CEO by day. Derby Doll By Night./Forbes

Up until meeting Micki Krimmel, NeighborGoods.net CEO/L.A. Derby Doll, I hadn’t been on roller skates since doing the hokey pokey at a friend’s birthday party at a Northern California roller rink when I was 12 years old.  And I have to admit that I was a little nervous when I saw the track wasn’t flat like I remembered. The Derby Dolls use a banked oval track in Los Angeles. That adds to the level of difficulty, giving skaters the ability to pick up speed coming into the straightaways. Speed, what? I’m not the most coordinated person walking, let alone putting two sets of wheels below me...

Roller derby is no rinky-dink endeavor/LA TIMES

In L.A. Derby Dolls league, tough puppies fly around rink in an unstaged athletic contest that's twice as ornery as a hockey game. The rapidly growing sport has given up most of its shtick, organizers say.