Cambridge Community Television has put together a very impressive half-hour documentary on the Boston Derby Dames, featuring appearances by league founders Ivana Clobber (who has since moved to Kansas City) and Sarah Doom, along with skaters Maura Buse, Harlot Fevah, Shelby Shattered, Triple Deck-Her, Dreadnought, Xena Paradox and others … and even better, you can view the whole thing online!

As always, DNN stands up and cheers whenever media coverage of derby goes pleasingly in-depth instead of painfully boilerplate, so don’t be shy about stopping by CCT’s site and leaving a comment to congratulate them on a job very well done.

WASHINGTON, DC — The Cherry Blossom Bombshells came into DC’s season-opening doubleheader looking for revenge for their 97-36 loss in last year’s championship bout, but Scare Force One wasn’t having it. After a low-scoring first half, the defending DC Rollergirls’ champions demonstrated exactly why they remain undefeated, utterly shutting down the Cherry Blossom Bombshells in the second half to win another lopsided 74-12 victory.

Scare Force’s captain Condoleezza Slice quickly staked her team to a 5-0 lead by getting a grand slam on opposing jammer Deja Bruise on the bout’s first jam, but the Bombshells would keep it close for a while, partially helped out by Scare Force’s tendency to go to the penalty box early and often (SF1 would have two blockers in the box by the end of the first jam.) Jam 6 was the only big win for Scare Force in the half, when Meatball was able to run up a 7-0 over Kimono Dragon that put the score at 18-7 in favor of Scare Force. But Scare Force’s hard-hitting defense, keyed by some bone-jarring hip checks from Trampon that often sent opposing jammers sailing out of bounds, would never allow the Bombshells more than 2 points in a jam, and that allowed SF1 to build a 29-10 lead by the end of the first 20 minutes.

The first half had been mostly Scare Force, but they put on a defensive clinic in the second half, holding the tiring Bombshells to a mere 2 points in the full 20 minutes while pouring on 45 more of their own. The Bombshells would be shut out for the first six jams of the half and again for the final four jams of the half, as only Guantanamo Babe and Deja Bruise were able to get a point each on jams 7 and 8. Ironically, the 62 point Scare Force victory ended up being just one point larger than that of their previous match.

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WASHINGTON, DC — In the first bout of the DC Rollergirls’ home season opener, last season’s last-place Secretaries of Hate came tantalizingly close to their first-ever victory, but in the end were denied by the DC Demoncats, who were victorious by a final of 62-47.

The first half of the 40 minute bout was a tight one, with neither team able to secure a significant lead. After the first jam went 4-4 as the Demoncats’ Camilla the Hun went up against the Haters’ Goldrush, the lead would change hands on jams 2, 3, 5 and 7, leaving the Haters defending a small 18-15 advantage about halfway through the period. The low score was mostly the result of lead jammers cutting things off early — throughout the first half, no jammer made more than a single scoring pass.

Jam 10 was where the Demoncats would make their move — Demoncat jammer Camilla the Hun followed some powerful blocking from Hooah!Girl and ShREDica to get a 4-1 win over Free Radical and tie the game up at 23. The period ended on two more victories for the Demoncats — a 4-2 for Camilla the Hun over Lois Slain and a 4-0 for Blonde Fury over Free Radical — that gave the Demoncats a 31-25 lead at the half.

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Last weekend, the Albany All-Stars became at least the third league in four weeks to draw more than 2000 attendees to an inaugural bout. The feat was previously accomplished by the Charlotte Roller Girls on January 27, and the Jersey Shore Roller Girls on February 2.

Not long ago, leaving the confines of a skating rink and playing in front of four-figure audiences was considered a very difficult feat that could only be accomplished by well-established leagues. With figures like these, though, and like second-season Naptown Roller Girls home opener (drawing roughly 4000), it seems like a sea change may be brewing.

What kind of attendance is your league drawing in the dawning year? What, if anything, are you doing differently to draw these larger crowds?

TUCSON, AZ — Tucson’s Bladeworld, home of the historic Dust Devil tournaments, was packed Saturday night for the longest-running annual matchup in modern roller derby’s history. Representatives from leagues from all over the Southwest (and even as far as Windy City), Tucson alumni, and rabid fans packed the rink for a contest which proved the resiliency and depth of the Tucson league, and the continuing strength of the Texas program.

Tucson, obviously ready to shake any appearance of weakness after an early exit from the national tournament and a lengthy break in interleague play, played with a mix of discipline and aggression that fell just a few paces short of Texas’ machinelike stride.

On the first jam, Texas jumped to a quick lead as rookie Texecutioner Olivia Shootin’ John exited the pack without lead, and was able to collect four points before Tucson’s Carrie Guns could grab lead and call the jam. The teams would split lead and points evenly on the next two jams, until Morphine put up three unanswered points for Texas, moving the score out 7-3 in favor of the visitors.

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NASHVILLE, TN — Saturday, February 16th wasn’t your run-of-the-mill weekend day in the Tennessee State Fairgrounds Sports Arena. The Hard Knox Rollergirls of Knoxville came to town to take on Nashville’s very own Music City Rhythm and Bruisers in the “Mardi Brawl,” and both teams brought their A-game to what would prove to be their closest scoring match-up yet. In their two previous meetings, Knoxville took the “Capital Punishment” bout in May of last year 111 to 81 and Nashville won at the “Honky Tonk Stomp” in July by a margin of 78 to 76. The final score of this one would be strikingly similar to their last meeting, but it was Knoxville on top at the final whistle, squeaking out a 78-77 win over the home team.

After DJ Fat Andy warmed everyone up with his mash-ups of some of the Rhythm and Bruisers’ favorite tunes, and Halfbrass led the Arena in their rendition of the National Anthem, things got under way. Unfortunately Nashville was plagued by penalties right off the bat when an overzealous Molotov M. Pale succeeded in calling off the first jam at a minute and 24 seconds without actually having won lead jammer status. An unbalanced amount of penalties would cost Nashville dearly in the jams to come.

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Friction Vixxxen sends along a jam-by-jam line score from KCRW’s Saturday win over Denver:

Period 1 – 30 min

Jam 1. Dominant Jean from Kansas City lined up against Denver’s Angela Death. Jean got lead jammer status and started Kansas City off with a 4-0 jam. Denver would never lead against Kansas City.

Jam 2. Kansas City’s Dee Claw lined up against Sheila Tack (having returned to derby only 1 month prior following the birth of her son). With no LJ called, Sheila Tack managed to score 3 points before being sent to the penalty box, but Dee Claw widened Kansas City’s lead considerably by scoring another 14 points.

Jam 3. Sheila Tack started in the penalty box and Jade Lightning for Kansas City. Jade secured LJ and managed to rake in another 5 points. Meanwhile, Sheila Tack emerged from the penalty box for a short time before being sent back in without scoring any points. The score stands at 21-3, Kansas City.

Jam 4. Sheila Tack started in the penalty box again and Kansas City put Snot Rocket on the line. Snot secured LJ and scored another 14 points for Kansas City to Sheila Tack’s 0 points, bringing the score to 35-3, Kansas City.

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VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — On Sunday night, the #22 ranked Dominion Derby Girls of Virginia Beach extended their winning streak to three in a row by defeating the unranked Steel City Derby Demons from Pittsburgh, 150-80.

The first period started off a little hesitantly, with Steel City’s Snot Rocket Science teaching T.Rex Ya Face a lesson with a 3-point jam, and holding the leggy dinosaur to 1 point. Steel City’s blockers Athena and Betty Bonecrusher kept Dominion at bay. Tsunami Tsue got things moving for Dominion on the second jam, though, racking up 5 points while blockers Spontaneous Combustya and Dominion captain Grand Master Crash held Steel City’s jammer in the pack. By the end of the 6th jam, Dominion had tallied up 23 points to Steel City’s 7. The Derby Demons suffered a heavy blow when they lost The Crippler; she’d go out with a shoulder injury in the 8th jam.

By the 10th jam, the Dominion jammers had fully stretched out their legs with Sweet N Lowdown scoring an 8-point jam over Snot Rocket Science’s 1 point. Of note was Turbovision, playing in her first home bout and racking up 9 points in the 12th jam. The Dominion blockers were also making their presence felt, with Spontaneous Combustya and The Ruffian keeping Steel City’s jammers stuck in the pack and following Asian Chow Down’s effective leadership as pivot.

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ROSEVILLE, CA — On Saturday, February 16th, at Roseville’s Roller King roller rink in California, an upstart Sacred City team playing their first WFTDA sanctioned bout took on an experienced and recently victorious Pikes Peak Derby Dames from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Just a weekend ago, Pikes Peak had managed to erase a 20-point halftime deficit to score a victory over Houston by 20 points, 117-97.

Pikes Peak came to California prepared — having studied the video of the Sacred City / Jet City bout from last October, they felt confident of what to expect from Sacred City, and were keeping their eye on Daddy’s Girl. Since Dust Devil, Pikes Peak had some new additions to the team, a couple of them being two all-round badass sisters by the names of Psycho Babble and De Ranged. Sacred City having heard through the grapevine that Pikes Peak was a very aggressive team, were watching out for De Ranged and Rolleene Thunda. Sacred’s plan was to counter defensively with Spillher, Rosie Knuckles, Daddy’s Girl, Shadow Soldier and Foxy Knoxy.

The only change to the announced rosters was on the Pikes Peak side. Tara ToPeices had a most unfortunate face-plant in the practice before traveling to the bout and was not skating due to a broken eye socket. Alternate Karma Getch YA skated in her place.

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Fresh off the derby wire:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/19/08
Contact: Mercy Less
Marketing/PR Chair, WFTDA
marketing@wftda.com
The Women’s Flat Track Derby Association is proud to announce membership is now open to Canadian Leagues! The WFTDA has overcome administrative and legal hurdles to take this exciting first step towards becoming a global organization. Our northern sisters will be eligible if they meet the membership requirements put forth for all WFTDA leagues:

• -75 % of games must be flat track
• -Teams in league must be comprised of female quad skaters only.
• -51% of league owners must be flat track derby skaters.
• -67% of league management must be flat track derby skaters

For additional requirements and paperwork, go online to: www.wftda.com/membership.html

Since 2004, the WFTDA has promoted and fostered the sport of women’s flat track derby. The governing philosophy of “by the skaters, for the skaters” is adopted by all fifty two member leagues who include women as primary owners, managers, operators and skaters. All member leagues have a voice in the decision making process and are entitled to be nationally ranked, play standardized games and access to future sponsorship opportunities.

The WFTDA and its member leagues look forward to more flat track derby in the US, Canada and, some day, the world!

Who’s going to be first?