Rock, Rum and the OC Roller Girls

Brandon Ferguson | Posted on


Some say the sport of roller derby is experiencing a resurgence–but it probably never really went away. Though its 1970s heyday has long since passed, the commitment to the sport demonstrated by the girls who don old-timey skates, fishnets and knee pads is impressive. 
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Saturday night at the Anaheim Convention Center witnessed Orange Whip face off against the Traffic Jammers in a four quarter “bout,” featuring more than a few major spills and insanely competitive behavior.

This sport features tons of women of all shapes and sizes going wheel-to-wheel with each other. Specific instances of this included Orange Whip's Char Mean and Darla Deville doing their damnedest to muscle and finesse their way past the Traffic Jammers' Dirty Deborah Harry on the banked track, a woman loath to give up any inch of floor space. 

The whole experience was sweetened by the ska stylings of Pico Rivera cover band Dub 8, who offered up lively renditions of Madness, Sublime and Bob Marley songs. Add beer from concession stands and a Sailor Jerry tent manned by a  smoking-hot shot girl and it was a pretty good Saturday night. Oddly enough, there's a family atmosphere to these events with parents of skaters wearing T-shirts emblazoned with their daughters' names. 
The main bout was preceded by an event featuring junior skaters as young as eight. The final score for the main bout was Orange Whip 123 and Traffic Jammers 113.