The Good Life – September-October 2014

dislocated kneecaps, broken fingers
and more, but Aker said it’s no more
dangerous than hockey, although in
hockey, players have more, thick pads
to cover their bodies.
The Rock City Riot league has both
home and travel teams. The travel
team skates under the Rock City Riot
name in the national Men’s Roller
Derby Association, and the two home
teams are the Hipcheck Murphys and
the Quad Brawlers. The home teams
compete in bouts against each other.
Two teams of five members
skate counterclockwise on a
track in each bout. One team
member is the jammer, or
scoring player, who wears
a helmet with two stars on
it and the other four are
blockers.
A bout is played in two
periods of 30 minutes, and
players score points during
jams, which are plays that last
up to two minutes. Jammers
earn points for their team
by skating around the track
and lapping members of the
opposing team. Blockers try
to help their team’s jammer
get ahead while deterring
the other team’s jammer
from advancing on the track.
It’s Not RollerJam Anymore
Most movies that depict roller
derby aren’t completely accurate in
their portrayals of the actual sport. In
the movie Whip It, for example, the
roller derby members skate on a bank
track, which curves up and down.
Aker said most roller derby leagues
opt for a flat track instead since more
teams currently compete on that type
of tracks.
The movie also isn’t accurate
when it comes to the physicality of
the game. As opposed to using their
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