Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Roller Derby ... Yeah, It's Still Around

I remember many moons ago when Saturday night was spent watching Channel 11, for Roller Derby followed by NWA Professional Wrestling from Will Rogers' Coliseum in Ft. Worth. Black & white TV programs, Fritz Von Erich ... jammers and slammers ...

Well, wrestling has transformed itself several times over. Now we have the WWE's cartoon version of 'Rasslin, the highest rated cable TV program on a consistent basis.

But what happened to Roller Derby?

It's still around, though nowhere near as popular, and not seen on TV unless it is a back channel reality show. Even though it has little coverage, there is a lot more of it around than you would think. There are many local leagues around the country (over 200) where women, primarily, go out and beat the hell out of each other for fun and a tiny check.

The DFW area has its own league, called the Dallas Derby Devils. They are home based in Bedford, at the NYTEX Sports Center. Standing room only crowds of about 1000 attend each match. There are over 90 registered players on 5 teams. The league's catch phrase - "Derby Does Dallas" ... cute ... An All-Star squad made up of the 5 team's best players travel to other southern based leagues to beat on their All-Star squads.

The teams: High Seas Hotties, Wrecking Crew, Slaughterers, Death Row Rumblers, Suicide Shifters

Some of the more 'colorful' players: Scary Cherry Bang Bang, Ann R Key, Flirt in a Skirt, Blue Eyed Banshee, Ingersol Rand, Dirt E Girl, Martha Focker, Cheatin Chong, Wicked Bitch of the West, Strawberry Deathcake, Tia Bagger, Helen De Stroy, Jackie Lation, Heike De Skirt, Filmore Pain, Professor Kaos, Anita Riot .....

Pretty funny. If you get a chance to see some of this on one of those back cable channels, do so. These ladies get the hell beat out of them for next to nothing.

Images courtesy Dallas Derby Devils

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