My friend, Mitch, and I were invited by one of the skaters (more on that in a bit) to attend the CNY Roller Derby Bout in nearby Rome, NY, last night. ; I know what you are thinking..roller derby? First, this is not the Roller Derby I remember from the early 70's. ; No WWE type of shenanigans though definitely a sense of show was very apparent. For instance the referees had nicknames and some where rather interestingly dressed. The fans were a show in themselves. ; These two guys look like they stepped out of an old Starsky & Hutch TV show. The bout was held in a seasonal ice hockey arena so I knew my camera would be grossly underpowered. ; I was able to use flash but ended up doing panning with the 50mm f/1.8. ; I was able to be close enough to the action so it worked about as well as I could hope for. First, the men opened the evening. You will notice the use of the older style roller skates and the track is flat unlike the banked ones from 1970's Roller Derby tracks. ; It's all so very hard concrete. The jammers, the skaters with the large stars on their helmets, are the ones who can score points by going through the gaggle of teammates and opposing skaters who are blocking each other. ; Rules are much stricter than I remember. ; No elbows and pushing allowed though the whip is still allowed. I was next to the track in the crash zone. ; Luckily, the crashes never landed in my lap but came close. More...
The women bout was next. ; The Utica Clubbers (in black) versus the New Hampshire Skate Free or Die! All Stars (in pink). ; The women have colorful names like Roxie Rolln', Tank'd Girl, Freak'n Sweet, Hotcakes, BamBam Thunderjam and Doris Doomsday. ; I think you get the picture these women mean business. Warming up before the bout with a jump. Lacing up the skates. And the bout begins... A jammer planning her moves. This is what the jammer has to be prepared to get through. Jammer blocked off the track. Can get a little rough out there.
The skater who invited us goes by the name of Mellfire and is the face of CNY Roller Derby. ; Here is her skates. Oh, and her tatoo. Do not get the wrong idea. ; While taking her roller derby seriously, she's an intelligent and interesting person who stopped by to help a couple of old guys understand the sport of Roller Derby. Mellfire with my friend, Mitch, before her Roller Derby bout.
Like most amateur sports, you can usually get very close to the action. ; Of course, these are cropped some to fill the frame. ;
Those were the ones, Dennis. ; I remember they toured and came to Syracuse one time. ; BTW, they still exist: http://www.baycitybombers.com/
oh man, you just brought back a load of old memories, watching wrasslin and derby on the black and white dumont tv in my parents house. and i don't care what anyone says, it was real to me
Wrasslin was a lot more fun back in the day when it was Thursday night at the Armory and every town had its own World Champion. Brings back memories of Dick the Bruiser, Baron von Raschke and "Pretty Boy" Bobby Heenan.
