2009 Nationals: Capsule Recaps
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Madison's Jewels of Denile passes the star to Mouse - Photo by Darrell Budic -
Anna Wrecks Ya balances on one foot as Harley Quinn blocks Darling Nikki - Photo: Phil Peterson -
Assaultin' Pepa eyes the Houston jammer - Photo: Phil Peterson -
A game a leapfrog breaks out on the track - Photo: Jules Doyle -
Rocky Mountain celebrates its victory in the quarterfinals - Photo: Jules Doyle -
Beth Amphetamine invents an unorthodox jammer-line stance - Photo Jules Doyle -
D-Bomb holds back Suzy Hotrod - Photo: Jules Doyle -
Psycho Babble and Bullet Tooth Tracy scope out the pack - Photo: Jules Doyle -
'Hey, I'm skatin' here!' Angela Death - Photo: Jules Doyle
Sunday Bouts | Saturday Bouts | Friday Bouts
Semifinal: (1W) Oly 178, (3W) Denver 91 -- Denver's vaunted slow game confounded Kansas City, Windy City and Rocky Mountain, but Oly seemed to shrug it right off in this semifinal match. After 10 minutes, Oly had run up a twenty-point lead at 25-5, and Denver didn't break into the double digits until the final 10 minutes of the half. Heather Juska changed a 49-9 score into 49-14 with a grand slam on a power jam. That didn't presage any Denver comeback, though. By halftime Oly was up by 60 points and had tripled Denver's score at 84-24.
As they'd do to all their opponents, Oly managed to take control of the speed of the pack, which was critically important in marginalizing Denver's slow game. Rarely did Oly skaters get trapped behind Denver walls -- and as importantly, Oly was able to keep their jammers out of the box fairly consistently, not allowing Denver to get many of the powerjams where their style was most deadly.
Denver's second half was much stronger offensively, but they gave up even more points -- Oly won the second half 94-67 and easily advanced to the championship bout against Texas while Denver would have to settle for a rematch with local rivals Rocky Mountain in the third-place match.
See DNN's archived boutcast here.
Semifinal: (1SC) Texas 139, (2W) Rocky Mountain 82 -- RMRG's run of upsets in the 2009 tournament cycle finally came to an end as they went up against a focused Texas team that had the strength to deal with RMRG's physical play and then some. While RMRG held a short-lived lead after the first two jams of the bout, Texas went ahead 9-6 and never gave up the advantage.
With 9 minutes left in the first half, Rocky Mountain was in a 49-21 hole, but rookie sensation Whipity Pow busted out a 20-4 run as her defense brought the pack to a crawl during a powerjam. That made it 53-41 and Rocky narrowed it to just 10 points at 56-46 with 5 minutes left in the first, making it look like they had a chance to retake the lead -- but Texas retaliated in the time remaining, with the help of a 18-0 jam for Rice Rocket. Texas held a 73-48 lead at the break.
Effective power blocking, especially from Bullet Tooth Tracy, Vicious Van Go Go and Curvette seemed to hamper the RMRG jammers and give them considerably more trouble than they experienced in their earlier bout. Texas broke the 100 point barrier at 113-63 with 17 minutes left, and Rocky Mountain never was able to put together another run at them. The most fireworks in the second half would be provided when DeRanged, blocking late in the half, apparently got frustrated with Texas blocker Angie-Christ after a high hit and took a swing at the back of Angie's helmet, earning her an immediate expulsion -- and a suspension for the rest of the tournament.
Texas advanced to Sunday's 4pm final against West champion Oly; Rocky Mountain goes on to play regional rival Denver in the third-place bout at 1:30pm.
See DNN's archived boutcast here.
Quarterfinal: (1W) Oly 136, (2E) Gotham 105 -- Oly took the lead early in this very fast-paced bout, but at about ten minutes into the game, jammer penalties started to bite the Oly girls. Gotham took the lead at 27-20 with about 17 minutes to play in the first half on a power jam, and in the following jam Oly lost their jammer again and allowed Gotham's Bonnie Thunders to motor for a 9-0 that extended Gotham's lead to 36-20.
Gotham threatened to pull away with it for the midpoint of the half, but with about a minute left to play in the half Oly had narrowed the margin to 55-50 and nearly erased the whole lead with a last-jam 3-0 for Tannibal Lector that put the halftime score at Gotham 55, Oly 53.
The lead switched hands multiple times in quick succession after Oly took the lead back on the first jam of the second half at 62-55. It was another Oly jammer penalty that opened the door for Gotham to get it back two jams later at 70-68 with still 25 minutes left in the bout -- and then Oly moved right back in front at 73-72 on the following jam.
Things continued to spool out in Oly's favor for awhile after that. With about 9 minutes to play and the score 113-85, though, things suddenly turned from smooth sailing for Oly to a total nightmare jam. Sassy was ejected with about 9 minutes to play on accumulated box trips, and immediately afterwards Gotham's Bonnie Thunders followed nearly perfect offensive blocking from her team to drop a 20-0 jam on Atomatrix, who tried to switch to jammer defense without success. Gotham was right back in it at 113-105 and 6:12 left on the clock.
Oly's Tannibal Lector pulled a controversial lead jam call next up to get 3-0 over Suzy Hotrod and get the Oly lead up to 11 points ... and the next jam was the nail in the coffin, as Atomatrix struggled for a full minute but finally worked her way through a tough Gotham pack for lead while opposing jammer Em Dash back-blocked her way into the box. That ended with a 10-0 for Oly, the score at 126-105 Oly, and only 2:12 left to play. Oly dropped 10 insurance points in the last jam, and when Em Dash returned to the penalty box near the end of it, it was a done deal, sending the previously nearly invincible Gotham to their second loss in their last three games.
Oly moves on for a rematch with Denver with a trip to the championship on the line; in April, they played to a 170-168 final with Oly barely victorious. That bout happens at 8:45 EST Saturday night.
See DNN's archived boutcast here.
Quarterfinal: (3W) Denver 157, (2NC) Windy City 125 -- Denver joined their local rivals Rocky Mountain as the second Denver team to lay an upset on a #1 seed, once again employing their extreme positional play to frustrate Windy City's speed -- and apparently the audience, who greeted most of Denver's slowest packs with increasingly lusty booing as the bout went on. The teams traded the lead twice in the first ten minutes before Denver took it over at 28-23 with 19:40 to play in the first half.
Denver picked up a couple of huge jams due to employing the slow pack in power jam situations, able to get a 15-0 for Kimmy Kimmy Bang Bang and a 20-0 for Angela Death to go up by 67-30 with 12:30 in the half. By halftime, Denver had nearly doubled WCR up at 101-52.
While the Denver lead bounced between about 30 and 50 points for the majority of the half, Windy made their final run with about 10 minutes left in the bout, with a 15-0 for Beth Amphetamine getting Windy City within shouting distance at 127-106. But the next jam ended in a bit of controversy, going 17-0 for Denver while Windy City protested that they'd been shorted points. The challenge didn't stand, and Denver's lead became 144-106. From there, Windy City was never able to get within 30 points again, and Denver took the second big upset in a row by a final of 157-125.
Denver moves on to take on the winner of Gotham / Oly in a bout that'll take place later tonight at 8:45pm EST.
See DNN's archived boutcast here.
Quarterfinal: (2W) Rocky Mountain 128, (1E) Philly 121 (OT) -- The new-look Rocky Mountain jumped all over Philly early in this one, holding a 28-3 lead after ten minutes built on consistent lead jammer calls. Philly seemed to be having a lot of trouble handling Psycho Babble and De Ranged as jammers, hoping to hit them out of bounds to force track cuts but rarely able to move them over that line.
Philly got their big chance on a shorthanded jam where RMRG's jammer Whipity Pow pulled a big back block major trying to leap around Philly blockers, and Philly's Elle Viento skated unopposed for a a minute; while it did go 10-4 for Philly, Elle also pulled a 4th minor at the very end of the jam. When RMRG's Psycho Babble got a 10-0 on the ensuing powerjam, Rocky had taken a 47-13 lead with about 13:30 left in the first half.
Just when it looked like Rocky Mountain might be on their way to a shocking rout of the home team, they ran into two nightmare jams where they'd lose their jammer for a minute each;15-2 for Philly followed by a 9-0 suddenly made it a 12 point game at 49-37. RMRG was lucky to get out of the next jam with a 5-0 as the lead jammer, Philly's Mo Pain, was boxed before scoring points and Whipity Pow needed the full 2 minutes to get a single scoring pass.
By this time it was 54 37 for RMRG with about 5 minutes left in the half, and the question was quickly becoming whether Rocky Mountain's lead would survive until halftime. But Rocky Mountain stopped the Philly comeback for the final few minutes of the half, taking a 21 point lead into the intermission.
RMRG ran into some jammer penalty trouble early in the second half, and it allowed Philly to fight their way into the lead for the first time, 74-71 with 20:48 left to play. Mo Pain finished off that RMRG jammer penalty by adding a 10-0 on the next jam, and suddenly Philly looked to be in control, 84-71.
Although Philly was doing a much better job in the second half of claiming lead jammer and dictating the length of jams, RMRG didn't let Philly just take it away. With 13 minutes left to play it was still only an 11 point lead for Philly at 85-74, and Rocky looked like they were just one powerjam away from retaking the lead. They closed to 92-87 after a 11-9 full-length jam with 10 minutes to play, and finally got that needed powerjam and retook the lead at 97-92 and 8 minutes left as Whipity Pow battled her way to a 10-0 while unopposed.
There was no rest from the drama as Philly's Teflon Donna made it a two-point bout at 102-100, helped by a trip to the box for three of RMRG's skaters, some great offensive clears from Robin Drugstores, and a questionable decision by RMRG to slow down the pack in the final scoring pass, which gave Tef just enough time to beat them on the inside for three critical points just as jam time expired.
Mo Pain called a 3-0 up next against DeRanged, giving Philly a 1 point lead at 103-102 with 4:30 to play -- and it stayed barely in Philly hands at 111-107 going into what looked like it was going to be the last jam. DeRanged was up against Elle Viento, and for some time it looked like neither jammer would ever reach the pack as they were sprinting away -- but DeRanged finally entered pack, got 4 and called it with zero for Elle, tying it at 111-111 with time expired.
The overtime jam saw the inexhaustible DeRanged back at the line again -- this time against Teflon Donna. Both jammers broke through for their opening 4, but Teflon got caught up behind tough defense and had a lot of trouble in her second. Meanwhile, DeRanged finally caught up to her for the lap point that sealed Philly's fate. One pass later, Rocky Mountain had killed yet another giant after their Western Regional takedowns of Rose City and Denver, and Philly was one-and-done at home in only their second loss of 2009.
See DNN's archived boutcast here.
Quarterfinal: (1SC) Texas 111, (3E) Boston 72 -- This one was remarkably low-scoring over the opening few jams, with Boston holding Texas scoreless for the first three jams but only able to put together 4 points of their own. After ten minutes, Texas held a 18-11 lead, and then a combination of Boston penalties trouble on top of some tenacious front-of-pack play from Texas allowed the South Central crew to drop 36 unanswered points to bring the game to 54-11 with about 8 minutes left in the half. Although it wasn't obvious at the time, that stretch of the bout would eventually be the deciding factor, as Boston ended up losing by 39 points.
Boston finished the half strong after the rocky middle stretch, though, and was still in it at 60-26 favoring Texas at the break. Boston played Texas very evenly for the first ten minutes of the second half, and more than a few times was able to impressively kill Texas power plays without giving up more than a couple of points. With that close play, the score was 69-34 with about 20 minutes to play, but a momentum-shifting 10-0 powerjam for Texas' Rice Rocket gave Texas a 79-34 lead. The Texas lead got as big as 60 points, 95-35 with 12:35 on the clock, before Boston finally started making a comeback, but the margin was too big and the time left on the clock too little.
Texas moves on the the Saturday night semifinals, where they face either Philly or Rocky Mountain with a trip to the championship bout on the line.
Comments
Small tweak
This was my offering during Nationals:
Amend the out-of-play definition to include any skater stopped or skating clockwise.
That way the act itself isn't a penalty, but it eliminates most of the incentives for why stopping/clockwise skating is there in the first place.
My personal "simple solution"
My personal "simple solution" would be to amend the rules that any action by a blocker with a game effect is effectively "blocking". That would include skating clockwise or stopping on the track to drag back another skater knocked out of bounds. It is simply idiotic and lexicographically incorrect to call it "track cutting" when in fact the jammer/skater actually has to re-enter the track well behind the point she exited.
Including "passive blocking" instead of strictly "contact" as the definition of blocking would go a long way toward rectifying what many of us see as a pathology introduced into the rules and enforcement.
If a blocker's stopping or skating clockwise has a major game effect, then it's still blocking (or should be).
Hurt, I love you but
#2 is stupid.
I (and presumably lots of other people) can go back and forth laterally in that 10' wedge quite a bit in 3 seconds and still be legally in play and not at a crawl. Sometimes I am knocked on my butt for a while, too. Then what?
"three seconds" is arbitrary
Only playtesting can determine what the "right" limit is. The point of it is to get derby back to its "skate fast, turn left, hit a girl (legally)" core. The bottom line, though, is that I personally feel like the current state of affairs is every bit as bad for the game as runaway pussy was two years ago.
Keep in mind, too, that "three seconds in a wedge" would be enforced with the same no impact / minor impact / major impact distinctions. If you're knocked on your butt and it just happens to take you more than X seconds to get out of a wedge? No impact, no penalty.
A rule like this doesn't have to take us to a world where refs do nothing but look at the lines and count to three. Enforcement can be a lot like out of engagement zone ("20 foot") calls work now - some sort of hand signal to indicate that a call is imminent, and the skater's either on it or they're not.
I would love to see
a bunch of folks who have never played this game in their lives actually play a jam or two under each consecutive ruleset since the WFTDA's inception, and watch how confused everyone gets.
Sounds like a RollerCon challenge
Team 2.1.1 vs. Team 4.0, anyone? Refs call each team based on a different ruleset. It'd be fun! Right?
Seriously though, fair point. Guess it's kinda the price of reinventing it all from damned near a blank slate.
3.0 was pretty good. I'd love
3.0 was pretty good. I'd love to see the list of issues brought up by it that resulted in the current state of affairs.
Put new rules and "enforcement rulings" in one column, and the issues they were meant to address in the next column. Add a third column for the "unforeseen consequences" of the solution. Then people could discuss how well the solution addressed the original problem.
For example, if the clockwise skating was interpreted as necessary so blockers 20 feet ahead of the pack could return to the pack, and it's now being used to force a "track cut" behind the original exit point from in-bounds, then it has created a problem far beyond it's original design by turning a "track cut" into something that is not a "track cut" at all. The reason a "track cut" is illegal in the first place, is so that a jammer (mostly, though it could still apply to a blocker also) can't just *pass* the entire pack or troublesome blockers out of play. And using "blocker relative" rather than "pack relative" was to eliminate referee discretion by giving officials an objective measure of pack position in the first place.
So now you have a situation that runs counter to the first two solutions by enabling a tactical situation that destroys a very basic principle of the game and causes it to run in a clockwise direction in a region that is 20 feet in front of the pack to 20 feet beyond the pack, and with bridging that region can be over 90 feet!
The effect of the track cutting rule is no different from a blocker physically obstructing a player through contact, and that is in fact THE WHOLE IDEA OF IT. By forcing the skater to come in behind a clockwise skating blocker, it is now as if the blocker has blocked that skater in a counter clockwise direction. It's a smart strategy under the rules, but it's possible because the rule itself is so poorly thought out.
When the assumptions under which a rule is written are proven to be incomplete or plain wrong, it has to be fixed. The pack-speed suggestion is a good one, but it is the second solution to the problem. The first solution is to make it illegal to stop on the track or go clockwise under any circumstances within the in-play zone. That still allows for slow-play tactics, but not no-play tactics. The second is that anything that has the effect of blocking whether there is contact or not, is still blocking.
Then *after* that is addressed, the decision to address "pack speed" should be considered. 3 seconds in a 10 foot zone is 2mph, which is better than no mph, but it's not even a fast walking speed. It's a very good solution, but I can see problems with communication and enforcement: like, does a player who remains in that zone for more than 3 seconds get a minor for every 3 additional seconds she remains in that zone? All the players? Or just the team that dominates the pack? There are a whole litany of rules that have to be written just to keep a team from forcing minors on the opposing team using that, a team could put in a smaller number of "clean slate" players who have no minors, knowing it will disassemble the opposing team who have multiple minors, as an example.
There is also the issue of leagues building a win/loss record for half a season under the current rules, then having the game changed in the middle of the season.
Extend this thought
a bunch of folks who have never played this game in their lives actually play a jam or two under each consecutive ruleset since the WFTDA's inception, and watch how confused everyone gets.
To referees and refereeing.
Here's my overall problem (this isn't directed at you at all, LQ). Skaters change the rules consistently, often due to something a bunch of leagues just don't like. Once rules have changed, then skaters (and sometimes coaches) go about finding the loopholes and new strategies that are now available under the new ruleset. So, something new is brought to a regional and/or national tournament each year. Teams that didn't think of this new strategy or prepare for it (either at all or correctly) complain how it's ruining the game. And then the rules change again.
You know who gets screwed in all this? Your volunteer referees. Referees already have a thankless job, regardless of which sport we're referring to. Yet, derby consistently throws their referees under the bus by never allowing the referees to get a ruleset down pat before tweaking it. We see major changes after major changes and then we get upset with the refs because they can't change things on a dime. I feel any suggestion that is tied to some new rule that requires the refs to watch potentially trivial things is a poor idea. I have reffed plenty back in the day and it was tough then. It is now ridiculously hard for referees to stay up to date. It's even in the booing comments. To paraphrase, "We weren't just booing Denver; there were plenty of boos for the refereeing too." Basically, I feel like our current system of bitching and moaning consistently places the onus on the referees, even though it's not realistic to expect even the best refs to be able to watch all the little things that are now in the rules. Yet, inevitably the "solution" is always some new rule added on to all the bullshit refs have to watch for already. Three seconds this, new hand signal that. Blah.
I personally would like to see the skaters and the leagues take some responsibility for the rule changes of the past and find ways to change the game without putting the onus on the refs. Oly beat us by properly preparing and adjusting for us. They didn't bring some theoretical way of playing derby that they aren't comfortable to our bout and think it was going to blow us away. Nor were Oly, Texas, or RMRG so snobbish as to think that they don't have to know how to play the slow game well too. There are parts of the game that are there because this isn't old school derby in so many ways. Things like poodling and reverse poodling are not things I find to be awesome tactics. So we don't use it. But we don't cry and complain about it either. It is what it is.
Ditto all this talk about the poor jammers coming up on a slow skater and backblocking her. Why doesn't that jammer work on controlling her speed and acceleration when approaching the pack? Or is it just easier to bitch about it than to improve one's own game or to increase our expectations of jammers?
Rule changes are not a fear for my team or my league because we will adjust to whatever because we have very talented, intelligent athletes. If we need to dumb down derby because the slow game is too much for some leagues to handle, great. But realize that we continue to overburden and villify our refs by doing the things the way we do as well as stunting their growth and comfortability with the current ruleset.
PS I find it boring to watch a pack sprint all day.
Hugs,
Anus
DRD
I'm not really sure what poodling is,
but yeah.
Someone should really start a Wiki...
"Poodling" is the generic term for intentionally earning your fourth minor. Coined by Endless Justin during Derby in Dairyland.
Well then what the hell is reverse poodling?
I am officially nixing this term on behalf of all of roller derby throughout the entire universe. Because I can. Just like that. Let's just call it pulling your fourth.
Reverse Poodling
I'm not sure reverse poodling will survive because it's just a different way to poodle.
So the long story is that Justin was seeing blockers put their toe stop on or over the pivot line. He realized it was intentional and wanted a term to describe it to the other officials. He'll have to explain why he picked the word, as I don't remember that part.
So, at the time, poodling was putting yourself over the pivot line to get your fourth. Reverse poodling was putting yourself WAY out of play by standing behind the jammers. This was an advantage because if the penalty box was in between the pivot and jam lines the blocker could get to the box faster.
It's mostly my observation, but I think the people who use the term are calling all forms of the move "poodling". "Reverse poodling" just doesn't make sense because the opposite of getting your fourth minor is to, well, not get it.
Wiki - set up!
Mind you, there's no content yet...
http://rollerderbyisarealsport.com/what/index.php/Reverse_poodling
FYI there was already a derby wiki
It hasn't seen much activity lately. http://rollerderby.wikia.com/
Wikis wikis everywhere
I've actually been working on improving derby content on Wikipedia lately, but there should definitely be a roller-derby-only wiki as well, for content that Wikipedia wouldn't consider "encyclopedic" in nature, and in case some Wikipedians decide that roller derby isn't "notable" or whatever (as sometimes happens).
In other words, we need a place where there can be articles both on the Oly Rollers (Wikipedia-worthy) and the Douchebag Rule (which probably wouldn't fly)...
Don't forget...
Category: Animal-related plays
Don't forget the infamous (banned) "flying squirrel."
Plays, hmm? If our coaches wear dolphin necklaces will they be able to call plays?
and that one about a cat
I'm new enough I'm not familiar with the flying squirrel - the joy of the wiki: you can add it yourself!
(and as for "plays" - I struggled with that, but just like in whip-it, all the coaches have play-books, right?? )
Thanks, good idea, but...
Now, let's look and see about the real possibility of each being changed.
Stopping on the track-
well, since the hockey stop and the plow stop are two of the pillars of the sport with concerns to play......eh, not gonna happen.
One can do a plow stop and not completely stop. One could also set an easily estimated time limit (like one second or three). Though honestly, I think the latter would be too easy to loophole by doing stop/move/stop/move.
Skating counter clockwise or skating backwards-
well, you are gonna eliminate a whole bunch of sweet moves by people. what, no more 180's to get out of a block? no more backwards whips? what if you hit someone out, hockey stop at the line, and your wheels drift backwards a quarter of a rotation before you take off again. is that worthy of a penalty? who is looking at these minute details during game play to monitor it?
Some of this could be done much easier by expanding the meaning of "skating clockwise to block" to include backwards skating done while one is the skater who must be come in behind. This could be done as simply as saying, "a skater knocked out of bounds must come back in no further than the point at which she left the track."
While this would require a bit of guesstimation by referees (by and large by OPRs and jammer refs), it wouldn't be as onerous as the current need to know which skaters (on both teams) were behind the skater when she left the track.
Another possibility might be changing the rules to only allow clockwise skating while out of bounds. This would make the "knock skater out of bounds then stop and skate backwards" move either ineffective or somewhat of a race to get back in bounds and skating counterclockwise. I suspect some of the referees who might be dodging more OOB skaters might disagree with me on this one. Personally I'd love to see the ban on skating clockwise to retrieve a dropped jammer panty removed.
Minimum Pack speeds-
again, I want to know who is going to be standing trackside with a radar gun busting people for going too slow.
Agreed. Not going to happen. Any rule regarding the speed of the skaters is going to require the level of referee discretion you get with those one to six page rules sets. We have too many referees, in too many places to get everyone calling something like this the same way. Rules that are subjective don't and won't work in a game that is played by this many people in this many places.
Some of the people advancing the cause of the stop game are tending to conflate it with the slow pack game. In my view, they're entirely two different things. Or at least the former is the latter taken to a rather ridiculous and unfun-to-watch extreme.
I congratulate the innovators who came up with such a smart and technical way to win the game. That doesn't change the fact that it makes the game a lot less fun to watch.
WFTDA's rules are decided by the skaters themselves, we're one of the few sports that has such a luxury. Many rules changes are to a fair degree a reflection of what most skaters want. Hence the changes in recent revisions to favor blockers over jammers. Who makes up the majority of skaters? Note: Don't let this bit derail the discussion, I think those changes improved the game a good deal.
To some degree it's good to keep the fanbase in mind when considering the rules. Will this be understandable to the fans? Will it keep the fans happy? Will it keep the game moving? Witness the changes to the "jammerless jam" rules.
The first thing it did was keep the game moving. While the rules are longer on paper, they are more easily understood from the audience viewpoint. They make for interesting and sudden shifts (back and forth) in the momentum of the game. It made things more fair for the first jammer to go to the box. All but the last of these results seems aimed at pleasing the fans and giving them something more interesting to watch.
Final thoughts, these rules....even if they were to be brought to a vote and passed...they would eventually get thrown out just like the last rule's version of cutting the track. We figured out that it is just plain asinine to put a downed skater in the box just because their pinky slid over the line. Why would we want to institute more rules that require referees who can already get too caught up in the minutia to start regulating even more ticky-tacky crap? Don't we want the sport to be progressive? Don't we want to see all the people on the track and that when they are called off it's because their actions are truly committing fouls?
That's a rule that just got fine-tuned a bit in order to, guess what's coming, MAKE THE GAME MORE FUN TO WATCH. It wasn't fun watching skaters put a pinky over the line and get sent to the box. And it isn't fun to watch the pack come to a dead stop and see skaters scooting backwards to draw track cuts.
Note: The fans don't ALWAYS know what's best for the game. Many of them would love to see fighting be just a major or see "flying squirrels" be legal. That said, it's really important to keep the fans' enjoyment of the game in mind. Without the fans, our sport would be the equivalent of women's softball or speed skating. A sport that's only watched by players and their friends and families.
A suggestion for those getting booed.
This isn't an "it's all your fault" thing, it's not a blame the victim thing. It's really just some well-intentioned advice on how to best deal with an angry/booing crowd.
You don't have a microphone, so self-deprecating humor that humanizes you to them (one of the best ways to deal with an unhappy audience) isn't going to work.
Smiling and waving to the audience or blowing kisses kind of comes off as taunting the audience. I saw one person appear to do some waving/smiling during a bit of booing, and I thought it could kind of come off as saying, "I'm pleased that you're unhappy."
I'm not saying you should skate past 'em mouthing "I'm sorry" or anything like that. Try and let it roll off you. Focus on the game, not on the crowd.
If you have an audience that's angry at something they're seeing, and is maybe on its fourth or fifth hour of watching derby and drinking beer/cocktails, doing things that can "make it personal" for them is far more likely to make things worse than it is to make things better.
Blow Kisses
Smiling and waving to the audience or blowing kisses kind of comes off as taunting the audience. I saw one person appear to do some waving/smiling during a bit of booing, and I thought it could kind of come off as saying, "I'm pleased that you're unhappy."
Yeah that was totally me. In my opinion, booing sucks! At our home bouts if I am near someone booing at my team, the other team, or even the most hated refs, I encourage them not to. It just isn't classy. However they have every right to boo. It is an expression and that's a beautiful thing. My personal response to booing is to acknowledge it and let it roll off. I am not responsible for anyone's actions but my own and my response to those actions. My response was to send legitimate derby love and respect to the booers.
My issue is not with booing while the skating was going on but with the threats, accusations and general douchbaggerry after the bouts. If you hate the skating, hate the skating, don't hate the skaters or the fans.
We are all passionate about this sport. That's why we were there this weekend. There's nothing wrong with expressing your displeasure at something just remember what we were taught in preschool, "Treat others as you would like to be treated."
Start whatever Facebook petition you want. Appeal to your WFTDA reps. Learn how to make the rules work for you but just remember that these skaters are more than just skaters. Keep the hatred on the track, not directed to the person.
Regardless of the boos and the general hatred for a specific strategy, I still walked away from this weekend full of love for the Derby community. This love just keeps increasing as I read DNN and as apologies from many self proclaimed booers are being emailed to my league.
Charli Horse
Denver Roller Dolls
threatning is douchebaggery at it's finest
My issue is not with booing while the skating was going on but with the threats, accusations and general douchbaggerry after the bouts. If you hate the skating, hate the skating, don't hate the skaters or the fans.
While totally not a fan of the strategy, and admittedly a fan of the excitability (boos, chants etc) it elicited from the crowd (particularly behind turn 3&4 where I sat), it saddens me that anyone would actually threaten the skaters. Really uncool. You didn't cheat. You capitalized on something that worked.
Keep the hatred on the track, not directed to the person.
This should be a no-brainer. Hopefully people will remember this in the future.
Lippy Wrongstockings
Tri City Roller Girls
Ontario
my favorite
was during the KCRW/Denver game when somebody from the sidelines yelled "Take her Out! What does it matter any more!"
Well
For the record, we feed off the boos and when our captain, Ms. Akers, hears them while jamming, she's going to skate that much better and do whatever she feels like doing, whether it's taunting or just plain old skating. She has personality and that is just one reason why she's one of the best captains in the sport. Our team was totally focused on the task at hand (as evidenced by how well we performed in the face of the booing), but you better believe we know how to have fun too. I frankly don't give a single shit about the booing. Pay your money and do what you want. But....
In regards to making it worse, by the time we got to the 3rd place game, we were over the bulk of the crowd. When the team captains have to suggest to our skaters that they travel in pairs off track because the audience is being douchebags to them and is trying to start shit with them (at the venue, in the lobby, in elevators), the last thing we care about is how the angry crowd feels. That's no class bullshit at its very finest and is where I personally draw a big line in the sand. The crowd has made it personal at that point and we owe the crowd nothing whatsoever.
This isn't an "it's all your fault" thing, it's not a blame the victim thing. It's really just some well-intentioned advice on how to best deal with an angry/booing crowd.
You don't have a microphone, so self-deprecating humor that humanizes you to them (one of the best ways to deal with an unhappy audience) isn't going to work.
Smiling and waving to the audience or blowing kisses kind of comes off as taunting the audience. I saw one person appear to do some waving/smiling during a bit of booing, and I thought it could kind of come off as saying, "I'm pleased that you're unhappy."
I'm not saying you should skate past 'em mouthing "I'm sorry" or anything like that. Try and let it roll off you. Focus on the game, not on the crowd.
If you have an audience that's angry at something they're seeing, and is maybe on its fourth or fifth hour of watching derby and drinking beer/cocktails, doing things that can "make it personal" for them is far more likely to make things worse than it is to make things better.
All seriousness aside, but...
Who won the afterparty?
Afterparty victory
This may have been one of the most brutally contested afterparties I have ever seen, with at least four different teams holding a defensible claim to the victory.
Texas, as always, put in one of their stellar all-around performances, starting EXTREMELY strong by entering the venue with a team chant AND bringing a mobile dance floor with them (probably had to be there.) I'd say Texas was led by a career performance from Crackerjack, who simply would not be denied.
Denver came in late but their teamwork was impeccable -- though I missed it, I heard tell of a six-person simultaneous worm, which as far as I know has never been attempted in competition before.
Favorites Montreal were shorthanded as they had a particularly long drive ahead of them and a large amount of their crew left immediately after the games were over, but they already had a head start from their halftime show on Saturday, and remaining players Georgia W. Tush, Jess Bandit, Null Ptr Ref and others demonstrated that Montreal is a nearly unstoppable force even with few bodies available.
Scorey Feldman of Windy City was on fire all night, but openly conceded that he had been defeated by Montreal. No shame in that.
And ... Duke City attempted to pull a fast one at the primary afterparty by getting an in with the DJ and convincing him to announce on the mic that Duke had officially won, but I'm not sure that their roster depth supported that (although Carson B. Demented, Sabrosa and Amanda Jamityna are never to be underestimated with an afterparty on the line.)
I am personally not confident in calling an overall winner. An accurate call would probably require instant replay, but I don't think that instant replay is really in keeping with the spirit of the contest. We may just have to call this one a wash ... but I have no doubt that everybody will be training like mad for the rematch next year.
entrance
I heard that Denver also had a coordinated entry - they came in backwards.
AND a member of the Montreal contingency gave her day-glo hat to Akers, which I see as conceding.
early round winner
honorable mention to philly winning the early round? they got the party started with Black Landlord and were running on pure adrenaline, caffeine, and Cricket Hill beer.
I thought Philly put in a
I thought Philly put in a good run for the afterparty title. Although we did not have matching shirts or flashlights, quite a few of us were dancing from the time Black Landlord started until the lights went on and the DJ stopped playing.
count me in
i was one of them, and i didn't realize how many of us were still left until the lights came on. definitely win the marathon division.
With all due respect to our wonderful hosts...
Montreal continued on to the after-afterparty over at the Mariott and stayed 'til 5:30am. That's why they won.
Different category
Montreal continued on to the after-afterparty over at the Mariott and stayed 'til 5:30am. That's why they won.
Ah, but that's a different category: the after after party win.
Bar time came way too early Sunday night. As the giant crowd on the sidewalk out front of the bar at 2:15am attested, we had a good solid couple hours of full on after party left in us.
If you ask me, DERBY won the after party at Nationals.
oh yeah
Worm for the win....
London has a worm contingent ready, fyi...
Ouch...
So apparently (partially) owning the dance floor in a wheelchair all night, and then some, doesn't even get an honorable mention? Well at least I take pride(?!) in knowing I won the lap dance party, even if I intended to or not. Hell, Swede Hurt was deemed my "Lapdance Wife" in the event I felt the need for a lap dance at all while at Nationals. I'd say victory is mine...
Love & Derby,
Val Capone
WCR-skater
DNN-commentator
lap dance purveyor
Denver Style because?
I thought it got dubbed the Denver Style because of the Denver Omelette.
In fact, I think I just read it on Wikipedia that a Denver Omelette is:
"A Denver omelette, also known as a Western omelette, is an omelette filled with diced ham, onions, and green bell peppers, and roller derby, though there are many variations on fillings. Often served while skating backwards on a flat oval track, it sometimes has a topping of cheese and a sidedish of hashbrowns or fried potatoes.[citation needed]"
Wikipedia continues to be the leader in all things that need explaining.
mvp goes to...
i believe the mvp's of the tournament and of course it goes without saying winners of the after parties is montreal!
way to keep it totally real.
trophy knife
providence roller derby
Taking a Knee
Thanks for giving Detroit some props on this :) When I saw the subject line I was wondering who would get credited with it, but I am lucky enough to have skated for Detroit long enough to have been a vet when we started doing this. I don't remember why we started, but it has always just felt like the right thing to do. No matter which team you are from, we are all in this together and Detroit is a very passionate league with derby ideals that extend beyond game play.
p.s. Denver you are one smart, savvy, sexy team... I hope I can define the pack like that when I grow up.
Oly your work ethic is truly inspirational. A few years ago I was very motivated by the ladies who transferred from Rat City. You are still an inspiration in mental and physical toughness, way to stay on the top of the heap.
sarah
Actual championship bout score
The recap on this page, and my memory, both have the score as 178-100 for Oly over Texas. The WFTDA page, confusingly, shows both 178-100 and 178-101. Does anyone have the official word? Was there a correction to 101 points for TXRG, or is that a typo on wftda.com?
Official final of Oly-Texas
I just got in touch with the stats head from the tourney, and so I can say with confidence that the final score that was reflected on the official tournament bout reporting form was 178-100.
Thanks, Justice!
Thanks, Justice!
The Hydra
Say, while we're talking Nationals, one thing isn't quite clear to me -- is the Hydra a traveling trophy, like the Stanley Cup, or is a new one constructed each year?
the Hydra
It gets passed to each year's champions.
Let the name engraving begin?
I think it's a must. I love the 'traveling trophy' btw.
I think my favorite bit after
I think my favorite bit after the afterparty (I think I stayed until 1, had been drinking since the Tuesday leading up to Nationals) was seeing all of the zombified skaters, officials, and fans stumbling around the surrounding blocks in bright blue hoodies and sunglasses the next day. Don't think I could ever forget that.
I also feel that Belle Starr was a party entity all on her own, so she should be given some credit for that. I think Texas employed a "come late so we can have more energy later" strategy but who's to say that's against the rules? hah.
watching from the other side of the world
watching from the other side of the world and finding it really interesting discussion about the evolution of derby :)
Kitty
VRDL