So I didn't watch the Superbowl, or at least 95% of it. I wouldn't consider myself much of a sports fan unless a home team is involved. I guess I sort of resented professional athletes for the fact that they get paid millions of dollars a year to essentially workout.
They don't have to go work in a cube farm for a corporation that doesn't really give a rats ass how much you actually DO care about your job. Since I started learning derby (I don't think I've earned the right yet to say that I play derby) I think I've softened my stance oh-so-slightly.
I thought about all the time it takes someone to really become good at derby (unlike in "Whip It" it doesn't happen in a five minute montage). Then I though about how much more time and effort beyond that that it must take to become really good at a national level.
I watched the Superbowl for maybe the last five minutes. I saw all kinds of hits, pile-ups, etc... it reminded me of watching a scrimmage and seeing what those fabulous derby girls go through in those scrimmages: hits, falls, pile-ups, rink-rash, skates to the face, twisted joints. I see how that affects those women 30 minutes or three days later.
I can only imagine what those football players must feel like after running into each other for a couple of hours. I can only imagine what it would be like to spend most of my waking hours on skates training - a three hour practice can seem like eternity if I'm having a rough night.
So while I still resent them for being able to make a gajillion dollars a year doing something they love, I understand now that the price they pay for that luxury doesn't come in the form of a small paycheck but in the slow destruction of their bodies over their career.
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