Weekly Rollup and Open Thread, 2/19/2010
This is definitely the mainstream article of the month for roller derby -- a very in-depth piece by Melanie Asmar in Denver's Westword on the Rocky Mountain and Denver rivalry both on the track and in the business. What's going on in Denver may or may not be a preview of the near future in derby promotion, but it's definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Possibly the most amusingly honest product description we have ever seen, via Rollergirl.ca.
Powerjammers, a new podcast from the Boston Derby Dames' Pelvis Costello, Johnny Deep and Senor Macho Solo.
Derbyroster.com now lists exactly 500 leagues. Not all of them are actively functioning, and surely at least an handful of them never were ... but still. 500 leagues. Damn.
Genre clash: Hope U Gots Medical from San Diego Derby Dolls demonstrates some uniquely domestic on-skates drills for ESPN.
Men's derby starts to take shape in Portland.
And finally, here's a pretty heartwarming local-news spot about the Tootsie Rollers, Rat City's derby-brat league ... but aside from the heartwarmingness, note that the piece incorporates an actual play mapped out with a VIDEO CHALKBOARD. The future is now!
Got a funny, interesting, intriguing or just weird link for next Friday's Open Thread? Let us know.
Comments
The Rollergirl.ca ad for the
The Rollergirl.ca ad for the Cayman wheels wonders why they'd be named after a Porsche. The comment on the Derbyroster.com site might be related. I believe they may be named for the mythical 4th or 5th league in the modern derby movement, which no one ever reported having a game or even a practice. If so, it would make the name glaringly ironic.
turns out it was a league
turns out it was a league composed entirely of cylons.
haha...
.....what a "frackin" nerd you are, Howie! ;)
Tootsie Rollers were cute!
What??
Are you telling me it was all fantasy? I was totally thinking I could move to the Caribbean someday and make it work.
sheesh
Back in those days...
Back in those days there lots of "other league" listings on many leagues' web sites. The Cayman Islands league was listed on a fair number of them. I don't imagine it was ever more than just a rumor.
What gets interesting is when you try to figure out HOW various people started thinking a particular mythological league existed.
Here's a somewhat amusing story. At an early RollerCon there was a challenge set up between La Mysteriosas and La Migre. I don't know if it was ever even played. I gather that this was a Latinas vs gabachas/gringas challenge. This particular challenge team set up a MySpace profile, which seemed to indicate that the team was actually from Mexico but didn't really indicate what it was really all about.
Needless to say, someone came across the profile at some point and mistook it for an actual Mexican derby league. And it got put onto a LOT of derby league listings. I think it's had to be pulled it off of the Wikipedia derby league listing at least three times.
On the upside, sometimes fiction becomes reality! The owner of the Irish Roller Derby profile was contacted by someone putting together a league in Dublin and the user ID and password was given to the founder of the new league.
I for one am looking forward to hearing about the first modern derby bout held outside of the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. There's leagues in formative stages in several other countries, but as yet none of them have skated a bout to my knowledge. Three or four new leagues in France these past few weeks alone.
Dublin Roller Girls
is full of FANTASTIC ladies, I can't wait to see them up and rolling about.
Girl Fawkes
CTRG/CTDQ
What's funny is when I would
What's funny is when I would tell someone that the Derby Dolls were the 4th league in the modern movement, and someone would correct me and tell me Cayman Islands was actually the 4th league. As if a league no one ever heard of as being a league takes historical precedence over one that actually is well documented in formation and still exists.
The La Mysteriosas/La Migre game was indeed played, and was a game played between a bunch of well known players. Some of them absolutely dying in the 115 degree heat in their Lucha masks.
Mysteriosas were Lucha themed, but I don't think many (any?) of them were Latina (I remember who a few of the players were). Migres IIRC were like border patrol themed and all had Magnum PI fake mustaches. And yeah, that pickup game was the source of rumors about a league from Mexico.
It is somewhat of a wonder why there isn't a Mexican or eastern European derby league yet.
And I really wish Derbyroster.com indicated whether a listed league had played a game yet. I think saying there are 500 leagues to outsiders is a serious distortion of reality.
Thats no rumour!
As Busta says, they did play. Second rollercon I think? It was the one where we all stayed at the Plaza. Ahhh memries.....
I think it was mostly Derby Dolls in the lucha gear.
Awesome bout though...but yeah they looked REAL hot.
Oh and I believe the Zurich Roller Derby team has a bout scheduled, so watch that space! I wouldnt be surprised if Ghent was far behind. And there are indeed 3 leagues who just popped up in France, in fact some of them are coming to the Texas Rollergirls boot camp and bout weekend on March 20th in London - and some are even coming from the Helsinki league!
We have a skater from Barcelona who is desperately trying to get one going there, and I have even heard rumours of some stirrings in Eastern Europe!
And finally, the old Dublin Roller Derby myspace was a real thing for a while, but they never got going very well, so this new group is making it happen.
Phew.....
Bette Noir - Updater of all things international!
London Rollergirls
Actually FOUR in France.
And there are indeed 3 leagues who just popped up in France, in fact some of them are coming to the Texas Rollergirls boot camp and bout weekend on March 20th in London - and some are even coming from the Helsinki league!
I can't actually READ French, but there are two Facebook groups for two different leagues in Paris, one in Nice, and another in Bordeaux (who seem to have someone who's on top of their skate gear knowledge). It'll be interesting to see if both Paris leagues survive or if they join forces. As far as I know (scant little), Paris is a rather massive metro area with millions of people living in and around it.
I wonder, do their face-painter skaters get made up like mimes? And would Parisian mimes be a good team theme? Coach in a beret with an invisible loaf of French bread?
And now someone will very likely come up with an even MORE predictable French joke.
WoooOOOooo!
Ric Flair impressions aside, thanks for featuring our podcast!
-Pelvis Costello
League of Toasters?
So this league would be 6 skaters replicated like 5 times over. Would Baltar be the bench coach?
Go Tootsie Rollers!
That is so great!
Just cz you don't remember doesn't mean it didn't happen
Cayman Islands did have a league started by a Texas Rollergirls who moved there. I exchanged emails with the founder a bunch when AZRD first started. Sparkle Plenty visited there a few years ago to go to Black Pearl skate park and said that some of the girls are still around. I vaguely remember (back in 2004 or so) the founder telling me that the problem with derby on the island was that their population was so seasonal (and weird because Cayman Islands are full of super rich people that hide money there) that they had more or less given up on the league.
But they were real and they did play and there are TX Rollergirls that still know them.
Las Mysteriosas is a real league in TJ and I have their interleague coordinator's email. They're on haitus but are considering another bout at RollerCon this year - we were just talking about it. Their founder moved to Israel where she's trying to start a league there (the Challah Back Rollergirls), but I am not sure how that's going. She works for RollerCon, though, so I talk to her all the time. She reviews and forwards the info@rollercon.com email so actually, lots of people talk to her.
La Migra was a lot of skaters from all over and if we weren't so embarrassed of the ridiculous names we gave ourselves, you might see us again. For the record, those names were created in a rochambeaux mindset ONLY because we were playing TJ players that had a great sense of humor about it.
for ex: Ivanna Tallerwall
From XX (aka Dos Equis, La Capitana de Las Misteriosas)
I forwarded a link to this conversation to her to comment. She said she thinks DNN isn't compatible with Mexican systems. But she did say they're trying to make it to RC this year, and that I could quote her:
""For some reason, try though I have a MILLION times, I cannot ever seem
to register on DNN successfully to make comments. The real irony is
that the thought of Las Misteriosas being "mostly Derby Dolls" is
actually totally false."
I think Las Mysteriosas borrowed Maiven and maybe one other Derby Doll, but Maiven is the only one that was "unmasked" and XX won't admit borrowing any gabachas at all, so - sorry, that's all the info I know.
Pikes peak
Where's that awesome article about Pike's Peak from last year? Someone followed the team around and documented their game vs OLY.
I can't find it.
Article
Here goes: http://www.gazette.com/articles/through-62742-ricochet-behind.html
Thanks
Thanks
Blood on the Flat Track in Philly area public library
My son spotted Blood on the Flat Track, the new documentary about Rat City, in, of all places, my local public library here in the Philly burbs. He borrowed it for me and I'll watch it this weekend. Yeah, I'm psyched ...
Netflix too
I just noticed this morning that Netflix has Blood on the Flat Track available as a DVD or to stream. Pretty cool to see Shovey Chase, Femme Fatale and Burnett Down listed under "Cast".
pre-ordered
I had pre-ordered it on amazon a long while back and it arrived this past Friday, just in time for me to enjoy it during yet another snow day AND just in time to bring it along to our trip to Suburbia Roller Derby the next day for a game. The majority of Dutchland sat in my parents' house in NY and watched it as our 'after-party' Saturday night. Nerdy but fun!
Proceeds from the movie?
Does Rat City get any proceeds from the movie purchases? if so, I wanna buy, not rent :)