Spokane

Well I have just come back from attending my first derby bout in Spokane, and I just have to say that it was a blast!!!
It was amazing to watch these women in action! I now feel like I have a little bit of understanding of this sport, and yes it is a sport! These ladies have worked so hard to get to the point that they are actually competeting in bouts and I give them kudos and two thumbs up for their hard work and dedication to making this happen. At their last bout (I didn't get to attend it) they only scored a total of 38 points, if I remember correctly but I could be wrong. Last night they only lost by 12 points, the final score was 75 to 63. This was quite an accomplishment and a huge turn around from their debut in Tacoma. After the bout there were so many people that came up to the girls and were quite shocked to find out that they had only competed once before so that was quite a compliment to the dedication that they have shown.
There were so many different people there, but the environment never got rude or ugly like some sporting events can. You find yourself routing for the underdogs and giving encouragement to people you don't even know so it is really a relatively calm enviornment, in the stands not the rink! What you have to remember is that the majority of these women in this sport are mothers, so the enviornment doesn't get too racy. There is a fare share of, let's call them same sex couples along with enough tattoo's to feel like you are at an ink convention. Let's not leave out the athlete's that like to let you know that they are WOMEN, we almost had a complete "fall out" if you know what I am talking about but right before that happened the skater realized it and dealt with the situation.
If you enjoy sports I would suggest that you attend at least one of these bouts, just see what you think. You may find that you like it so much that you want to join a league;-) Remember this if you do, you will live eat breath the sport and you have to seriously dedicate yourself to the practicing. Let's not leave out the conditioning that these women have to do to be able to skate through a whole bout without having any injuries!
Overall it was a great time and I look forward to going to many more bouts to cheer on Stacie and the Tri-City Atomic Roller Girls, GO DERBY!!