Catching Up With the Windy City Rollers

This Saturday night, I will be watching the Jamburglar, Barb Dwyer, Sara Problem and the rest of the creatively named athletic women of the Windy City Rollers do battle in the third set of games this season. Their names might lean towards the theatrical, but this version of roller derby is definitely athletic competition. If you don’t believe me, Justice Feelgood Marshall might have to turn you over to Beshemoth for some punishment.

I am talking about flat track roller derby at its best. The four teams that comprise the Windy City Rollers are made up of 80 or so women athletes, who display their skills in front of large crowds at the UIC Pavilion.

While we can see their skills on display during their games, we don’t see the hours of practice they put in every week to be ready for the games. These women work as hard as any athletes I have seen and they do it for the love of the sport.

Yes, it is a sport. As I have previously written, this is not the roller derby of yesteryear. That was closer to professional wrestling theater. It was completely entertaining, but it fell short of real competition.

This roller derby is probably even more entertaining and it is actual competition. There are rules that referees actually enforce. There is a real scoring system and scores are legitimately kept.

A few weeks ago, we were in attendance as The Fury beat the Double Crossers 251-121 and Hell’s Belles beat the Manic Attackers 167-166. This left Hell’s Belles and The Fury tied at 2-0, with the Manic Attackers and the Double Crossers tied at 0-2. While one game was certainly closer than the other, both games were fast-paced, solidly played contests.

After the games, we talked to a few of the WCR athletes. Zoe Trocious, Beshemoth and Tay Q. Down were gracious enough to give us a little of their time to talk derby. We learned of their paths to WCR, along with some insight into the sport and a few other interesting things. Those interviews can be found at the Johngy’s Beat Windy City Rollers playlist on YouTube.

We weren’t the only ones to talk to the derby athletes. They are all very fan-friendly. When they weren’t playing their game, they could be found signing autographs and posing with fans. They certainly know how to ingratiate themselves with their fan base and to court new fans.

A couple years ago, when I saw my first WCR games, I admit to being surprised at the size of the crowd they drew. The fans fill most of the UIC Pavilion and they are very much into all of the action.

This Saturday, the teams play one last time before they engage in the battle for the prestigious Ivy King Cup on March 28. While I am looking forward to the Ivy King Cup, I don’t want to look beyond this Saturday and the great roller derby action I will be watching. I can’t wait!