Whew! I was stuffed in a box and shipped back home to my mom before I got a chance to write about my visit to Cincinnati. Fortunately, I'm pretty sneaky and the computer is free, so here goes...The big highlight of my visit to Cincinnati was my visit to a real roller derby game. A lot of people think roller derby isn't played any more. Well, they think wrong. For the past several years, leagues have been springing up across the United States. These leagues are mostly for women-only and play on a flat track instead of the banked track that was used in the past. You may think playing on a flat track would be less exciting, but it's actually pretty cool because skaters wipe out a lot in the corners. There are plenty of great crashes to watch.
My host, Kitschy, plays for the Cincinnati Rollergirls, which is Cincinnati's flat-track roller derby team. Kitschy can play every position, but she normally is the Jammer (that's her in black in the photos to the left and below.) A jammer is the speedskater that earns points for her team. 
She has to skate through a pack of blockers (4 from her team, 4 from the opposing team) while trying to keep the jammer from the other team from scoring points. Every time she passes an opposing player, she earns a point. But it's not so easy, because they're trying to knock her down while she's doing this.
She has to skate through a pack of blockers (4 from her team, 4 from the opposing team) while trying to keep the jammer from the other team from scoring points. Every time she passes an opposing player, she earns a point. But it's not so easy, because they're trying to knock her down while she's doing this.All rollergirls (that's what you're called if you play women's flat-track derby) and roller derby staff have "skate names" that they use. These are made-up names that they have printed on their jerseys. They're usually funny and sometimes violent. Kitchy's skate name is "Roseanne Scarr" because she likes Roseanne Barr and will scar you if you get in her way. ;P But my favorite skate name belongs to CRG's best jammer...Sadistic Sadie. Sadie must be really good because she also skates for Team Awesome, which is a derby team that is made up of 14 of the best skaters from throughout the nation.
Here are a few photos of me with Sadistic Sadie. On the track, she's just as mean as she looks, but she was really nice to me and even said I was her "Mini Me." :D
I also got to make a few announcements with Collier Mama, who is the announcer for all the CRG bouts (that's what a game of derby is called...a "bout"). And I even went to the penalty box. I can't remember what I did but Fireman Bill is a referee, and he doesn't look very happy with me. :P
But my favorite photo from the bout was when I got to pose with the kids from the Powell Crosley YMCA's Double Dutch team. The were the halftime show, and they were really excited to pose with me! And I was just as excited because they could do some really cool things while jumping rope. :D
Shoot! Someone's coming to use the computer, so I have to go now. But I'll be back to show you a little more of my adventures in Cincinnati.
<3,
Sadie
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