Out Magazine is reporting a story this month about Francisco Rodriguez of Paraguay, the first former ATP pro to talk "about being gay on the tour.” I haven’t seen the article in print, but if it’s the same as this online version, it’s hardly groundbreaking material. Or much talk.

Frankly, I’ve never heard of the guy. The article suggests the 32-year-old lives in Atlanta (it doesn’t say what he’s doing) and played from 2001-2006. I looked him up and indeed there is a Francisco Rodriguez on atptennis.com who reached a career-high ranking of No. 373 in October of 2004. He went 10-6 in ATP Tour events, won no titles, and earned $31,717. He also played some Davis Cup and still does, according to the article. 

The article quotes, among others, recently disowned Justin Gimelstob, Sports Illustrated’s L. Jon Wertheim, ATP board member Ivan Ljubicic and the queen of all tennis queers, Martina Navratilova. It’s also full of deep stuff, like this: “Until recently, however, a boyfriend in Francisco’s corner -- or even a group of gay fans -- was unthinkable. ‘If you came out on the tennis tour,’ Francisco says, ‘you would be an outcast.’ It’s light fare, to say the least.

What impact will this make in tennis? Not nearly as much as Ashley Harkleroad posing semi—nude in Playboy, which comes out any day now. Unlike John Amaechi, the retired NBA journeyman from England who published a coming out memoir last year, I don’t expect Rodriguez’s step out of the closet to make many waves in tennis.

For one, he’s a nobody. Second the article that I’ve seen doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the issues at hand. Third, tennis is an individual sport and a second-tier sport, so it will never have the same reach as in baseball, football, basketball or hockey. Finally, it will take a much higher profile retired player – someone who was a top-10 or Grand Slam winner - or an active man in the top 50 to make the media fault lines crack a little.

Speaking of change, the more I thought about the advent of the retractable roof at Wimbledon’s Centre Court the more I disliked the idea of it. I admit that I’ve been a proponent, especially after my first Wimbledon several years ago when it rained so much and they fell so far behind the first week that they played the middle Sunday. No fun. But something quaint will be missing – the flash and professionalism of the ball boys and girls whipping the protective tarp across the grass in the blink of an eye; the umpire calling “Play is suspended!”; the disruptive ebb and flow of rain breaks long and short that added tension and drama to a contest (if also headaches) such as the magnificent, all-day Shakespearian battle fought this weekend by Federer and Nadal. It will be no more, and it will be missed. TV has won again.

I spoke to Cliff Drysdale today and he disagreed. The veteran ESPN commentator said from a TV production value perspective, the translucent roof is a winner. “What other sport that you have to deliver to an audience in a given time can be completely wiped out?” he said. Well, there are others, such as golf, but I see his point. But I still think a certain charm will be lost, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks that way.