I’m in New Orleans this week visiting my partner Monica who is a star player for the Big Easy RollerGirls (BERG). For anyone unfamiliar with roller derby, it is quite a rough sport and all of the players have satirical names that suggest violence or sexual promiscuity. Monica’s derby name is “Ibeatya Amber”, after a Louisiana-brewed beer called Abita Amber. Her teammates gave me a “derby boyfriend” name, “Ibeathim”.

We took a road trip down to Tallahassee, Florida for their match with Capital Punishment. Unfortunately BERG got their butts kicked, but they did it with style. There matches are always followed by an after-party, in this case at some kind of clam shack. The girls all got liquored up and performed some outstanding karaoke. There was also a leg wrestling match, in which the participants lay on their backs with heads next to the other ones feet, and interlock their adjacent legs. The object is to flip the other person. Monica was really great at this, only one woman could beat her, and she was about twice Monica’s size.

The next day we drove back, with a stop in Ft Walton to go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. All in all it was quite a thrilling experience from start to finish. Ibeatya… my vegan derby dream girl!

Capital Punishment’s “La Voodoo” about to fall on BERG’s Deb-U-Taunt

Buck Wild giving the elbow

Monica and I at a Starbucks in Ft. Walton on the way home

Here is a slide show with all the photos…