Weekly Rollup and Open Thread, 1/22/2010
Essential information-age road warrior resource Lifehacker brings the solution for ensuring your checked skate bag will be treated well: firearms.
While they're in London as the first US modern roller derby team to bout in Europe, the Texas Rollergirls' Hustlers may be hosting a full-up TXRG boot camp for european derby skaters -- pending venue availability, as always.
While we're at it, DNN offers a big welcome to Roller Derby Central, a new web site focused on the european roller derby scene. Of particularly note for total roller derby geeks like us: the Fixtures/Results page.
For those of you who've been jonesing for the sharp new WFTDA garb, their online store has just been restocked.
The Denver Roller Dolls just struck a partnership with Kroenke Sports Enterprises and AEG, both very big names in major league sports and entertainment promotion. In addition to a sizeable new venue, the partners will bring significant marketing muscle to bear in support of this top-five roller derby outfit.
Finally, this week brought two separate track setup time lapse videos.
First, the San Diego Derby Dolls assemble their new Kitten Traxx banked track.
Then, the Naptown Roller Girls show a whole flat track event in four minutes, including setup and takedown of a Skate Court surface.
Comments
SDDD Track
Does anyone know how many people hours go into set up of the banked track? The crew looked sizable and it went from very sunny outside to pitch dark.
4 am to noon
I helped set up the LADD track about three years ago for a special outside event in Long Beach...it took 40 of us from 4 am until just about noon to get the banked track set up (the payoff? us flat track ladies got to skate on it!!!). But that was years ago, and methinks Bitchy Kitten has perfected his technique since.
Moxxxie
HELLARAD
www.wearehellarad.com
long time
Ill bet it still takes a long ass time....I was screwing down masonite on the LADD banked track on the rooftop about 3 years ago and it took ALL DAY.
That was a "First Build"
To be fair, that was a "First Build". Which means a bunch of parts couldn't be accurately measured to compensate for imprecision in the manufacturing process until the track was partially assembled. Those parts have to be built on-site at that point, which takes a bunch of measuring, sawing and drilling of raw construction materials. On subsequent "track builds", it's an assembly job only.
If you have a crew that has done it before, and EVERY person working on the track is armed with a cordless impact wrench with 9/16 inch sockets and Phillips drivers, a 9/16 inch open end wrench, 9/16 inch ratchet, an LED head lamp, and a car mechanic's dolly...it should take 24 person-hours. For a 6 person crew, it gets down to 4 hours.
If you only use hand tools and you don't have enough of them, you have a lot of first time volunteers, you have a lot of people who aren't used to using tools, you don't have wrenches for every volunteer, don't chalk out the approximate track location, don't keep a lot of spare bolts and nuts on hand (a bunch will get lost or ruined every build, but they're 3/8" coarse bolts and nuts and are cheap in quantity), don't have them organized where people can find and grab them conveniently, and/or people are socializing more than they're working...it will take a LOT longer.
If I remember correctly on a Kitten Traxx track, there are 42 (or 44?) sections to the track, 8 bolts per section plus two bolts for the rail, two bolts for the primary upright attachments, and 20 Phillips screws (or so) per sheet of Masonite.
I'll add this: in LADD when we actually paid 3 or 4 people with construction experience who had worked on the track before, and told them we'd pay them for the whole day regardless of how long it took to build the track, it got assembled a LOT faster. But you also need people on hand to inspect the job and kind of act as foreman, to ensure that the track is assembled correctly for the safety of the skaters.
I have read...
I've read that back in the old days, the skaters who were paid extra to assemble the track had it down to a fairly short period of time. Keep in mind that they did this DAILY (albeit after a lengthy drive from the last city the tour hit). They also had to tear the thing down after a game if it wasn't a multi-game series in whatever city. I suppose those guys earned the extra money Jerry paid 'em.
Where that gets "interesting" is when they were at the larger unionized venues. Nobody who was non-union could build something like that in those venues. So someone like the stagehand union (or whomever) had to do all of the work. These workers knew almost nothing about assembling a banked track, so the job took considerably longer, and had to be double-checked by the track crew.
time goes by so fast
We have one of these as well. I got some tips from Kerry Mcclain last year on these. We did a track tear down at our practice space to a set up at our venue for a bout. Really gives props to the people who set these up and take them down. They deserve it.
draws?
anyone know why roller derby central lists draws for the 2009 bouts?
http://www.euroderby.org/index.php?option=com_bearleague&view=ltable&sid...
I would hazard a guess...
anyone know why roller derby central lists draws for the 2009 bouts?
http://www.euroderby.org/index.php?option=com_bearleague&view=ltable&sid=2&Itemid=124
I would hazard a guess that someone was using a modified version of the rules without overtime for a special event, perhaps? Couldn't really tell you.
Maybe it's Euro-Rules Derby, like Aussie Rules Football?
Can of worms: open sesame
(this is second-hand information from some months ago, so forgive me if I have misrepresented/misremembered any of the following)
There was an interleague bout between two sides that shall remain nameless last year, which apparently involved some very inexperienced score trackers and a mostly rookie ref crew, and it was only discovered right at the end of the bout that the score had been completely and irretrievably messed up for the whole bout somehow, so the host team offered to play an OT jam to decide the match, but the visitors were not prepared to do so. Thus the only fair outcome seemed to be to declare the bout a tie. To us filthy soccer-loving europeans, the concept of tied games as a final result is not quite so abhorrent as it is to you folks, so we merely regard the first and only draw in (UK) derby with a wince instead of protestations that IT SHALL NOT STAND... ;)
Epic fail :(
I love how you tried to keep everyone anon Dunc my friend. Unfortuantely the statistics name said teams on their own...
Hope UK derby isn't missing me too much ;) Arf arf!
Hurricane Hayles
Formerly ARRG (UK)
Now MTLRD!
D'oh
Diplomacy FAIL...! Ah well.
Hope life over there is at least as awesome as life with ARRG was!
wow
ARRG and MTLRD....now that would be one EPIC afterparty methinks.
Epic indeed!
I am just waiting for the day to make my millions to make that shizz happen Bette ;)
I'm still trying to figure out...
I'm still trying to figure out how they're placing London Brawling in third place for Europe last year. Shouldn't they have looked at the points differentials and said, "Hmmm, something seems to be amiss here."
euro ranking
It would appear that Euro Derby is following the method that most Euro Football (soccer) does for ranking - which assigned pts per win lose or draw. Unfortunately that model relies on EQUAL amounts of games, which in the case of derby doesnt really fly.
So yes, agree its not really an accurate representation of ranking or skill, as it rewards leagues that played more games.
It also assumes that "all
It also assumes that "all games are equal". So an experienced team winning against a newer league without much experience, gets a "win" point, while a close game between two leagues at the top skill level leaves one with a "win" point, and one without, even though the losing team could beat every team below it. That sort of system does not encourage top leagues to play each other. It also encourages top leagues to cherry-pick games that will leave them with a blowout.
Yes, even with all teams
Yes, even with all teams playing the same number of games, the pool of teams needs to be closed and constant. If everyone plays 10 or 20 games a season, they all have to be against the same pool of opposition, ideally playing each other once at home and away.
In an informal setting like the euro derby scene at the moment, with all bouts being scheduled by invitation and convenience, a 'league table' like the one above is more of an aggregated information matrix than something that actually displays any sort of rigorous hierarchical placings. However, I gather that tentative initial steps are being made towards trying to establish some sort of more formal organisation in Europe, which would (eventually) be able to provide all the necessary infrastructure to have a table like the one in question and actually have it be a true reflection of the status quo.
Intercontinental
To be fair, I believe when Team Canada came over to the UK for a tour THAT was the first ever intercontinental bout (first one was Canada vs Glasgow), however London Brawling (LRG) vs TXRG Hustlers is certainly the first US-UK bout held outside the "new world".
Plus the Muthas vs the UK Muthas has a nice ring...
oh, duh
As I was typing in the "first intercontinental" claim that's been published elsewhere, I had a little voice in the back of my head saying "are you sure? you should really double-check." Naturally, I ignored it.
I've updated the article to reflect reality.
:)
Listen to the demons, Hurt!
SDDD Track
Busta is right this is a First Build or Final Assembly. The track is fitted to the floor as it where to get the surface level so a track doesnt have whooptie wooses as Lemon Drop of SDDD called them. Every concrete floor has high and low spots even on nice new floors. Although true it will never go back in the same spot, you aim for perfect and get as close as possible. This is Kitten Traxx #3 and 4 is being done with AZDD ready in a month, and #5 is with South Side in Houston.
Once a team is trained it takes about 6 ppl about 4 to 5 hours. If they are motivated. I think the smartest thing to do is to hire day labor and get 5 guys trained and keep there phone #'s and always hire them back. LADD did this while we were Nomadic as it were. I pay 10 hr and then tell them you get a full 8 hr if you are done faster. They always are.
Then other production crew can handle the maso and the kickrails and other things to speed it up. I heard AZDD took down Red Dirts track in 1 hr with 30 skaters, and that was loaded into a truck.
Banked track is a shit ton more work but I think it is worth it. It is my mission this since Red Dirt to make as many tracks as I can to standardize New School Banked tracks. So far so good.
I asked Ringer of SDDD to do the time lapse so I could see what it looked like. Pretty cool and it will help other leagues building a Kitten Traxx to see what they are in store for. THX Miss Moxxxie that was the only LADD bout I missed as I on Vaca.
I heard that it was tough but it was also in the middle of the street.
Bitchy Kitten
www.kittentraxx.com
Another time lapse video
KCRW 1 Minute Bout, from our August 2009 double-header:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAg4MqV4d3o
Denver Venue??
DRD must be in Heaven right now, with that HUGE Venue!!!! Is Whipity Pow Playing?
DRD
Whipitiy Pow for Senate!!!!
Denver Derby
Whipity Pow plays for the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, not the Denver Roller Dolls.
I can safely say that Denver roller derby is exploding at the moment. It's fun to see press hits from Business journals about our sport! Folks who didn't think roller derby still existed are paying attention, it's an exciting time!
Kendra Blood #26.2
Denver Roller Dolls