As I posted above, my wife is a special needs teacher, so I’ve come to become more sensitive to the issues these kids face. As many others have pointed out, it’s the feeling of happiness that counts here, not the integrity of the W or Troy’s future in wrestling or whatever it was that Kung-Fu Joe was focusing on. Clancy and the crowd of spectators allowed Troy to experience something other kids get to feel regularly — namely, the energy of an entire crowd of people cheering him on as he gets a win — and that’s what’s important.

The way my wife describes it to me is she asked me to consider my first fight in front of a live, paying audience. I fought on the undercard of a pro event, which was filled with low level amateur fights like mine. People I’ve never met before were suddenly cheering us on as if they were our longtime fans, ooh-ing and ah-ing when clean technique landed, and giving us messages like “believe in your left kick!”, “shake off that punch!”, “do that cool throw again!”, and “keep the pressure on him!”. I got my hand raised and I heard the crowd cheer my name, and on the follow people asked to take pictures with me.

It left me with a great feeling. In the back of my mind, of course I understood it was just a silly BS amateur fight (during my fight I thought I destroyed my opponent, but when I watched fight footage afterwards I could barely tell who won myself), and I also knew that people were acting like fans because that’s what keeps boredom from setting in before the pro fights on the main card. Even though I understood it was just theater, it was a pretty amazing experience and I got a taste (on a tiny scale) of what pro fighters experience every time they fight.

My wife points out that in the same way there’s no point in repressing the happiness that I felt from winning an otherwise unmemorable fight in front of a crowd that was really just waiting for the main event, there’s no point in discounting the happiness that disabled kids feel when we set up events for them.

Many people experience elation when they do something successful in front of a receptive crowd. Whether it’s winning a hockey game, or giving a great speech, or even just convincing other people at work to acknowledge your ideas for the first time in a meeting, it can leave you feeling as if you’re walking on clouds depending on your personality. By requesting this special match, Clancy let Troy have a taste of that experience which will stay with him for the rest of his life.