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The History of Roller Derby
In 1935, during
the worst times of the Depression era, a sports
promoter named Leo Seltzer invented a spectacle he
called Roller Derby. Originally intended to
compete with then-popular dance marathons, the
derby was a simulation of a cross-country roller
skating race in which participants circled a track
thousands of times to simulate covering the
distance between Los Angeles, California and New
York, New York. Occasionally, massive collisions
and crashes occurred as skaters tried to lap those
who were ahead of them. Seltzer realized this was
the most exciting part, and tweaked his game to
maximize the carnage.
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Roller Derby achieved its first wave of televised
popularity in the 1950s. In 1958, the league split
into two organizations, Roller Derby and Roller
Games, each of which maintained regional strength
through the early 1970s. The most fabled team in
the sport throughout these years was the Bay City
Bombers.
In 1973, Roller
Games bought out Roller Derby, but high overhead
costs and other factors led to its demise two
years later. Several attempts were made in the
late 1970s and 1980s to revive the sport,
including an effort in cooperation with ESPN,
without much success.
In 1989, television producer
David Sams teamed with Roller Games owner Bill
Griffiths Sr. to create a modern version of the
sport called RollerGames. Instead of a banked oval
track, a figure eight track was used where one
side heavily banked, and included obstacles such
as the "Wall of Death" (which was located on the
heavily banked side) and the "Jet Jump". As a
tiebreaker, two skaters would skate around a pit
full of alligators. The first skater to skate
around the pit five times or to throw his opponent
into the alligator pit was declared the winner.
The show also included "halftime entertainment" by
musical performers and commentary by Wally George.
Main commentators for the show were former college
basketball announcer Chuck Underwood and producer
David Sams. Former Phoenix, Arizona news reporter
Shelley Jamison served as sideline reporter.
RollerGames premiered in 95% of the country, and,
though generally panned by critics, was
well-received among teenagers.
The world famous
Los Angeles T-Birds were one of the teams used for
the show. Other teams were The Rockers, Hot Flash,
The Violators, Bad Attitude, and The Maniacs. Many
of the athletes that skated for Griffiths in the
past were used for RollerGames. The show only
lasted half a season before getting cancelled due
to lack of interest, poor production values, and
the main production company going bankrupt. To
this day, Griffiths regrets the decision of doing
RollerGames.
etween June 1998 and
June 2000, Knoxville, Tennessee television
impresarios Ross K. Bagwell Sr. and Stephen Land
staged another revival known as RollerJam. Bagwell
and Land recruited numerous stars from the Roller
Derby of yesteryear, as well as newer stars from
various athletic backgrounds, to skate in the
six-team World Skating League (WSL). Jerry
Seltzer, the son of the game's creator Leo
Seltzer, was named RollerJam "commissioner". Games
were televised out of "RollerJam Arena," situated
on the grounds of Universal Studios in Orlando,
Florida. Despite strong funding and a television
deal with The Nashville Network (TNN, now known as
Spike TV), this venture failed as well, probably
due to a lack of consistency with respect to how
to present the product.
In the early 21st
century, after two decades in relative obscurity,
the sport began to experience a grassroots
revival, particularly among women, with amateur
leagues, in an indie spirit, forming in urban
centers across the United States. The leagues, of
which there are at least 30 nationwide, are thus
far all-female, self-organized (many are
non-profit organizations), and mostly compete on
flat, not banked, tracks. Each league is
locally-focused; teams in each league compete
against each other, but rarely compete against
teams from other cities. In mid-2005,
representatives from various leagues began
discussing how to facilitate interleague play.
Skaters in these leagues use quad (traditional)
roller skates, not inline skates. - Information
furnished by JamSkater.com
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