Friday Funny: Pedestrian Planner is Hell on Wheels

"It's a quiet day at the office for Nicole Losch. She's tweaking sidewalk and bike path plans for the Burlington Public Works Department to protect pedestrians.

Losch chuckles, 'Then I get to go out after work and participate in collisions!'

In the company of a dozen or so other professional women, Losch ditches her daytime persona and becomes 'Bruise Control.'

Together, they are the Green Mountain Derby Dames. They're part of a nationwide resurgence in Roller Derby, that hybrid of spectacle and sport that was a television staple in the 1950s and 60s.

Everyone here has an alter-ego like 'Puma Vicious' or 'Star Slayer,' and everyone's in clothes, if you can call shredded fishnet leggings, frilly panties, and knee-high fluorescent socks 'clothes.' They would give grandma a heart attack."