Whipity Pow / Rocky Mountain Rollergirls / Photo by Jay Vollmar.I've spent a lot of time thinking about Whipity Pow's thigh this week. I don't want it for myself, but it's an incredible thing to behold.
David Foster Wallace on tennis great Roger Federer:
"Genius is not replicable. Inspiration, though, is contagious, and multiform -- and even just to see, close up, power and aggression made vulnerable to beauty is to feel inspired and (in a fleeting, mortal way) reconciled. "
Recently, there was an episode of Radiolab about limits. During the segment on limits and the human body, Jad and Robert interviewed Julie Moss about her legendary second place finish in the 1982 Ironman Triathlon. It was really insightful to hear the analysis of how our brains deal when we push our bodies.
Anyway, here's Julie Moss shitting her pants and crawling to the finish line:
I was hanging with some Brits the other night, and the roller derby thing worked its way into the conversation.
In her adorable accent, the Girl Brit asked, "Is that the sport where the angry girls on roller skates hit each other?"
"I'm not angry," I said. "I'm just determined."
5 comments:
Great game on Saturday, despite an unfortunate ending. Here is the photo we took together (I know you've been anxiously awaiting it). Hope you keep playing...
Thanks Amir...we'll see how it goes. It was nice meeting you.
I'm skating the 6/12 bout and then Fight Crew comes back in October. We'll see how the rest of 2010 plays out. Right now it's hard to imagine hanging up my skates. One game at a time I guess?
Thanks for posting that "Limits" podcast. I listened to it Sunday, great stuff! I love things like that, seeing how the body and mind react in intense situations, seeing what happens when its boundaries are pushed. I have a great audiobook of people's recollections of being in all kinds of extreme situations, like being attacked by a bear, or surviving a plane crash. A little more morbid, I suppose, but still very interesting to see how the mind and body react when faced with things completely out of the ordinary. I also read a good one by Steven Johnson called "Mind Wide Open", it was absolutely fascinating (albeit a bit technical sometimes), and worth checking out!
And you guys were awesome on Saturday!!! It's a very interesting dynamic, that even though you guys haven't won one in a long time, FC ALWAYS still manages to completely own the crowd. It's so awesome to be part of that crowd when it's happening! You were spectacular (as always)! Tina had a great game, Tough Soles had great game, and it was Tina that got kicked out before Tara, right? That's a rarity!
And I'm going to continue living in denial of the fact that you might stop skating.
no, actually, Broady got kicked out before Tara (still rare). Tina went right before the last jam.
For better or worse, FC's propensity for dramatic losses has won us fans. We're always the underdog. But I really, really want to go to champs this year. It's not out of the question yet, but we definitely have to win our next two games.
And when tallying our losses, don't overlook our lone 2009 victory over the Sirens...
One game at a time is good. So what would a newly-retired Doll do with her newfound spare time...train the young 'uns? Tend to books full time? Make Whip It 2?
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