Heroes

     I belong to a men’s roller derby league. No, really. I don’t skate by any means, I announce. When I got involved in derby I had no idea it would have the consuming effect that it has had. You kind of get sucked into this black hole and really don’t want to find your way out again. My roller derby league is unique though.

     First let me explain to the readers who are not familiar with derby. Roller derby is to many people a woman’s sport. The fact that men play at all bothers a lot of people. Roller derby is not a paid sport. Nobody involved gets paid. Players, announcers, volunteers… Nobody. This means that, to my mind you have to really love it to commit the time, energy and money into the activity. You have the basic idea of what is involved in derby.

     A few weeks ago one of our members’ sons turned 7 years old. I don’t personally remember ever being 7 - that was a long time ago. But I do remember that the things that happen when you are seven are kind of big, no matter what they are. He informed his parents, both of whom are involved in the league, that all he wanted for his birthday was to skate with the guys that he sees play roller derby. I very much suspect that this is the same as me asking to play with the Minnesota Twins and then go out to dinner with Justin Moneau afterwards. Nice thought but not very practical for all intents and purposes. That is, unless you happen to know the group of people that I do. Be forewarned that I may begin to gush from this point onward.

     The party was booked and invitations sent out. Special requests were made. He wanted to skate with his favorite player and wouldn’t it be cool if everyone came in uniform etc. By no means could you expect 30 people to show up to a party but the hope was that we would have at least some people. Here is what happened…

     I arrived at the venue to a crowd of skates and jerseys. The guys were skating and laughing, the kids were at least laughing if not doing what one would define as skating exactly. Not to worry about me bad mouthing the kid’s skills because when I skate I look more ridiculous and yes, I did strap on a pair of skates for the benefit (or detriment) of my 7 year old friend. After about an hour I decided to give up the skating idea and go back to what it is that I do on the league. As I picked up the announcer’s microphone, the gentlemen of the league then did one of the coolest things that I have ever seen a group of people do. They skated a “bout”. Two jams for the birthday. The first jam was started and stopped with the birthday boy himself blowing the whistle, and then, even better, the second jam to his infinite delight included himself as one of the jammers. The other jammer? His favorite player. The whistle blew and for the next two minutes he was on cloud 9, weaving and faking his way through the pack while his opponents contrived to fall, tumble, and push him through so that in the end he scored 3 grand slams. As the audience cheered I announced that when roller derby finally went pro it was clear who the first draft pick was going to be. They high fived him and for five minutes he knew what is was like to be a part of a team. He grinned so hard that I feared his face may be frozen in that pose.

     

     There are a few things that make this whole day amazing. The guys seemed genuinely happy to be there and to do all the things asked of them. And, when I later announced to the group at the board meeting that I thought they were an extraordinary group of men they seemed honestly surprised. It just didn’t occur to any of them that what they had done was anything but ordinary. But, I have never had dinner with Justin Morneau and like I said, when you are seven, stuff is a big deal.

     Heroes are not only men in capes, sports stars that get paid copious sums of money, or scantily dressed rockers. They are the people who, with no thought or effort, make the world better for others. They make a kid’s 7^th birthday the best he will ever have.

     They show all of us what a team really is.