Make no mistake ... this is gay!

​The bizarre story of three San Francisco softball players who were shamed off the field four years ago and stripped of their second-place medal for not being homo enough has finally come to a resolution.

Our sister paper Seattle Weekly reports that the three players -- Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles, and Jon Russ of the San Francisco-based team D2 -- won an undisclosed amount of money from the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance's Gay Softball World Series, and even better, they get their trophy back.

Ultimately, the settlement also means that bisexual players are indeed homo enough to play on the amateur softball league.
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With his children, Tyler and Tabitha

​After being in a coma for months with "ups and downs" in recovery, Giants fan Bryan Stow was able to speak, recite his birthday, and ask to see his two children on Wednesday.

According to his family's blog, Stow's recovery in recent days has included more range of motion in his left arm as well as changes addressing blood clot management.

But one week after a major surgery, Stow spoke to his family, told them he loved them, and when showed a picture of his two children, Tyler and Tabitha, he said, "I would like to see them."

According to the website, "Literally one day we got some facial responses and the next, he's talking.... Right now, Bryan is more awake and more responsive then ever."

Billy

​Police issued a missing person bulletin today for Billy Chamberlain, the 43-year-old disabled Giants fan who is famous for greeting fans, coaches, and players during Giants home games.

The team grew worried after Chamberlain failed to show up at his regular spot --Second and King Streets at AT&T Park -- for several weeks. Since Chamberlain, better known to the players as "Billy," has been loyally greeting fans at home games for decades, his absence was all that more curious.

The team was worried and contacted police, while others checked nearby hospitals for Chamberlain, who is taking medication. 
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SD Dirk/Flickr

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Last night marked the end of The Franchise, so it's time to take stock of the series. In many ways, it was a success, providing a most-access look into the Giants while also doing a serviceable job of telling the story of the team. On the other hand, it was often rudimentary and repetitive, recapping some of the team's games in broad strokes while not fully explaining just how bad the team has been over the past month.

Maybe the producers at Showtime and MLB Productions didn't get quite what they bargained for with this squad.

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SD Dirk/Flickr

​Of the many Giants that have been felled by injury this season, few have elicited reactions different than Buster Posey and Barry Zito.

The former is a beloved young star the likes of which the franchise hadn't seen in two decades; the latter is commonly regarded as an overpaid sissy who would have been released several seasons ago if not for his monstrous contract. Fans are predisposed to sympathize with one and demonize the other.More >>

Kansas ... where aunts are much nicer to their nieces

​Loreal Brown is no Auntie Em. The San Francisco woman was arrested this week after she allegedly chased down her 18-year-old niece and hit her with a pink baseball bat.

The victim and her mother -- Brown's sister -- gave police conflicting stories about what happened that night on the sidewalk at Eddy and Pierce streets. But what investigators do know is that a fight broke out between the victim and another teen, who were arguing over $50, Captain Denis O'Leary told SF Weekly.

The victim managed to wrangle the cash from her opponent, but the fighting wasn't over.
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jkorn//Flickr

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The Franchise has been on a nice run lately, alternating Cliffs Notes of the team season with human-interest stories in the right balance. However, for all its successes, the producers have had an easy time drumming up content. The Giants have been a stellar team over the course of the series so far, but they've been good enough that it's been possible to tell their story in relatively breezy fashion. Add in some major events like the All-Star Game and the White House visit, and the show has been easy to watch. There have been fun events and dramatic moments, but not the sense that this team is somehow unworthy of being the only MLB squad with a premium cable series devoted to its trials and travails.

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​Over the past few weeks, I've complained that The Franchise has too often focused on establishing and teasing out narratives rather than using its access to its best advantage. The first two episodes spent most of their time introducing the audience to players, sometimes more than once, and generally attempted to tell the story of the 2010 Giants in an amount of time that guaranteed it would feel incomplete. This series is unique because it shows parts of the Giants we've never seen before, not because it tells the story of the team especially well.

So I'm happy to say that the third installment of The Franchise is a success on all counts. This week's show finds the Giants floating in the doldrums between the All-Star Break and the trade deadline. Lacking any huge storylines, the episode glances over team's performance in broad, quick strokes, but focuses on the nitty-gritty of being on a professional baseball team.

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​I've written before that The Franchise is not really a show for Giants fans. In theory, it's a way for Major League Baseball to introduce some of the game's personalities to a broader audience at a time when it's finding it difficult to market most of its players. In its basic conception, this series is going to cover a number of topics with which Giants fans are well acquainted.

That was the case during last week's official premiere, and it's likely to be an issue for the entire show. We'd better get used to it.

Still, there's a difference between covering familiar territory and rehashing the same storylines within the series itself. Unfortunately, last night's half-hour episode -- focusing almost entirely on the team's All-Stars -- tackled a few topics that were discussed in-depth in the previous week's offering.

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Just what Washington needs

​It's probably a good thing for all involved that the San Francisco Giants will be paying a visit to President Barack Obama next Monday. The Giants deserve their hard-earned recognition as World Series champs, and Washington needs a dose of good sense as negotiations grind on over whether to raise the federal debt ceiling.More >>