Cincinnati Rollergirls vs. NEO Roller Derby

Rollerderby: a contact sport played by two teams skating in the same direction around a track.
Sounds so simple. Like anything else though, the simplest sounding concepts can be the most complex. You can have the best coaches, the best plays and best equipment but it all falls apart if you don't have conditioning.

It wasn't hard to spot, the NEOrollergirls at the end of each jam coasted back to their seats, hands on hips huffing and puffing while the Cincy Rollergirls had arms raised above heads, smiling. Sure I guess its all easy when you're winning but it all comes back to wearing out your opponent before they wear you out.


The best play of the night, had me laughing at its simplicity and brilliance. See, if a girls goes off track she has to return at the back of the group. This one jam Bombtrack (pictured directly above) was forced out right at the start, one of the other teams members then proceeded to race her backwards around the track forcing Bombtrack to follow. I asked Bombtrack about it,

"I got pushed out off the line, and was REALLY close to cutting the track by accident, so I deliberately did a four-point fall so that I didn't cut the opposing jammer. By the time I got up, she'd reversed halfway around the track- really smart thinking!

The only part NEO had trouble on with that play (and the part that made me gesticulate so animatedly) was the final execution. Ideally, the jammer would have stopped about halfway around the track, because it would have forced me to go the furthest distance to re-enter the pack. But what she did instead was drag me so far back that we came around to the pack itself. So I was able to simply go to the back, pass all of their blockers, and still get lead! As I was rolling through untouched, I couldn't help but turn to the last blocker, look her dead in the eye, and ask, "I'm sorry, were y'all planning on blocking me?"

I shrugged at the bench because I couldn't believe they'd gone to all that trouble, only to miss out on the most important part- the blocking!"

Of course all this means nothing to you if you've never witnessed a rollergirls game, which I highly suggest you do. No worries if you know nothing about the sport, that was part of the charm for me at first, having no prior knowledge, gives you an opportunity to just soak the whole spectacle in.
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