Mibbs Breakin' Ribs was born with the roller girl mentality. "I actually broke my mother's rib. I kicked her when I was a fetus." Mibbs, a.k.a. Brandy Carter, decided to become a roller girl when she first saw "Rollergirls" on A&E. "My mother and I were watching, and it was one thing we could agree upon—that I should do it." Carter's been a Charm City Roller Girl for almost two years. "It’s one hell of a sport. It's a giant community about respecting a woman for being strong."

On Saturday, Oct. 20, 18 women arrived at the Putty Hill Skateland (home of CCRG) to see if they were strong enough to join the team. When I pulled in at 9:30 a.m., though, the parking lot was still empty. Earlier that morning, I borrowed a friend's skateboarding helmet and spent $18 on a pack of knee and elbow pads and some wrist guards in the kids section of Target. The last time I had been on roller skates was in the sixth grade, but I was gonna do it. I was gonna try out for the Charm City Roller Girls.

After searching the house for a mouth guard, my mom wasn't as encouraging as Mibbs'. "I can’t believe you're doing this," she said. "I'm not supporting you." The morning of tryouts I sat in the parking lot and took a couple of deep breaths. I waited for someone else to show up, another prospective roller girl. "If she looks too hardcore," I told myself, "I'm not going in."

Once the first few roller girl hopefuls arrived, I realized they were nothing to be afraid of. They looked friendly and nervous, just like me.

Erin Compton, a nurse at Chase Brexton in Mount Vernon, laced up her skates and said, "I'm going into this blindly." After prying the glue–on nails from my fingers, I laced up my Skateland rentals and realized the knots in my stomach probably looked a lot like these cinched shoestrings.

"Who hasn’t signed a waiver?" cried Flo Shizzle, the leader of the tryouts. I skated wobbly up to the yellow counter and signed the wavier without reading it. The eight page CCRG welcome packet provides a history of CCRG and identifies membership and skill requirements. It also reminds applicants—via boldface text—that "Health insurance is strongly recommended."

Shortly thereafter, we skated onto the rink to attempt our first test—20 laps in under five minutes. The CCRG assessors rated our form and crossovers. "We’re looking for girls who are well–rounded," says Mibbs, "someone with a good attitude and who can take direction." After two hours of plow stops, T stops, turn around toe stops, J blocks, shoulder blocks, surges, booty blocks, jumps, whips and falls, I was having so much fun I secretly thought up fitting monikers in case I actually made the team. Holy Roller, Lady Boh, Thundercat, The B–more Bruiser and the Crippler are a few of the more ominous titles I considered.

I wasn’t the only one fantasizing about becoming part of the most exciting thing to hit Charm City since crab cakes. "We’re not supposed to, but I’ve already picked a roller girl name," says Lee Duh of Mount Vernon. "It's Rebel Yellow." She continues, "I love Billy Idol!"

After tryouts, I commiserated with a few other less–than–confident ladies. Lucia Diaz of Charles Village had never seen roller derby until she attended the Championship bout on Sunday, Oct. 14. "I never ever skated before," she says. "I wanted to get my feet wet."

After two hours of down and dirty derby debauchery, the assessors finally gathered all the girls and told us we'd be notified via e-mail if we made the team. All day Sunday my Hotmail account stayed open, and I refreshed every 10 minutes in hopes of seeing an e-mail from CCRG. At 1:10 on Sunday afternoon I opened an e-mail that read:

"Thank you so much for trying out for the CCRG! Unfortunately, you did not make the league this time around. However, I would encourage you to continue to work on your basic skills (crossovers, form, stops, etc.) by coming to open skates at Putty Hill on Sundays and Thursdays from 7-10 p.m."

Well, even if Metromix doesn't reimburse me for the knee and elbow pads, I'll be thrilled to use them at upcoming practices and other go–rounds of roller derby action. And Mibbs, look out for the B-more Bruiser at the next tryouts!