John Patrick Pullen

Two opposing roller derby players collide Two opposing roller derby players collide
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The Rose City Rollers
Credit: © 2013 Steve Mancini, Masonite Burn Photography

Rose City Rollers Roller Derby

Don't miss Portland's champion roller derby team

1 min read

John Patrick Pullen

When did sports become about performance-enhancing drugs, player strikes, owner lockouts and everything other than the game? Don’t ask the Rose City Rollers; since 2004, they’ve been competing with old-fashioned gusto and intensity, all for the love of the game — the game of flat-track roller derby.

This all-female, all-volunteer-run league has battled its way to the top of Portland’s sports fandom in recent years, packing venues from the Memorial Coliseum, which accommodates thousands of fans, to the hangar at Oaks Amusement Park, where hundreds squeeze into an intense, intimate space to cheer on the passionate, padded gladiatrices.

Tickets are available online to see these fast, furious, stunning and bold hometown girls, with names (like “Juke Nukem,” “Scald Eagle” and “Pain Goodall”) as colorful as their hairstyles and body art. But to them, image is secondary — winning is everything. So pull up a seat along the track, and grab a beer or glass of wine from the concession stand, because this is how we roll in Portland.

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