A Night at the Roller Derby

Ok, can I just say I had very low expectations for the roller derby?  I was picturing a dimly-lit arena (a la the skating rink I went to in elementary school), trashy fans, and not much entertainment?  Dang, was I ever wrong.

We started out the night at Agua Linda.  Beth, Laura, Christina, and I met there for an elderly peron's dinner, and enjoyed some delicious Mexican food and a peach daquiri.

From there,  Laura, Christina, and I headed to Athens Arena, home of the Classic City Roller Girls (or the Bad News B's).  I was surprised to find out the arena is only about 3 miles from my house.  The website had said pre-ordering for tickets had ended and that some home meets sell out, but we got there about 30 minutes before it started and had no trouble getting in.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the crowd was not trashy, but rather completely, stereotypically Athens (a little hipster, some hippie grandmas, some completely normal-looking people).  We even found Waldo!

The bout (I learned roller derby is played in bouts, not matches, rounds, or meets) started right at 7 after a short explanation of the rules from Brent Muffburger and the announcer who looked like Ron Burgundy.  They demonstrated the rules in slow motion, but it didn't really make sense until the bout started for real.

We knew we were finally beginning to understand the rules when we were able to cheer at the appropriate times.

Once it got going, it turned out that roller derby is awesome!  It was fast-paced, engaging, violent enough, and with just enough help from the announcers.  Going into the half, the Charlotte B-Dazzlers were up by over 30 points (due to all but one of our players being in the penalty box). As if roller derby itself isn't awesome, the half time show was a BAGPIPE AND DRUM BAND!   Now, I may be a nerd, but this made me really happy.  Really, there is nothing better than a bagpipe and drum band at the halftime show of a roller derby bout.

After half time, the Bad News B's got their act together and pretty much reversed the score.  We finished it out with a great victory over Charlotte.

After the show, I even got to meet some of the bagpipers!

Laura, Christina, and I had a great time at the roller derby.  We've already picked out our roller derby names, Laura and Christina are going to roller derby boot camp so they can join the team, and we're already planning on going back for the final bout on September 29.  Anyone care to join us??

Meet Christina (I forgot her roller derby name!), L.A. Dodge Her, and Anne-archy