My old college friend, Katie, drove down from Wisconsin on Saturday
and she, her sister and I went to a roller derby bout. Her friend plays for the Charm City (Baltimore) All Stars and it was their last regular season game vs. the Windy City Rollers. I had never seen roller derby in person but it is quite exciting! So much so I wanted to become a derby girl myself. Too bad I don't roller skate well, which was only emphasized when I went roller skating for my 25th birthday and the kids were breezing by me at Skylite. It took a while to catch on to the rules of roller derby, but once you have a grasp on the method to the madness, the game is very entertaining. The 
sport is perceived as a shoving, tripping, violent sport sometimes but these girls were more focused on playing the game than harming the opponent. The pushing comes from the blockers trying to hold off the jammers who are trying to get through the pack to score. Yes, there are collisions, but it's all in the name of the game. I am predicting a rise in awareness and popularity of the sport among females as soon as Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip It" is released, a moving starring Barrymore and Ellen Page (Juno) in which Page finds her niche as a member of the local roller derby team. The pictures above: (top) Charm City makes their entrance lap and (bottom) the teams are set for a round. Those are the jammers behind the pack.
On the walk back from the UIC Pavilion to the hotel (which our balcony had a great view of the Sears Tower... sorry Willis Tower), we walked through the Greek Fest in search of a late dinner. Greek Town is in this area of the city where we were, I think it's also part of what is called the West Loop, and the annual Greek festival was going on. It was cool; Greek music, dancing, games and TONS of food. I got a gyro-- it is pronounced yeer-0w not jie-row like I had always thought. If you pronounce it jie-row, the Greeks kick you out of their town. Luckily I had been warned of this beforehand. I was told that there are all sorts of street festivals like this throughout the city. I can't wait for the next one!
Later in the night, I was at a bar and ran into an old ESPN colleague and his wife. It was so random but awesome. We were friends when we worked there and I knew he lived in Chicago but had no way of getting in touch with him (he is NOT on facebook!). Once again, what a small world.
and she, her sister and I went to a roller derby bout. Her friend plays for the Charm City (Baltimore) All Stars and it was their last regular season game vs. the Windy City Rollers. I had never seen roller derby in person but it is quite exciting! So much so I wanted to become a derby girl myself. Too bad I don't roller skate well, which was only emphasized when I went roller skating for my 25th birthday and the kids were breezing by me at Skylite. It took a while to catch on to the rules of roller derby, but once you have a grasp on the method to the madness, the game is very entertaining. The 
sport is perceived as a shoving, tripping, violent sport sometimes but these girls were more focused on playing the game than harming the opponent. The pushing comes from the blockers trying to hold off the jammers who are trying to get through the pack to score. Yes, there are collisions, but it's all in the name of the game. I am predicting a rise in awareness and popularity of the sport among females as soon as Drew Barrymore's directorial debut "Whip It" is released, a moving starring Barrymore and Ellen Page (Juno) in which Page finds her niche as a member of the local roller derby team. The pictures above: (top) Charm City makes their entrance lap and (bottom) the teams are set for a round. Those are the jammers behind the pack.On the walk back from the UIC Pavilion to the hotel (which our balcony had a great view of the Sears Tower... sorry Willis Tower), we walked through the Greek Fest in search of a late dinner. Greek Town is in this area of the city where we were, I think it's also part of what is called the West Loop, and the annual Greek festival was going on. It was cool; Greek music, dancing, games and TONS of food. I got a gyro-- it is pronounced yeer-0w not jie-row like I had always thought. If you pronounce it jie-row, the Greeks kick you out of their town. Luckily I had been warned of this beforehand. I was told that there are all sorts of street festivals like this throughout the city. I can't wait for the next one!
Later in the night, I was at a bar and ran into an old ESPN colleague and his wife. It was so random but awesome. We were friends when we worked there and I knew he lived in Chicago but had no way of getting in touch with him (he is NOT on facebook!). Once again, what a small world.
My first official weekend in Chi-town was exciting and I welcomed all the new experiences, after all, that's what this whole move was about!
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