A friend of mine invited Heather, Elliana, and me to go to a women's roller derby match. Since it was such a sub-culturally unique thing to do and we will likely never have the chance to go to another roller derby match again, we decided to go. And it did not disappoint.
There were no clotheslines or full-on tackles, but there was some serious hip- and shoulder-checks. The event consisted of two games, the first being a 30 minute exhibition match, and the second being a full 60 minute game.
To give a little bit of an introduction to the sport to the few who don't follow it, two teams compete on a flat track roughly the size of a local rollerskating rink. Each team is composed of two types of players: one offensive player known as the jammer, and the rest of the team (typically 4-5 players) known as blockers. The jammer scores points by lapping all of the other team's players. The other players try to prevent this by using any part of their body from their mid-thigh to their shoulders to hit, obstruct, and otherwise flatten the jammer. It's very fun to watch, and some of those girls deliver body checks that would make the NHL proud. It was flat-out awesome!
One other fun thing to note: all of the names of the teams and players are based on puns. Once a girl makes it onto a team, she either comes up with or is given a roller derby name. Some of the names we saw included Ovary Reaction, Green Eggs and Wham, Condoleezza Slice, Velocityraptor, Lois Slain, and Beelzebubba. Our friends, one of which used to play in the New York city roller derby league, gave Elli an honorary roller derby name: Baby Ruthless. Awesome, huh!
The teams we saw compete included Scare Force One, Cherry Blossom Bombshells, Rollergirl Allstars, and the DC Demoncats. We definitely recommend you guys go to a match if you ever get the chance.
Oh yeah, one last fantastic tidbit from the game. For the half time show, a man dressed up as Captain America and a woman dressed up as the lady Flash did a roller skating duet to R&B music. It was without a doubt almost spectacular, but mostly disturbing. : )
5 comments:
What the crap?!! This is so random that I don't even know where to start. Mostly awesome, but seriously weird.
Very random indeed. But wow! Who knew?? Thanks for the educational post. :)
I think Elli is looking more like Heather these days. She's a doll! Thanks for updating us on her cuteness!
I agree - very educational. I just wish we'd been there - seeing YOU enjoy that event would've been totally worth it!
I NEED to go to a roller derby match..in fact it is now on my bucket list! and don't think I haven't begun to come up with a cool derby name....
There's a decently funny movie about Girls Roller Derby - Whip It. Made the whole thing look intense and interesting!
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