WOMEN'S ROLLER DERBY DOESN'T GET MUCH RESPECT from metro sports media. If it’s covered at all, it typically falls along the lines of, “She’s an accountant by day, but Sharon Misery by night.” Maybe a paragraph on an upcoming bout, or a fundraising exhibition for charity.
As far as covering it as a sport – with top athletes training five days a week when necessary, enduring dangling ankle fractures cobbled back together with titanium rods, religiously adhering to protein-rich diets or pushing themselves to earn, or hang on to, competitive spots on all-star traveling teams – roller derby gets no respect at all.
The Oklahoma Victory Dolls are on the verge of changing all that. Becoming a nationally ranked team among the likes of dominating squads from New York City, Chicago, California and Texas can’t be ignored as an athletic feat. It’ll be an Oklahoma first and fulfill a dream six years in the making.