From a viewer's standpoint, there are two ways to experience roller derby.

You can watch Drew Barrymore's Whip It from the comfort of your home couch, or you can take a seat in the "suicide section" at a Bath City Roller Girls bout.

The latter will cost you $10 in admission, but provide surround sound and 3D action even a Blu-ray version of the film won't capture.

Skating out of Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens, the BCRG are an amateur roller derby league made up of 24 women from towns across Southeast Michigan.

By day, they are wedding planners, hair stylists, reporters and moms, but add a pair of skates and they become Spanky B. Hines, Darth Gator, Lucille Ballbuster and a slew of other names you don't want to face on a flat track.

What is roller derby?

A full-contact sport, fan Chris Justin, of Roseville, describes derby as being "better than football."

While penalties are given for unsportsmanlike conduct such as kicking, tripping or pushing, other forms of "blocking" are legal, which is why players wear helmets and multiple pads during the bout, or game.

A bout consists of 60 minutes of play divided into two periods of 30 minutes each. While the rules are slightly more complex, the basic goal of each team is to help their "jammer," or point scorer, pass as many of the opposing team's players as possible during a "jam," or play. At the same time, each team will also try to block the opposing jammer. At the end of the bout, the team with the most points wins.