Not the Carousel

Round and round they go. Some are up, some down. Colorful, fanciful names for each. Moving counter-clock wise. Oops! One breaks away from the others, and moves quickly around the elliptical track, catches up to the others, and tries to break through the pack; tries again, and another way, and another yet, and eventually is in front of the pack again.
A mysterious type of carousel; actually a roller derby bout as the Troy Hellions took on th Green Mountain Derby Dames at the Rollerama in Schenectady Saturday evening. Baby Nuclear and Bloody Knuckles Betty alternated as Jammers for the Hellions, breaking from the pack, attempting to lap members of the opposition, who in turn tried to impede the jammer from passing any  of the  Dames. The blockers  for the Dames had names like Evbyn Slapt and Strawburried Jam. It was a night when the Hellions could not win. The jammers for the Dames, Teminate Her and Nancy Nightmare overwhelmed the home team as they skated the 130 foot oval at speeds over 10 miles an hours. Disharmony and Haidee Hellhound and the other blockers could not prevent that dynamic duo from outscoring the Hellions 220 to 110.
The bout as they call it in Derbyland lasted about an hour, two thirty minute periods, and a rare timeout. The clock kept running most of the time, thank goodness. Five players at a time per team. Eight referees, including Lethal Injection and Malcom Sex, each with a whistle,( and they used them,) kept order. Anne Persand, a person who I know in an another world as a talented  creative artist and author, was the referee leader. They  could penalize the players if necessary so that there were fewer players than refs on the floor at one time. Despite the almost constant body contact, the only injury that kept anyone from continuing for the evening was to a referee. They had to skate one person down for the rest of the evening.
The Roller Derby has its rules. The program attempts to spell them out. A commentator, Eloda Sarcasm, delivers a blow by blow description of the bout. Despite these efforts to inform the crowd about the "game", perhaps "show" is a better term, the attendees seemed to have trouble knowing when to get excited and cheer. Baby Nuclear waved her arms to the audience as she circled the track attempting to draw them in as she made a run at the opposition to score points. It worked a little.
I think for the most part, the audience was new. The atmosphere resembled a country fair. People moving about, talking, paying scant attention to the action; kids running here and there; a contest for the little ones at half time; photo ops; nachos and cheese dip. The jam timer did what might be described as tai chi during the time outs, perhaps portraying what everyone else thought "When will this end?  What am I doing here?"

Bob Donlan Photo

So what was I doing there? I didn't go just to have something to write about. Rather a friend is about to begin a "career" with the Hellions. I think they need her. She requested my presence, and several other of her inner circle. So friendship made me go.
I will share with you a line from the program that seems incongruous with the whole scene of Roller Derby as described above, yet it is at the heart of the action in the modern Derby:

" It's the DIY foundation and love of the sport that keeps these local librarians, nurses, artists, analysts, students, sales associates, and any other profession you can think of, coming back week after week and bruise after bruise."

It was one more new experience as Fabulous Fill travels the back roads of culture.