Saturday night saw New Zealand’s first ever inter-league roller derby match-up. Our team’s colours are orange and purple, so after swapping the green shirt for an orange one, I figured the old joker costume would have to get another outing. What I hadn’t counted on was only three other people being in costume, and none of them being quite so obviously “costumes” (two guys had coloured boiler suits and gasmasks on, another had come dressed as one of the skaters).
At half time it was announced there was going to be a competition (I didn’t know that previously, I just like getting dressed up). I was at the other side of the stadium to the others that were in costume, so felt a bit embarrassed and stayed sitting down. Then over the PA comes “There’s a Joker somewhere! Can the Joker please stand up!” Well looks like i’ve been noticed, so I sheepishly got on my feet. The referee skated over and gave me a thumbs up, so I thought I must be in with a chance.
We were sat about four rows from the front, and when I stood up everyone in front of me was cheering and that gave me a bit of a boost. Then I turned around, only to be confronted with the sight of a thousand people behind me, all cheering me on! I was up on my seat in no time, and had the whole stadium cheering me on, which is a new experience I can tell you!
I won of course (a woman’s t-shirt, but hey, what do you expect?) and had to spend the rest of the night posing for photos, official professional type ones, phone-snaps from the crowd, and then all the kids who wanted their photo taken with the joker. My own favourite was with the two IHC kids; the brother stood there terrified rigid, and the girl was shaking like a leaf, so either she was terrified too, or very, very excited!
It wasn’t until much later that my wife (who was dressed in her purple and orange Velma costume) said “Do you know what you just did? You just climbed on your chair and got a stadium of a thousand people to cheer you on! Not bad for a bloke who twelve months ago wouldn’t ever leave the house!â€
Oh yeah, there was sport on as well. We got thrashed. 88 – 174.







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December 7, 2009 at 10:59 am
Fantastic story. Must’ve been one hell of a feeling. You might want to become a real super villain in order to have so many people at your grasp once again. Even if you’re killing them.
Any chance on getting your hands on the saucy pro photos?
December 7, 2009 at 11:37 am
still super creepy
December 7, 2009 at 2:37 pm
This photo is hella dope and I’ve never been in a stadium so I have no idea what it must have been like at all. I could tell from the first photo you posted that you’re a winner.
December 11, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Why so serious? And cool story bro.
December 11, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Ok, this is the best damn story I’ve read all day.
Need some way to bottle that feeling so you can knock one back when the universe tries to take a dump on you.
December 11, 2009 at 5:06 pm
how cool, that would have been a blast. your story brought a smile to my face.
December 11, 2009 at 6:39 pm
You look like a scary clown.
December 11, 2009 at 7:16 pm
That’s fantastic. Rarely has such a post deserved the “Awesome Things” more than this story.
December 11, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I like how you totally disregarded the wall of text restriction, but this was worth it. Awesome pic and story.
December 11, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Riveting Tale Chap.
December 11, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Great story there!
December 11, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Excellent!
December 11, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Fuck you, you’re a fuckin’ jerkoff.
December 12, 2009 at 12:52 am
@Special Kail:
That’s not even a proper troll.
It’s just mouthings of a little boy who has learned new swear words and wants to be a man.
December 13, 2009 at 6:20 pm
There’s always one.
To everyone else, cheers! I didn’t expect this to be so well received, but you’re right, it was an awesome feeling. I should add my wife found this pic on the net a couple of days after the event, and rang me at work to tell me about it. I’ve been buzzing ever since.
And cheers for the “awesome things” tag. I would have to agrree it’s awesome, but I wasn’t cocky enough to tag it myself
December 13, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Here’s my photos from the night; not as good as the professionals’
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53553&id=1439208947&l=4fde3ce517
December 24, 2009 at 2:17 pm
That link never worked for me, not two weeks ago and not now. Any other way of seeing said pictures>
December 29, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Should be ok, i’ve just tried it and it worked
December 29, 2009 at 8:23 pm
FB was being a dick to me all that time then, thanks.