Roller Derby

So we finally found a sport we can get into watching. Is it foot ball? no. Is is Baseball? no. Soccer? Badminton? Curling? No, no, and no. It's Roller Derby! Last Sunday (2-2) we went to the season opener of the Texas Rollergirls. It was great. There were 4 bouts and during the half time there was a band playing. It's kinda like Nascar in that they go fast and turn left, and everyone is waiting for a crash. There were a few brutal crashes too, and some fighting. At first I thought the fights were just for show, but then there was some pretty nasty hair pulling that had me second guessing that theory.

We took our video and regular camera...... but on the way we realized both had dead batteries. We found some pics on the internet to share though. ...

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This is Sparkle Plenty who got ejected from the game for brutally knocking Rice Rocket into the crowd and then getting into a ruckus at the other teams bench...

Here is Rice Rocket who was the star of the show. She zoomed around the track. The game was tied until the last few second when she scored the winning point. The crowd went crazy.

The girls ranged from cute to scary... Slightly more skewed toward the scary...

Here's a fairly mild wipe out. You can see how close the crowd is. That little barrier doesn't do all that much. A Rollergirl went flying into the crowd a few times. The biggest mistake you could make when that happened is spilling your beer. Huge party fowl.

Here is the coach of the Hotrod Honeys getting escorted out of the rink after a little altercation at the end of the night.

and here is a bit of that "altercation".

Another miss understanding among the teams...

But it really sounds worse than it was. It was a family event. Here are some kids playing on the track at half time.

Our stay in Austin is almost up just as the new Rollergirls season starts here. We were sad until we found...

Aw yeah. Our Roller Derby nights will live on in San Diego.

And for anyone interested in the rules, here is what I got from the Rollergirls site. ..

The first thing you need to know are that there are three positions:

pivot: sets the pace for the pack and is the last line of defense

blocker: tries to stop the jammer, knocks around the opposing team's blockers

jammer: sprints through the pack, scoring points by passing members of the opposing team

The pack starts with a pivot from each team in front, 3 blockers from each team in the middle, and a jammer from each team in the back. When the whistle blows, the pack takes off, and on a second whistle, the jammers start fighting their way through the pack in an attempt to be named "lead jammer." The jammers lap the pack and when they re-enter the pack, the receive one point for each member of the opposing team that they pass. A jam lasts a maximum of two minutes, but the "lead jammer" has the right to call off the jam at her discretion.

It sounds simple, but it's not ... 'cause there are two little things called "falling" and "fighting" that fill some jams with mayhem, violence, and penalties. Hell, yeah.