WEBVTT - How Roller Derby Works 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:07.480 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should know 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:16.520 from house Stuff Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:20.479 the podcast. This is Josh Clark. Charles W. Bryant is 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.880 clearing his nose out across from me. I was laughing 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.840 up boogers because you were singing Dolly Parton before we 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.400 went on air. Yeah, I was. I Love Dolly. I'm 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:33.720 hoping that was never recorded by Jerry secretly surreptitiously. We 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.479 had a little out takes in a while. It's been 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:42.120 a while, Jared get on that we haven't said anything 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:47.200 funny in a really long time. I think that's the problem. Hey, Chuck, 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:50.199 Hey dude, did you know that we are smack dab 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:55.959 in the middle of roller derby playoff season? Yeah? Oh 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.600 you did? Did you know that prior to nine? In 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.080 this more now? But I would say we're smack dab 0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:06.280 in the middle of a roller derby revolution. Yeah. Yeah, 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.440 We're smack dab in the in the middle of a 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:13.280 roller derby playoffs season that is situated within a larger 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.399 roller derby revolution. Can we agree to that one? Okay? Yeah? 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:21.039 You're absolutely right. Um, roller derby it's kind of everywhere. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.160 If you are not into it, I'm sure you've at 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:27.800 least seen some cool posters or stickers on cars supporting 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.080 roller derby leagues all of a sudden. Um, and if 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.480 you notice that there really weren't any prior to two 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:37.520 thousand one, you're a pretty sharp person, I would say. So. Um, 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.039 we have our own roller derby league here in Atlanta. 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:42.959 The Atlanta roller Girls have been I have not. I've 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:47.319 seen him on cable access though, is that your Tuesday 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:52.760 night just watching? I know, I actually don't remember where 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:54.680 I would have seen him because I don't even have 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.480 cable access or cable or anything. Right now, we need 0:01:58.520 --> 0:01:59.880 to go. We need to make a point to go. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.600 It's like right down from my house. It's on Ponds right, Yeah, 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:07.040 the europe shriner Um Temple. Yeah, oddly, all right, we'll 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.600 go Kauds, you know, Saturday, September twenty, which is probably 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:14.880 before this will come out. Um, that's the that's the 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.400 next playoff. I bet if we took Jerry, she'd know 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:22.640 like a third of the people there, you know, the Yeah, 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:27.600 so Chuck. The Atlanta roller Girls are one of UM 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:32.760 sanctioned leagues. Yeah, because when did Tracy write this article, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.760 Like maybe two thousand six. Yeah, I think that the 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.880 the w f t d A, the Woman's Flat Track 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.840 Derby Association, has been around since two thousand four. She 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.160 did not acknowledge that in this so it was probably 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.959 two thousand three. Okay, So since two thousand three h 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.919 Tracy cited there's about thirty leagues. Now there's ninety eight 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.160 sanctioned and another forty three that are apprentice leagues. They're 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.560 up and coming. Yeah, right, so there's a boatload of 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.280 roller derby going on around this country. I was looking 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:10.040 on the UM Flat Track Derby Association site and they 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.280 have like the you know, links to all the different 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.880 teams pages, so they have the logos of each one, 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.400 and I found the best one, which one my favorite 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.359 was the Dutch land Rollers out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.560 have like an Irish woman with the head kerchief on 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.840 with a black eye Amish or Irish amishka. Did I 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:30.920 say Irish? Yeah? She might have been Irish too. Did 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.440 I say Irish? He did? Stinks because I really meant Amish. 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.360 That's right? So is that their whole get up they 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.160 all wear amish gear. I don't know, I just saw 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.040 the logo. They probably do because they go with the 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.240 themes generally. Yeah, but that's that's for later, right, So Chuck, 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:47.920 let's talk about this. Let's talk about roller derby and 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.760 by let's talk about it. Let's talk about its history. Yeah, 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.720 from what I can tell, Josh, Um, in the mid 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.400 nineteen thirties, there was a sports promoter named Leo Seltzo. 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.440 Sounds very like sports promoter from the thirties, dedn'ty. Yeah, 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.680 we need a roller derby c and that's basically what 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.680 he said. But initially it was um, you know, they 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.040 used to have all these endurance competitions back in the day, 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.120 like the dance fons and all those silly things you 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:19.960 did before television. His was initially a roller skating endurance competition. 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.680 It was called the Transcontinental Roller Derby. Yeah it was. 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.719 And the idea was to do fifty seven thousand laps, 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.320 which is about the distance across the US. It's about 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:32.760 three thousand miles. It's a long way to scape. But 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:34.919 they all kind of realized this kind of stinks and 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.960 it's not very fun. It does. Plus, skaters were skating 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.520 about eleven and a half hours a day. Yeah, it's 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.680 not fun, right, And I'm sure there's a pretty sizeable 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.960 cash processes during the depression, so you could make people 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:49.760 like wrestle bears and tutus and all sorts of crazy 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.680 stuff to you know, feed their family. Um, so I'm 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.080 sure that's why people skated eleven and a half hours 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.599 a day for these things. Um. The problem wasn't that 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:04.039 it was is too much for human constitution. It was 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:08.039 that it was boring. It's just people going around the 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.320 track again and again and again, and then ultimately it's like, Wow, 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.360 they just skated across the US. But in the meantime 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:16.760 it's boring. And there was a sports writer, a very 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:20.719 famous sportswriter named Damon Runyon, who in nineteen thirty seven 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.760 came to sell term. Was like, look, dude, this is 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.320 a good idea. But the coolest part is when people 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:30.200 run into each other. Why don't you make something like 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.599 that really emphasizes that. And apparently Selter was like, I 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.280 don't know, it seems kind of rough, and we'll give 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:38.720 it a shot. And all of a sudden, the next 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.200 thing you know, you have like nineteen thirties ladies just 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:43.919 beating the tar out of each other. And have you 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.599 seen footage of it? It's pretty awesome, it is. I 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:48.479 mean back in the thirties too, I think of everyone 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.960 is so genteel and everything. No, it was just as 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.599 rough and tumble as it is. And he only had 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:56.719 the endurance version for a couple of years. I think 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.080 before he was like, you know, you may be onto something, 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.159 right and and from that point on that's roller Derby, yes, Josh. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.200 And it grew, uh, you know, it was very popular 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:09.120 during the forties and fifties and uh, clearly if you remember, 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:10.840 like Happy Days, I think there was a roller Derby 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:14.279 Unhappy Days. At what point didn't Pinky Tesscadera participate. I 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:18.080 don't know. I was wondering that earlier. See it seems 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:20.040 like she'd be too cool for that, but she would 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.080 like beat up the girls after the match. Maybe that's 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.520 pretty bad. I don't know. Well, we'll have to look 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.520 that up. Leather tuscan Arra wouldn't or was that her sister? There? 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:34.240 Two of them was Leather nickname I don't know that off, 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.160 but they they It did grow in popularity up until 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.599 about the seventies. I think a lot of things declined 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:44.240 in the seventies because of this stinking economy in the 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.719 gas crisis, and so people weren't going out and spending 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:53.160 money on things like roller Derby anymore or skateboards. Skateboarding. 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.160 It went. It had an opposite effect, that didn't it. Yeah, 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.120 it boomed, I think because that awesome documentary, The dog 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.200 Lords of Dogtown. Is that a doc Well, there was 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:05.320 a documentary and then a feature film based on the documentary. 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.159 But the documentary is better. But yeah, swims, they couldn't have. 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.160 People couldn't afford to like fill up their pools to 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.120 the polls right out. They skated skateboards in the pools, 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.360 and that Stacy Perelta was one of those who would 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.960 go on to phone how Pelta Skateboards a skateboard company 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:23.760 of all time? Who would sponsor the greatest group of 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.880 skaters of all time? The Bones Brigade. Yeah, yeah, but 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:28.520 that has nothing to do with roller Derby except for 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:31.840 the wheels. Well, it does actually have something to do 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.080 with roller Derby in this case. That the dock is 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.160 always better than the feature film. You just hang onto 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.680 that one. Sure, put that on your back pocket. Well, 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.280 it's interesting though, and that roller Derby did decline in 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.520 the seventies, but that's when it was actually probably most 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:47.640 visible because they had those televised I remember when I 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.480 was a kid. Oh yeah, they televised it on like 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.400 a year old kids with five and nights seventy five 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.200 And um, I sent you the link earlier and we 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.320 watched a little bit of his clips. If you YouTube 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:01.760 like nineteen seventies roller Derby, you can see some of 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.680 this stuff, you can, and you can hear the commentators. Um. 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:06.800 When when they tried to revive it in the seventies 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:09.600 after its decline, Uh, there was kind of an artificial 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:14.440 revival where roller Derbut toured the country in civic centers 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.760 and small towns like an exhibition, right, But there was 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.200 like different there are different teams, but like the the 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.720 announcers were the same, and the announcers used a lot 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:28.520 of colorful language, Like there was one womansoyn. There was 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.200 a woman who was like I think they cited or 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:34.679 waited about two hundred pounds. She's like a big blocker, um, 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:39.360 and she the announcer said that she was roughly the 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.880 size of the state of Rhode Island. And it was 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.000 just kind of like even on the YouTube club, the 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.720 person who posted it said, I apologize for the announcer 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.959 saying that one of the skaters is the size of 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.760 Rhode Island. It was anything went back there in the 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:59.560 seventies pretty much. But um, even that didn't didn't keep 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.760 er Derby into the eighties. Like that kind of um 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:08.400 fantastic misogyny and the kind of um world wrestling look 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.480 and feel that it had to it. Yeah, they took 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.320 it sort of over the edge to where they would 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:14.720 like fake hit each other and stuff like that. Right, Um, 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:19.000 but that that that didn't that didn't keep it alive. Right, 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.160 And we should say also that that revival is significant 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.160 and that it foreshadows the century revival because it was 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.559 all women prior to that in their forties, the fifties 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.319 and the sixties win Like during the heyday of roller Derby, 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.160 it was co ed. Yeah, well not co ed on 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:39.120 the same team they would have like them. The teams 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:42.040 were co ed. I think periods were not co ed. 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.800 Oh see, I thought it was women competed in the 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:47.360 same night as men, but only against each other. I 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.400 think teams were originally co ed, which is which uh 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.600 has grown from the the first roller Derby where they 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.839 were twenty five teams of one man and one woman, 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.079 and then that carried on. So I think the teams 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.920 are coed, but different periods it would be the male 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.400 team or the women's gotcha, I think, but the men 0:10:07.559 --> 0:10:09.760 kind of went away for the most part, and now 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:13.920 the modern revival is all ladies. Right in Austin, Texas 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:17.200 in two thousand and one, a group of women got 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:22.240 together and basically single handedly revived roller Derby into this 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.400 really huge incarnation that we're seeing now right. Well, yeah, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:27.280 and like we said in two thousand and four, just 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.800 a few years later, the Women's Flat Track Derby Association 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.520 was formed and they pretty much run the show. And 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.200 we should mention that, you know, flat track means that well, 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.120 it's clearly not a roller rank at the Shriner's Auditorium 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:43.280 in Atlanta, but a lot of them use roller ranks. 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:47.120 And uh, instead of the curved bowls, the banked, Yeah, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:48.920 the bank bowls that they used to use, but they 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.400 still have those in some places. And I get the 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:55.600 impression that flat track and banked kind of go head 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.000 to head. Well, yeah, the one lady they interviewed some 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.080 women trace she did for this article, and she said 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.640 that they'll they'll debate that, of course, but it's really 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:09.640 all in the spirit of the sport. They're still like sisters. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.800 And there's a I should say, there's a documentary about 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.800 that UM formation in two thousand one in Austin called 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.920 Hell on Wheels. Huh, And that's that's where I saw 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:24.200 footage of UM, the old timey nineteen thirties roller derby 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.000 people just beating the cramp out of each other. Yeah, 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.959 it's pretty awesome. But then there's a feature film based 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:32.920 on that. Yeah, that Chuck. I don't know if you remember, 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.480 but on the way back from Guatemala, you were watching it, 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.760 and I was watching you watch it and like every 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:41.800 once and I will just be like, yeah, Ellen, Paige 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.679 Andrew Barrymore in the same movie It's that's a rough one. 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.200 Drew Barrymore directed that, I believe, and produced it and 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.640 basically paid for it. Yeah. It was called Whippet and 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.280 it was said in Austin and um oh, I hesitate 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.040 to say I didn't like it very much because you 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:57.120 never know Drew Barrymore as a listener. But I thought 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:00.360 about that too. It was good, true. I think it 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.840 put it on the map Fox Show. Definitely, it brought 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.600 it into the mainstream. How about that? Yes? Okay, and 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.960 Jimmy Fallon was just terrific as the announcer, and isn't 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:14.160 he always Future Man was the coach Class Act. So 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.800 that was whip it. Let's talk about the spirit of 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:22.600 roller Derby, Chuck. Okay, Um it is fishnet stockings and 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:28.520 two twos and knee socks and black eyes, big elbows. Um, 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:32.360 all kinds of costumes, awesome names. Oh yeah, right, so 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:36.559 just in this article alone, Atlanta roller girls. Um, Susan 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:40.480 b Agony, that's my favorite. It's pretty good. Um, let's 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.760 see who else is there, Chuck, While I saw Jackie Daniels, 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.400 which is kind of good. Some of them play off 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:49.360 the tough like liquor bottle thing like our friend. Well, 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.240 we should also say to our friend Debbie freak Girl. 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:54.280 Freak Girl dot com is her blog and she's a 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:56.600 freelance writer. She did not write this, but she is 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.760 new to Roller Derby and I post some questions for 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.800 her and we'll get to those throughout. But her name Tobe. 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:04.840 We can't have her doing voice whatever it would be cool. 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:10.960 Her name is Molotov cupcake and she makes she's really 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.960 good cupcake baker. So she's incorporating her love of liquor 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:19.720 and explosives and cupcakes into one. And I should also 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:22.280 mention too, my favorite name of all time. This is 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:26.160 from a listener about a year ago, wrote in and 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.559 her name was sudden Beth. I thought, just sometimes the 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.440 simplicity of a name like that, Sudden Beth. There was 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:37.080 in the um Helen Wheels doc one of the original 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:44.600 roller girls was um Betty Ragette. I like that one too. Yeah, yeah, 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:51.119 apparently beyond According to Molotov, cop Cupcake is uh the 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:55.079 worst biggest blocker you've ever heard of. Yes, history of 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.880 big girl, and she is uh like size. That's one 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.520 of the cool things about roller Derby that Debbie points 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.200 out and that the league points out, is that physique 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.760 does not matter you you have a skill set you 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.840 can bring whether you are a two and fifty pound 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:13.200 blocker or you're like Juno and you can just zip 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.719 through people real fast. Page I know, Okay, sorry, you 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:20.680 look stupefied. No, I know, but it's you know, that's 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:21.960 part of the fun of it all. It's picking out 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.000 your name and and designing your uniform and your look 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:27.480 as a team. The one from New York is they 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:29.920 have one that's really cool. They're all have like a 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.960 checker cab theme, so they have like checkered hose on 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:37.760 and like a yellow cab skirts and shirts like bowling shirts. 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.840 It's cool. I think that the one the common theme. Uh. 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:46.200 If not, it's not physique like you said, It's basically 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:50.480 just cheer, guts and and an ability to stand up 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:54.040 to torture, including self torture, right, which is um, pretty 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:57.640 much the basis of training. Yeah. Like Debbie was telling 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.240 you in in that little mini interview you conduct did 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:05.920 with her that, Um, she had to do plank positions, squats, 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.960 push ups, what else? Um, well all of this is 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:12.960 in skates, by the way. Well I was going to 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:16.040 add that at the end that's like the sucker. Okay, 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.360 you can't put the kicker in the middle. She did. 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.520 They cover basic she said, it was boot camp on 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.520 wheels and squats and all sorts of like physical training, 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:29.160 all on skates. There you go. Which, Um, she's in 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.000 the new in the on the New Jersey Hell Razors 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.600 with a Z team and they practiced two hours twice 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.080 a week, and she's been training for four and a 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:41.440 half months and just finished her basic skills tests, right, 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.720 And so when you're when you're training, like she was 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:48.080 just talking about basically um calisthenics, but there's like training 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.080 as well, like you throw yourself on the ground to 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.560 learn how to roll and get up really quick. Because 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.480 it's not just getting up, like you're getting up with 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.600 four wheels on each foot and people zipping by you. 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:00.920 That you have to learn how to jump over people. 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.320 That's a tough one. I have ever tried to jump 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:06.680 in skates? And have you ever done any disco boogie 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.800 in or anything? Like I was an ice skater? Okay, 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.480 role bouncing? No, all right, did you see that movie? 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.480 I saw parts of it. Yeah, it looked pretty cool. 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:17.840 They still do that in New York. Some in the 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.080 seventies like Disgust skating and do everything in New York. 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.400 Now that's off New York. Um. You also have to 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.920 skate at high speeds, Chuck, I understand. Yes, there's a 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.440 actually bullet in this Tracy Wilson article it says skate 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.800 at high speeds. There's also one that says you need 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.359 to stretch out beforehand. Yeah, that's a big one too, um. 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.760 And you have to start and stop in skates, it's 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:44.240 what Yeah, but I think to be fair, I think 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:46.360 that means like you need to start and stop on 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:53.200 a dime precision, high speed skating, dodging, jumping, balance control, 0:16:53.640 --> 0:17:00.360 all on four wheels, eight wheels, just alright to check. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.080 That's the training part and apparently it's not. Um. There's 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:07.399 a a very um delineated process to it, and you 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.600 keep the newer people away from the more experienced people 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.000 according to Debbie fresh Meat. And then you actually have 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:15.560 to pass a test to be calm, like in a 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:21.560 sanctioned UM flat track derby association UM participant you know, yeah, 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:25.240 like you, I guess you can't actually participating about until 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.399 you're cleared by them, right, yeah, because it's dangerous. You know, 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.879 they don't want you out there getting hurt. Um, although 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:35.119 people do get hurt all the time, clearly, Uh should 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:36.919 we talk about that and now we'll talk about that later. Well, 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.800 let's talk about how to play. Yeah, Like, because even 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.679 after reading this and understanding the rules, unless you really 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:45.440 I think it's probably one of those ones where unless 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:48.200 you're there or you're very familiar with the two teams, 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.679 so you know who's who. It's tough to it just 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.800 looks like a muddle of like elbows and fists and stuff. 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.399 And in the More movie they handle that kind of 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.679 clumsily just by having a segment where they explain the rules. 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:03.000 Do that? That's like, did Ellen Page to explain the rules? 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.560 Because that's what she did an Inception two. Remember like 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.240 every every like thirty minute, she'd stop and look at 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:10.520 the camera and be like, okay, everybody, it's refresher. She 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.679 didn't explain the rules. I think Jimmy Fallon did. But 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:14.480 it's necessary in a movie like that because when you 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.040 look at a roller derby match, if you don't know 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.200 what's going on, you might just think it's mayhem out 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:22.520 there because it looks like mayhem. But there's actually, uh, 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.800 not just rules, but there's also strategy to this as well, 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.280 which makes it even more awesome. Right, let's hear it, Josh, Okay, Well, Chuck. 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.520 First of all, let's talk about the different kinds of 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:35.200 players on the team. You have two teams, and to 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.199 these teams are going to play about five players each. Right, 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.399 um about is a series of shorter races two minutes tops, 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.399 but they can be shorter than that. They're called jams. Jams. Right. 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:50.840 So you have a jammer and this person is delineated 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:55.080 by a star on her helmet, right, the jammer. Uh, 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.520 there's a jammer on each team, and the jammer is 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.760 the only person on these teams who can actually score 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.960 a point, right, right, So here's the deal. You've got 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.399 a jammer on each team. You have three blockers on 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.080 each team, and the blockers don't have anything on their helmets. 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.320 And then you have pivots on each team. So if 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:14.439 you're looking at the starting line going back, you have 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:17.880 the two pivots have stripes on their helmets. Yes, thank you, Chuck. 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:20.560 And the pivots act is kind of like the you know, 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:23.080 like a catcher in Major League Baseball is kind of 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.960 managing what's going on on the field, same thing. Uh. 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:31.000 Tracy also compared the pivots to like NASCAR NASCAR pace cars. Yeah, 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:32.680 they set the pace of the of the game base 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:34.600 but they're also like calling moves out to the rest 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:42.880 of the team. There they actually plays. Okay, thank you right, um, So, Chuck, 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.720 going from the front back is the pivots, the blockers, 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.280 and then the jammers and the pivots and the blockers 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.679 all take off when the ref um blows his whistle 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:53.240 the first time, and then after about twenty ft actually 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.359 after exactly the ref blows his whistle again, and then 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.920 the jammers take off, right, So their whole point is 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.280 to sneak through the crowd and get ahead of them 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:04.399 and come all the way back around, lap them and 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.520 go through again. Yeah. I get the idea that the 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:10.359 jammer is clearly the speediest and and probably most skilled 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:13.440 skater and probably the most velt slinkiest person who can 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:15.840 just kind of like get through. I would think so, yeah, 0:20:15.880 --> 0:20:18.840 but I would think you'd have to be extremely um 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:22.159 skilled because you're you're probably having to jump the most. Like, 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:25.120 your whole job is to go forward as fast as possible. 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.880 There's many trying to keep you from going forward, right, 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.680 So you get a point for every player as long 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:33.080 as everything is above the boards an inbound and we'll 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:38.240 get to some of the the um the rules and 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:42.760 penalties in a second. But um, for every player the 0:20:42.840 --> 0:20:45.480 jammer passes after the first lap. Yeah, the first lap, 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:47.960 there's no points, right, No, but that establishes the lead 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.439 jammer and we'll get to why that's important in a second, 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:55.520 but for every every opposing player the jammer passes that 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:59.439 their team gets a point. Right, So the lead jammer 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.520 is the one who comes out of the pack first 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.480 through the first lap, no points are scored, but the 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.240 lead jammer has the ability to actually stop the jam 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.120 when you act that out right by and by putting 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.800 her hands on her hips or touching her helmet and 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:17.920 touching her hips a couple of times I've seen as well, 0:21:18.000 --> 0:21:21.560 and that means the jam is over and there's a 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.840 break in between, and then you start another jam, which 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:26.640 is a part of the overall about Is that right? 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.720 That's right? And we were wondering, I wonder if Debi 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:30.879 emailed me back, why you would call a jam before 0:21:30.920 --> 0:21:33.639 the period is over, the two minute period, And we 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.280 both surmise that it's probably a strategy thing if you 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:38.640 feel like like they're calling out the points. I believe 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:40.760 if you're up on points, you can just go ahead 0:21:40.760 --> 0:21:43.360 and call the jam and you've won that jam. Right, 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:45.800 You're you're locking the other team out of a comeback 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.080 from that jam, right. I think that's probably why they 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.040