Went to the Roller Derby

[TromboneAl]

As part of someone's birthday party, Lena and I went to the roller derby last night. Good timing, because someone in my next book is going to be a roller derby woman.

It was interesting, but mostly boring.

This video has all the boring parts edited out. Often the women aren't really moving forward, just jostling each other like at the bargain bin at Walmart.

 

[bbbamI]

I'll have this song going thru my head today....

 

[Bamaman]

Well I went to a benefit 3 weeks ago for a little girl that was a victim of domestic violence. The famous Bill Dundee and a bunch of semi-professional wrestlers gave a Sunday afternoon to wrestle in an old barn that'd been turned into an arena.


And we about burned up on a 97 degree sunny day. As we left, my 7 year old grandson about cried. He thought it was all real.

 

[TromboneAl]

The thing that gets me is how all those people could enjoy it so much. Sure, they understood the rules more, but I had the basic idea of how it worked. The place was packed.
They had a first game, then a thirty-minute intermission plus another twenty minutes due to some official timeout.

Yes, beer and pizza and cupcakes would have helped, but still.

I envy people who are entertained enough by things like this to go out at night, pay $13 per ticket, and spend hours watching.

I don't think this was fake, like the ones I saw on TV long ago. This was more like six-year-olds playing soccer, with a big clump of humanity following the ball around.

Even though I sound disparaging, I'm impressed with the spirit that the women had. It was all amateur.

 

[Sarah in SC]

The local league here is pretty entertaining, I'm told, and there are a lot (I mean a LOT) of broken bones, even on the second string. I looked at maybe joining a few years ago, but the possibility of a lengthy term on crutches dissuaded me.

 

[Bamaman]

I remember running into a major league Roller Derby lady in a Holiday Inn elevator in St. Louis--in 1971. My completely intoxicated buddy looked at her and asked, "Is that shxx fake, like wrestling?" I was just glad she was a good sport.

 

[ArkTinkerer]

One of our friends is a ref for the women's roller derby league. Went to one event and thought it was OK. Not like the old ones on TV where they have the sloped rinks though. I guess that keep the speed down.