
This weekend I found a whole new set of awesome girls to worship: derby chicks.
A group of us headed down to the
Windy City Rollers' season home opener and had a blast! The first match was the Hell's Belle's verses the Double Crossers, the second was the reigning champs the Maniac Attackers verses the Fury. It was my first derby and I pretty much figured out what was going on by the second bout- it's a simple game but definitely worth a
Wikipedia browse to understand the rules beforehand.
Anyways, it was a great time with a HUGE crowd of cheering supporters (they opened the upper deck of the UIC center to accommodate crowd). It's an intense game, too. My football-loving, tough guy hubby was screaming his head off the whole time. You have to admire not only the girls (who are insanely tough and awesome) but also all the officials, statisticians, and refs. Everyone there is a volunteer and works for nothing more than their love of rink rash.

One of the best parts about roller derby are the bad ass rink names. My favorites of the night were:
Slammah MontanaTina FlayNina MillimeterDeb AutryLoco Chanel (she had a Chanel logo on her glittering pink helmet- genius!)
Zombea ArthurBeth AmphetamineMaul HollaZoe TrociousJuanna RumbelJackie DanielsMel ContentWho's in for
the next match? And where can I get a pair of those awesome brass knuckle hot pants?
Middle photo by Joe RollerFan