Roller Derby “Uniondale, New York, 1974” WOMEN'S shirt (Grey)

[[ 2021 UPDATE: WE HAVE DONATED ALL OF OUR OLD GOOD ROAD T-SHIRTS TO BOSTON'S DORCHESTER ART PROJECT. https://www.dorchesterartproject.com/ IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, THEY MAY HAVE YOUR SIZE. You can find them at [email protected] and 1490 Dorchester Avenue (Field's Corner). They rock! ]]

** ALSO AVAILABLE IN MEN'S (SEE SEPARATE PAGE) **

100% SUPER-SOFT COTTON

Premium screen-print: thin, durable and “breathable”

[Screen printing by One Off Apparel]

WOMEN’S FIT: Fitted crew-neck.

A percentage of profits from sales of this shirt will be donated to the following charities:

The Julian Center (Indianapolis). For 37 years, Indianapolis’ The Julian Center has been supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other life crises. Our mission is to provide the services victims need to recover and build a life absent of abuse. Those services include counseling, safe shelter, case management, advocacy, education, transitional housing, and affordable housing.

www.juliancenter.org

Susan G. Komen for the Cure (nationwide). Since 1982, Komen has played a critical role in every major advance in the fight against breast cancer – transforming how the world talks about and treats this disease and helping to turn millions of breast cancer patients into breast cancer survivors.

www.komen.org

About the photographer:

Joe Vitti is currently an on-staff photographer and the Weekend Photo Editor for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. A graduate of Ohio University, he has previously worked at the Los Angeles Times, the Arizona Daily Star and the Darien News.

Q&A WITH PHOTOGRAPHER JOE VTTI:

Good Road Goods: I know it was almost 40 years ago, but what do you remember about taking this photo we’re using.

Joe Vitti: I didn’t remember the exact date, but after doing some research, it was Easter Sunday, 1974. New York Chiefs vs. Latin Liberators at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. I had never covered Roller Derby before, and I haven’t shot roller derby since then, at least not like that. I was a sports writer and photographer for the Darien News [Connecticut] at the time. A friend of mine was a video camera operator and he was shooting the match, so I tagged along. I wasn’t on assignment, it just sounded like I might be able to get some good pictures. I think I shot five rolls of film that day.

GRG: What do you remember about the venue and what was going on?

JV: It was a decent crowd, I remember thinking that they were pretty far back from the rink, actually. The people in the audience were pretty scary [laughs]. People were really into it. They were screaming and yelling the whole time. I thought the Roller Derby match was entertaining, but a lot of people took it more seriously. This was before big media coverage at most sporting events, I think there was probably only one other photographer there besides me. It was a lot more physical than I expected, definitely more so than roller derby you see today. Today they scale back the fights and violence. Back in those days it was also on a banked track, so that increased the speed.

GRG: Did anything surprise you?

JV: I guess I was surprised at how melodramatic everything was, especially the women’s roller derby teams [laughs]. It was over-the-top, similar to wrestling matches today.

GRG: Technically were there any difficult aspects to shooting there that day?

JV: Well, those were the days before auto-focus, of course. I might not have even had a motor drive on the camera. The only real rule was “Be Ready” [laughs].