Jack Briggs
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 1999
- Messages
- 16,805
First, from this morning's Los Angeles Times, a columnist writes a straight-up appreciation of the new grassroots-style Roller Derby leagues forming all over the nation:
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-erskine-20101118,0,1711789.column
Of course, the column is specifically about the L.A. Derby Dolls, a homegrown league here in SoCal comprised of five women-only teams who skate on a banked track in an old warehouse on Temple Street next to Silver Lake. The columnist watched the same "bout" that I did, while enjoying Tecate beer and enjoying the spectacle of women athletes basically clobber each other.
I have a confession to make: Ever since childhood, Roller Derby has fascinated me. I watched the Seltzer-owned Roller Derby league on television, and I even took in L.A. Thunderbirds games of the old Roller Games circuit. But the theatrics and scripted silliness was a little wearing.
Not so the teams in the Derby Dolls. These women really are skating to win. Too, the game is a little different from the mixed-gender stuff I saw as a kid. There is but one official jammer, three blockers, and a pivot skater who also can be a jammer. The Derby Dolls do a year-'round schedule of one or two games a month, and everyone is a volunteer. Nobody makes any money off this.
But what they give you is just about the most memorable Saturday-evening entertainment imaginable.
Look, this isn't so-called "studio wrestling" any longer. It's a real, honest-to-goodness sport. The crowds that pack the Temple Street converted warehouse are mostly punk-rock types, and everyone has a blast. And I know I will be back for more. The next "bout" is scheduled for Dec. 4. I'm there. (And, seriously, I love the work of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and so on. Yet I also sure like to watch pretty young women skate in formation and jammers trying to pass the opposite team while clobbering each other. Yin and yang, I suppose.)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-erskine-20101118,0,1711789.column
Of course, the column is specifically about the L.A. Derby Dolls, a homegrown league here in SoCal comprised of five women-only teams who skate on a banked track in an old warehouse on Temple Street next to Silver Lake. The columnist watched the same "bout" that I did, while enjoying Tecate beer and enjoying the spectacle of women athletes basically clobber each other.
I have a confession to make: Ever since childhood, Roller Derby has fascinated me. I watched the Seltzer-owned Roller Derby league on television, and I even took in L.A. Thunderbirds games of the old Roller Games circuit. But the theatrics and scripted silliness was a little wearing.
Not so the teams in the Derby Dolls. These women really are skating to win. Too, the game is a little different from the mixed-gender stuff I saw as a kid. There is but one official jammer, three blockers, and a pivot skater who also can be a jammer. The Derby Dolls do a year-'round schedule of one or two games a month, and everyone is a volunteer. Nobody makes any money off this.
But what they give you is just about the most memorable Saturday-evening entertainment imaginable.
Look, this isn't so-called "studio wrestling" any longer. It's a real, honest-to-goodness sport. The crowds that pack the Temple Street converted warehouse are mostly punk-rock types, and everyone has a blast. And I know I will be back for more. The next "bout" is scheduled for Dec. 4. I'm there. (And, seriously, I love the work of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and so on. Yet I also sure like to watch pretty young women skate in formation and jammers trying to pass the opposite team while clobbering each other. Yin and yang, I suppose.)