Field Notes: Inside a North Star Roller Girls bout

Emily Kaiser November 21, 2013, 10:02 AM Nov 21, 2013

Listen Inside a North Star Roller Girls bout

Nov. 21, 2013

Six teams of tough women on skates jostle competitively in Minneapolis’ flat track roller derby league, known as the North Star Roller Girls. The league is well into its 2013-14 season, and its next bout is this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Producer Melissa Townsend went to a recent roller derby bout and has this report from the event.

Photos courtesy of the North Star Roller Girls, Hilary Smith

About the blogger

Emily Kaiser

ekaiser@mpr.org • @ekaiser

WebsKate

I reallly don’t think there is a question…stop fracking!

GaryF

Are the trout streams in Wisconsin having problems? WI is doing a lot of sand mining, what are they experiencing? And what are their regulations?

Seems to me there is too much emotion and not enough hard details.

Steve the Cynic

Evidence-based public policy. What a concept!

Paul

We need both, so determining the exact extent of the limits is a problem.

bob

If fracking will frac up trout streams, I’m on the side of the streams.

Jim G

Yes. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he begins to care about the fish streams: their water quality, their food chains, and their web of life. I’m thankful there are more fishermen in Minnesota than frac miners.

CarlS

Yes.

Are you going to trust what a big industry says about it’s impact on the environment? With full sarcasm I’m sure they have our best concerns at heart.

Nearly all of those trout streams are fed with spring water, which is cold and pure. This is critical for maintaining the trout environment. Any disruption to that source is a serious threat.

I love the frac industry’s thin reasoning like saying ditches are already causing runoff. It’s like a child getting caught being naughty and then pointing a finger at another saying “he started it”.

Mary Pat McNeil

YES. Period. End of conversation. Bad idea.
Keepamericabeautiful

Yes, of course. If the people of Minnesota want to preserve
the natural resources of the land for generations to come, then it makes sense
to stop the development of frac sand mining in areas that are vulnerable. Let’s
not be the people who mess up what God gave us, a beautiful landscape for
fishing, hunting, birding, and just breathing in fresh air. Southeastern
Minnesota welcomes all Minnesotans to the beautiful streams and bluff lands to
see what is a truly a majestic place.
Minnie

Yes, but there’s a lot, lot more in Minnesota than just trout streams at risk from fracking.
Ann M

Dayton let the rest stops and parks close down on 4th of July weekend. We spend thousands to bring tourists to MN and he sent them home. The Republicans tried to keep the state going through that crucial 4th of July period.Does this have to happen in one of the most highly taxed states? The tourist industry must not be too crucial for Dayton.The only exception is money spent for sports stadiums. We all know what excellent and permanent jobs stadiums provide, right?
david

Absolutely YES! The streams in se minn are already taking a beating from government subsidized corn production. Listening to miners say they are not causing any environmental damage is ludicrous. Look how much damage that industry has already caused when left unregulated. There is still asbestos in lake superior from those reserve mining criminals.
Gayle

We’ve mowed down the great North American forests, and are working on the rain forests as fast as we can. We’ve geo-engineered foods to the point where we now live on a never-ending tight-rope for an ever-more costly food supply. We’ve killed the Minnesota River. We’ve mortally wounded the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. We have piles of garbage larger than the multi-county metro area floating in the ocean. We’ve begun the process of poisoning a great portion of Superior National Forest and the BWCAW. We’ve cooked the planet to nearly the point of no return. We’ve invaded other countries and killed hundreds of thousands so we can have a lower pump price for gas and drive our 3,000 pound SUVs to the store and buy a frozen pizza and a pack of cigs. We’ve enslaved a large portion of the 3rd World, all so we can have more cheap stuff than we know what to do with.
What chance do a handful of trout streams have? Our economic/environmental policy history is one of short-sighted instant gratification and greed, leaving a wake of one human and environmental disaster after another and a legacy of blame and shame.
Should the state limit frac sand mining? Without a doubt.
Will they? When there is money in them thar hills? Not if the past is any sort of predictor.
If you are interested, go to the NASA web site and take a look at their photos of the earth at night. The mines on the North Dakota/Canada border are lit up like Chicago – that is natural gas being flared off of the oil wells, because they don’t have a system in place to handle it.
I wonder if any inventors are working on a manufactured grain of frac sand? This seems like it would be right in 3M’s area of expertise.
Mary

yes Duh.
BJ

The legislation is worded to stop those ten mines. Protecting streams, regardless of what kind of fish are in them, is a good thing. Think it was pretty smart wording to get public on the side of passing the bill.
Carrie

I don’t think enough research has been done on the effects of frac mining on the environment. Until that’s done, we really need to proceed with caution.
Steve the Cynic

Yes, it should be limited, based on rational considerations about how much disturbance of the natural environment is too much, but not banned completely. I don’t subscribe to the ideology that views “unspoiled” wilderness (as if such a thing exists) as having some sacred value. Humans have always made use of natural resources, and it’s unnatural for us not to.
Praveen G

Hey Nice Blog!! Keep Posting!! Very informative!! – Geo Textiles
Joe Erjavec

One of my cousins did this. Jane Reaction, you kicked butt!
Margaret

Thank you for having a piece about roller derby! It’s a great sport. It’s both physically and mentally demanding and a great joy to watch.
However, I’m disappointed that you asked questions about their uniforms and if they are real athletes. You would never ask a male athlete that, so why ask that of female athletes. If you are emphasizing that the sport is real and not throwback to the ’70’s, ask about stredgy, athletism, achievements, etc-not about clothes and cute pseudonyms.
Matt Wassenaar

I wonder if you could report on the sport without the disdain/disbelief in Kerri’s voice? It’s no more amateurish than the saints, who are getting a multi-million dollar subsidy from Saint Paul. Also the snobbish remark about ‘playing dress up like the renaissance fair’ was painful. Please perform your jobs like public servants working for public radio. Lose the ‘snarky’ superiority.

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Field Notes: Inside a North Star Roller Girls bout

Listen Inside a North Star Roller Girls bout

About the blogger

Emily Kaiser