All things roller derby

[FormicaLinoleum]

Thought I'd start one thread for anyone to post anything about roller derby.

My knee is really acting up lately. Both my knees are generally bad, though I tend have pain in the winters and not at all in the rest of the year. I have a tournament with our B-team coming up at Tattoo Freeze in Telford (http://www.tattoofreeze.com/home/roller ... llergirls/) and am a bit worried about the knee pain.

Here's a highlights vid from one of our recent bouts, one that took part in November: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIMLAuBU7n0. I'm number 410 on the white team (Ultraviolent Femmes). Video for our most recent one in Dec isn't up yet. We are currently in our third season, and in all that time my (intra-league) team had one only one game, and that was closed-door. In our last bout, we finally had our first public win! It was by only two points and it came down to the last minute of the game. Fun!

[thestoatyone]

How much is it into the arena? I live round there, would be good to pop in and watch...

[slodki]

are you wearing gaskets underneath your pads?

[Darcy]

I will be at TTF! So exciting, it's going to be amazing to have so much quality derby in one place.

As for knees... 'knee pain' could be basically anything to do with your knee or even connected body parts (quads, hips, etc) so hard to comment without knowing more... do you know more??

[FormicaLinoleum]

I do wear gaskets and good pads. I went to the doctor two years ago and was told there wasn't anything wrong and it would get better on its own... it obviously hasn't! I have another appointment this Monday, so hopefully I will find something out, though I don't expect it will be any better by the following Saturday.

Darcy, are you a skater?

stoaty, to get into Tattoo Freeze? I'm not sure--there are no separate tickets for the derby--once you're in the convention you can watch. I think it's on the site somewhere... yeah, here: http://www.jazzpublishing.co.uk/index.p ... ze_tickets. £18 for one day, £32 for the weekend.

[Clem Snide]

This looks like simultaneously the stupidest and best sport ever invented. Also dangerous. It must be broken clavicle city, surely.

Why is it all girls though, and why is there an odd porny subtext?

Edit: No offence meant, by the way, I think it looks cool. Just mad.

[mabli]

Looks a bit Benny Hill to me

[FormicaLinoleum]

I've actually not known anyone who broke their clavicle. We've had a few broken ankles, though none recently. Otherwise, it's mostly bruises (sometimes serious haematomas) and more chronic issues like my knee pain.

There are also men's derby leagues, but there are currently by far more women's leagues. In its heyday in the 70s it was mostly co-ed (not necessarily mixed teams, but leagues having both men's and women's teams) but the current revival took off first and remains more popular among women.

It's kind of weird to me that you see porny subtext, as we most certainly are not trying to create any. Is it because we're not wearing standard sports uniforms? I don't see it at all, but maybe that's because I know all these people and know that that's the furthest thing from anyone's mind.

It is kind of mad, but definitely in a good way. There's actually loads of tactics and strategy involved, which becomes pretty clear when you watch an actual game.

I'm not familiar enough with Benny Hill to know what that is supposed to mean (I'm an American expat). I imagine it's not a compliment, though? It's interesting to hear how other people see it. When I watch derby videos, I see it totally differently. But again, this might be due to my familiarity with the sport so I can see what's going on, understand what's happening, and spot impressive moves. They do say that video doesn't do the sport justice (the motto of the Derby News Network, which does live broadcasts of games, is "it ain't at all like being there").

[slodki]

This looks like simultaneously the stupidest and best sport ever invented. Also dangerous. It must be broken clavicle city, surely.

Why is it all girls though, and why is there an odd porny subtext?

Edit: No offence meant, by the way, I think it looks cool. Just mad.

it's not all girls.

[thestoatyone]

I thought it was, like that's the point of it. Give the girls a chance to be appreciated for athletic prowess and let them have a chance for a bit of rough and tumble without some burly bloke crashing around and ruining the fun.

As for porny subtext, I think there's a physical aspect to it, and a lot of crews use some quite camp humour (for the derby names especially) so those two things might make it seem a bit porny, but I am assured by everyone I know that's into it that it's all good clean fun...

[thestoatyone]

Benny Hill FYI



I don't think it was a diss, just that it looks a bit camp and daft if taken out of context...

[FormicaLinoleum]

I thought it was, like that's the point of it. Give the girls a chance to be appreciated for athletic prowess and let them have a chance for a bit of rough and tumble without some burly bloke crashing around and ruining the fun.

As for porny subtext, I think there's a physical aspect to it, and a lot of crews use some quite camp humour (for the derby names especially) so those two things might make it seem a bit porny, but I am assured by everyone I know that's into it that it's all good clean fun...

Derby teams are single-gender; they are either women's teams or men's teams, so yeah, you won't have men actually playing with/against women (except in informal/closed door games, where they do sometimes play each other). But men do play the sport (http://www.mensderbycoalition.com/).

Yeah, nearly all leagues have themes for their intra-league teams (travel teams are less likely to have themes and are more 'standard sporty') and skate names. I'm not quite sure why those things would seem porny rather than simply fun or silly. Our four teams have themes of "futuristic feminists" (Suffra Jets), steampunk (Steam Rollers), Clockwork Orange (Ultraviolent Femmes), and naval (Harbour Grudges). Our two travel teams don't have themes.

[thestoatyone]

Okay, cheers for clearing that up for me!

I really like the theme thing, adds a bit of theatre!

[slodki]

why is there an odd porny subtext?

you are thinking of derby of the early 2000s
look at current uniforms:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/0 ... ml#s177949

[FormicaLinoleum]

I've got our 3-hour scrimmage practice today. I am a bit worried about how my knee will hold up, but I feel I really need the practice with my team before the three games next weekend. I'll be taking a bunch of ibuprofen!