Last night marked the kickoff event for the Central Oklahoma Roller Derby Association's (CORDA) Mutiny On the Waters Roller Derby and it not only thrilled and excited the crowd in attendance, it also excited them about great things to come.

Two teams from Oklahoma City made the trek (and it sounds like only a few of the ladies has heard of MapQuest) to Stillwater on a nearly perfect Sunday to battle it out on the rink at the Payne County Expo Center. As audience members walked in, they were greeted by Whiskey Wheels, a member of Stillwater's first roller derby team Angels of No Mercy who recently injured herself during practice and was unable to don the quad skates. Upon entering the make-shift arena, they could easily see the rink and chairs surrounding the area. The wooden bleachers also served as seating for the audience and even the two teams during the bout.

The audience was also welcomed by the pleasing sounds of the Dominick McClenny Band on stage as they found their way to the concessions area, merchandise tables, information booths or their general admission seats. Some chose the metal chairs around the rink, others opted for the bleachers and still others stood with the homemade signs and Viking helmets. It was an interesting crowd to say the least. Team members from both squads were warming up by doing laps around the rink, joined by the occasional referee and even young roller derby girls in training.

Then the annoucners made their way to the center of the rink along with the referees and began the match. From the get-go, it was obvious there was a little competitiveness between the two teams, Valkyrie Vixens and Cell Block 9, as verbal sparring and some friendly bump-and-shove came into play before they even lined up at their starting marks. And then, they were off.

The announcers explained the rules at the beginning of the bout, and the audience seemed to really catch on after a couple of jams (and maybe a few beers), because later in the match, the crowd really got into it. The bleachers and metal chairs were rocking while their favorite roller girl made their way around the track to score points and occasional taunts to the opposing team were thrown out, such as "How did that concrete taste?" after a member of Cell Block 9 fell hard to the ground. It was also nice to watch as faces in the crowd went from thinking "What are we doing here?" to "This is awesome! When is the next one?"

At the end of the bout, the Valkyrie Vixens were victorious vixens with a score of 105-84 over Cell Block 9. It was a great night of sports entertainment and can even be a fun family outing most of the time. I hope and encourage all of you that didn't go to attend the next Stillwater bout February 24 at the Payne County Expo Center.