Em Dash

Two years ago today, Mercyless and I launched Derbylife, with the help of Gnosis, Assaultin Pepa of fiveonfive, Hurt Reynolds, and several other wonderful people. So much has happened since then—in the world, in derby, and in our lives. Mercy retired from the site last year, and new friends joined the team. Moneyshot is our Photo Editor. TK-Oh! was the hero behind the 2012 Photo Contest. Hale Yeah is a triple or quadruple threat, always willing to push up his sleeves and help out wherever he’s needed.

"You will not get to be these things, of course, until your body earns them. First scrimmage, pick your way to the line on the track—there are bodies all around you, the parts of them the closest all bulging and intimate: the parts, on a crowded bus, that you’d normally strain to avoid. You try, because it seems logical, facing the direction in which you’ll be skating, but feet snake between yours at awkward angles. It is a Jenga puzzle, Twister, your struts already hopelessly tangled.

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Thanks! The Management

#10: Wheels matter! So does the rest of your gear. Once you commit to the sport, make sure you’ve got the right gear, and that includes a great set of knee pads.

#9: Gear only takes you so far. Once you have decent gear, you need to learn how to work with it. If you hate something, fix it or replace it or trade it with someone, but at some point, you have to learn to use your gear and not blame it for shortcomings on the track.

When I ran the PR committee for Gotham Girls Roller Derby, every few months I would get an email from a TV producer who had come up with the "brilliant" idea to put a reporter on skates as a gimmick for a segment about roller derby. Just as we can all recite "by day/by night" verbatim from memory by now, this feature rarely deviated from a pretty typical script. The league had done segments like that before, after we had lost our practice space and were desperate to get the attention of anyone who could help us find a new one. In 2008, it already felt old-hat.

A few years ago, my derby team went to Portland for a tournament. We played against Rose City, Rat City, and Bay Area Derby Girls in a fabulously well-run event at Rose’s home venue. After that, I went on a road trip, and was grateful to my foes of the previous weekend, Rat City, for inviting me to practice with them when I drove through Seattle. Throughout my five years playing derby, I have consistently been struck by the kindness and generosity of derby people, who have universally been willing to host a stranger whose only common ground is love of derby.

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the cast and crew screening of This Is How I Roll, the documentary about men’s roller derby (not “merby.” They were very clear about that) that was four years in the making. When I walked up to the tiny theater where the film was going to be screened, the door was covered in promotional stickers for bands and movies, and it was still locked. It felt very derby.

It's getting to be that time of year again. There's a chill in the air (or not, if you happen to be in New York City right now). Stores are being decorated, and those annoying guys with bells are asking for money on every street corner. Santa's making his list, and so am I.