Something New and Different To Do In Lafayette

Recently, I did a head-twist on my way to the post office.  I glimpsed a small hand-made sign that said “roller derby”!  Whaaaaa???  A few days later, finding the sign to be long gone, I was back to snooping Google and found that Lafayette does indeed have a roller derby squad!  Called the Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls, the squad, formed in 2008, skates less than a mile from us at a venue on a chip-n-seal road surrounded by cornfields.  The Dolls are one of several roller derby teams that have popped up in every major city in Indiana.  From what I read on the net, the sport is making a huge come-back from its beginnings in the 1920s!! Who knew?? 

Curiosity peaked; I dragged poor John out to go to our first roller derby, which was the Dolls’ last home bout of the season.  We arrived and discovered that a lot of people arrived ahead of us and were tailgating outside the rink.  We walked to the oval, flat track and saw that the Dolls brawl on a hard surface wearing knee/elbow pads, gloves, mouthpieces, skates and helmets.   I was hoping that the brawling would be bloodless, given that I heard that one Doll broke a leg just three weeks earlier.  This sport is definitely a lot rougher than what I’d seen in my 24 years playing softball! 

Brawlin' Dolls Warming Up

After I bought a t-shirt and a handful of raffle tickets, we picked our way to seats on wooden bleachers and a couple rows off the floor.  This was a pretty good choice since we also heard that Dolls sometimes come blazing into the bleacher area and land on spectators’ laps; wouldn’t that be a highlight of the evening!  There wasn't a lot of room between the track and the spectator area!  The closer it came to bout time, the bigger the crowd grew (to about 200 people) and some were actually sitting on the floor, just a few feet from the boundary lines!!  I was surprised at the number of fans in attendance, especially since Notre Dame was brawling simultaneously with Purdue just three miles away (and got mauled 38-10). 

I quickly read the program, especially the rules, and familiarized myself with the skaters’ nicknames/numbers.  The nicknames are creative, sometimes intimidating, or just plain funny.  Some may prefer the anonymity and with the makeup (optional), one easily can emerge with an identity different from their off-track one. 

Promptly at 7, the bout began and the Dolls quickly took command of the match.  Their speed and savvy plays (or maybe their intimidating nicknames) outscored Toledo by 142 points (192-50)!!  Fortunately, the brawl was bloodless and aside from a few penalties, the only other game stopper was a lost skate wheel.  By half-time, the Dolls were ahead, 112 to 18!!  What a slaughter! 

At half-time, the crowd was entertained by a local belly dancing studio troupe (and I do mean belly) and they did shake the room with their exotic moves.  The crowd seemed to enjoy it.  Next up was the raffle drawing.  Imagine the look on my face when one of my numbers was announced!!  Shock of shocks, I scampered across the track to claim my prize:  a large poster for the event that was matted, framed and signed by all the Dolls!!  Shoot, I wanna be a Doll; my name could be “Wreck-less”, but John said, “nah, it would be “Grandma”.  That guy, raining on my bonfire; of course, but he knows how many injuries I sustained playing softball.  Even in my younger days, I know I probably wouldn’t come out on the winning side of a body block by most of the women who play this sport.   And here I’d been saying that there isn’t a lot to do around here.  This is something most refreshing!!