Are you ready to ruuuuumbblllllllllee?!?

The warm-up session
Rat City Rollergirls exhibition and charity bout
March 4, 2006.

Roller derby rides again! Well, it's the first time for me since I never saw it on TV growing up. But it's back, all across the country.

Being a new quad (roller skate) owner, I remembered hearing about roller derby last year. The Rat City Rollergirls, a 4-team league, until recently was based out of the Southgate Roller Rink in White Center, about a mile from my house. That rink may have closed too soon since there is suddenly a huge upsurge in interest in roller skating - both derby-style and for just plain ol' fun and exercise.

Not only are teams and leagues popping up all over (including new teams forming now in Tacoma, Olympia, Spokane, and Boise - not to mention Vancouver, BC) there's even a reality show on A&E called Rollergirls. I found out about it late and watched episode 10 last week - it's a little hard to come into a show like that so late in the game. Maybe I will watch it on DVD when it comes out on Netflix later this month. The RCRG just placed 5th at the Dust Devil in Tucson, AZ, the first national tournament of the modern roller derby era by the Women's Flat Track Derby Association.

I joined the RCRG forum a few weeks ago; l was looking for a skating instructor. Throttle Rocket's jammer, "Pris Toff", lives near me and has agreed to meet me and give me a few pointers. Now that I have been up on my skates I know how embarrassed I would be to skate in front of someone like Pris, so I need some more practice before meeting with her down at the waterfront. (My handle on the forum? "Roller Hound")

The 2006 exhibition match of the 4 teams of the Rat City Rollergirls, aptly named Sockit Wenches, Throttle Rockets, Grave Danger, and Derby Liberation Front (DLF), are a mix of experienced derby skaters and newbies called "fresh meat". Everyone has cool names, most are in costume (or at least fishnet stockings), and everyone has a great time. Their web site is hilarious - if anyone can appreciate the tongue-in-cheek writing style mixed with constant puns, it's me. I want to meet their writer(s)!!

Steve and I had pretty good seats. The "charity brawl" at the Everett Events Center last Saturday night was before their largest crowd ever, estimated at 4,500 people. They were stoked! There was even an international challenge - about 75 skaters from Vancouver, BC came down to challenge them to a "last woman standing" contest. They were all dressed in pink, which was cute, but they didn't skate very well.

I read the rules of derby ahead of time, but that still doesn't mean I understood it right away. Not having perfect vision and also being color challenged made it difficult. So I couldn't read jersey numbers or see that some people had stripes on their helmets which meant they were the jammer. But about half way thru it started making sense to me and I could see the strategy and appreciate the skill it took to play (especially after hobbling around the local playground in my skates the previous day).

There was a lot of cheering, some loud rock music, and the announcers and the mascots were very funny, and I was laughing a lot. 3 hours later, at the end of the bout, the ultimate winner was the Sockit Wenches. They donated their grand prize of $1,000 to the White Center Community Development Association.

Their regular season starts March 25th in Hanger 30 at Magnuson Park. There is a bout each month. Pre-show begins at 4:30 in the beer garden, and the bout begins at 6 PM. If you're looking for something fun and new to see this year, this is the ticket!

More info
http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com/