‘Buffalo Lil’ stampedes in Roller Derby

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June 20, 2009

By JON WEBB The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Jun 20, 2009, 12:02 PM CDT

January through September, Glasgow native Lillian Matthews is someone else.

After strapping on a pair of roller skates and donning her trademark black cowboy hat, Matthews becomes “Buffalo Lil”: an athlete tough enough to stand beside shiver-inducing names such as Jailbreak Jenny, Carrie A. Glock and Anna Nicole Smite.

Matthews is one year into her stint as a member of the Derby City Roller Girls (DCRG), a Roller Derby team based out of Louisville.

Matthews joined DCRG a year ago, and spent months working her way up through team ranks.

Upon joining the team, she endured an eight-week “boot camp” and survived six weeks of practice as “fresh meat” before becoming a full-time member of the team.

“We have our team set-up that way to make sure girls are absolutely trained in playing and committed to being on the team,” Matthews said.

According to DCRG’s official brochure, Roller Derby consists of ten players, five from each team, skating around a circular track and playing offense and defense simultaneously.

For each team, there is a jammer who fights to pass the opposing team’s skaters to score points. There is a pivot who “sets the pace for the pack of skaters” and three blockers who do their best to keep the opposing jammer from getting past.

Matthews said her greatest Roller Derby moment came in a “bout” in Lexington, when she sliced through the pack to grab the role of lead jammer, the most powerful position on the track.

“Being the lead jammer means that I beat out (the other team’s) jammer to the front of the pack, and I was eligible to come back through the pack and score points,” Matthews said. “Getting to be a jammer is a huge responsibility. They are some of the fastest and most in-shape girls on the team. I am trying to work my way up to jamming more, so anytime I get the chance to and get to be the lead is a pretty big deal to me.”

Roller Derby is also a pretty big deal to DCRG’s fans.

DCRG’s Founder and President Jenni “Bad Penny” Alrich started the team, Kentucky’s first, in 2007 after meeting another team in Austin, Texas, and has since watched her creation cull a dedicated fan base.

Not surprisingly, that base includes Matthews’ husband and Barren County High School graduate Brian Matthews, and Lilian Matthews’ mother Terri “Ma Buffalo” Bacon.

“Our fan base is very diverse,” Brian Matthews said. “(Roller Derby) is a family-friendly event so you see everything from small children to senior citizens.”

Once inside, fans can either sit in the bleachers or brave “suicide seats” situated right next to the track.

“There’s a very good chance you’ll end up with a roller girl in your lap (if you sit in the suicide seats),” Brian Matthews said.

Not unlike most contact sports, Roller Derby presents a risk of injury, and every time Lilian Matthews puts on a pair of skates, she runs hat-on into potential physical danger.

She said team members have suffered broken noses, ribs, legs and shoulders.

DCRG’s dedication and toughness impresses Bacon.

“I would challenge anyone to get out there and do what they do,” Bacon said.

Although Lilian Matthews said DCRG possesses its fair share of rivals and endures its fair share of violence, she stressed the rivalries don’t ever stretch beyond the action on the track.

After each DCRG home bout, the teams and fans head to Louisville bar, The Monkey Wrench, to unwind and maybe even enjoy some “DCRG Heartbreaker Ale,” a beer created in honor of the team by their sponsor, the Bluegrass Brewing Company.

“Just like any other sport we take rival(ries) out on the floor with our hits and playing,” Lilian Matthews said. “Then afterwards we can go the Monkey Wrench for our afterparty to hang out and dance.

In the end it is all about having fun, and being a team and enjoying the sport together.”

DCRG’s last home bout will be June 27 at the Louisville Fairgrounds.

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‘Buffalo Lil’ stampedes in Roller Derby

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