Brisbane City roller derby

On Saturday, I got a glimpse into a very special niche of urban culture, namely a roller derby competition. If you have never heard of this, a derby opposes two teams of roller-skaters on a small loop, the goal being to let one designated member of the team (the jammer) get ahead while preventing the other team from doing the same by blocking the way and bumping into other skaters... I find roller derby rather interesting as a sociological phenomenon, if not as a sport (it relates more to role-playing than to sport, esp. when considering the pseudos chosen by the players, from Sweet enemy to La Mort Rouge [classy reference to Poe], to Florence Fightingale [my favourite!]) and I was thus glad to be able to attend this competition. I actually found the game itself a bit boring (and much less aggressive than I thought!) because one of the teams (SSRG for Sun State Roller Girls) was way above the other (BCR for Brisbane City Rollers) and very strategic in its accumulation of points, which meant the game was rather static once the jammer had found her way through the pack, but the whole event was definitely hilarious, from the players to the referees, to the jury, to the audience.