The two most popular “fake” sports in the United States are wrestling and roller derby. We all know what legitimate wrestling looks like, from the Olympics and school competitions.
But what about roller derby? Does anyone, anywhere, play this as a legitimate sport?
And what is the ostensible objective of the game? They do announce a score, but I can’t figure out if they just make it up or if they’re actually counting something.
Historically, Roller Derby has been presented with varying degrees of theatre, reaching a point in the 1970’s when it was essentially a completely staged contest. It’s certainly possible to play it as an unrigged game, but given the history, people are usually suspicious. You can find a lot of claims that the modern revival is not scripted, in spite of retaining some of the gimmicks and showmanship of the earlier era. Since I haven’t seen a roller derby contest recently, I withhold judgement.
It grew out of various endurance contests (such as “dance contests”) during the depression. In original form, it was a contest in which teams skated an utterly absurd number of laps on a track (phrases concerning “watching paint dry” spring to mind). Eventually, it was realized that spectators grew more interested when the skaters crashed into each other, and fights broke out. The original promoter didn’t like it, but it became a contact sport with the current day scoring.
Basically, one player on each team (the “jammer”) is allowed to score. She (pronoun reflecting the the gender of a vast majority of teams in modern events) does so when she laps the field and passes players on the opposing team without going out of bounds or commiting fouls.
See “rules” section in the wiki article:
It’s my understanding that the most modern attempt to resurrect the sport is completely legit. My wife is currently practicing to join a team getting started here locally and it’s pretty much the same kind of thing you’d see for any amateur sporting association. There’s alot of camp and fun with it, but the skating itself and scorekeeping has been, in my experience, on the level.
Resurrection!
I went to a Roller Derby game last night (my second) and it was probably the greatest sporting event I’ve been to.
My younger sister (she’s 23) joined a team in Chicago a few months ago. She says it’s awesome.