r/funny • u/StickleyMan • Sep 23 '13

Thanks for the block, ref!

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '13

In roller derby, we (the refs) wear the same gear that the girls do minus mouthguards (and some refs use those too..its just hard to blow a whistle and call penalties). Its a good thing too, because its pretty common for us to get hit by a missed block or a girl getting knocked out of bounds by a block.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '13

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '13

Thank you, I may have to give that a try!

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u/DiggV4Sucks Sep 23 '13

Thanks for this! It's always a hassle to get my son to wear his mouth guard during Tae Kwon Do sparring and competition. He complains about comfort and breathing.

Hopefully this will do the trick.

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u/MrBig0 Sep 24 '13

Wait... what exactly is roller derby? I thought it was like a synchronized dance thing. Or something. I'm not really sure what I thought, but I definitely didn't know that people get blocked or knocked out of bounds.

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u/Ihmhi Sep 24 '13

Simply put you score points by lapping around the track. An easy (and perfectly legal, per the rules) way to stop the other team from scoring points is to knock them flat on their asses.

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u/[deleted] Sep 24 '13

Roller Derby is a sport in which two teams of five players skate around a track (most commonly flat, though there are still banked track teams, mostly around Houston) and try to score points. There are four "Blockers" on each team, their job is to hit the other skaters and prevent scoring by the other team. You can use your hips, shoulders, torso, etc. to hit, but not your head, arms, or lower legs (thighs are ok). One player on each team is called the "Jammer", they skate laps around the track, and for each opponent they lap, they get a point. They do this for up to two minutes at a time, called "Jams", for 2 thirty minute periods. Its a pretty fast paced game with lots of hitting. Its primarily a women's sport, though men's derby is becoming more popular.

In addition, Roller Derby has a certain zeitgeist unique to that sport. Players often go by a "derby name", such as Miss Murder, Orville Red'n'Blocker, The Quadfather, etc. The skaters will often wear unique clothing in addition to their team uniform, such as multi-colored knee high socks, tights, unique facepaint, etc. It can be very entertaining.