Ovary Action

What do cupcakes, old school roller skates, and the DC Armory have in common? They are all crucial ingredients for my $12 afternoon of fun at the DC Roller Girls Roller Derby.

I was really skeptical at first. How come I've lived 26 years of life in and around the District and never once heard of the Roller Derby until the movie Whip It? Unclear. And when I did hear about the Derby, it was accompanied by a really sketch reputation (a venue for a certain type of man to ogle at scantily clad women) that certainly didn't encourage me to incorporate a visit into my weekend plans.

Then, in one of those random situations when several unrelated people mention the same thing in a short period of time (I find this often happens with Keds and Lisa Frank stickers), the Roller Derby came up in conversation multiple times. I had been spending LOTS of time within a four block radius of my apartment (which is always fabulous but was getting a bit limiting due to the snow storms earlier this month)... and when an activity that sounded fun, low-cost, metro accessible, and potentially fabulous entered the conversation over dinner at my friend Becca Y.'s house immediately following the receipt of an e-mail from my friend Miriam M. about the same topic (an outing to the DC Roller Girls Bout the next day), I knew it would be a perfect cure for my minor case of blizzard induced DuPont Circle overdose.

I ventured to the DC Armory the next day with friends Julie F., Meredith S. H., Adam G., Miriam P., Tanya P., and Becca Y. I was sort of shocked by the large crowds in the bleachers at the Armory (Also, have I ever been to the Armory before? and what happens there when the DC Roller Girls are not in town? Is it possible that I went to the circus there when only a tiny Wild and Crazy Pearlette?). Within minutes of arrival, I had spotted someone else I knew sitting in our section. That was, perhaps, the most significant lesson learned by my trip to the Derby. Here is a recap of our lessons learned:

Lots of people you NEVER think you'll see at a Roller Derby actually LOVE the Roller Derby. At final count, I saw eight people I knew (in addition to the big group I arrived with). And they were not all people I knew from one place. One was a woman I know because we used to work on the same floor of my old office building and we chatted about shoes as we passed each other to and from the bathroom. I interviewed someone else for a job once. Someone else is a friend of my roommate and professional colleague.

The Steel City Derby Demons are really good. And when I say good, I mean they scored three times as many points as DC's All Star Roller Girl team. (This can obviously be explained by the fact that they are from the city where the best pancakes, ever, are made (PAMELA'S)...good pancakes clearly lead to expert Roller Derby skaters...but I digress.) This didn't make our outing any less fun, though. I actually thought the best part of the Derby was the coordinated rollerskating-esque dances that happened during the warm up phase of the day. Perhaps this is because I am not so interested in anything that involves keeping score (except heated games of competitive Cranium).

The Derby is a great place for celebrity sightings. The day we ventured to the Derby, The Learning Channel was there filming the owners of Georgetown Cupcake for their new show, Cupcake Sisters. We were treated to a free cupcake (and even witnessed a giant version of the Roller Girl logo made completely of cupcakes) and made sure to say lots of soundbite worthy things close to the cameras and large boom microphones. If you catch a glimpse of me on TLC, now you'll know why!

Start Brainstorming your Derby Girl name now. You'll sit for hours trying to write a blog post about your time at the Derby and be stuck without a title if you don't have one ready to go. I stole Ovary Action from a DC Derby Girl as I find it hilarious and hope you do too.

The bake sale WILL sell out. When I saw Adam G.'s Fruity Pebbles "marshmallow square" (read: Rice Crispy Treat made with Fruity Pebbles), I regretted my decision to walk past the bake sale at the entrance of the Derby without making a purchase. But, by the time I got myself down to the bake sale area after the first half of the bout was over, it was over and done with. So, keep this in mind if you plan to purchased a baked good while Derby spectating. The other concessions were all over the map in terms of deliciousness. The fries that Julie F. purchased were excellent, but my choice of fruit flavored Dippin' Dots was a very (VERY) poor one (what inspired me to get that?).

Roller Derbies are hard to photograph. I took about 100 photos while at the Derby and maybe 10 turned out. I think the combination of the very fast moving subjects and fear that a roller skate or skater could potentially fly into one's face while shooting made the project even more challenging to capture. Alas, I will be returning sometime soon and hope to capture a few photos of this most excellent celebration of roller skating and patterned tights.

So, if you're not sold yet, I hope you'll consider a trip to the Derby in March! And if you see me there, I am happy to be included in your total number of people you saw that you didn't think you'd see or as a cupcake wielding celebrity.