Comments on: Freaking Roller Derby

By: If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter | Derby Girls

If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter | Derby Girls — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 06:09:22 +0000

[...] more entertainment than sport, making comparisons to WWE. (You can read the original article here. However I encourage you to check out the comments section where the journalist welcomed many [...]

By: Is roller derby a sport? Thoughts on athleticism and spectacle « Fit and Feminist

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:01:39 +0000

[...] article made the Rounds O’ Outrage on tumblr yesterday, in which sports writer Jody DiPerna said she refused to cover roller derby because it has as much to do with sports as the WWE Grand Slam [...]

By: Jerry Seltzer

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:04:20 +0000

I am late to the party, but I am coming from a different place…..My father invented Roller Derby in 1935, I promoted it from 1959 to 1973. Yes, it was an exhibition, but with tremendous athleticism. The following was tremendous, 110 TV station network, crowds of up to 50,000. And my father was the most disappointed that he could never see it be a legitimate game. He was especially upset when rollergames, a totally perverted copy of the game came into being. He died in 1978, planning to open a training school in Montreal for full legitimate Roller Derby. Today’s game started in Austin, Texas, in 2002 on an amateur basis and today there are 1051 LEAGUES in 36 countries, with men, women, and juniors competing in a fully legitimate game that has empowered women worldwide. (see http://www.derbyrosterdotcom) Because it is all amateur and primarily skater-owned, it does not get the publicity that other sports do. And there are different ruling bodies, and though it is primarily flat track, there are also banked track leagues. The national flat track Championships are this November in Denver; there is a World Cup in Toronto this December with teams from 13 nations on hand. and all the leagues are committed to community service. There are no more dedicated, purely amateur athletes anywhere in the world. I love them all…….”The Commissioner” (my unofficial title). And by the way, the USARS is setting up a program to apply for the Olympics.

By: セララブレス

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:57:11 +0000

Oddly enough, I somehow found this article when googling for makeup tutorials on how to cover up my massive bruises from derby.

You have an interesting perspective on this, and yup, you have every right to dislike an activity. (I live in Texas and hate football with a passion. Sets me up for a world of trouble here. Instead, I’m a diehard hockey fan.) I do have to disagree with the sentiment
that this isn’t a sport, though.

Let me first say that I have never seen Whip It (or any other derby related movie), and knew nothing about how roller derby worked until a few weeks ago when a coworker invited me to a new league being established near me. I’ve known a few girls in the past who were involved in it, but had never attended a bout. I agreed to go with my friend because it seemed like something physical and potentially fun.
I went to my first practice barely being able to stand on my lousy rented skates. Few weeks down the road, I’m zooming around the track on my own skates, pads and am getting my ass kicked by the drills at practice. Also, I have no desire to drink PBR. I’m more of a dark beer or IPA kind of lady. And Hipsters? I stay far away from them as possible. Haven’t seen any in my league. I don’t think they’d last long, considering they would be more interested in posing for photos or doing XYZ activity “ironically”. Bettie Paige? Played out. Overused. Also, she couldn’t perform worth shit. (But she was cute, yeah?)

Now for the nitpicky part:

Sport:
Noun
1.
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
(courtesy of dictionary.com)

Roller Derby:
*athletic activity? Check.
*physical prowess? Check.
* Competitive nature? Check.

Sport? Yes. It’s simple, see?

I played a variety of sports in my younger days and fail to see how Derby wouldn’t qualify. Seems no different than the drills, practice and competition of anything else I’ve participated in or watched. *shrug* Just my (probably unwanted…haha) two cents.

By: lunchmeatstew

lunchmeatstew — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 14:10:19 +0000

http://usarollersports.org/news/2010/12/22/firs-recognizes-roller-derby/40199?ngb_id=5

During the central committee meeting, USA Roller Sports gave a presentation on the rapidly growing sport of roller derby and requested that FIRS recognize derby as another one of the federations’ disciplines. USA Roller Sports (USARS) is pleased to announce that their request was granted and roller derby is now an official discipline of FIRS- one step closer to the Olympic movement!

Have you been yet?

“Entertainment first, athletics second” is way off. I am 40 and have been active in sports most of my life. I have played almost every sport available, many of them in some sort of competetive nature. I now play roller derby. I have never been with a more committed group of athletes, both men and women. We train, and we train hard. This is serious, it’s real, and it is real tough. As a bonus, it’s entertaining. I highly recommend you take up all of the offers to go watch. I would’nt want you to miss the boat on this amazing and entertaining SPORT.
P.S. you might want to open up your sport viewing schedule a bit, derby is addictive. You may find an overwhelming desire to watch your favorite jammers again and again.

By: Megan Pittsley

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:14:47 +0000

How about thinking beyond stereotypes and blanket statements for a moment? Today’s flat-track roller derby isn’t the WWF version you see played out on TV. It is in fact a real sport that takes some serious hard work, endurance, athleticism, and talent. The women come from all walks of life and don’t fit your mold. Yes, it’s more fun and has some ‘hipper’ elements than other sports, but maybe you should go see a real game with some professional WFTDA-ranked teams before you consider putting roller derby in the ‘not a sport’ column. It certainly does not belong there.

By: spanksinatra

spanksinatra — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:04:33 +0000

Just wondering if you’ve made it out to a bout yet? WFTDA (www.wftda.com) teams are in the midst of Regional Tournament Season and worth a look. Might be worth checking out http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com to get some perspective.

By: Jody DiPerna

Jody DiPerna — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:44:50 +0000

March was a complete mess – NCAA basketball both men’s and women’s brackets – kept me fairly insane.
I wanted to go to a bout (it is bout, yes?) in June, but I ended up traveling with sort of emergency family business.
However, I haven’t forgotten about y’all and I do intend to go out and watch for myself. I really do.

By: mnmlst

mnmlst — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:25:49 +0000

Sorry to see you missed the March bout.

Think about checking out WFTDA Eastern Regionals in White Plains, NY in September 2010. (You’re in the NE USA, right?) http://www.derbyintheburbs.com/

Please do go to a bout, and give derby a chance. Regionals will be really exciting, and you’ll get to watch derby at a high level of play.

By: Michelle Nowak

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:24:53 +0000

I have to say thank you for writing this article. While i have always had an interest in Derby since a young age, some 15 years ago, i find myself becoming more and more irritated with the pop culture Derby scene. While I don’t pretend that Roller Derby doesn’t require athletics, I also don’t pretend it’s a challenging sport, especially flat track derby. I am so tired of the hipster scene coming from all the women that went out and saw Drew Barrymore in Whip It and became inspired to become a Derby Girl. It’s a stupid craze, particularly in my town where people actually think they’re gonna go somewhere with it. In reality however it’s just a bunch of girls that wanted to start a derby league just so they could go to the bar and tell people that they were Roller Girls and put pictures of themselves skating around on Facebook, it was a bragging right, and people bought into it. They’ve had no real bouts, try outs or any other skills. If i’m gonna watch a sport i want to watch something because of the athleticism, not because of the cute outfits. If I was looking for cute outfits then i’d just watch Lingerie Football, at least those women are sexy and womanly. If I wanted to watch women beat each other up I would just watch professional wrestling where, sad to say, it requires more athletic ability and talent then Roller Derby, while being decidedly more attractive. Hopefully this silly fad will die back down soon.