The overdue Odd Saturday report

Last Saturday was one of those days of excess that I love but cannot afford to do often. After sleeping late, we headed out to dip into the river of cheese (i.e., eat at a favorite local Mexican place, where the queso is plentiful and good, and the marinade on the beef in the fajita quesadilla steak is strong and flavorful). We then put in some Halo time, followed by a little work.

Everyone arrived about 4:15, and the festivities began in earnest.

First stop was Dorton Arena for a Carolina Rollergirls double-header. The opening game was a blow-out, with the visiting Dixie Derby Girls taking the Carolina Bootleggers 86 to 76. (The final score is closer than the game ever was.) Less than five minutes into the second match-up, however, we realized that we'd been seeing the junior teams before, because these women were faster, stronger, better skaters, and far more effective users of various strategies. The Steel City Derby Demons started with a 26-0 scoring run, and it looked for a bit like the home team, the Carolina All-Stars, were done. Carolina came back, though, to win it 144 to 143 in a truly exciting and excellent match.

We didn't see the last several minutes, however, because we had to leave to make our nine o'clock reservation for a dozen at The Pit. After several shared plates of Barbecue Fries and an additional couple of pans of cornbread, followed by heaping plates of 'cue, we were all so stuffed we could barely move.

We rolled into our cars and headed home, where through the combination of Spike TV's free broadcast and the UFC's PPV event, we were able to watch all but one of the fights. Somewhere after midnight, we took a break before the main event and tore into many pints of various flavors of Jeni's ice creams, as well as trays of two different types of cookies and the namesake bouchons from Thomas Keller's Bouchon mixes. Yes, cookies from mixes--but Keller mixes, so they were awesome.

When the fights ended and most of the crowd headed out, a hardy few of us stayed up for a little more entertainment, and then off to work I went.

It was a great evening, but, as I said, not one I could do very often.

Roxy Rocket for the win!

Roxy Rocket was on fire tonight! She started as jammer ten times, and in the first nine she became the lead jammer and scored a ton of points. In her last attempt, the Tucson Saddletramps' jammer bested her, but it was a hell of a run.

Oh, yeah, I forgot: You probably don't follow the Carolina Rollergirls, Raleigh's own Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA; read: roller derby) team. I have to confess I don't really follow them, either, but inspired by a successful first visit many months ago and a clutch of ticket vouchers as a present from my friends Eric and Anna Bess, a group of us went to see them tonight.

We had a blast. We ate nothing but health food--soda, beer, nachos, hot dogs, and funnel cake--and we watched Carolina smash Tucson. These women work hard, skate hard, hit hard, and seem to love what they're doing--and they must, because they sure can't be making much, if any, money at it.

I will pay for this tomorrow, because I have so much to do before I leave town that I will sleep somewhere between zero and a little tonight, but I'm still glad I went.

If you have a roller derby team in your area, or if you're in this area and can get to a Carolina Rollergirls game, check it out.

Denise Lightning saved the day

Snot Rocket was unstoppable for much of the game, but when the match was on the line, Denise Lightning stepped up to the challenge of shutting down the nation's number one jammer.

Oh, yeah: the topic is roller derby.

Specifically, for her birthday party tonight Anna Bess held the single most interesting (at least to me) event of any of our parties in ages: after a very early dinner at Baja Burrito, a favorite place of hers, we went to Dorton Arena to see the game between the #4 Carolina Rollergirls and the #1 Kansas City Roller Warriors.

A jammer, by the way, is the one player on each team who can score. The names I gave are the ones the women use, and they alone were enough to win my heart. How can you not want to cheer for a thin but tough as nails blonde named Snot Rocket who again and again found openings where none appeared to exist and then jetted ahead of the pack? Too bad she was on the opposing team.

The flat-track skating was fun, fast, and physical. Most of our group sat in the stands, but a few of us, myself included, sat in "the pit," the concrete floor area just outside the skating track.

One color commentator's name was Corn Dog.

The crowd was larger than I had expected, ranged all over the place in age and other demographics, and had a sizable contingent of young, heavily inked people of both genders.

After taking an early lead, Carolina's defense gave up points again and again, until it was a one-point game--and then Denise Lightning saved the day.

I had a blast, recommend it highly, and hope to go again.