Go round and round, go round and round

Today, a rambling look at roller derby, which was like drive-ins as a cultural phenomenon of rapidly suburbanizing and affluent America. Drive-ins lasted a bit longer, as the two main leagues petered out by about 1974. This happening to the International Roller Derby League is not surprising in light of the fact that the guy doing this interview, Jerry Seltzer, was the league owner. With the hairstyle and pot belly of someone heading to the swinging singles bar in his Fiat with the top down. Maybe having the top down explains how his hair got that way. Here, he's interviewing Charlie O'Connell of the Bay Area Bombers and Ronnie Robinson of the Midwest Pioneers to set up their match race. O'Connell has a major case of helmet hair, and Robinson has a major case of drowsiness. One question: Each team had about 16 players (8 men, 8 women). Why, then, is O'Connell No. 40 and Robinson No. 58? All this from the sports Mecca of Hammond, Ind.



That O'Connell guy, he's good, by the way. He takes care of business here against the New York Chiefs, which used to be an even quicker sellout at Madison Square Garden than WWWF wrestling (back when Jessie McMahon ran the show). And their uniforms gave them big-looking butts.



And here is perhaps the main icon of old-school roller derby, Anne Calvello (No. 13 for the Red Devils, whose team name on the back had to have been borrowed from a bowling league). She was in various incarnations of the sports for more than 50 years and died in the last year.



Now on the West Coast, the main team was the Los Angeles Thunderbirds, who were in a league that made less of a pretense of making play appear real (in any league, it was as scripted as pro wrestling). Ralphie Valladeres was the legend of that circuit, and was even part of that god-awful RollerGames show about a decade ago. And Ronnie Rains was "the Psycho."



And before it faded into less cultural relevance, roller derby even got the Hollywood treatment.




Nowadays, the main roller derby gimmick is grrrrl power, with games made up of women with really punny names. A Lilith Fair for these times, perhaps.