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Oct-12-2009 03:47
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Salem's Cherry City Roller Derby Girls are on Fire! (VIDEO)
Tim King, Dexter Phoenix & Dawn Hatchard Salem-News.comThey're simply too hot, the flames were searing... and the burning excitement means one thing; All-Girls Roller Derby is here to stay.
 Still photos: Dexter Phoenix Video: Tim King Field Producer/Reporter: Dawn Hatchard |
(SALEM, Ore.) - Electricity was in the air Saturday night at the State Fairgrounds Pavilion, and the place had a magical sense as Salem residents lined up for a night of roller skates and fishnet stockings, to watch ladies with names like "Areola 51" and "Like a Virgin" compete in a sport that used to be very popular in Oregon.
 Salem-News.com's Dawn |
The place was packed, overflowing, for Salem's debut roller derby match that has been described as nothing less than, "a bone-breaking contest of skill and will, from which only one may emerge victorious."
The competitors say this is All-Girl roller derby at its hottest, fiercest, and most magnificent.
They live by the motto, "Wounds heal, but glory lasts forever!"
The debut arrives on the heels of the release of the new Roller-Derby film, "Whip-it" directed by Drew Barrymore. Critics say the movie is surpassing expectations and it was called "Amazing" by groups like the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
The bout on Saturday saw more than 3,000 in attendance and people were sadly turned away at the door.
Beyond the powerful and sexy competitors and the fierce skating, there was an obvious camaraderie between the two teams. They tell us that a lot of people have put a lot of time and effort into bringing the special event together and there is no question that this weekend's debut event was a smashing success.
The skaters worked hard to put on a good show and the action never slowed down for a second. There were referees skating in the outer circle and more female skaters with signs to keep everyone up to date on scores.
High energy met high speed and the results Saturday were impressive and memorable.
Our team will have a full video report on the derby this week with Reporter Dawn Hatchard. For now we are bringing you the sites and sounds of the event's totally amazing halftime show.
This video was produced by Tim King with footage recorded Saturday, along with still photographs from Salem-News.com's Dexter Phoenix.
Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com
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Arther October 13, 2009 3:30 pm (Pacific time)
Salem needs More fun . Go Cherry City !!!
wingnut October 13, 2009 11:38 am (Pacific time)
Roller Derby is different from football in that it is a much faster paced sport. Also, there is no ball involved. It's different from dog fighting in that there is no fighting and there are no dogs. Nothing is staged and throwing elbows is against the rules. This event was promoted on television, the radio and in the newspaper for the past several months. For more information check out www.cherrycityderbygirls.com or find them on Facebook.
Mike H. October 12, 2009 4:44 pm (Pacific time)
That looked fun, where do they advertise this stuff? I didn't see or hear a damn thing about it. I would have gone too...
gp October 12, 2009 5:18 am (Pacific time)
Is roller derby any different than football or dog fighting? I suppose it is sexier. But I would love to see the stats on injuries and deaths caused by this sport. By the way, I went to a roller derby with my uncle when I was in third grade, I was terrified (of the crowd).And there were none of the groovey fire jugglers.
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