I like roller derby. I like it a lot.
I like the skates and the violence and the yelling and the
punky looking girls with punny noms de skate like Celia Coffin, Hermione Danger
and, for some reason, Julia Rosenwinkel.
I've been trying to gather people together to see the Windy
City Rollers, one of Chicago's two flat-track roller derby leagues (the other
is the Chicago Outfit).
But we went to the Rollers on Saturday. And there's no reason
I should pay $6.50 for a goddamn beer.
A bit of backstory.
While a fan of derby, I'm more a fan in concept than
execution. In short, I had only been there once before. This was all the way
back in 2008, when people danced and frolicked in a sea of easily attained
subprime mortgages and colorful dragons swarmed the skies.
This was also when derby bouts (that's what they're called, "bouts")
were held at the Cicero Stadium in Cicero.
Aside from the fact I only went there once, I'm not going to
wax poetic about the old space in Cicero. I mean, I liked it. I thought it was
cool, but those seats hurt your ass after a while and the Pink Line is a
boring, boring ride.
It sure wasn't the UIC Pavilion, which is where they hold
events now. And charge $6.50 for a goddamn MGD.
The place was glitzy, the service staff professional. The
announcers tossed out T-shirts to whichever section of the crowd cheered
loudest and there were beer guys walking up and down the steps. There were
raffles and electronic scoreboards and overpriced concessions and DID I MENTION
THAT A GODDAMN BEER COST $6.50!
Corporate sponsors included Time Out Chicago and Chipotle.
The Windy City Rollers have reached the point where their
bouts have stopped being quasi-malicious counter-culture undergroove and have
just become ... sporting events.
And good for the Rollers.
Aside from this blog's admittedly snotty description ("before
you can buy them at the mall"), I sort of like when something I think is cool
gets the recognition it deserves. Don't get me wrong - the Trixie/Chad crowd
best stay away from my damn bars - but the Windy City Rollers deserve this.
They deserve to be seen by kids and middle-aged people. They
deserve to see their names (or at least their pseudonyms) in lights. They
deserve to hear a professional-sounding announcer scream over a loudspeaker "Lead
jammer, JULIA ROSENWINKEL!"
So roller derby has settled in. It's not a novelty anymore.
Now it's an established sporting event with coaches, announcers and even a farm
team - the Haymarket Rioters.
Side note: That's not cool. People died in the Haymarket
Tragedy. Between that and the professional soccer Chicago Fire, people have to
stop naming sports teams after bloody bits of history. You don't see the
Eastland Disasters or the Green Hornet Trolley Crashes. Why not call them the
Chicago Iroquois Theater Infernos? It's tactless, people. It's tactless.
And as long as I've already digressed from the topic, I
might as well mention that I think Julia Rosenwinkel tends bar at this place I
sometimes go.
But back to the point: My friends and I had fun. It wasn't a
wild night full of gritty punk menace; the bar where they held the after-party had
a full dinner menu and a patio area. And the Belgian Frites were excellent.
So counterculture wildness or just a night at the game, it's
a fun time. And I've decided that my derby name would be either Paul Maul or
Hellvis Costello.
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Paul Dailing
Paul Dailing (pictured standing in front of the World's Largest Boot), now has a different haircut. He's also lost a bit of weight since that picture was taken, but not as much as he likes to think. More
Comments
Hey Windy Citizen,
Thanks for the props! We love any support we can get. All the ladies I work with in this league are extremely dedicated. We love what we do, but can't do it without your support.
None of us get paid, including refs and support staff, but we love doing it! We're proud to be viewed as athletic and mainstream if it means we'll grab the attention of people like you.
Juanna Rumbel
P.S. We also have kids come greet the skaters when we take the track. Which is soooooo fun...FOR US!
Come on, make up your mind about how you feel. Yeah, It's not quite as grass roots as it once was but keep in mind that all though roles, announcers, coaches etc., that you mention with disdain as making the sport "mainstream" AS WELL AS THE SKATERS! do it for free or even pay to be part of this. As for the beer, that's the UIC's thing. Nothing we can do about it. The seats and the temperature in the pavilion... when you've sat on concrete benches for two hours in sweltering heat watching the skaters flop around the waxed linoleum floor you'll appreciate the pavilion despite the $6.50 beers. Which by the way is the same cost as any sporting event in the city. Bottom Lounge is too upscale for you? Well, I'll wait for the next blog where you talk about hanging out with the athletes that you just watched compete.
Chill! Enjoy the sport.
Travis D.
Travis, I didn't realize I was being too subtle with "my friends and I had fun," "it's a fun time" and when I described the mainstream thing as "when something I think is cool gets the recognition it deserves."
I'll try to be more direct in the future.
Not for me.
Sorry if I sounded miffed. Just the overall tone made it sound less than positive to the casual reader who might be looking for something to try out. The mainstream/grassroots thing is an issue for all of us and in fact for anything that starts off as a one off or seat of the pants phenomena. To grow and improve is to become organized which takes away some of that roughness. Overall though, bouts are a way better experience now than even a year ago.
Keep coming! Championships are coming up and it's a tight season!
Travis D.
I was at the same bout. I think. The bout was on Saturday not Friday. I didn't drink any beer, I was taking photographs so I saved a bunch of cash :)
The photos are on my flickr page
Dang. You're right. It was Saturday. I was thinking Saturday and typed Friday. The joys of unedited Internet nonsense.
I'll see if I can get B.F. to change it in the post. Whenever I try to do that after it's been posted, things get all funky.
Haha! It shouldn't get funky. I'll do it for you. Gimme your login and password. ah, also your SS# and mother's maiden name :)
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