BRIAN WALKER
Age: 41
Hometown: Chicago ( Lakeview )
Grew up in: Owosso, Mich.
High Scool: Columbia Central ( Brooklyn, Mich. ) ; class of 1982.
College: Hillsdale ( Michigan ) ; class of 1986.
MBA: Marketing from Keller Graduate School of Chicago.
Works in: Higher education and marketing.
Status: Parter, Mike Demetria.
Gay Games sports: Football and softball.
Also plays: basketball and tennis ( doubles, often teaming with Will Ward )
It's a Fact: Enjoys reading, especially history, current- and international-affairs books.
It's Also a Fact: Enjoys the arts, such as plays, museums and cultural events.
He's cooking: Enjoys entertaining and often cooks meatloaf.
Favorite restaurant: Ping Pong
For Fun: Plays Texas Hold 'Em about once a month.
Hobbies: Commercial Aviation. Owns a plane and has a pilot's license.
Brian Walker started playing football as a high school sophomore, and threw up after the first day of practice. He immediately questioned whether it was the right sport for him.
But Walker returned to the field the next day and has been entrenched in football action ever since.
He earned a scholarship to play tight end for Hillsdale College, and went there despite several offers to play college basketball. And as a senior, the Hillsdale Chargers won the NAIA National Championship.
Walker is still making lifelong football memories, and winning championships. In August, for instance, he played for the Chicago Flames, which won the Competitive Division title in the annual Gay Super Bowl, played in San Diego.
Next stop on the football gridiron: the 2006 Gay Games.
'It's kind of hard to focus on the Gay Games at this point, since they're still months away, but I'm sure when 2006 kicks off, the excitement will start building. I'm really excited that the Games will be held here in Chicago,' said Walker, a blocker for Charlie's Ale House, a Competitive Division team that finished in second place in CMSA's fall flag football season.
'We were on a mission to win the Gay Bowl in San Diego, and we did just that. Some of the guys on the team didn't play a lot, but, when they came in, they came through. That's what makes that win, and that team, so enjoyable, so memorable.'
The Gay Games will, likely, be the next title defense for the Flames—and Walker knows the competition will be 'stacked and packed,' especially since players don't just have to play for teams from their respective cities, or even their home states. The top Gay Games flag football teams will be from Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, D.C., among other places.
'You can't be a player in the Gay Games, or even just know someone who'll be part of the Gay Games, and not be excited,' said Walker, who will be making his Games' debut in 2006. 'That week ... well, I know I'm not going to get a lot of sleep. I know it'll be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many people, quite possibly myself included.'
When Walker does in fact hang up the cleats, he might not leave the field completely. Walker might become a referee, as he's done in basketball. Walker spent 14 years officiating high school and college basketball in Illinois and Texas. 'I give a lot of credit to those who officiate,' he said. 'When you ref, whatever sport it is, you have to be tough and be able to accept criticism.'
Ironically, Walker is not a sports diehard. At least from a fan stand-point. He simply cheers for good plays as opposed to particular teams. Walker has, though, coached high school football in the past in Michigan.
Walker was named the Sportsmanship Award-winner for the Competitive Division this fall, an honor that was 'very important' to him, particularly because the social aspect of CMSA action is 'more important, most important' to him than the on-field play.
VICTORIA STAGG ELLIOTT
Age: 36
Hometown: Chicago ( Bucktown )
Sport: Figure skating
High School: Lane Tech, class of 1987.
College: University of Illinois, class of 1992
It's a Fact: She has competed in stair-climbing competitions to the top of the Sear's Tower, which takes her about 42 minutes up the 103-story landmark.
It's Also A Fact: She ran the 2002 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and competed in the 2003 Steelhead Half-Ironman Triathlon in Benton Harbor, Mich.
Quoting Elliott: 'I have a coach who kicks my ass on a regular basis, and refuses to believe that I can't do anything. I have a job that is flexible, meaning, if I have to come in a few minutes late because I've been at the rink, it's not a problem. I also have a podiatrist and a wonderful masseuse. Plus, I go twice a month to a floatation tank to relax and loosen my muscles.'
Victoria Stagg Elliott had basically no sporting blood, so to speak, until age 29 while living in Cambodia.
That's when the former high school math team member decided to swim across the Mekong River, which normally is about 1,000 yards, but, the way she swam and with strong currents that day, it was more like a 2,000-yard trek.
And so began Elliott's sporting adventure, one that includes a Gay Games gold medal in Sydney. She's preparing for the 2006 Games, to be held right here in her hometown, not to mention her home rink, with family and friends cheering her every move.
'When I was living in Cambodia, there basically was nothing to do. So, I trained for a couple of months for that ( swim ) ,' she said. 'I was so exhausted and relieved to finish that I didn't even pay attention to how long it took to do it.'
A few years after mastering the Mekong, Elliott signed up for Sydney, intent on swimming events. But she also agreed to participate in the triathlon, though she first had to figure out how to do one. Elliott sought help from past triathlon competitors, and so began her next sporting adventure.
'Sydney was a blast, an amazing experience,' she said. 'That was the event where I sort of became an athlete. When I marched into the stadium for the 2002 Gay Games, I really felt like that was the moment I became an athlete.'
Elliott was no longer the obese couch potato, as she admits. Her 30s are about sporting accomplishments, unlike her 20s when the 5-foot-5 Elliott ballooned to 245 pounds.
'When I moved back to the U.S. in March 2000, I was living with my parents in Evanston. And they lived near an ice rink,' Elliott said. 'Well, I wanted to learn something new and be active, so I signed up for a class. All I wanted to do was learn how to skate around the rink; that was my ambition.'
Elliott can skate forwards and backwards, and a little bit of jumping, and a two-foot spin, she said.
Elliott won a figure skating gold medal in Sydney in her skill-level, an Alpha skater.
She has progressed to a Beta skater, the division she will compete in next summer.
'I want another gold, especially because this is my hometown,' she said. 'More important, I'm thrilled to have my friends and family at McFetridge ( Ice Rink ) to watch me compete in an international figure skating competition, something that does still seem a bit unreal.'
There were 60 or 70 competitors in Sydney, she said, and more are expected in Chicago.
Elliott is a reporter for the American Medical News, a weekly newspaper for primary care physicians. She writes about public health and science. Plus, Elliott and her roommate, Marc Arendt, have a blog building up to the Gay Games. It's located at: www.guide2gaygames.com .
Elliott and Arendt have known each other for about four years. They are off-ice friends, naturally, and he serves as her on-ice coach.
Elliott figure skates up to four hours a week at McFetridge and Robert Crown, and also does two or three hours of cardio training per week, including running, swimming or bicycling. 'I will be cutting out running very soon in order to save my feet for ice skating,' she said. 'I'm also currently in the process of adding a weekly ballet class. '
Ross Forman is a sportswriter based in Buffalo Grove. He will be profiling athletes and other personalities associated with the 2006 Gay Games from around the world in his continuing series, 'On The Road To The Gay Games.' Anyone with story ideas, suggestions or comments can email Ross at: Rossco814@aol.com .
