I somehow read your first sentence as being about the "TAFF degenerate" which would probably fit some past winners better than it does Steve.
If I had realized you weren't picking up the rules as we went along on the roller derby I would have given you my surmises. As it turns out, I figured out most of it as the evening progressed, mostly by listening to the color announcers. It does definitely make it more exciting once you know what you're seeing. In particular, knowing that the two players with stars on their helmets (the jammers) are the only ones who can score points, and they score points by lapping the opposing pack, made a lot of things fall into place for me. It also helped to figure out that the accumulated points did not seem to hit the board until the referees vetted them after each jam.
Interestingly, I didn't find the thing especially exploitative. You have to be a pretty progressive-thinking male to dig on the rather wide range of body types and fairly un-revealing uniforms the women wear. Unless you think women's basketball is exploitative, I'd give roller derby a pass. I think the Wikipedia assessment of the enterprise as having a strong third wave feminist streak is probably right. Certainly the punk-esthetic and indie DIY aspects are there.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 06:15 pm (UTC)If I had realized you weren't picking up the rules as we went along on the roller derby I would have given you my surmises. As it turns out, I figured out most of it as the evening progressed, mostly by listening to the color announcers. It does definitely make it more exciting once you know what you're seeing. In particular, knowing that the two players with stars on their helmets (the jammers) are the only ones who can score points, and they score points by lapping the opposing pack, made a lot of things fall into place for me. It also helped to figure out that the accumulated points did not seem to hit the board until the referees vetted them after each jam.
Interestingly, I didn't find the thing especially exploitative. You have to be a pretty progressive-thinking male to dig on the rather wide range of body types and fairly un-revealing uniforms the women wear. Unless you think women's basketball is exploitative, I'd give roller derby a pass. I think the Wikipedia assessment of the enterprise as having a strong third wave feminist streak is probably right. Certainly the punk-esthetic and indie DIY aspects are there.