Holy Rollers

It's been a while Gentle Readers.  I won't belabor the reasons, er... excuses...but get right to the heart of today's blog topic.  Roller Derby!
I first got interested in derby after watching the film Whip It, which I have now seen 3 times.  If you haven't seen it you should go rent it right now and watch it.  Especially if you have a daughter.  Or if you've been one.  Or know one.  After you watch it, don't skip the credits or you will miss the outtakes which are wonderful.

This past weekend while visiting The Player we went to a roller derby bout.  The local team, The Rubber City Roller Girls was skating against the Kentucky Black-and-Bluegrass.  Those Kentucky girls were big and tough.  The first bout, between the "b" teams, ended in an exciting come-from-behind victory by the Roller Girls.  After a short break, the "a" teams began their bout.  Oh it got nasty.  We had to leave before the end, when apparently a fight broke out.  Expletives were heard.  It was not a good way to end the season for the Roller Girls.  They lost by some lop-sided score and then had to publicly apologize to their fans on their website for the fight.  Because Roller Derby is family entertainment. 

I think any woman who has ever had PMS even for a couple of minutes would understand the attraction of roller derby.  As long as you keep your elbows and hands off the other person, don't pass outside the boundaries, and don't trip them, well you can push and shove and bump some other people around to your hearts content.  In fact you are supposed to do that. 

I wish I could roller skate.

And I wish I had a great roller derby name.  Like Maul-i-bu Barbie, the star jammer of the Roller Girls.  Or like Stella Bruise, another RG jammer who by day is a pretty blond woman that works with The Player at the gallery.   Or Babe Ruthless, the star of Whip It. 

Here is a clip of the a team's bout on Saturday night.  If you listen all the way to the end, you might hear my laugh.