners. That issue, too, is likely to be a subject of much debate, they said.

Many service members interviewed this week said they knew homosexuals in the military and did not mind serving alongside them.

“If you trust a soldier with your life, that’s what is most important, not being gay,” said Specialist Kevin Garcia of the Army, who has done two tours in Iraq and is now stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

But Keith Johnson, a petty officer first class with the Coast Guard and a former Marine, said he opposed homosexuality on religious grounds and thought repealing the ban would hurt morale. “If I don’t know, it’s a whole lot better than someone parading it around in my face and me having to deal with it,” he said.

More than 13,000 service members have been discharged for homosexuality since the law was enacted in 1993, though the rate of discharges has declined. One of those who was discharged, Joseph Rocha, a former petty officer third class, said he planned to join the Navy again if the ban is repealed. “My heart is set on becoming an officer,” said Mr. Rocha, 24. “Before yesterday, that wasn’t an option.”

Amid their celebratory talk, gay rights groups on Friday also warned that the ban remained in effect. Indeed, Lt. Col. Victor J. Fehrenbach, a decorated Air Force fighter pilot of 19 years, could be discharged any day under a ‘don’t ask’ investigation that began two years ago.

After being accused of sexual harassment in 2008, Colonel Fehrenbach, who had flown combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, admitted to being gay, even discussing his sexuality on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC. Though the allegations were dismissed, a board recommended that he be discharged. His case is now before the secretary of the Air Force.

“It just seems incomprehensible that they could justify final discharge, given that Congress is moving toward ending the policy,” Colonel Fehrenbach said in an interview. “I’m afraid people will see headlines and think ‘don’t ask’ has been repealed. And that isn’t the case.”

Dan Frosch and Rob Davis contributed reporting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/us/politics/29gays.html?hp

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