Hey, Faggot!

Between periods with the Bulldogs, Summer, 1997
Photo Copyright © 1997 by Ralph Vallin

Between periods of a roller hockey game at Skate 'n' Splash in San Jose, I was skating from one net to the other when I overheard someone in the opposing team's bench calling someone a faggot. I stopped, looked straight at the kid who said it, and said, "I'm sure you meant that in the nicest possible way."

The kid looked good and shocked ... and there was silence on that bench.

Someone spoke up. "What's wrong with 'Faggot'?"

"It's just like calling someone a nigger and there is no call for that kind of foul language at a hockey game."

After the game, a member of that team apologized to me for his teammate's comment and agreed with what I had said about obscene language.

At a faceoff at an ice hockey game at the Oakland Ice Center, an opposing team member once punched one of my defensemen—and got a five-minute penalty.

After the game I asked my defenseman what had happened, and he explained it to me. "The guy called me a cocksucker—he was trying to start a fight. So I just looked at him, shook my head, pointed at you, and said, 'No, our cocksucker is over there in net.' That's when he punched me."