A New Pastime Joins The Old

I have had the good fortune of coming upon some great live entertainment in Los Angeles. Through friends, I have learned of and enjoyed a great deal such things as improv comedy, pole dancing and burlesque. I have wound up doing a good deal of the first myself, and a bit of the second. Something new has come to my attention though, and I do believe I'll be seeing more, if not doing any. It's roller derby.

This may not be as new to others as it is to me. Really, I had heard of it, and I had the vaguest understanding of how it works. Luckily, a friend is on a local team, and with her encouragement, I finally made my way to a game. It was a doubleheader, and thank goodness for that. I might otherwise not have had enough time to really grasp the rules, which don't work out to be so complicated. I think I get it now.

It seems that there are jammers and blockers, although one could be in either position at any given time. There are players who are better suited by physique to be one or the other, and then there are those who are more versatile. Now, the jammer's job is to get out in the clear ahead of the pack, then proceed to pass opposing players as all circle around the track. The blockers seem to be responsible for enabling their own jammer but hindering the other team's.

There's more to it, but not much more than that do I really understand. I do know I had a great time watching, and that I'm hopeful for the opportunity to see more and become truly knowledgeable. It's great fun. There's speed, there's power, there's colorful self-expression in the form of awesome nicknames and there's esprit de corps of a very robust manner. What a lovely sport roller derby has proven to be.