I am sitting here writing this in my local coffee shop (I am sorry, that is not precise enough--I mean, the coffee shop that is a mere 200 yards away from my house. Did I mention that I live that close to a coffee shop?) while I should be working, but I am distracted.
The first thing that distracts me is that I am sitting right next to a very, very, real, live princess, complete with a pink gown, a tiara, and of course, a wand. As if the visual evidence wasn't enough, she told me (loudly, in a somewhat un-princess like voice) several times that she was a very real princess. As far as I know princesses, she was very nice and she did bring the "old" king and queen with her so they could have a treat. Of course I was distracted. Who wouldn't be? Did you see a real live princess this morning at your coffee shop? Did you?
I was also distracted because I was thinking of my adventures of last night. I went and took photos of a Minnesota Rollergirls Roller Derby bout. I saw the flyer for this highly anticipated sporting event, underwent the careful vetting process to gain photo access, and went to very Roy Wilkins auditorium and shot the bout. It was different, that is for sure. I understand the rules for the most part though I am not sure of how penalties were assessed or what all of the whistles were for as it is a simple enough concept. Essentially, you support one member of your team, the one with a star on her helmet, as she goes through and around members of the other team. You apparently earn points based on the number of opposing players that you are able to skate by or through or over. At the same time you have to stop the woman of the other team with the star on her helmet by any means possible. Well, not any means--that apparently is what the penalties are for. Of course an added challenge is that you are doing this while you are skating very fast on a small oval track. See? Simple.
Did I mention that this is a full contact sport? The helmet should have given that away. So, shod only with a helm, elbow and knee pads, and fearlessness, around and around they go. Some wore less, some wore more which added to the interest and the individuality of the teams. Think about it--when was the last time you observed a full contact sporting event where some of the contestants were wearing garters and hose? It happened here, folks, and sometimes never had so much been covered by so little tattered nylon and spandex.
The players (the derby-ists?) range in size from a speedy, slight punt returner to a healthy line-person--on four-inch skates some towered above me and blocked the light and who ever else was in their way. But every one to a skater was polite and happy as they whizzed by me at the end of the bout. Most of the women were out front greeting fans, especially the young ones, and they helped in the booths and passed out the programs. This is a player-owned league, and they were all involved.
I am not sure that it will make regular rotation on ESPN, but why not? It isn't any sillier than trying to put various sized balls into various sizes of holes or trying to hit a ball 30% of the time or watching men with helmets push a ball up and down a field. No other sporting event that I know of has players that were so engaged and focused on putting on a good show. And none of those other sports have players wearing garters and hose while they bash into and claw past the defensive scrum. Well, at least that you can see.
As for the photos, a poor attempt. The last sporting event that I shot was basketball almost three years ago and it shows. Even more so this requires way more technical skill than I am used to--look at my previous blog posts to confirm that. Flowers and trees and puppy dogs and all other cute things that I shoot require less technical skill. There are a few that are OK, though, and perhaps some of the gladiators pictured can swipe them.
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