I'M NOTHING IF NOT FAIR
So, many moons ago I blogged about a roller derby league here in Chicago. I stand by what I blogged, mostly because I think it is fair to take a group like this at face value from their web page, and there was some stuff on their page I was not impressed with. That being said, I just got a long, impassioned comment from one of them. Since she posted it to a June 2005 post, it will be buried from the world (both of you) unless I call attention to it. In the interest of fairness, the comment is here:
"Hi David....i know just as little about you as you know about Chicago Roller Derby. But i figured, i'd be so kind as to educate you just a little bit, me being one of those "goofs." Windy City Rollers' Roller Derby is all about opportunity and growth for the sixty some of us who've devoted over a year of our life to it. It is much more than wrestling on skates. It's sixty strangers managing to pull together some incredible skaters, trainers, designers, photographers, business women, lawyers and social workers to form a phenomenon that pulls in an excess of 1800 people once a month to see just how serious we all are about the opportunity we've been given. It's skating four hours a week until our thighs burn and then taking hits and skating some more. It's running and squating a few additional hours in that same week, to work through that pain. It's doing all our own advertising, merchandising, community activism, recruiting, training and production. It's pulling together such an athletic and entertaining show that, despite very few people knowing what derby is about, we pack the historic Congress THEATER with 2000 people by the end of your season and have them loving the game and on their feet chanting our name for two hours straight. It's sixty women doing all of this for nothing more than the love of the sport we've resurrected and being able to say we did this ourselves, without the backing of a major corporate sponsorship, nor trust funds nor connections, just good people. It's being proud to say that in less than a year we were able to raise more than $16,000 for local charities and volunteer in our community. It's being talented and smart enough to recognize that we've achieved more in one year than most rock bands, actors, atheltes and small businesses hope to achieve in five years or their whole careers. It's being acute enough to recognize that in a world where men's versions of most sports far surpass the marketability and financial investments of women's sports, we've promoted a sport that will always have a higher draw as a female sport. It's realizing how to balance femininity with toughness and power and style. It's knowing what we've created in the Windy City Rollers is solid and has afforded each one of us professional, personal, corporeal and social benefits and opportunities.
And yeah, you SHOULD go check out us "clowns" in action before you try to post more comments questioning the merit of roller derby as it pertains to opportunities and women or suffrage.
And yes, our names and motivations most definitely ROCK. We'd be happy to show you how much at any time. See you at the derby, David.
Your friendly neighborhood Derby Dame, Varla Vendetta, #25, CoCaptain of the Hell's Belles, Windy City Rollers all girl, flat track, slap you in your face, Roller Derby"
And there it is. I stand corrected. Their bouts were at the Congress Theater, rather than the Congress Hotel. I stand by the rest of what I said. Broken Cherry? Good grief.
So, many moons ago I blogged about a roller derby league here in Chicago. I stand by what I blogged, mostly because I think it is fair to take a group like this at face value from their web page, and there was some stuff on their page I was not impressed with. That being said, I just got a long, impassioned comment from one of them. Since she posted it to a June 2005 post, it will be buried from the world (both of you) unless I call attention to it. In the interest of fairness, the comment is here:
"Hi David....i know just as little about you as you know about Chicago Roller Derby. But i figured, i'd be so kind as to educate you just a little bit, me being one of those "goofs." Windy City Rollers' Roller Derby is all about opportunity and growth for the sixty some of us who've devoted over a year of our life to it. It is much more than wrestling on skates. It's sixty strangers managing to pull together some incredible skaters, trainers, designers, photographers, business women, lawyers and social workers to form a phenomenon that pulls in an excess of 1800 people once a month to see just how serious we all are about the opportunity we've been given. It's skating four hours a week until our thighs burn and then taking hits and skating some more. It's running and squating a few additional hours in that same week, to work through that pain. It's doing all our own advertising, merchandising, community activism, recruiting, training and production. It's pulling together such an athletic and entertaining show that, despite very few people knowing what derby is about, we pack the historic Congress THEATER with 2000 people by the end of your season and have them loving the game and on their feet chanting our name for two hours straight. It's sixty women doing all of this for nothing more than the love of the sport we've resurrected and being able to say we did this ourselves, without the backing of a major corporate sponsorship, nor trust funds nor connections, just good people. It's being proud to say that in less than a year we were able to raise more than $16,000 for local charities and volunteer in our community. It's being talented and smart enough to recognize that we've achieved more in one year than most rock bands, actors, atheltes and small businesses hope to achieve in five years or their whole careers. It's being acute enough to recognize that in a world where men's versions of most sports far surpass the marketability and financial investments of women's sports, we've promoted a sport that will always have a higher draw as a female sport. It's realizing how to balance femininity with toughness and power and style. It's knowing what we've created in the Windy City Rollers is solid and has afforded each one of us professional, personal, corporeal and social benefits and opportunities.
And yeah, you SHOULD go check out us "clowns" in action before you try to post more comments questioning the merit of roller derby as it pertains to opportunities and women or suffrage.
And yes, our names and motivations most definitely ROCK. We'd be happy to show you how much at any time. See you at the derby, David.
Your friendly neighborhood Derby Dame, Varla Vendetta, #25, CoCaptain of the Hell's Belles, Windy City Rollers all girl, flat track, slap you in your face, Roller Derby"
And there it is. I stand corrected. Their bouts were at the Congress Theater, rather than the Congress Hotel. I stand by the rest of what I said. Broken Cherry? Good grief.
posted by David at 12:10 AM
3 Comments:
Your an asswipe! Stereotyping and generalizing and you don't even know the people personally.
That should be "you're" and I think it makes YOU the asswipe.
You go girl!!! That post was inspiring! I can only imagine the tears of righteous indignation as Varla typed in her impassioned comments. I'll bet that when Varla was done all of the roller derby girls gathered around to give each other one of those big group hugs and those silly chick high fives that you see at volleyball games. Or maybe it was more like one of those sorority girl fake hugs where they profess undying love and wipe away tiny tears. Sniffle... Anyway, I am going to print Varla's response, frame it and hang it in my daughter's room. I want her to know what empowerment and following your dreams is all about. GIRL POWER!!!
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