In one normally calm thrift store parking lot, a Loyola professor donned a pair of roller skates, elbow pads, knee pads and a helmet with “Sadist” written on the back of it in bold black lettering.
While unusual in a classroom setting, the attire was appropriate for the roller derby bout.
The Big Easy Rollergirls, a professional roller derby team based out of New Orleans, played their only pre-season game to drum up excitement for their season opener on April 16.
Among the participants in the bout was English professor Brooke Ethridge. Ethridge, who is better known by the moniker Sadist Hawkins while on the track, is fairly new to the sport, saying that her only other experience on roller skates had come from going to a few birthday parties while in elementary school.
“This season will be my rookie season,” said Ethridge, who picked up the sport 13 months ago. She said she enjoys the sport despite having to hobble to class at times. “I was in training my first year where I sustained several knee injuries.”
Ethridge said that she had known people involved in roller derby, but was even more intrigued by the sport after seeing it live. “I have to give some credit to my boyfriend, who brought me to my first bout in November of 2009,” she said. She also said that an acquaintance (and eventual teammate) who skates under the name of Cherry Pie, piqued her interest as well. Ethridge declined to give Cherry Pie’s real name so that her true identity could remain secret.
Ethridge was not the only person with a Loyola connection involved in the roller derby. In order to help the audience keep track of the fast-paced action, bout announcer Skip 4-play got on the microphone to give all those in attendance the play-by-play.
Unlike most commentators who are content to sit in one spot during sporting events, Skip 4-play, whose real name is Mathew Morgan, would often run a lap around the track when a skater had broke off from the pack and taken the lead.
Morgan graduated from Loyola in 1998, and graduated from Loyola’s law school in 2010. Morgan said that before he was running alongside the lead skater as a commentator, he was skating along the side of the track looking to call penalties.
“When I moved back to New Orleans, there was a lawyer at the law firm I worked at that was a Rollergirl, and she got me in as a ref,” he said.
When talking about his on-track nickname, Morgan laughed and said that “it was the nickname nobody else would take, and I thought it was funny.” Morgan considers the name to be ironic.
While the crowd seemed to be impressed by the speed that skaters achieved, the parking lot provided a less than ideal playing surface.
“If you think it’s easy being a rock star on cracked concrete, think again,” said Morgan to the crowd as a skater maneuvered her way around a turn.
Ethridge said that the track was also about 75 percent of the normal size, which forced everyone to slow down and make changes to the strategy. “We were doing more positional blocking than hard lateral hitting,” she said. “Under normal conditions, you would probably see a lot more big take-out hits and probably a lot more people going to the penalty box.”
For Brooke “Sadist Hawkins” Ethridge, the sport continues to provide excitement. “It’s the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “It surprises me how much better it gets. The comradely is great, the girls are amazing and it’s changed my life.”
Morgan echoed this sentiment, saying “I wouldn’t take any money for this, because all the payment I need is the fun I have on the track.” He also predicts big things for the Big Easy Rollergirls, saying they would “win the Super Bowl of roller derby this year.”
Hasani Grayson can be reached at [email protected]
Loyola alumnus Matthew Morgan, better known as Skip 4-Play, announces at a Big Easy Rollergirls bout. Morgan is a Loyola alumnus for both undergraduate (‘98) and law school (‘10). (Photo Courtesy of AKochPhotography, LLC)
