How I Feel About Scrum Starts

So roller derby today involves a lot of scrum starts. They look sort of like rugby scrums (not that most of us have played rugby.) The top teams are all doing scrum starts. The strategy has funneled down to teams all over the world. I don't like scrum starts.

As a jammer, I don't like them because it seems to involve a lot of illegal contact. Watch Bonnie Thunders attack a wall in a scrum. The best jammers literally push with their thighs against the asses of the wall of blockers. This takes a lot of faith in your opponents. If they wobble, the jammer risks getting a backblock minor. If they fall, it can be a major. The fact that the jammer is initiating contact to the ass of the blocker is illegal. I was jamming in an invitational when I made incidental contact to the back of a blocker with my thigh. She didn't wobble, but I was still assessed a minor backblock. I don't want to risk fate any more than that.

As a blocker, scrums are chaotic. It's 10 people in like 2 square feet of space. The jammer seems to escape from my wall. So the jammer is escaping and the wall of blockers is almost at a standstill. You don't have the momentum to catch her.

If you ask me what I want when I'm jamming, I will not say a scrum. I want you guys to take off the line, so I have room to get some momentum and get my head in the right space. I know I'm part of a team, so if scrums are what we're gonna down, I'm gonna put my all into scrums. But I'm secretly praying the new ruleset kills them.

Practice Tonight

...was friggin rough. And since I feel that strife and pain make the best blogging AND I owe you guys a post, here we go.

So I had fondue with my dear aunt and granny this evening at the Melting Pot, but I did have to cut it short to open the Warehouse for Open Skate. I am severely low on sleep (I reckon I got 2 hours last night thanks to the heat) and had a ridiculous sort of day at work. I tried to nap but managed less than an hour of nappage. So I'd considered just opening up for Open Skate then going home, but of course, I got a ride there and was scooter-less.

So I skated through a practice that killed my toe (it's still recovering after its toenail problem) and twerked my bad foot. I stayed for the A-team portion of the evening which had me coming up the loser in a number of wheel locks. (I'm still getting used to skating with these individuals.) I took a nasty fall right onto my ass. The very same ass I broke all those years ago. Spasms of pain, tears in my eyes, totally winded...I needed a second to get back up. I think maybe my trucks are still too loose. My skates still felt squirrelly on my feet.

Anyway, my night was shit. I feel like hell. This was not an excellent start of a bout week. And I've got another 7 am shift tomorrow.

BUT: nobody smacked me right in my shoulder. I haven't broken any trucks in a few weeks. Tomorrow night's B-Dazz practice is being led by Fister. Moll Adjusted made the roster to play Star City (yay!). I dipped many delightful things into chocolate. I'm almost positive my ass is not re-broken. And my bed is calling me.

Thanks for staying through the bitching. Things will be better tomorrow.