Weekend in Review, 2/1/2010
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In an outdoor bout, Rose City B-team Axles of Annihilation blew out newer Gold Coast, 214-57. Photographer: Flash. -
Double Crossers jammer Julia Rosenwinkel in a rare bit of trouble against the Hell's Belles pack. Rosenwinkel led her team in scoring as the Crossers beat the Belles 171-48 in the Windy City local season opener. Photo: Gil Leora. -
In Windy City local action, Manic Attackers jammer Zoe Trocious powers through a hit from the Fury's Ivy Sedation. The Manics won 101-83 on the strength of a late-game 37-4 run. Photo: Gil Leora. -
The Twin City Terrors men's team had their first intraleague bout this weekend; here Black jammer Eagon Strangler makes his move up the outside. Black won 83-60.
General Interleague | Local Bouts | Men's Derby
General Interleague
RCR Axles of Annihilation 214, Gold Coast 57 -- In the debut bout under the Gold Coast name for the league formerly known as Broward County, Rose City's B-team came cross-country to provide a 157-point walloping to the Florida team. Gold Coast's roster featured a duo of ex-Dominion skaters in Tsunami Tsue and Spontaneous Combustya, while the Axles had the benefit of RCR all-star Licker N Split and the very intimidating Smack Ya Sideways.
The evening's tone was set early within the first five jams, as Gold Coast jammers were only able to score 8 points to AOA's 46. Licker N Split dropped 20 points on the second jam alone while GCDG's Kitten Not Submittin' was unable to find a way around Smack Ya Sideways in the pack. AOA's Minstrel Psycho and Heidi Go Seek would also put up first-half 20-0 jams, and offense continued to be hard to come by for Gold Coast, who got shut out for eight jams in a row and wouldn't score again until the final jam of the half. At the half Gold Coast was looking at not just a 146-14 deficit, but also the loss of team captain Jess Business to injury.
Although things went considerably better for the home team in the second half, where they only lost 68-43, the outcome had long since been decided.
This bout was sponsored by the Coconut Creek Casino, who purchased both the sport court and paid all travel expenses for the Rose City teams; Gold Coast does it again on March 13 as they fly down one of Steel City's two B-teams, the Blitzburgh Bombers. -- Abstain-ance
Southern Misfits 93, ACD Dirty Little Secret Service 68 -- The Southern Missfits (Hattiesburg, MS) used an overwhelming rally in the second half to defeat Assassination City Derby local team Dirty Little Secret Service 93-68 Saturday night in Mesquite, Texas.
The home team Dirty Little Secret Service (DLSS) took a 4-3 lead by veteran jammer Red Hot Rage in the first jam. The team in blue went on a 19-1 run starting in the sixth jam. The 29-10 lead was followed by both teams trading scoring jams through the rest of the half. The home team went into intermission leading 49-32 to the delight of the Dallas area fans.
But the second half belonged to the visitors. After six jams, the Southern Missfits had closed to within 54-47, and the DLSS started turning the penalty box a shade of home team blue, skating many jams with the maximum two blockers in the penalty box. That meant the team from Hattiesburg could begin an intense comeback.
Bulletproof Barbie scored an 8-0 jam on jam 11 to narrow the lead down to 60-56. DLSS's Eileen Left scored her team's last eight points of the game during the next jam in an 8-8 exchange against the Southern Missfits' jammer Bianca Bullet.
The Southern Missfits scored the last 29 points of the bout. Two 5-0s by Val Killmore along with a 5-0 and 10-0 for Bulletproof Barbie would silence the crowd (except for a handful of fans from Mississippi). The Southern Missfits had turned a halftime deficit into a strong victory, outscoring the Dirty Little Secret Service 59-17 in the second half.
The leading scorer for the Southern Missfits was Bullet Proof Barbie with 48 points; top scorer for the home team was Red Hot Rage with 26 points. -- Phil Arnold (full recap)
Comments
Windy City attendance...
3,977 paid attendees, so there were easily over 4,000 people at that bout. Crazytown.
Crazytown Inc.
Yeah that was insane. We were really blown away but equally thrilled. Love love love The Power of Cheer. They are the best thing we have done besides the Polkaholics.
3977
We have come within inches of selling out (~4200) in the past, but I'm glad that a metro area the size of Chicago is finally embracing derby!
Now we have to have people hanging from the rafters to compete.
John Maddening
Minnesota RollerGirls
Rat City's home opener
Rat City's home opener hit over the 4k paid attendees mark as well! Hooray for derby nationwide!
Re: Rat City's home opener
That looked like the best turnout at the Key that Rat City has ever had. 4.5k?
We're still waiting on final
We're still waiting on final numbers.
In other news, Axle Adams has created the world's fastest montage from his photos from the bout. Holy crimoly!
six-foot-six manbeast Killsbury Doughboy
That has to be the awesomest description ever.
And the way KJ got lead on his jams, we should really start calling him LJ instead... :)
While I normally eschew physical descriptions...
...there's no other way to explain The Doughboy. I'd be afraid to sit trackside when he plays if he wasn't so stable out there.
There used to be a bounty on
There used to be a bounty on knocking Killsbury down. He did a great job out there.
There's a lot more to talk about with that game.
...besides the much-beloved Doughboy, the level of derby of the Terrors really notched up a level from the last time I saw them up in a bout up north in Harbor City. I saw recycling blockers, brutal interference...even a few attempts at what looked to be 'Slay Rides - definitely something to try with the scrawny-lookin' jammers and a couple of massive blockers that the Terrors were working.
Also: the women's scrimmage alone was worth the price of admission. There are very few public opportunities to see the NSRG and MNRG (and the Brewskis, in this case) play a mixed half-hour scrimmage. The one-two-three blocking of Tiki Torture/Jawbreaker/Harmony Killerbruise for the Black team was so much fun to watch, yet the opposing team still took the game off the back of jamming from Medusa, L'exi-Cuter, Mitzi Massacre, and a couple of others that I'm afraid I'm forgetting at this moment.
Banked and Flat
I am curious to know the current opinion of Banked Track Roller Derby. With the rules and play so similar to flat track I am wondering why there is still some anti-banked attitudes out there. As a skater of both banked and flat I just can't wrap my head around how anyone that loves roller derby cannot support both. With more and more teams coming to play us on the banked I have personally witnessed Flat trackers kick ass and fall in love with the banked track. Is it just ignorance? Afraid of the unknown? I would love to hear from some dye hard flat trackers why they are anti-banked. I dream of the day when Derby is Derby, any surface, any affiliation.
619, yo!
First of all, at the ongoing risk of sounding like one of the SDDD's small but odoriferous, off-putting cabal of skincrawl-inducing male fans... love the red hair! (oh my god, did you see that guy with the CRAZY LEATHER SUSPENDERS AND SANDALS at the last bout vs AZ??? Me and my friends were awestruck, we could not take our eyes of him, it was like watching a human car accident unfold before our very eyes in slow motion with wardrobe provided by a homeless dominatrix...)
What was I talking about?
Oh yeah! FT vs BT! As a dork (and proud of it) who loves them both (don't make me go Sophie's Choice) I'd imagine the biases against BT could be multiple: The implication that it is geared more towards male fans with over-the-top 'theatrics' (Doll Factory, exhibit A... as a male fan, I do love watching the Swarm kill up there... it's like a gladiator pit! With fish net!) utilizing sex appeal and violence overtly? The emphasis is on entertaining and not on competition, mayhaps? That perhaps it is all about 'showtime' and even maybe a little elitist or aloof in regards to it's FT sisters? None of this is entirely true but might be the mindset of those who are not all that familiar with BT and since BT is so hard to find in person (but growing!) kinda hard to shake preconceived notions. Thanks in no small part to SDDD (currently, the only true hybrid league in da' world) inviting FT leagues in to bout on their BTs, those misconceptions will, I'd imagine, eventually be eradicated.. Give it time. BT leagues are popping up and the true word on BT is spreading through the right channels... I predict total harmony in the near future... let's all join hands... Kumbaya, my lord... Kumbaya...
GO SDDD! The first ever public SDDD home BT bout this Saturday is going to be an event that will be long remembered!!!! Can't wait to see how the atmosphere is, I'm hoping for something between 'fever-pitch' and 'cop car flipping riot'...
Um wha?
I have really not noticed any different degree of marketing towards male fans between flat and banked track derby. Nor any tendency of people to suggest that's so.
Wherever did this perception of yours come from?
Marketing?
I'm talking perception regarding the bias (and a male fan's perception, at that). While BT gets a large number of fans (like myself and my wife who is a RABID BT fan) that are there to support and enjoy womens' athletics (and athletics in general), it also gets a good percentage of the crowd that grew up with derby on the TV looky box (with all the things of the past that that entails, good or bad) that FT doesn't QUITE get as much of... and guys (and a large percentage of women) love that stuff! Does that make more sense? Probably not, yeesh... bottomline... the demographics and percentages for males that enjoy BT over FT, while I don't know of any studies, has to be substantial. There are reasons for this. I can do head counts. I attend both BT and FT VERY regularly... there are way more dudes at BT than at FT and there are certainly more dudes there WITHOUT female companions (the telling stat) by a large percentage when compared to FT bouts. I guess it is an issue of the speed and greater potential for violent interaction on BT in comparison to FT... men usually enjoy big hits, fast action and a crazy atmosphere. Both sexes do! Am I wrong in saying that BT is more casual spectator, both sexes crowd friendly than FT? Let's face it, it takes going to a few FT bouts as a fan before most people even know what the hell is going on! This turns off a lot of men who want to be able to keep stats and understand the action completely, maybe have a guy step up with a microphone and explain what just happened (like will happen occasionally at the Doll Factory). That situation is slightly more tenable in BT than in FT. This isn't about marketing, this about how the male brain works and BT is a little more male friendly than FT. That's all I am trying to say, Poobah. And I am not even saying that this is why there is that bias (it is real, we all know this) that some FT purists have against BT but it probably could be considered a contributing factor, right? I am fortunate to live in So Cal where I can get my fill of both BT and FT (ok, I actually never get my fill, heh!), there are a lot of fans down here that are 'hybrid fans', we support both BT and FT, both at home and on the road, but are aware of biases held by those that are fans of one and not the other. When I go to the Doll Factory, I talk to fans that totally dislike FT because they can't follow it mostly (and, yes, it is mostly men with that complaint) and when I go to FT bouts I will talk to fans who have either never been to a BT bout or just prefer the 'purer' version of derby that is FT in their opinion.
I hope I have cleared that up a bit... do I need to look into witpro? Jesus Christ...
The slight difference in
The slight difference in rules and playing surface is similar to the differences among football, arena football, and Canadian football. Some consider these variants of the same sport, others think they are different sports despite their similarities. Some prefer one over the other, some like them all. I don't think considering them unique entities, or having a preference of one over the other, is a bad thing.
I am also reminded of the circumstances which led to the blossoming of street skateboarding in the late '80's. The sport was not widely embraced through the '80's, and wooden vert ramps were cost prohibitive for the average skater. So kids hit the streets and created a new variant of the sport that remains hugely popular (despite a resurgence in the popularity of vert skating, and availability of skate parks).
I suppose some anti-banked sentiment is out there, but I would venture that most die hard derby fans/players/support staff have come to embrace banked as much as possible, given that a vast majority of us don't live anywhere near a banked track organization. Until it becomes viable for more leagues to play banked on a regular basis, it will be hard for people to give it equal consideration. Again, not a bad thing, just how it is.
Here's my best guess.
With the rules and play so similar to flat track I am wondering why there is still some anti-banked attitudes out there.
Read any interview with a newly established league in the local Fairview Fishwrapper newspaper.
Invariably the following question comes up: "How is it different from the roller derby of the past?" (usually they mention the 1970s). Two things get mentioned in response, the flat track and the fact that it's not "fake." I pound my head on my desk once every time they tie banked track derby to scripted jams and outcomes, and twice more every time they say "it's real, we get injured" (worked derby can be MORE dangerous, and a WWE wrestler was killed by an injury during a match).
A large part of the negative impression of banked track derby that's out there is ignorance. Battle On the Bank and both Derby Dolls leagues marketing themselves within the derby community have done a lot to clear that up. What you need to keep in mind is that the average derby skater out there is NOT like you or me. What they know about is what they see first-hand, and what they hear.
There's maybe upwards of 24,000 derby skaters in the U.S.? Less than 5,200 of those belong to the roller_girls group (there's lots of non-skaters in there) and I dunno how many regular visitors this site gets.
To a lesser degree there's a bit of PC vs Mac vs Linux thing going on there (if you're my age, Commodore vs Atari vs TI vs Timex/Sinclair). Whatever I have invested my money and heart into is naturally the best. The ONLY way to go, even. Anyone who'd use something else is an idiot, heathen, spendthrift, flake, nerd, hippy, etc. I have late-80s memories of people referring to "Commode-doors" on dial-up BBSs.
And you won't just see this kind of thing with flat-trackers. Classic derby fans (from whatever era and style) have this "THAT'S NOT DERBY!" mantra. All caps to go with their AOL addresses. In the beginning it's about the surface. They'd be interested if only it were banked track. Once you're banked track it's then about your uniforms, your not being co-ed, your derby names, stars on helmets vs crosses, the rules, or whatever.
I don't believe you can actually please most of these people, as the target always moves. Being as we can't really have the stars of yesteryear skating today's derby without breaking their hips, they'll really only like today's derby if some of those folks are around for their magical aura to rub off on us. Let's don't even think about their weird concepts of derby genetics.
First impressions
Sorry I'm not a die-hard flat tracker, but here's my contribution.
Why are there still some anti-banked attitudes out there? I believe first impressions are the explanation. If one's first experience with roller derby has been the traditional one of the 60's and 70's, you know what they say about roller derby; “it's fake”. After that first impression is made one rarely changes their attitude about something once it's been set. The saying “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is a truth. Because once an attitude is set, people rarely go to the extra effort to reevaluate their attitudes.
If you want to talk about why some flat track people are hostile to bank track, I'm going to be politically incorrect here and say it's the TXRG – TXRD schism of way back. Shortly after the league split a firefight erupted about who was the 'real' roller derby. TXRD and others said that 'real' roller derby was played on a banked track, not a flat one. You can imagine the hard feelings that grew out of such a comment. Leagues that followed TXRG's flat track example also adopted an anti-banked track basis whether they were conscious of that or not.
Psychologists tell us that people form their identity by knowing who they're not. Flat track roller derby is played on a flat track, not a banked one. WFTDA is the Women's 'FLAT TRACK' Derby Association, not Women's Roller Derby Association. And fans pick up on this too, as they are fans of flat track or banked track roller derby. And once an opinion or attitude is set... well, you know the rest.
What is the current opinion of Banked Track Roller Derby? Well like everything in roller derby it's changing. When I was a kid I saw roller derby on TV and I loved it. But when roller derby died in the 70's, I forgot about it. Hey! I was just a kid then. When I saw Rollergirls on A&E, I love it again. When it was canceled I went to my local roller derby league, flat track, and I loved them too. When I decided to volunteer of them I found that I had developed an anti-banked track attitude. Then I saw a LA Derby Dolls competition and my anti-banked track attitude was blown away.
What is it going to take to change people's attitudes? Just like your experience with skaters, people are going to have to actually go to a banked track game, hopefully a Derby Doll affiliate (LA, SD). And maybe their attitude will change, but there's no guarantee about that. I went to see the Bay Bombers play a while ago, my first roller derby love, and I'm sorry to report; there was no love. You never know.
same here
I had developed an anti-banked track attitude. Then I saw a LA Derby Dolls competition and my anti-banked track attitude was blown away.
I'm only entering my 3rd year of derby, but I admit to assuming that flat trackers didn't hold bank trackers in high regard. I don't exactly know why I held that opinion though. However I watched LADD on a live feed and couldn't help but wonder why the anti-banked attitude existed. What I witnessed was some awesome, skilled derby on a banked track with only slightly different rules than the ones we played by. I love watching banked track derby and it's on my bucket list to get my Canadian ass on a banked track for an actual game. I think it looks like a hell of a lot fun!
Lippy Wrongstockings
Tri City Roller Girls
Canuckistan
The Media
I think a part of the gripe is a little jealousy. The mainstream media won't accept flat track. Whenever there's commercial or something it's always on a bank. So many more people play on a flat surface, yet the media always focuses on banked. That and the Bay City Bomber people like to shit on flat track all the time. Every popular youtube video has someone posting about how it's not real roller derby.
I think generally people aren't anti banked. When we started in Chicago, I think most people assumed we would be playing banked in a few years. Flat took off so much faster. Now it's what we do....
No one really even talks about banked here except the old school guys we know. They keep telling us that this isn't real derby, and they're going to bring the old school game back. (with the same skaters)
Jealousy?
I think a part of the gripe is a little jealousy. The mainstream media won't accept flat track. Whenever there's commercial or something it's always on a bank. So many more people play on a flat surface, yet the media always focuses on banked. That and the Bay City Bomber people like to shit on flat track all the time. Every popular youtube video has someone posting about how it's not real roller derby.
There I think you're wrong. Some in the media remember the old style of banked track roller derby, many really don't. One reason you might be seeing more banked track derby on TV is because of the Derby Dolls. They are in L.A., the home of TV. They also have TV people in their league. Location and relationships are everything. If you hadn't noticed, they're freaking brilliant at making promo videos. TV people probably watch that stuff and remember them.
As for the Bombers, you may be giving them a bit of a bum rap. A skater from their league has been a semi-regular (and cool) poster on this site and coaches a women's flat track league in CA. The fact that you know them as the "Bay City Bombers" and not the "Bay Bombers" offers a bit of a clue as to whom you may have gotten your impression from. Didja know that they regularly use skaters from flat track leagues as pack skaters in their games? In other words, pissing off/on the flat trackers isn't just pointless, it's not in their own best interest to do so. And the organization itself really doesn't do that.
I think generally people aren't anti banked. When we started in Chicago, I think most people assumed we would be playing banked in a few years. Flat took off so much faster. Now it's what we do....
No one really even talks about banked here except the old school guys we know. They keep telling us that this isn't real derby, and they're going to bring the old school game back. (with the same skaters)
I know who you mean there, heh. Tell him, "Yeah, but neither was Roller Games." If you really want to burn his ass. Better yet, say "If there's no pivot, THAT'S NOT ROLLER DERBY!" Say it in all caps, with an AOL address.
Change of topic, please.
Tsk-tsk, poobah. Jealousy and insecurity are human failings, we all suffer from them, and they can be blamed for most disputes in the world. I find the whole flat vs banked thing so passe`. Let's talk about something more recent.
What were all the boos at Nationals about? People were actually booing roller derby. Not a mean team, not a nasty player, not even a bad call, but roller derby, legal, by the book roller derby. Can someone please explain? This is a provocative question.
He reaches that pole behind
He reaches that pole behind him, his back arched and foot in the air, he brings that foot down, his body leans forward, and with a mighty whip he casts that line waaaaaaay out beyond the shore.
Real sport status
It's one of those benchmarks, you know? People have their favorite teams, and everyone else is standing between them and the championship. People have booed at sporting events since time immemorial, and roller derby has caught up.
Whoosh
Whoosh
Poobah, yes, location is
Poobah, yes, location is undoubtedly a big factor - having nearly every major media outlet in our backyard, in addition to being in a city that attracts professionals from the TV/film industry, media, etc. This allows us to have easy access to skilled pros to create our promotional materials, as well as having skaters who do PR for a living driving our marketing/PR (this isn't to say that other leagues don't have this, but that we make sure we don't take this luxury of ours for granted).
That being said, I would like to think that we are doing something right, other than geography. We're absurdly diligent about our PR/marketing strategy and our messaging of athleticism first and foremost. Knowing that the spotlight is on us makes us take our role as a representative to mainstream media very seriously - so yeah, we try not to fuck it up by talking about fishnets. We also make every effort to always mention WFTDA and the 400+ flat track leagues to every member of the media who feigns even a passing interest in roller derby. It usually garners a mention and sometimes it doesn't, but we as a league are supportive of the growth of our sport, not a surface.
Check my earlier response...
I most certainly wasn't trying to slight the Derby Dolls promotional skills in the least.
Please try to take my post in the context of the post it was in response to. He mentioned always seeing banked track derby on TV. I took that to mean "on TV shows that depict roller derby being played in a fictional format show or reality show."
All those shows that we've seen in the last few years but one (and I'll get back to that later) were shot in Los Angeles. CSI NY, shot in L.A., on your track. Kath and Kim, shot in L.A. on your track. Gene Simmons' Family Jewels shot on your track. Rock of Love shot on your track.
If we look back in history every single TV series and movie shot in the 70s and 80s that depicted roller derby used the track and skaters from L.A. rather than San Francisco. It probably wasn't because Roller Games was superior to Roller Derby or IRSL. The makers of Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island probably didn't know from derby. It's just easier to drive to a location across town than across the state.
The one TV show depicting roller derby being played on a flat track was Psych. That show is shot up in Vancouver, Canuckistan. The evil gang of roller skating criminals was largely portrayed by the local league (Terminal City) on a flat track. There's no banked tracks up in Canada, you know? Ironically one of two speaking parts among the skaters was filled by LADD's own Racy DC.
It isn't just location, but
It isn't just location, but convenience on other levels for the last few years. The Doll Factory has a lot of production friendly elements that make it virtually a sound stage in its own right. High ceilings with a pipe grid suitable for studio lights, a two truck loading dock, parking enclosed by a high fence with a gate, a scissor lift for easy access to that high pipe grid, power in 120, 240 and 480 volt flavors, besides the track there are the stands (which would be a hassle to set up from scratch in a sound stage), an adjacent room for staging or further set work, and rooms that can be used as dressing rooms or temporary production offices.
Now there's also a WFTDA regulation track the skaters use for flat track practice. It doesn't have stands around it though.
Shooting wise, the banked track has another advantage. Cables can be run under the track and into the infield for shooting from the infield without interfering with the track itself. This isn't quite a good idea because the track sitting on the cable can ruin it. The dimensions of the track also allow more equipment to be set up on the infield, since the infield is 36x76 feet (the Kitten Traxx dimensions are somewhat longer and wider than a WFTDA track). These are minor points that aren't show stoppers for a flat track though.
I'd say if if Terminal City had a full time, warehouse type facility with other studio trimmings, you'd see more flat track derby on TV. A LOT of shows are shot in Canuckistan, and just the availability of a discount studio facility might tempt some shows to write more roller derby plots :)
Please just ask others to check it out...
As Lippy said, all it really takes is a few minutes checking out what the Derby Dolls are up to and a lot of misconceptions are immediately cleared...
The issue, as many have touched on, is that there are several disparate entities who skate "banked track" -- and so it's tempting to categorize all of them under one umbrella, but unfortunately it is incorrect. Couple with that, these misconceptions are spread as facts in absence of opposing information-- and you get a never ending cycle of "Well I heard..."
The Derby Dolls have evolved their own game, but it is VERY similar WFTDA rules-- and the league has even gone so far as to change names of some of their rules in their 2009 rule set to make them more recognizable to WFTDA fans and Skaters (Advancing=Cutting The Track, Ramming=Back Blocking-- were always essentially the same rule, just existed under different terms, now adopted flat track nomenclature).
But I would encourage anyone to grab a friend and a cold beverage and tune into derbydolls.tv for one of our broadcasts. Heck it's free and I like to think we put on a pretty good program. Hopefully it can continue to help dispel some of the misconceptions folks have about what banked is and can be.
Vince Wheel
LADD RaD: Multimedia Nerd
A truly impressive
A truly impressive attendance. Congrats to Windy City and everyone else who packs in that many fans! Much envy here in LA town.
Wish we had a comparable facility in the LA City area. You go from a few hundred for the Toyota Center for flat track and 1700 for the Doll Factory to 18,000 seats. No in-between anymore. The cool old Olympic Auditorium, tailor made for roller derby with 3-4000 seats, was bought by a large church years ago.
UIC Pavilion
I think the total capacity at UIC is about 10,000-- so it's a pretty big house. We curtain off about a third of it and only open the top level if we need to, and it was so exciting to NEED TO on Saturday... and not just for a handful of folks, but A LOT. There are ways to make a crazy-big house work if you can afford it.
I was talking to a friend who told me he hadn't gone to a live sports event in a long time... one of his friends went to get a hot dog and a beer during the game and came back like 45 minutes later-- and that's when he realised that we'd become a "real" sports event!
Also, full recap for those who are interested: http://www.windycityrollers.com/home-season-opener-the-full-recap/
xo,
Loco
Party in Chicago
Sounds like a real Party in Windy City. Zing.
Congrats to the TC Terrors for their first intraleague bout.
CALL THE FBI ON THIS HIJACKING!
Week in review: banked trackers appeal for more love from DNN audience. HAHAHA
I love my team, love both tracks, love everyone who posted about this. But it totally doesn't have anything to do with the complete awesomeness of this article, dudes.
Here's what I got out of the weekend review:
- Gold Coast pays all travel? Holy shit, I wonder if they want to play our B team!
- The Crossers stopped everyone, EVEN SHAKA CONDUIT from scoring?! 40 unanswered points???? Way to go Crossers.
Love for any track but big arm boners to the Crossers for today,
Ivanna
IIRC & FWIW
...shocka didn't jam nearly as often during that game as she has in the past. She was blocking quite a bit. But I'll leave any further comment for her or her teammates to answer.
Teammate answerin'!
Yeah, for most of last season, Shocka and Athena DeCrime jammed every-other (Varla was out for most of 2009 home season). Megan Formor jammed too, as did Deb Autry-- but it was mostly Shocka and Athena putting points on the board and rarely in the pack.
Seven Belles (out of 13 who where rostered for the game) jammed on Saturday. Shocka, co-captain Hermione Danger, Deb and rookies Pominatrix and Zombea Arthur were out there a bit. Mya Ssault and Dinah Party also jammed once each. All of our jammers blocked as well, and let me tell you, it's REALLY FUN to block with Shocka-- something I haven't gotten to do much at all in 2+ years of being teammates.
I'm expecting it to pay off in the long run as we all become more versatile players.
The XXers played a great defensive game and congrats to them on the big win. Double congrats on doing it with a big jammer rotation as well and with so many skaters putting up points.
dammit, forgot the danglers
ups to the dudes, too!!!
good to know
Its good to know that opinions are changing. Didn't want to take away from this article just didn't know where else to put my question. It can be frustrating constantly trying to prove yourself when you don't quite fit in either box and are denied certain opportunities simply because you refuse to choose. Sometimes it's just easier to live in your own little bubble but I personally want to know outside opinions and where they stem from so I know what to work on to improve the overall immage of banked track. I truly love both and am proud to be bitraxual. Hope that we can count on those that have seen us play continue to spread the good word. And thanks again to DNN for giving us coverage and including us in ranking.
Open Thread
Didn't want to take away from this article just didn't know where else to put my question.
For future reference, we've always got one post titled "Weekly Rollup and Open Thread" in the headline box, which is the best place to put a topic / question / idea that doesn't directly relate to an existing article.
WHAT??? IT'S AN OUTRAGE, I
WHAT??? IT'S AN OUTRAGE, I TELL YOU!!!
redundancy, or brand recognition?
do you have a bot set up to do this for every thread?
;)
No, he's just bored.
Green Bay is cold and lonely. :)
I keep double posting, which
I keep double posting, which is also an outrage.
Derby Attendance
Hey out there, kind of an open poll I'd like to throw out there regarding
attendance for leagues around the country, flat and banked alike.
I'm trying to compile some even reasonably accurate figures for how the sport
has been growing. Something to compare with the old heyday.
From what I've seen, it seems to be not only increasing, but at more than a few venues, selling out on a regular basis. What was attendance like for your league in 2009? Just throwin' it out there.
Drop me a reply or an email if you have time?
Could you be a touch more specific re: attendance figures?
Do you want overall attendance for the season, average attendance, or the kitchen sink?
whatever attendance stats you or anyone can offer
Yes please!'the kitchen sink' approach is fine. when compiling data, too much is never a bad thing.
Thanks GK!
Derby Dolls
Ocho,
I work with LA Derby Dolls, banked track (as you know).
Since 2007 have been in a venue with about 1700 capacity.
LA has pretty constantly sold out every event (one per 3 weeks) 2007-2009. The events are 21 & Over. The LA events usually sell out in advance, but I'd say maybe 35% have a handful of tickets at the door. LA is an anomaly in that home team games sell out without issue, inter-league bouts usually require a lot of extra work to sell out (and offering a fair number of discount tickets).
LA would probably be better suited in a 2500-3000 capacity space just to have headroom and be able to sell tickets at the door, but unfortunately there really isn't a space in that capacity range available.
Great Western Forum?
Too big? too expensive for the LADD to rent? I understand the Sparks left due to the size.
Both
The Forum is both too big and too expensive for us to rent.
I'm so pissed that the Olympic Auditorium is now working for god directly. SHEESH.
attendance for tournys as well.
Actually on top of this I would be curious about attendance at Philly this past years as well as Portland the year before for nationals. Since we are hosting this year I would love to know what to expect.
Minnesota RollerGirls
We started out by selling out a roller rink in the suburbs (~1,100 cap.) for all the bouts in our first season, then moving down to a 4,200-seat professional sports arena in downtown Saint Paul. We go between 2,500 and 3,500 usually, but we've gotten within inches of selling out on numerous occasions.
The addition of another WFTDA league playing 10 minutes away, the North Star Roller Girls, has actually helped both leagues by building a larger community of roller derby fans. Sure, there are quite a few people that only attend one or the other, but I see a lot of familiar faces when I head over to Minneapolis to catch a NSRG bout.
Northwest Knockdown capacity
The Portland Expo Center (where we hosted NWK) has a capacity of 2,265 paid attendees, which we sold out.
As for Rose City's kitchen sink, we are on our second year of only holding 3 events at this same venue, along with 1-2 events per month in our Hangar (our regular practice space and all-around facility) which has a 450 capacity. Events in our Hangar are regularly selling out, and our Expo events ticket sales vary between 1,200 to sell-out.
Sweet..
and thanks. Was that for each day? Also that was one of my favorite tournaments. The little truck stop motel was awesome. Portland is the best.
The capacity stays the same
The capacity stays the same day to day ;P
I have no statistics off the top of my head around what percentage bought 3-day passes, single day passes, and whether we truly sold all 3 days...but it was damn close.
thanks
Thanks so much for your response. :)
Keep the attendance info coming, this is good stuff!
Thanks to everyone whos gotten back to me btw. I've heard back from folks at both ends of the spectrum, both from apprentice flat track to established banked. So you now, When I get a bigger better picture, I'll be glad to share!