The
journey home from Virginia was a somber one. Recent Ligament Induction
Panel meetings have been long and taxing, and this one was no different.
The weary cynicism was written on our faces as we stared out the
rain-soaked car windows in silence. We were passing through Aitkin, one
of the many beautiful small towns on the road up to the Iron Range, when
a cacophony of bells broke our silence.
The
ringing was clearly coming from the large bell tower that dominates the
skyline in Aitkin. We pulled up to the adjacent church to investigate,
and saw a procession of people dressed in black leaving the church.
Their garments were not ordinary funeral black, though. We recognized
black Timberwolves jerseys, black Vikings jerseys, all Minnesota sports
teams, represented in black. Tony even thought he saw a Swarm jersey.
A
man was greeting the mourners as they exited the church. He wore a
black suit and a black fedora, and when we looked closer, we could see
the fine stitching on his back, reading ‘Duerson’. After the last
parishioner had left, he turned to us, his face old and dour with years
of mourning, and motioned us to follow him inside the church.
“What’s been going on here?” asked the Bruff, “That looked like no funeral I’ve ever seen.”
“No
funeral, indeed.” said the man, “No, this here was another meeting of
the Select Minnesotans Against Concussions and Collateral Damage, also known as
the Bell Ringers.”
The
man went on to explain the purpose of S.M.A.C.C.D., and how they
maintain the upkeep of the Minnesota Concussion Memorial. “Every time a
Minnesota player’s bell gets rung, we ring our bell, and memorialize the
concussion here, with a headstone.”
“Why
do you use headstones?” I asked. The man looked at me for a moment,
bewildered, then turned and led us silently out the back of the church,
to the memorial.
He
led us first to the headstones of Guillaume Latendresse and Pierre-Marc
Bouchard, Minnesota Wild players whose concussions and subsequent
extended absences were one of the many reasons of the Wild’s mid-season
plummet from the top of the table in 2011-12. Their headstones were the
same, each with the Wild logo and the French phrase "Mon monde à l'envers. Premières mon pieds sur la glace, maintenant ma tête."
Next
he brought us to the Minnesota Twins sector of the memorial. There was
Justin Morneau’s headstone, commemorating his concussion on July 7,
2010, which caused him to miss the rest of that All-Star season. It was
noted on his headstone that he relapsed in 2011, and his concussion-like
symptoms helped cause the worst numbers of his career and led him to
miss 93 games that season.
Beside
Justin’s headstone was Denard Span’s. He also dealt with a concussion
and the resulting dizziness in 2011, and missed 92 games because of it.
His headstone was marked with the Twins’ logo, and with the phrase ‘He
never could find his center.'
The
Vikings wing of the Concussion Memorial was next. The area set aside
for Vikings’ concussions was larger than any other area of the memorial,
and the plot was littered with headstones. Names like Steve Hutchinson,
Asher Allen, Greg Camarillo, Hussain Abdullah, and Christian Ponder
jumped out at me, but one headstone was different, and set aside from
all the rest in a place of reverence.
Brett
Favre’s moss-covered headstone was made of iron ore, mined especially
from the nearby Cuyuna Range, and symbolized Favre’s iron-man durability
in the NFL. His concussion on December 20, 2010, prevented him from
finishing the season, and thus, ended his career. The injury was
emblematic of an overall frustrating season for the Vikings; a huge
let-down after the success of 2009. His headstone was laser-engraved
with the phrase “My
long-hated enemy is now my long-awaited friend. He was retired, then he
wasn’t, then he was again, then he wasn’t again, and then he finally
was. No wonder my head hurts.”
The
rain was letting up as we moved to the newest addition to the memorial.
Even though it was wet, you could still tell that Kevin Love’s
headstone was newly cut and engraved. Love sustained his concussion on
April 11th
against the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves season, already derailed
with the injury to Rubio, finally crashed and burned as Kevin slumped to
the floor. His headstone read “His back grew weary with the weight of his team. His head grew fuzzy with the elbow of McGee.”
As we went back to our car, I turned and asked the man in black one last question.
“Why did you show us all of this? I thought this group was for select Minnesotans?”
“It
is,” he replied, with a wry smile, “and I selected you. I could see it
in your eyes. You young men had the look of true believers. I hope
you’ll come back again, later rather than sooner, and ring the bells
with us.”
With
that, he tipped his hat to us, turned, and walked back to the church.
We piled back into the car and headed south in silence, until I said,
“Well, gosh, that was bleak. It’s no wonder Minnesota can’t ever seem to
get ahead in sports.”
No one laughed. The pun wasn’t funny. And it was in poor taste.
But mostly it wasn’t funny.
Lol!!! So sad but so true! Personal favorite was the gravestone writings. :)
ReplyDeleteLet's see what liriano can show sabathia.... Ha!