Dub City Roller Derby

I have to take my entertainment where I can find it in Florida.  Christine and I went to our first roller derby at a local Boys & Girls Club in West Palm Beach.  The Dub City Resistance (black jerseys and helmets, great name!) competed against the Jacksonville River City Rat Pack.  Both teams field a single jammer and four blockers during a "jam" which can last as long as two minutes.  The game is divided into two, 30-minute periods but official "reviews" make games last longer than they should.

For the uninitiated, jammers (the women with stars on their helmets) score a point for each blocker they pass after an initial, clockwise loop around the track.  The four blockers on the opposing team are allowed to use their shoulders, hips and butts but they can't block from behind, trip or elbow the jammer.  The first jammer to score is designated the lead jammer; she can call the end of a jam before the two minutes is up to prevent the other jammer from scoring as many points.

The game offers players a great way to release the frustrations of their work week.  

This Jacksonville jammer just scored.  That's why the dude in the black skirt is holding up four fingers.

Sexist question:  do football players take selfies in huddles?  Their names are another indication they don't take themselves too seriously:  Ctrl-Alt-DeFeet, Elastic Ass, Sassy & Backdraft Betty all belong to the home team.

The Resistance clobbered the Rat Pack, 228 to 99.  Let's hope it prevails in 2020, too.

Love Wins

Palm Beach County celebrates gay pride with a parade on Lake Avenue in downtown Lake Worth.  It's a surprisingly big deal.

A bar in Ft. Lauderdale imported the beefcake.

A rainbow bug got the party started!

This exuberant marcher got her workout with a heavy reminder of how it all began 50 years ago this June in front of New York City's Stonewall bar.

The parade may be on a small scale, but it's just as colorful as those in New York or San Francisco.

By an unscientific count, drag queens outnumbered leather men by at least five to one.

Many of the marchers flew their freak flag.

Seniors were out in force, too.  With flags and cocktails.

 

Sunglasses were the accessory du jour among the lesbians.

Out and proud at such a young age shows just how far we've come since 1969!

Boys (they?) just wanna have fun.

So many different groups.

 

More than a few on wheels, too.

Christine and I are going to see this woman, a member of the Dub City Resistance, compete against Jacksonville's River City Rat Pack in a roller derby Saturday night.

My tribe.

Is it sexist to note how much bigger men's motorcycles are than women's?

Gun-carrying conservatives, who usually blend into the woodwork in Florida, stuck out like sore thumbs.

 Support the girls!

Free jello shots.

Half in the shadow.

If I lived in Florida full time, I might have adopted this dachshund.

Two of my favorite non-profits were represented.

Go Moms.

So many families with kids, too.

Looks like Bernie Sanders has the gay vote locked up in Palm Beach County.  Nobody marched (or biked) in support of another Democratic candidate.

Lake Worth's elected officials came out in force, including the mayor, vice mayor and two re-elected commissioners.  If the city's website was operational, I would be able tell you their names.

 

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This banner says it all.

I Loved this couple with their German shepherd.  Some people look at the camera, some don't.