When I joined St. Louis’ flat-track roller derby team in 2016, one of the first things I was told was, “Nobody joins roller derby if they have a perfectly happy life. Usually, they’re dealing with some shit.” That was certainly the case for me. I was 22, newly enrolled in graduate school at Washington University…
Sports
Rough & Tumble: Sitting Down With the St. Louis Crusaders
Rugby involves a lot of whoring. In fact, the whoring is one reason there’s such a brotherhood between players across the sport. As if that weren’t intriguing enough, they even have hookers on the field (for real!), and all of this goes on under the watchful eye of “the Sir.” OK, I may have inadvertently…
On a Roll
Initially, Andrew Black was seeking solace. His mother had just died, and he was at a loss. “I was processing trauma in my life, looking for a distraction,” Black, now 40, recalls. A middle school teacher by day, Black went along with a friend one evening to practice with the St. Louis GateKeepers, which at…
Jake Bain: Grace Under Fire, On and Off the Field
After Jon, an eighth-grade student at a St. Louis area private Catholic school, heard about how a star football player at John Burroughs School had come out and managed to remain calm despite being put on blast by the infamously hateful Westboro Baptist Church, he decided to reach out to the player. His Instagram conversation…