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Roller Derby
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Any ST womens into it? I watched my daughter's match in San Diego last night. Quite a show. She was skating in the first bout with inexperienced skaters so it was pretty mild. The second bout with the regular skaters was really fast with lots of action.

This was flat track derby. It started up a few years ago by women forming teams, leagues, and then a national organization. It's all run and controlled by the members. No team owners, Olympic committees, race directors, or other interference. Kind of the way a lot of us would like to see triathlon. Roller derby is an exciting spectator sport so they can generate revenue by charging admission. Last nights match sold out and there must have been 200 spectators. Unlike banked track, there's no barrier between the spectators and the action so occasionally a skater goes flying into the crowd.

I was pretty impressed by it all. It's no rougher than soccer and takes a pretty good level of fitness and skill to compete. I was suprised when she told me she was doing it but now that I've seen it, it's pretty cool.
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Re: Roller Derby [Larry Himmel] [ In reply to ]
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what is her derby "name"
That is my favorite part..
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Re: Roller Derby [sprtymama] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, they get creative with their names.

She's Smart Alex. It's kind of low key. She says she picked it in a hurry. I've got a feeling she'll find a new one soon.

The girl that got her started in derby is Scarlene. Her "big sister" on the team is Holly Caust". There's Hard Cora and Cherry Poppins. And Vavava Gina.
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Re: Roller Derby [Larry Himmel] [ In reply to ]
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This isn't like the old roller derby matches that they used to have on TV back in the 70's? Next to women's wrasslin' it was my favorite TV entertainment sport back then. :-)

Is this something new and different?
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Re: Roller Derby [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]
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Great Jim Croce song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQJ65u60zFU

Gonna tell you a story that you wont believe
But I fell in love last friday evenin
With a girl I saw on a bar room t.v. screen

Well I was just gettin ready to get my hat
When she caught my eye and I put it back
And I ordered myself a couple o more shots and beers

The night that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

She was five foot six and two fifteen
A bleached-blonde mama
With a streak of mean
She knew how to knuckle
And she knew how to scuffle and fight

And the roller derby program said
That she was built like a fridgerator with a head
Her fans call her tuffy
But all her buddies called her spike

You know that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena

Round and round, go round and round
Round and round, go round and round
Round and round

Well I could not help it
But to fall in love
With this heavy-duty woman
I been speakin of
Things looked kind of bad
Until the day she skated into my life

Well she might be nasty
She might be fat
But I never met a person
Who would tell her that
Shes my big blonde bomber
My heavy handed hackensack mama

You know that I fell in love with a roller derby queen
Round and round, oh round and round
The meanest hunk o woman
That anybody ever seen
Down in the arena
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Re: Roller Derby [Larry Himmel] [ In reply to ]
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Women's roller derby has become pretty popular in Austin TX.

http://www.txrollergirls.com/

A&E even did a series on them.

http://www.aetv.com/...ergirls/rg_about.jsp


"Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard fillings." -Dr. Cox
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Re: Roller Derby [cerveloguy] [ In reply to ]
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This isn't like the old roller derby matches that they used to have on TV back in the 70's? Next to women's wrasslin' it was my favorite TV entertainment sport back then. :-)

Is this something new and different?

In Reply To:
[/quote]
It's the same format with a few exceptions. They skate on a flat track. There's no use of hands or striking with elbows against the other team. The idea is to have an athletic competition built around skating.

There are efforts to revive the professional version but that's a whole other crowd.
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Re: Roller Derby [Larry Himmel] [ In reply to ]
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Ok...been a lurker here for a little while now and must say "thank you" for the Women's section! :)
I couldn't resist posting on this one because I am active in both the world of Roller Derby and Triathlon! I skate for the Rat City Rollergirls in Seattle under the name "Miss Dismember". :)

Roller derby is an amazing experience. So many strong women from all walks of life, and such camaraderie! The entire league is run as a professional non-profit business by all the girls...committees for everything and it is all volunteer. Nobody makes a penny....in fact, we pay monthly dues just to participate. It was really amazing to watch and help this all from scratch. And leagues are popping up all over the world (Europe, Canada, New Zealand, and over 100 leagues in the US).

It has really helped a lot of the girls in the league have an "outlet" and empower them. I always joke about how there is no better therapy out there than derby...having a bad day, just head to practice and hit some girls a bit! Is such a release! And then we all laugh and joke and have a beer together afterwards. We're all friends even though we beat each other up!
If you get a chance, definitely go check out a bout or even try-out for a league!
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Re: Roller Derby [stephm] [ In reply to ]
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I thought there would be at least 1. And from an A league at that. I really like the way it sprang up and the way it's run. It looks like fun, too. If there was a geriatric men's league I'd join now.

It must be a full load doing tri and derby. Have a great season.
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Re: Roller Derby [Larry Himmel] [ In reply to ]
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I was just exposed to Roller Derby this past year when my sister in law became part of a new team here in the Bay Area. She is currently out of commission due to a bad back (she's had one surgery and will have another major surgery in a few months) but she still goes and watches her team when she can. I went to a bout with her at the San Jose Civic Auditorium and it was super entertaining. It was the Oakland Outlaws vs. the San Francisco SHEvil Dead. She is/was on the Silicon Valley Roller Girls which is a new team and has only had a couple bouts. They are still taking new skaters, too, in case any local girls are interested! :) My sister-in-law's name is "Broken Baby Doll" She is a tiny thing so she didn't exactly fit in, but she's fast and feisty as hell. She was a "jammer."

The sport is actually really fun to watch, I got pretty into it. There are referees and rules and everything, it's really organized. It's defintely rough, but it's not a free-for-all. The atmosphere is pretty crazy, the outfits are outrageous, the crowd gets really into it, it's cool. I wouldn't do it at this point because I'm a wimp and don't want to get injured, but if this running/triathlon thing ever gets old, I know who to call.

B.A.D. website

(SJ Civic Auditorium, Sept 2007)

...................................................
Training for: Barb's Race HIM 8.2.08
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Re: Roller Derby [stephm] [ In reply to ]
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Where can I get more info on the Rat City Rollergirls? I'd love to come see a match!

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Jen

"In order to keep a true perspective on one's importance, everyone should have a dog that worships him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce
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Re: Roller Derby [jenhs] [ In reply to ]
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Our website is http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com. We're currently playing at Hangar 30 at Magnuson Park in Seattle once per month and the first bout of the season is this weekend (March 22). Tickets were sold out, but I think they made a few more available at the door if you get there early enough.
There was a movie made about us last year...here's a link to the trailer on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Y83Yb0mxM
The sport is a blast and truly is a sport (with a tiny bit of spectacle thrown in to keep it exciting), and all of the injuries are real! In my 3+ years, I've had a concussion, torn meniscus, shoulder injuries, broken nose, major hematomas, etc etc. After derby, combat swimming at the start of a tri no longer bothers me much!
I'm currently taking a short break due to injuries and personal reasons, so will not be skating this season, but I am still involved and will be there with my team - The Derby Liberation Front.
Let me know if you come check out a bout!
Last edited by: stephm: Mar 21, 08 7:58
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Re: Roller Derby [quigley] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, I'm one of those "tiny" girls that doesn't exactly fit in either, but I'm a "jammer" too so it makes it easier to be fast and sneak through the slower girls! The downside of being small though is that if someone 2x my size gets a good hit on me I usually end up flying into the audience! There's a role for every body type in derby and these women come from all walks of life....we have lawyers, doctors, scientists, bartenders, small business owners, stay-at-home moms, etc. and the ages range from 21 - 50 if you can believe that! Truly a wide variety.
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