Calling Off the Jam

We went to the roller derby this evening. Sherri mentioned a while back that she was going to the roller derby and I was all, "That's so New York. Those crazy New Yorkers." Little did I know that we here in Minne-scro-ta have our very own roller derby league.

Cheap Skate in Coon Rapids (btw, Coon Rapids is furking far) was jam packed. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I was kinda tired, so I didn't really enjoy the event to its full extent, but lemme just say it was a spectacle to behold. What kind of people go to the roller derby? A bunch of punk kids, a bunch of suburban moms, and a surprising number of people who seemed to actually know what was going on.

I think my favorite part was every time a skater went down and they had to call in someone to look at her, the announcer reminded us that everything we were seeing was real. So, she's really hurt. Like, she took a skate to the neck or something. There was a "disabled list" in the program and those girls had some serious injuries! Various torn things in knees, dislocated shoulders, broken bones, whatnot.

Roller Derby is a huge production. I can see being involved as a skater. But where do you also get all the coaches, the volunteer EMTs, the sponsorships, the announcers, etc.? There are a lot of folks involved and I'm guessing no one's getting paid.

Next time we're gonna get there soon enough to get a seat in the front row. Maybe a derby girl will get thrown into my lap.

Bonus: I saw Wendy there! I peeped her from afar and geeked out. But then I was all, "What do you say to a blogger you've never met?" What you do is you just go over and say, "Is your name Wendy?" It works.