The Omaha Roller Derby Girls had an action packed match on February 16, 2008. If you were lucky enough
to attend this exciting event, you definitely got your money's worth! The Low-Down Lucy's (LDL) beat the Victoria's
Secret Service (VSS) 99-98 in an exciting sudden death bout.
Each match consists of three 20 minute periods with two minute "jams" where both teams try and score as
many points as they can while trying to stop the other team from scoring. There is so much action packed into each minute
of this sport! There was a lot of pushing and shoving each other out of bounds and even some close calls for
the photographer. Around the track is a ten foot zone where no one is allowed to be in case there are some flying Derby
Girls from these take-downs.
The score went back and forth between LDL and VSS during the three 20 minute periods. During
the final minutes of the third period, the VSS girls were down by eight points. VSS was able to come back and tie up
the match with a little over 30 seconds to go. Neither the LDL or VSS were able to score any more points in the
final 30 seconds of the last bout. This forced them to go into sudden death. The entire crowd was on the edge
of their seats. The sudden death bout was the most action packed two minutes of the entire match! LDL was
able to score one point to win the match.
This was my first Roller Derby match I've seen live. It is so much more exciting to watch it live
than to watch it on TV. It truly is an exciting sport to see in person. Since it was my first time at a Roller
Derby event, I didn't know how close I would be to the action. I was a little closer to the action than I had planned
on. Even though I thought I was at a safe distance by staying behind the 10 foot zone, I was almost knocked down a couple
times. It was really exciting to be close to the action.
The photo below shows how close I came to getting knocked down. When your behind the camera, you lose
your peripheral vision, I didn't even see her coming towards me. I was focused on capturing the hit in front of me I
didn't see the girl skate between me and the action. She barely had enough room without crashing into either the girls
on the floor or me.
