JUMBOTRON!

On Saturday, Amy and I took a short drive down 290 to the UIC Pavilion where I was scheduled to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Windy City Rollers‘ bout against the traveling Colorado team. I admit to fairly large butterflies in my stomach on first entering the place. I hadn’t been there since one of Ralph Nader’s rallies (!!!) back in 2000, and I’d forgotten how big it was. Especially in comparison to Cicero Stadium, where the WCR used to play, and where I did an anthem before a regular local derby event in 2008.

But actually, the pressure was off a little as I came to understand that I’d be singing before the first bout, where the “B Teams” square off. Turns out a lot of people usually skip the first bout, and thus the Anthem. But I’m not complaining. The Windy City Rollers are crazy good people, we had fun, and I was honored to do my patriotic duty. Many thanks to Kevin for forwarding along my info, and to Polly, who took a chance on me and was completely gracious. Also thanks to Amy for “talking derby to me,” and capturing the magic on film like so: