Aggression on Wheels, With Bruises as Badges

NEW YORK, NY - As a child of the 1970s, I spent a number of birthday parties in striped tube socks and bright white roller skates, whizzing around a place called Skate Country in New Orleans.

I loved the freedom of doing figure eights to Olivia Newton John or couples skating to the Bee Gees. But when I entered the Hunter College gym this spring for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby home season opener, I instantly knew it was going to be so much better than Skate Country. On one side was a roaring crowd and on the other a line of the toughest-looking women in short shorts I had ever seen.

For the full story please visit http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/arts/10derby.html