By Troy Lyle
Derby referees hard at work tracking the lead jammer.
Normally most writers or journalists don’t respond to criticisms, comments or web posts. It simply is not a productive endeavor considering there’s always someone with a beef. But with the overwhelming online response to my ROCK vs. ROSI article in the May 19 edition of North of Center (NoC), I feel compelled to bring this debate to the larger public.
Since the publishing of the article I have been accused of many things, including bias, libel, and poor reporting, to name a few. I’ve been called a “piece of shit,” a “hack reporter,” and not directly, but definitely implied, a malicious person. Fair enough. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion. And what readers think of me is the last thing I worry about when I decide to write an article. Instead I focus on writing what the people I quote see. It’s always their words that set the tone and concentration for a story.
In the coming paragraphs I will do my best to touch on each of the above accusations and explain my viewpoint and motives. But before I begin, I’d like to put a few things on the table about myself, NoC and sports in general. I’m a writer. Whether good or bad is arguable. Nonetheless I write, and often. And for publications other than NoC. What separates me from the average guy or gal is a) I took the time and effort to write in the first place, and b) I write for NoC, a somewhat unorthodox, somewhat radical and always free bimonthly publication.
It’s safe to say NoC doesn‘t work under the same standards or principals as other large industry publications. A couple of visual cues, like the presence of the words “shit” and “fuck,” seem to make this point obvious. That is in no way meant to say there aren’t standards at NoC. There most certainly are. But the common assumptions of objective journalism do not apply here. That’s why we started the paper in the first place, to represent viewpoints often marginalized in mainstream reporting, and to represent those viewpoints in alternative ways. (Hence, a sports page that regularly covers, among other things, roller derby.)
In addition, I don’t receive a single cent for my work at NoC. I write and cover local sports, as well as other subjects, out of a love for community and a desire to bring exposure to fringe activities that are often overlooked. And if NoC were to try and pay me, I’d thankfully decline. I like it the way it is—I write because I want to, not because I have to. Not to mention that NoC has no money. We are constantly rubbing two nickels together to get each publication to print. I can’t begin to explain just how much NoC is a labor of love. In a lot of ways the paper is like a derby team. There’s no money or fame, just friends trying to make a difference in the lives of each other and a community.
As far as sports are concerned, I realize there are few subjects that incite more passion and conviction from fans and participants alike. Look no further than the string of heated responses resulting from my latest ROCK coverage and you‘ll know what I‘m talking about. But sports do not exist in isolation when it comes to reporting. Some of the individuals who have been quick to criticize my ROCK vs. ROSI coverage say I should be building the sport up, not tearing it down. I couldn’t agree more. That’s what I’ve been doing all along, but which few of the individuals who criticized me even acknowledged. Their gross lack of interest in my previous reporting is a direct slap in the face of the skaters they claim to love, not a slap to me. I could care less what anyone thinks of me personally. But I do care if roller derby has fans in the seats, or if roller derby continues to grow, or what is going on in the lives of the numerous women who make roller derby happen.
Another criticism vaulted my way centered on my so called desire to demean derby refs. Nothing could be further from the truth. But when refs fail, as was perceived in the case of the ROCK vs. ROSI bout, they are by no means immune to criticism. Refs are subject to the pen, just like politicians, who conduct their business in public, i.e. a derby bout. All one need do to prove this is type “referee criticized by” in a simple search engine for thousands of examples. What seems to be lost by the numerous individuals criticizing my article is the fact that the overall feel and tone of the article was established by ROCK’s skaters and coaches, not by me. I simply, at worst, embellished their viewpoints of the refs’ performance.
Put differently, my article that appeared in a free Lexington biweekly paper focused on the Lexington roller derby team ROCK; no matter how great an article on the refs might be, that subject was not the subject of my article. And given my audience—a Lexington readership naturally more interested in following the ups and downs of their hometown all-girls roller derby team than the trials and tribulations of a geographically dispersed group of (mostly male) referees—nor should it have been.
For the roller derby refs who felt my reporting was, and I quote, “crass, libel,” don‘t take it personally. I know I didn’t take your criticisms to heart. It’s all part of the process of engaging in a greater debate. There’s no reason to be mean spirited since we’re all working to make roller derby better. And if I’ve failed in this regard with previous comments or reporting I apologize. My intentions once again were not to degrade. We at NoC have called out numerous individuals over the course of the last two years. It’s actually quite common if you read our publication regularly, or even just our sports section.
In the past year, for example, I’ve coined the term “Mayer fade” in disc golf to refer to “outstanding early round play…followed by a complete and utter choke-fest, usually occurring on a single hole” (“Mapman blows out the competition,” Jan 13). The name refers directly to the humorously chaotic play of NoC‘s editor, Danny Mayer. Other sports page articles have asked for a public apology from an unidentified Alley Cat racer who led his lead pack astray (“Stanton and Hord skate to Alley Cat victories,” Jan 13), noted visible hangovers from bike polo players during tournament play, and re-named Lexington’s richest and holiest saint “Coach Coal.” With the notable exception of Coach Coal—face-man for a hopelessly corrupt and detached perversion of sports—we do these things because sports are games. If Mayer shits the pot on holes 14, 15 and 16 to absolutely devastate his score and any hopes of placing in the PF Open, so be it. He can still laugh about it. The same goes for refs who blow calls. Get over it; sports are meant to be fun.
There are two other points worth fleshing out here. One has already been stated above. NoC functions under a more progressive and independent set of reporting rules. The other is a very narrow view of journalism displayed by many of those who posted on our website. Journalism is not designed to report on subjects only in positive manners, of which I have done so extensively when it comes to roller derby. Instead journalism is meant to be the voice of the people, in this case the women of roller derby. That voice is, and should be, both affirming and questioning. Both are valid and much needed to maintain a healthy democracy.
What has not been mentioned by myself, or by those criticizing the piece, is the fact that no roller derby women, not one ROCK or ROSI skater that I know of, has come forth to wage a single dissatisfied comment about how I covered their bout or my critique of the refs that day. Not a single one. I’m not saying this makes my position correct. It’s simply to point out a much larger and unspoken truth in all of this exchange. It’s high time I, and dare I say, we men quit confiscating a sport meant for women. Haven’t we men done enough to confiscate what little women have to call their own? I thnk we know the answer.
Roller derby is supposed to be about empowering women, about uniting females and giving them a platform by which to compete and have fun—all while making them more active citizens and stronger individuals. I can’t count the times I’ve heard a derby girl say she was shy, or unconfident, or a loner, until she started derby. That’s what roller derby does—it builds confidence, promotes positive expressions of womanhood and allows individual skaters to realize their potential through the greater actions of the whole.
With that said, this is the last time I’ll comment on my reporting of roller derby. You will hear nothing else out of me on this subject. Instead I’ll let the women do the talking. I’ll let the women take control of their sport that was started for their benefit. Oh, that doesn’t meant I won’t be there cheering on the girls of ROCK. I most certainly will, and I’ll continue to cover their matches in NoC. And if ROCK says the refs screwed up, then that’s what I’ll report.
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