Tonight I went to watch a friend and co-worker from the Caldwell Zoo do something utterly different; take on her personna of "Could Careless" in her 00 jersey as a roller derby queen for the East Texas Bombers. I had no idea that people really still participated in such a sport, but when I arrived at the packed to the rafters parking lot of Skateland USA in Jacksonville, TX, I realized I was quite naive. The East Texas Bombers took on the Capital Defenders of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the girls from these teams were absolutely NUTS! They slammed into one another, skid across the floor, and skated like graceful linebackers in a dazzling array of various protective padding, fishnet stockings, and jerseys with roller derby names like "Homico-Doll", "Andi Soccab****", and "Alli-Get-Her". The game, or bout, itself is made up of several "jams", during which time the jammer (a designated girl with a star on her helmet) attempts to pass the opposing teams' blockers without getting knocked down. Each player passed earns a certain number of points, and once the jammer becomes the "lead jammer", or the first to successfully and legally pass through all of the players in the pack, they may call that particular jam over at any point. This game was super intense and seemed quite painful, and I give these ladies a ton of credit for playing such a tough sport!