Tim L
Play La Bamba Baby! That’s right, play it because La Bamba is more than just the catchy song popularized by Richie Valens back in 1958 and more recently East LA band, Los Lobos. In Edmonton if you’re at Rogers Place and La Bamba is blasting out of the sound system, it means only one thing- OILERS VICTORY! The latest Featured Edmontonian is Dan Gallant and he’s one of the driving forces that made that happen. Dan and I spoke a bit about that and a few other things that make him tick while hanging out at the Koffee Kafe in South Edmonton last week. Like a true Oiler fan he showed up sporting Oiler gear head to toe.
TL- How’s it goin’ Dan? I see you ran here, and in an Oiler jersey no less! I didn’t know you were a runner…
DG- It’s a bit of a funny story. Back in 2017 the Oilers started the year 1 and 2 or 1 and 3 or something and so I figured I’d say something stupid on the internet and try and get some life built around it. I put out a tweet saying I would wear shorts until the Oilers were back above .500, only it backfired and I ended up wearing shorts for 480 of the next 500 days. I was eventually told to stop so I decided to change it to being about my health and started running after every Oilers loss in 2018.
TL- Had you been much of a runner before that?
DG- No, I was actually so heavy that I had to go to the doctors office to get weighed because no commercial scales could do it. Since 2017 I’ve lost over 200lbs.
TL– Wow, unreal. That’s a hard thing to accomplish! Well, now that you’re a runner, do you have any racing goals or anything?
DG- I’m looking at doing the 50km Blackfoot Ultra at the end of May and if it goes good it’ll be a training one for a 100km race I want to do in the mountains. All of this feeds a dream I have to run across Canada and try to do the Terry Fox thing. It’s probably not going to happen before I’m 40, which was my goal, but it’s still there. At this point I’m thinking it would take 6 or 7 months to do so I’ll see if I can get that together.
TL- NICE, that would be a great experience although definitely one in which you would need a support crew. Do you have any family you could lean on for support in that?
DG- Actually yeah I do, I’m married and have three step kids. The oldest is 19 and he moved out and is thriving independently, but also have an 18 and 16 year old. They were 9, 12, and 14 when I got involved with my current wife.
TL– Holy Smokes, that’s like instantly going from 0-100, talk about a steep learning curve!
DG- Totally. It was definitely interesting stepping into a situation where you had 3 kids coming of age. There are courses out there that help families navigate similar situations. We paid for a private course, but there are some really good free ones out there. Early on I had this strong desire to have every interaction be perfect and wholesome because I felt like I was playing catchup. What I came to realize is that we’re all making it up as we go along, you know, just figuring it out while the plane is in flight so to speak, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
TL- How did you get involved with OilersNation? I’ve watched the podcast a bunch of times and I find it really good. Yaremchuk, Bagged Milk, Rick, and Liam are a bunch of characters.
DG- Initially I applied to be an intern and got turned down. About a month later their guy quit because he didn’t like the amount of work they were making him do so I got on! I started by working 5 hours a week in the basement of The Little Brick Cafe in Rossdale shipping out all the Nation gear. I’m like 6’4″ in a 105 year old house and all I remember is my head scraping the ceiling. Here I am 9 years later.
TL- So it’s been a pretty good run then?
DG- Absolutely. I’ve worn about a 1000 different hats with them but, going back even further, it’s my 20th season next year in sports media. Currently I run the website hockeyfights.com and of course I’ve been on the Oilers Nation radio podcast for the last 8 years. I also collaborate and participate with a bunch of different Oilers Nation things including the podcast you were on, The Sauce, by being a guest and just being around to pitch in. I love Ryder and Lisa to death.
TL- Ok, so you’re also the reason the Oilers play La Bamba after each home victory. Tell me how that came to be…
DG- It all centers around Joey Moss and how after he passed away there was a bunch of things we tried to do to create a lasting legacy, including having the High Level Bridge named after him.
TL- For those reading this and don’t know, Joey Moss is an Edmonton legend and icon of the community. He suffered from Downs Syndrome and was brought into the Edmonton Oiler and Eskimo fold by Wayne Gretzky when he was dating Vicky Moss, Joey’s older sister.
DG- It’s probably one of Wayne Gretzky’s greatest legacies to be honest. Anyway, after the funeral I was reading a Jason Gregor piece where he spoke to about 50 former teammates and friends of Joey’s. A bunch of them brought up how much Joe loved karaoke, him not even knowing the words but belting out La Bamba, his excitement was so wholesome and heartfelt. If you go online, you can find him doing versions of it. I started posting in the middle of that summer, one post a day until they made it the goal song.
TL- So it didn’t become the goal song, it became the victory song, eh?
DG- Yeah, after day 20 or 21 I got a random DM from somebody with the Oilers and while she wouldn’t tell me how, she told me that my campaign worked and that they were going to use the song. I bought a ticket to the first game and it wasn’t played at the pregame ceremony or after any goal they scored. It wasn’t played even during any of the videos on the big screen, but at the end of the game we won and all of a sudden the song started. I get choked up now thinking about it and how it was Joey Moss’s favorite song and other than that it has nothing to do with Edmonton. It’s talking about a sailor or something but it fosters a story that continues to grow like seeing little Ben Stelter do his “Play La Bamba Baby!”, and now that’s the next step in the story.
TL-Awesome! I love that tradition, hopefully it’s here to stay. Los Labos should perform it live after a game sometime. But speaking of Joey Moss, he’s the inspiration behind the charity you chose for The Streets Initiative, right?
DG- Yeah, Winnifred Stewart is the society that worked with Joey and many other individuals that are dealing with diverse abilities so that they can live more independent lives. Specifically, it’s the Joey and Friends Empties Program where you can donate your old cans and bottles. They’ll even come to your house and collect them for you. Any extra money for Winnifred Stewart can help them unlock whatever passions and excitements exist in each individual.
TL- Thanks Dan and great suggestion for a worthy charity. Anybody who is interested can read more about them and the great work they do here: https://www.winnifredstewart.com/
