http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/magazine/01Derby-t.html?
_r=1&&ref=magazine&pagewanted=all

As a warning, many of you won't like the way it characterizes the old
versus the current versions of the sport, such as when the reporter
says the teams came to the tournament "not to perform, but to win." I
have my opinions on this, which I have shared here in the past, but to
summarize--it's a real sport if regular people put on skates and play
it. That is what has happened this decade, for the first time in
Roller Derby's 74 year history. And, I would guess, the more they
skate, the better they'll get at it. Will the skating be as good as
it was in the past? Sure. IF it truly becomes professional--that is,
the skaters' full-time jobs.