The Arena's been closed for nearly 30 years, the Spectrum is on the verge of being torn down and Arnold, 66, is now a motivational speaker.
But the city's love for roller derby remains. Two leagues - the Philly Roller Girls and the co-ed Penn Jersey Roller Derby - are playing to growing crowds. Tomorrow, the Roller Derby Hall of Fame will hold its induction ceremonies here.
Scheduled events start at 10 a.m. with a two-hour "master class" and include an open house featuring former Philadelphia Warriors players like Arnold and an evening induction ceremony.
The daylong celebration will be held at the Penn Jersey Roller Derby's practice facility, at 18th Street and Indiana Avenue, in North Philly.
The game has evolved from its early days in the 1930s, when it began as a skating marathon. Much of the roller derby played now is on a flat track. But the game was played on a banked track in Arnold's day, a practice the Penn Jersey Roller Derby is trying to bring back. It was also co-ed, generally with men and women alternating track times.
"It was the only sport where women competed under the same rules and conditions as the men," said former Warriors star Richard Brown, 63, of West Philadelphia. "I think that was one of the big appeals.
"I used to think that people used it as an outlet: When they'd be mad at home and couldn't argue with their family, they'd come to the arena and yell and scream and take their frustrations out on the skaters."
Because then, like now, the sport was tough: Jim Croce sang about the "Roller Derby Queen . . . the meanest hunk o' woman that anybody ever seen."
Today, some of the roller games stars of old admit that some of the fights were staged.
