KC Bombers

Okay, so, roller derby. Wow. I'm just going to try to describe, on the assumption that most of you would be as unfamiliar with it as I was - cheesy '70s flicks notwithstanding.

Two teams of around a dozen girls, though only five each are on the rink at any given time. All of them have campy stage names: Estee Slaughter, Maiden Hell, Anna Conda, etc. They're also in outlandish outfits, lots of pink and black, short skirts, feather boas, etc. The whole thing is held in a particularly large (and old) roller rink not far from Cerner. Probably several hundred people in attendance.

The rules: at any given time, one girl from each team is the designated scorer, and this role rotates. She scores a point each time she manages to lap a member of the other team; and they, of course, are trying to block her or knock her out of bounds. Three fifteen-minute periods, with a short intermission between each.

During these intermissions, random entertainment. Tonight's was a local capoeira club, a Brazilian style of both dance and martial arts. Seriously cool stuff to watch.

Mood: high camp. All of the announcers and a few of the audience members are in costume; the music is retro '70s; drag queens circle the perimeter holding up signs just like a boxing match. A little like a Rocky Horror showing, if you've ever been to one. Yet everyone's taking it really seriously, and the competition is apparently quite real. Some sideline conversations reveal that they practice regularly, and a few girls I meet say they tried out but weren't good enough skaters.

The audience: astonishingly mixed. Preppies and goths. Gay and straight. Elderly couples and young children. Probably the most eclectic gathering of humanity I've been part of in a very long time. Would be worth the price of admission just for that fact.

Overall: a remarkably enjoyable, and completely random, way to spend an evening. Their matches are generally Saturday nights, so if you're done here one of those weekends, we'll go.