Fight Club

The Notre Dame Women's Lacrosse team had a Fight Club.

I was not an official member.

I did have clear-the-bench status though. Meaning I agreed to have the Club's back if one of the members got into a fight on the field or in a bar. I argued for my admission - that I really was quite feisty. But the more rough and tumble players laughed and held my innate geriatric nature as their trump card for not letting me into the Club.

Basically it was all talk though - there was never really a fight to join. There were drunken screams, tears and punches thrown off the field once, but the Fight Club didn't get involved.

When we lost to the Northwestern behemoths in their gray unitard-like uniforms, and walked off their miserable field for the last time, the Fight Club disbanded. And over the years, its members lost much of their clout. I honestly think I could take a couple of them now.

Over the past year though, the group reunited. And instead of being partially pushed aside as a non-initiating, clear-the-bench-only member, I and the rest of the meeker players, reached full-fledged Fight Club status. The fight needed all of us.

We fought and fought all year long.
We fought harder than we had against the whole Big East Conference.
We fought against life being unfair.
We fought against pain.
We fought against cancer.
We fought for our best friend.
We fought for her mother.
We fought for life.

This weekend we walked off the field.
It was as cold, gray and miserable as that fateful day in Evanston.
It was as unfair as any loss caused by bad refereeing.
It was no one's fault.
In fact the team played harder than ever and Kassen defended the hell out of the meanest disease we had ever seen.

Today I don't want to believe we lost.
I don't want to believe that the most beautiful woman is gone.
All I can think though is that just as she was there to celebrate in the life of our team. We have to celebrate a woman who gave all of herself to those she loved.
Thank you Mrs. Delano for teaching us how to fight till the bitter end.
If there is anyone that should be in Fight Club, it's you.