Weekly Rollup and Open Thread, 1/29/2010
This is strictly a personal opinion, but this movie is at least equally as entertaining as Whip It.
Denver local media continues picking up on the venue bouncing between Denver Roller Dolls and Rocky Mountain Roller Girls.
Something about this "Miss Roller Derby" contest running in California doesn't quite feel right. (For example, we already have "Live Skills Competitions." They're called bouts.)
No link for this one, but Saturday, January 30 has been declared "Charm City Roller Girls Day" by the city of Baltimore and outgoing Mayor Sheila Dixon. (By the way, that's not "outgoing" as in "cheerful and gregarious," that's "outgoing" as in "forced to resign after being recently convicted of embezzlement.")
"The Great Southern Slam," modern roller derby's first-ever Australian Nationals, will take place in Adelaide, June 12-13. Over 20 leagues throughout Australia and New Zealand have expressed interest in participating.
Ok, DNN readers. Ready ... set ... ATTACK!!!
Finally, once you're done there, take 4 minutes out of your day to check out some wicked nasty hits in this well-edited video highlight reel of the Texas Rollergirls 2009 home season (mostly local teams, with a few shots from all-star games vs. Bay Area and Atlanta.) 1:16-1:20 just might represent the single most effective block in the history of roller derby.
Got a funny, interesting, intriguing or just weird link for next Friday's Open Thread? Let us know.
Comments
Jody DiPerna
Clearly she just needs to be educated. The fact is that there are two different versions of roller derby being played today. There is roller derby that has a main focus on competition and there is roller derby that has the main focus on entertainment.
Here in Arizona we have both and the roller derby that focuses on entertainment, isn't all that entertaining.
eep
That lady does *not* know what she's in for.
Education, Schmeducation
Clearly she just needs to be educated. The fact is that there are two different versions of roller derby being played today. There is roller derby that has a main focus on competition and there is roller derby that has the main focus on entertainment.
Here in Arizona we have both and the roller derby that focuses on entertainment, isn't all that entertaining.
She comes across as someone who doesn't *want* to be educated. Her article is the equivalent of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum when told that she needs to lay down for a nap.
I've seen this type of "backlash" before...often from people who saw their local league two, three years ago and think that nothing has changed from then: the skating, the outfits, the attitude, the skaters themselves. It takes a dedicated few to stick it out and see the evolution.
Hmm, her entreaties that she
Hmm, her entreaties that she might be persuaded to attend a bout, but still won't write about roller derby as a sport is a giveaway of her intentions.
Personally, it just sounds like she specifically wrote what she felt would be controversial and generate a ton of comments/linkbacks/retweets etc, clearly knowing how passionate this community is. Her site is still in beta, and the majority of views of all of her other postings range from 20 to 80 at most. Her roller derby post? Generated 813+ viewings.
So she got what she wanted. I'd rather not give in to her transparent trolling. Frankly, I'd prefer sending my leaguemate Tara Armov over to her so she can be properly "educated," Armov-style.
But it's great that most people in the derby community who are responding are doing so in a rational, professional manner so that those who stumble on the post and have a more open-mind than sandy vagina lady are thusly educated. We're growing, people!
Yeah....
For someone who didn't want to write about roller derby, she sure wrote a lot about roller derby. It's the same tired opinion of someone who admits to have never actually seen the game played.
Le yawn.
Le ennui...
le rahr rahr! I love a cartoon reference =)
and, yeah, besides my beloved derby, I am also a hockey fan and love to hear the moronic opinions held about hockey by those who have never seen the game... le sigh...
Oops.
Ok, it made me yawn three times.
Oh, and uh, yay CCRG.
Skater hater
Her skater hater blog makes me yaaaaawwwnn.
>> roller derby is sport for
>> roller derby is sport for the PBR crowd.
I'll buy THAT for a dollar! Seems like a well-thought-out eight-word utterance to me!
I'm kinda fatigued of the whole "sport" v. "entertainment" argument, from either angle. Roller derby is sport, yep. Sports, in turn, are entertainment. Now everybody's happy! Move along, please.
Super assessment!
I'm kinda fatigued of the whole "sport" v. "entertainment" argument, from either angle. Roller derby is sport, yep. Sports, in turn, are entertainment. Now everybody's happy! Move along, please.
As we rapidly approach one of the pinnacles of American sports entertainment (some football game coming up this Sunday) I felt like quoting the truth of the above comment and reveling in the union of sports and entertainment.
-Wheel Smith
The problem for roller derby
The problem for roller derby is unique. Almost. No other sport that considers itself legitimate today is plagued by a past in which the "sport" aspect was as gleefully abandoned in favor of the "entertainment" aspect as roller derby was in the late 20th century. Other sports can add "entertainment" aspects, but they don't compromise the integrity of their games as has been done by the previous incarnations of our sport.
Olympic and collegiate style Greco-Roman Wrestling is the only other recognized sport that has also been sullied by the sports-entertainment industry.
aww, poor baby
sounds like somebody's got a sandy vagina. ten bucks she didn't make the team.
xoxo
-Moxxxie
HELLARAD
www.wearehellarad.com
Oceania Championships might
Oceania Championships might be a better phrase, given the Kiwis are coming to play, too?
This is mega-exciting ... it's not so long ago that I got on a plane to Auckland to watch Pirate City Rollers play, cos none of the four leagues in Australia were bouting. Actually, my league didn't even have a place to skate til the week before. So to see twenty-odd leagues up and bouting and ready to fight for a regional crown makes me deeply happy.
Plus, nice name Adeladies!
Although I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the prospect of having Icehouse (forever and always mashed up with 'Sounds of Then' in my musically confused brain) stuck in my head for the rest of my otherwise perfectly good Saturday.
She's clearly a sports nerd.
She's clearly a sports nerd. The people bringing up roller derby aren't talking to her in sports nerd terms. The people who tried to talk her into checking the sport out weren't talking in terms of offense and defense, in strategies that work, and how those strategies fail.
It might be too late now. She's stated her intention to become immune to discussions about roller derby. That's going to be a hard carapace to crack.
And I think a lot of people in the derby community don't really understand that becoming a sports fan is a lot like being brought up in a religion. Sports fans are immersed in sports from the crib. By fathers watching sports on TV, in a lot of cases mothers too, brothers, school, etc.
Now let's look at what you get when roller derby is brought into the picture. What was roller derby when Diperna was growing up? What it was, was an INSULT to EVERYTHING that is sports. Staged games, staged fights, staged scoring, pre-determined game outcomes, teams that only existed to be beaten, baby faces and heels.
In a sports fanatic household, you compared the most negative aspects of any legitimate sport to roller derby or pro-wrestling. To those individuals, you are trying to tell them that something unchangeable has changed, that there is a flaw in their faith. Their faith in the immutable mostly unchanging world of sports.
It's possible you may never be able to reach those people who grew up with that. But if derby sticks around until the 2020s, you may get their kids, who grew up in an era when derby was *always* a legit sport.
Let's also keep in mind that DiPerna was already *writing* about sports when most of modern, DIY derby, still had staged fights and penalty wheels.
If anyone does successfully drag DiPerna to a game, it should nothing less than a Philly/Gotham game. Someone like that needs to be introduced only at the level of the best the sport has to offer.
Jody, you ignorant slut.
Jody, you ignorant slut.
I LOVE VIDEOS!
I love that Derby has some of the greatest videographers. You all ROCK! Another reason to love Texas and LA.
the video (and the block) do rock
we have some amazing videographers in tx. punk rock phil did a phenomenal job of putting the footage together.
and justice, you are correct. there has never been a block as cool as the one shown @ 1:16. granted, i'm biased, but there is nothing like seeing the force that is desi cration take down an ENTIRE team. 5 on 5? try 1 on 5. and the 1 won.
she's pretty awesome. i was
she's pretty awesome. i was one of the 5. sadly. :D
-Shannihilator
Atlanta Rollergirls
Speaking of Hellarad...
Don't forget, lovers, Buttsecks Day is February 14th!
http://wickedskatewear.com/happybuttsecksday.aspx
Charm City Bout Cancelled today due to snow
Just in case you look for the latest and most up to date derby news on DNN......
Also, Bad Decisions will be serving up some of the delicious brew from Flying Dog which was going to be sold at the Arena.
BTT
@ five Bullet Toof Tracy takedowns in the beginning of the video! <3 <3 <3
Miss Roller Derby
So Miss Roller Derby is real? For serious? Does anyone know the story behind it? Who's driving it? I had a hard time wanting to really look around the site and it's not that easy to navigate, or I are dumb.
Mystery of Miss Roller Derby
Well,
The photo they use on their site was take from here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xanderoc/3703135091/
Which is "SoCal" a renegade league:
http://www.myspace.com/socalrenegaderollergirls
So probably someone associated with that league, or someone who stole a picture from one of their photogs. Their calendar lists OCRG, LADD and SDDD events, although i don't think anyone from Derby Dolls are involved.
my girl's video
Here's Roadkill's small video montage, it's on the MTLRD facebook page, as if your not a fan already. 5 minutes and 26 seconds of your day
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=207508487804&oid=2220365624
Only cool thing about that article
is thats Polly Purgatory from Stuttgart Valley Rollergirlz (germany), yay international derby (boo to losers that hate)
International derby FTW!
International derby rules :)
(especially international transfers heh!)
I can't see a WFTDA league ever hosting a bout in a cow shed a la NASS Fest stylee, can you? LOL! It's shizz like that which makes international derby so interesting, in my opinion.
Hurricane Hayles
Ex ARRG (UK)
Current MTLRD
ugh
did you see what that filthy cow shed did to my knee and how infected it was by roll britannia?
I swear theres still bits of yellow skin stuck to my old kneepads (yum!)
Bless you england and your lack of suitable venues.
OMG NO!
I did NOT get to see that! Yummy :) I demand manky pics, STAT! :P
I was pretty out of it at RB, being my last UK apperance as such. I wanted to speak to so many people and never got the chance to do so, playing all 4 of our games. I was literally the walking dead Monday - Armalite Angie kept telling me I looked like crap (thats what a battering from your wifey does I guess lol).
Much love xxxx
Vince, you ignorant slut.
..I kid.
Contest rules sez this:
"MissRollerDerby.com (herein referred to as “The Site” or “Website”) and the Miss Roller Derby™ Contest (herein referred to as “The Contest”) are owned and administered by Nick Lovell Photography (herein referred to as “The Owner”). Participation in the Miss Roller Derby™ Contest constitutes full and unconditional agreement to, and acceptance of, these Official Contest Rules."
domain
Not exactly giving away the info on domain...
http://www.whois.net/whois/missrollerderby.com
roller barbies
http://www.nicklovell.com/
This is the man behind the "Miss Roller Derby" Contest.
Here's my favorite part: "In setting up the Miss Roller Derby Contest, we asked over 130 skaters and roller derby enthusiasts what they wanted to see in a contest, and time and time again, the responses were the same: IT SHOULD BE ABOUT THE SPORT! Thus, the idea of the Live Skills competition was born!"
Apparently dude doesn't quite understand that a real derby girl will find legitimate recognition by actually playing roller derby, and that she doesn't need some dumb-ass pageant to validate herself.
We officially boycott this contest.
xoxo
-Moxxxie
HELLARAD
www.wearehellarad.com
Maybe he should go shoot a
Maybe he should go shoot a bout and find his "Miss Roller Derby" from there. I don't know if he'd be very impressed, though, all the men at our bouts are wearing shirts. :p
self promoting
Its all about self promotion it sounds like. Tool!
ewwww
yeah, I'm having a tough time understanding the pageantry of roller derby. It feels really wrong and whole wad of gross.
Lippy Wrongstockings
Tri City Roller Girls
Canadaland
Miss Roller Derby
Well, we were hoping people would be talking about Miss Roller Derby but not like this!
Greetings everyone, I'm Ben AKA BenJammin' 626 from the Renegade Rollergirls League. I am a personal friend of Nick Lovell, that is indeed my Flickr account (XanderOC) with a pic that Nick Lovell happened to take. Nick takes photos for the Renegade Rollergirls SoCal, Renegade Rollergirls San Diego, Renegade Rollergirls Phoenix and recently, at Orange County Rollergirls opening bout. The latter you can find on Missrollerderby.com, which are pretty amazing despite that he was only allowed to take pics from 2 corners of the rink. Anyway, he is far from a Tool and far from trying to retire off this contest. He has skated a number of practices with the SoCal Renegades and taken a few beatings from our girls who love no holds barred derby. He knows the amount of hard work that goes into training, seen the passion in the girls' eyes and is there encouraging the girls on at bouts, in between taking pics.
Missrollerderby was created as a social network site for everyone in derby (skaters, coaches, refs, photogs, videographers, etc.) to come together. It's completely FREE to join the site and yes, there is a contest going on as well. As stated above, there were 130 derby skaters surveyed who wanted some sort of live skills competition involved and there are a couple differences between bouts and the Miss Roller Derby Live Skills Competition. One is that, in Bouts, the winners are teams. Some leagues and teams might have “MVP” or individual player recognitions, but on the whole Bouts are team-centered; this is individual-centered. Two: Generally the same players play on the same teams (again, exceptions to every rule, but on the whole) players stay within their league or team. This is a way for players from a bunch of different teams and leagues to come together and maybe skate with others that they might not have ever had the chance to skate with, or even meet. That's just our opinion but hey, the contest is still a work in progress so we value any feedback, even with the navigation of the site. This site was created for you, the skaters, the fans, anyone involved in Roller Derby.
As I stated before, this site is completely free to join and entering the contest is completely optional. If you want to boycott and wish the contest a bloody, fiery doom, then so be it! If you have any further issues, comments, feed back or concerns, please contact me or visit Missrollerderby.com and leave your input there. Seriously, let's be mature about it and like the SoCal Renegades say, Keep it Classy!
Thanks and happy skatin' to you all!
sorry
but I am confuseled by your description of what it actually is....still not feeling enthused. No hating though...
Think of it as the Facebook
Think of it as the Facebook for Roller Derby, that was the vision. I agree, the contest was pushed prematurely and I apologize that it came across too strongly when in fact the marketing should have been more towards "join this all new Derby social network site." Skaters, fans, etc can create their own personal profiles, add their team to the directory, add bout dates to the calendar, create/comment on topics in the forums and we're working on much more. I hope that helped!
Please check it out and help us improve the site by leaving some feedback.
Thanks!
Derby Nation
Derby Nation http://derbynation.ning.com/ already tried to be the Facebook of Derby.
I still really don't get it. Does your site not state that roller girls can enter "Miss Roller Derby" for a fee and they can win money? That is beyond a social networking site. That's a pageant. Which is weird. But hey, if gals want to join so be it. I still don't really get it. If you got rid of the (tradmarked no less) name and removed the contest and pageantry of it, and allowed it to simply be a place for roller girls to hang out then I doubt it would be getting the negative attention.
Lippy