What I Love About Roller Derby...

...is everything really.

But specifically, I've been mulling over something.

I never played sports as a child, other than those I was forced to in my Phys Ed curriculum (which, let's face it, there weren't a lot, I went to art school). When I arrived at middle school, I briefly entertained the notion of trying out for a sport. But you need to know how to do a sport before you can try out. Even cheerleading has basic requirements, which I lacked.

But roller derby? You don't need to know how the game is played, or even how to skate. If you have the desire to do it and a good attitude, we'll teach you the rest.  You'll learn the game and how to play it.

Roller derby is unique in that aspect. Any adult female (and in some places, male) can pick up a pair of skates and some safety equipment and be well on her way to playing roller derby.

I want to thank roller derby for being so open. For allowing me, who participated in musical theatre and dance in school over sports, to start playing a team sport at 19 and allow my drive to propel me to our charter team.

Also, welcome to all the Charlotte Roller Girls new recruits. I hope you love the sport as much as I do.

On This Day in Derby...

One year ago today, the Charlotte Roller Girls hosted a doubleheader. It was their third of the year. In March, the All-Stars lost to Tallahassee while B-Dazz posted a monumental score against Camel City. In May, the All-Stars beat Little City, while B-Dazz were defeated by Star City.

The opponents for June 9th were tough. Initially billed as a doubleheader against the New River Valley Rollergirls, until NRV let us know they wouldn't have enough skaters for two full rosters. Our ILC was tasked with finding a last-minute opponent for B-Dazz. The LowCountry HighRollers' Bruisin Betties turned out to be available. So the games were set.

This bout also marked the first time that the A game was first, a trend we continued for 2013.

The All-Stars started hard against NRV. They pulled ahead and maintained a lead for the duration.

B-Dazz took the already-warm track next. We were nervous, certainly. LCHR had swiftly defeated us at their house in February. But they weren't quite the same team we'd faced previously. They made small mistakes, which we capitalized on. We kept the momentum going the whole game. And we beat the Betties by approximately the same point spread they'd beat us by earlier in the year.

This doubleheader marked the first time both teams won at home in 2012.

In 2013, we're undefeated at home. Hope to continue that trend on June 23rd when the All-Stars play Soul City and the B-Dazzlers take on Kannapolis!

2013: Some Thoughts

I never did follow up with my Champs blog, despite e fact that I now have an iPad Mini...perfect for blogging on the go! But I do have some thoughts for the impending new year.

Firstly, it's time to update my gear. And one of these days, I'll figure out what I want. I am on the 265 boot with the DynaPro plate. I need a new plate, for sure. I'm intrigued by the Antik Spyder skate (well mostly the boot). I kind of want Antiks. A lot. But what plate? New skate totally? Is it worth it? This is the argument that's happening in the back of my mind daily. Also I aim to try new wheels in 2013, since I always manage to come back to Poisons.

New rules! I'm thrilled that the new rules are out. And more than a little scared. Like a lot of derby girls (and boys), I've only played under the May 2010 set of rules. I've heard of the times when rule updates were yearly if not more often. I don't love No Minors, but have been behind single whistle since we beta tested it at a scrimmage last year. But it does mean new strategies. I've played a scrimmage under the new rules and look forward to playing with my team when we get back from break.

That's all I got for now, but let me know your thoughts on gear and rules!

What I've Been Up To

I'd like to do a sort of "Greatest Hits" post to sum up the last few months since my posts have been sparse and I've been up to a lot.

June:
I did post about our spectacular triumph over LCHR's Bruisin' Betties. That was amazing. Also happening were open practices with our Charter Team. ECDX brought some new things to our training. Which brings up to...

July:
In July, I made the Charlotte Roller Girls Charter Team. I also played with the B-Dazzlers against Star City, a team that had previously crushed us. Keeping up the rematch mojo, we swiftly defeated them at their venue. They hosted a wonderful afterparty for us that contained a LOT of karaoke. Our only home singleheader of the year took place the following weekend. I unfortunately did not make the roster, so I watched and cheered as the All-Stars played the Atlanta Rollergirls Denim Demons.

August:
August gave me two bouts to skate in. We hosted Blue Ridge for a home doubleheader and then drove down to Tallahassee, FL to play their Charter Team. We lost a lot. But we certainly learned some things. And Tally (who our All-Stars played in March) told us that they'd seen a lot of improvement in our game.

September:
The B-Dazzlers borrowed me as a jammer for their game against Classic City. It was a great game to play in. We lost, but there were lead changes galore. It was close. And they were a great group of ladies. I was awarded MVP Jammer which made me feel awesome. Then a few weeks later, we hosted the final game of the season, yet another doubleheader. All-Stars played first and we beat the Rocktown Rollers. But the real excitement was in the second game. The B-Dazzlers versus the Charlottesville Derby Dames. CLTRG and CDD met once before, but the game went undocumented. CLTRG lost, so were looking to win this time. CDD seemed like they were going to win for much of the game. But in the final jam, Thor Loser scored 24 jams allowing the B-Dazz to win. It was amazing. I laughed. I cried. I drank. Thor was on fire that night.

October:
This brings us to October. You've already read my adventures NYC and West/Central NY. That has quite a long blog post, so needs no more. I also skated with B-Dazz in a scrimmage against the Kannapolis Roller Girls. I had a lot of fun, and I know they did too. I hope we'll be seeing more of them in the future.

November:
That's right now. The roller derby that November brought me was CHAMPIONSHIPS! It was a weekend of the awesomest roller derby ever. I promise to devote at least two posts to how much it rocked my freaking socks off.

Coming Soon:
Why I Love the Denver Roller Dolls

The Longest Post Ever or 'Is Rita under that pile of unicorns?'

So...we did a thing.

We had a game against the Ithaca League of Women Rollers (how badass is that name?) this past Saturday. Most of our team traveled up by plane. However, three of us were nutty enough to drive up. Devlin Syder, Hitsteria, and myself rented a car and set out. (Really, we were too broke to fly.) So we decided to make a little vacation out of it and take a trip to NYC on the way there.

We left Thursday evening, with our eyes set on the destination. We had a little napsy in PA somewhere. (I napped rather longer as I was helming the backseat. We arrived in the NYC area around 10. Thanks to an expert tip from my friend Freddy, we parked in Jersey City and took the Path train to the World Trade Center. After some brief sightseeing (a scooter van, the new WTC building is nearly done, saw where Bane and his cronies broke into the NYSE in Dark Knight Rises), we set about figuring out the MTA and heading to Brooklyn. Multipass!

Hits, who spends much time on the internet, pointed us down Graham Ave and we made a beeline for Five Stride.

This dude was just chilling on the bench out front.

There were no Bont boots in her size (she is really interested in getting Bonts), but the expert OMG showed her an option that would suit her foot. We all made our purchases (a Five Stride shirt and toe caps for me!) and asked OMG for a good place to get pizza. She told us Carmine's was a popular option, so there we went.

This sign was over the back bathroom.

I had the white pizza which was exquisite. The bathroom was a closet and some sunglasses may have leapt for freedom.

Back onto the train (Multipass!) and we headed to meet my friend Freddy for coffee. We had our coffees by the Seaport, which offered views of tourists and acrobats alike. I took a photo of a couple performing the Argentine tango for my mom. We walked Freddy back to work and tooled around lower Manhattan for a bit. Here are the greatest hits in photo form.

The Wall St bull. It's apparently hip to take a photo fondling his testicles. There was someone doing so when I took the photo.

The Brooklyn Battery Tunnel Ventilation building or something. Also known as the MIB headquarters.

The side of the Statue of Liberty once the cruise ship had finished obscuring her.

That is a squirrel.

We then set off to meet Devlin's friend Daniel. Daniel is a straight fashion designer, in New York. He is an endangered species. We met him for drinks at the Heartland Brewery in Union Square. I had a house root beer and it was delicious. I also sampled the pumpkin beer which was less delicious.

We parted ways with Daniel and realized we all sort of had to pee. We set about finding a bathroom, which are uncommon in New York. The 3-story Whole Foods provided us no relief. I suggested we go visit the Panera and I'd buy something with my reward card, but we pressed on to Canal St to do some shopping. I did purchase some pashminas in Union Square for my mother and myself.

When we reached the Canal St stop, Devlin and I made haste toward the 3-story McDonald's (sense a theme here?) across the street to use the restroom. We may have abandoned Hits a bit, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. Upon leaving McD's, we plunged into the sketchiness that is Canal St. I realized that most of our phones were dead and we were headed into a non-English speaking area. I grew uneasy, but my paranoia was for naught. We headed into Little Italy, which turns out to be a series of restaurants where men forcibly try to seat you for dinner and the shops are all run by the Asians of Chinatown. We made some small purchases (Hits found herself a fanny pack). But we elected to to move our party on up to Times Square.

When we escalated out of the station, it looked like daytime. Even the TGIF was covered in neon. Apparently cool thing to do is dress like a famous character and take pictures with people for tips. Devlin purchased herself a Swatch watch. We wandered past ads for Broadway shows.

We made our way to 30 Rockefeller Center where I got starstruck by a building. I love the show 30 Rock, so it was an honor to see where it is set and shot. We saw the Lego store where they had a miniature of the plaza area featuring all sorts of inappropriate Lego people. We visited the H&M on our way to Central Park.

Yes, Central Park. We went maybe 100 yards into the park. There was a bum asleep on a bench, an Asian couple making out, and very many rats. I ran up a giant rock before Devlin dragged us out fearing mugging, kidnapping, and other atrocities. After our Central Park adventure, we made our way back to the WTC to catch the Path train back to Jersey. By this time, I was so sleepy, I was delirious. I knew that I could not fall asleep in a train station then.

We made it back to our hotel in Parsippany, NJ and then a cheeseburger appeared in front of me and I ate it, Hasselhoff-style.

Ithaca

We left the next day for Ithaca. Hilarity ensued. Gaps are always funny, you guys.

I am not responsible for this.

But, of course, we were there to play roller derby. In a "semi-outdoor" facility. Speculation as to what that meant began some time ago.

It turned out to be a de-iced hockey rink. It was covered, but not totally walled in. The ILWR can only have home bouts when the rink is de-iced, from about May to early October. Of course, it was super cold Saturday. The temperature seemed to have dropped specifically for our visit. It was 80 in NYC the day before, and apparently warmER the day before in Ithaca. But when we arrived, it was a brisk 53, only getting colder as the sun disappeared.

The floor was also slick as butter. I wish I'd brought the outdoor wheels I have. Warm-ups were rough, but blocking wasn't so bad.

The game started well, the first several jams went back and forth with neither team gaining more than two points per jam. And then they got a powerjam and things swung in their favor. Though we've gotten better with penalties, Ithaca was better than us. We never got a powerjam on them and it showed. We did put forth a strong showing in the second half. And even more excitingly, I was called upon to jam when the rest of our jammers were either in penalty trouble, tired, or on the track. I jammed several times and managed to do some stuff.

Fast forward to the afterparty. It was a rousing event at the Chanticleer in downtown Ithaca. Upon arrival, they handed us glow sticks and drink tickets. We made the dancing. There were whiskey slaps. We took custody of some unicorns. There was an after-afterparty, which we also won. I was informed that we lasted longer than Montreal, so using the transitive property, we beat Montreal at afterpartying.

On the way back, we had a total of 6 unicorns in the car. Which is many. I napped in a pile of unicorns and I'm better for it.

I'm Not Dead Yet!

I'm sure you've all been speculating (all 4 of you) what I'm up to. The short answer is EVERYTHING. I have not had full-time access to a computer and blogging is kind of low on the priority list. I apologize for that.

I intend to do a sort of timeline blog, an update of what I've been up to since my last post (it was a month and a half ago). I will also be reviewing my new wheels, the Rollerbones Nylon Speed 86s!

Since my last post, I've skated in two bouts, participated in some events, and gone to countless practices. I hope to convey that to you all real soon.

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.