Do you know what the fastest growing sport in America today is? If you said "Roller Derby," you'd be right! And if you said "Women's Flat Track Roller Derby," you'd be extra right. Also, it means you're probably one of the thousands of people who have been to a bout recently.
As of January 1, 2022, the Lansing Derby Vixens (LDV) and Lansing Junior Vixens (LJV) fully integrated into the East Lansing Roller Derby (ELRD) organization. Today we are one team, one family more representatively known as “Lansing Roller Derby”.
Some of the more experienced cachers may remember watching roller derby on TV in the 70s or earlier - put that out of your head. Modern roller derby is a real sport, not pro wrestling. The athleticism and dexterity of the competitors is nothing short of astonishing.
A bit about how derby is played. Almost all modern derby is played on a flat, not banked track. This is primarily because banked tracks are expensive to build and difficult to store. The track is an oval which approximately 76 by 50 feet in size.
Play is divided into two thirty minute periods, and further into shorter increments called "jams." (more on that in a minute.)
During play, there are five skaters from each team on the track simultaneously. One skater from each team is the "jammer". Only the jammer can score points. The remaining skaters are blockers, and are referred to collectively as "the pack." It is the job of the blockers to try and help their own jammer get through the pack, while simultaneously preventing the opposing jammer from doing so. This is a big part of what makes derby so exciting - both teams are on offense and defense simultaneously at all times.
After the jammer has made one pass through the pack, she then scores points for every additional skater she can pass from the opposing team. The jammer who gets through the pack first is the lead jammer. The lead jammer has one special ability - she can call off the jam at any time. However, both jammers can still score points. So a typical strategy is for the lead jammer to try to score a few points, then call off the jam before the opposing jammer can do so. If the jam is not called off, it lasts for a maximum of two minutes.
Now, the fact that derby is no longer scripted doesn't mean that all of the humor has been drained. Derby skaters often have pseudonyms under which they skate. The Lansing Derby Vixens, and their B team, the Capitol Corruption and C team, the Old Town Beat Down, include in their membership Angie Christ, Misfortune Cookie, Annie Oxident, Rue McSlamahan, and my personal favorite, Ph.Demon. She's my favorite, because she's Ms. Pianodan!
Here in Lansing, we're definitely lucky to have the chance to go see roller derby on a regular basis. If you haven't been to a bout, you should! Go Vixens!
Ph. Demon and Misfortune Cookie
Oh, right - the cache. Well, you know the drill: find the coordinates - use the geochecker - get the cache. Also, a big thank you to everyone who helped me test this one.
