I think I can say this time it was not the actual bouts, although the Rocky
Mountain-Philly bout was a classic.  It was seeing so many old derby friends and
making a bunch of new derby friends.

Let me first of all say that the Oly Rollers team is a class act, at least the
way they treated me.  And if they treated me like a derby friend, I believe they
likely treat other derby competitors and fans with the true grace of quality
winners.

Secondly, one of the toughest things about having derby friends who work so hard
to be good is when they lose a bout, or even have a major penalty called on them
when it may not have occurred.  Sometimes as a friend it is tough to watch.  I
would just remind skaters and their friends and family that the test of a
competitor is not whether they win or lose, but in the good honest effort they
put forth supported by the hours and hours of work they have put in to be the
best they could be as an individual in their sport.  If you give that solid
honest effort, there is never any reason to hang your head.  I think that while
there is an obvious external scoreboard in sports, that there is an even more
important internal scoreboard that is the measure of individual effort.  And in
derby, and derby tournaments, there are a tremendous number of real winners.

Thirdly, thanks to all the folks in derby who encouraged me concerning my views
on Stroller Derby.  In fact I think the point was proven Sunday that stopping on
the track to block, as a strategy can be very dangerous.  Thankfully what looked
to a serious injury was just a temporary numbness, what many in football would
call a stinger.  I have great confidence that skaters in WFTDA leagues will go
back and express their opinions on stopping and blocking, and even skating
clockwise in many situations, and that ultimately the rules will be changed.  I
think it is not a matter of if, but when and how.

Finally to the officials, I encourage you to consider what the rules say about
incidental contact, and the concept of incidental contact.  In my opinion, there
are some fouls that are not worth calling, and there are fouls that are worth
calling.  I believe if you "overcall" and focus on the minor details, you might
miss some big calls because you were distracted by micro managing a bout. 
Ultimately you get to use your judgment on that, but I'll give you an example. 
In the Rocky Mountain-Texas game, a ref spotted a blow to the head.  The penalty
was assessed.  A subsequent suspension of one game occurred, and the skaters
moved on from that situation.  But the actual foul, while seen by many, is
sometimes not seen because it happens so quickly and an official needs to be
looking at the situation.  I believe it is good for refs to mentally prioritize
their fouls, so that they can be ready to call the fouls that really must be
called.  It won't always work, but I think it can help the officials to be on
top of situations, and keep what is in essence a friendly contact sport,
friendly.  One other thing to officials, give it your best shot and effort, and
keep trying to get better because you are really, really important to derby!  If
you can do that, you will help this young sport become even better.

I need to go catch my plane.  Derby love to ya'll!

Phil

The Oly Roller won the national championship this afternoon by defeating the
Texas Rollergirls 178-100.  The leading scorer for Oly was Atomatrix with an
unofficial 64 points.  Close behind her for Oly was Heffer with 63 points, again
unofficial.  The top scorers for Texas were Olivia Shootin' John and Rice Rocket
with unofficial 30 and 28 point performances.

Top blockers for Oly were D-Bomb, Sassy, Riot Girl, Tannibal Lector, and B Tease
N.  Top blockers for Texas included Bullet Tooth Tracy, Belle Starr and Vicious
van GoGo.

In the consolation bout, the Denver Roller Dolls came out with a strong 151-103
victory.  Now on to the after party!

Phil

Try 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Phil

--- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, kkane84578@... wrote:
>
> Can anyone post the times of the games today?
> Thanks
>
>
> In a message dated 11/14/2009 11:20:17 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> rjdukeofnewyork@... writes:
>
>
>
>
> Well  it looks like "stroller derby" and  the Transfercutioners is the
> story of  this years Nat'ls.
>

Concerning Texas playing Oly, your right.

Concerning the boos, and the chants of "Lets skate forward": I was not sitting
in the Windy City section, and our section was booing the useless not skating
and stopping on the track.  I even got a text from a skater in Austin saying "I
hear your booing, and I am booing along with you."  So not only was the vocal
and large Windy City section not happy, but many of the rest of the fans were
pretty irritated at Denver's style of play.  I told D-Bomb before the Texas game
that I thought the crowd would be on Oly's side against Denver and they were. 
No, the crowd, of which a large portion was made up of skaters from around the
country, was irritated at Denver's style of stopping and would have rooted for
any team against them.

Concerning The Angie Christ being hit by Deranged:  I think the crowd reacted
with a collective gasp when it happened, surprised or shocked that it happneed. 
And there was probably a little booing, and a definite sense of outrage, but the
refs handled it quickly and as an Austin resident who actually knows Angie, I
was satisfied with the way the officials handled the situation.  I personally
thought it looked more like a slap to the head, which is still an expellable
offense, and I knew when the officials discussed the situation that Deranged was
likely gone and possibly gone for her next bout.  She will not play in the
consolation bout today and she may be arguably the best player on Rocky
Mountain.

But as far as me being upset with Deranged, well, I just consider it a
lose-your-mind moment, and she will pay the price today.  I'm sure her league
was not happy with the situation.  By  the way, I thought The Angie Christ, who
only played one out of three bouts in  regionals, has done a very good job of
adding her speed to the blocking lineup in both of Texas' bouts so far.  She is
a legitimate Texas Rollergirls rookie and I think she has been exceptional this
year.

As a fan of the Texas Rollergirls, and an acquaintance of The Angie Christ, I
think it is just best that we move on.  The situation has been handled by the
officials.

Thanks for your opinion on this and other matters!

Phil

--- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, Mike Brown <mike@...> wrote:
>
> Philar wrote:
> > Oly could play the slowdown game with Oly,
>
> TX you mean.
>
> You all have echoed my sentiments on stroller derby but I'll just add a couple
> of comments. First regarding the boos, I would keep in mind that Windy City
> has a large and vocal fan presence that travels to their games; chants and
> boos are to be expected when their team is behind. It was the same way when
> they came to play Rocky Mountain, and was the same way when I saw them at the
> East Coast Extravaganza the year before.
>
> Re: clarification of the rules, during the Denver-Oly boutcast on DNN, Val
> Capone said the officials had not gotten a clarification, per se, but rather
> just decided (I guess after seeing both Rocky Mountain and Denver doing so
> much of the slowing/stopping/clockwise skating) to be more aggressive in
> calling the clockwise blocking rule. She said they were tightening up
> enforcement for safety - not to make the game more exciting. I don't think
> this affected the Denver-Oly game, though; Oly trounced Denver when the pack
> was slow just as much as when the pack was fast. If Windy City had won, Oly
> likely would've trounced them, too.
>
> On another topic, I think something should be said about Rocky Mountain jammer
> DeRanged being ejected from the tournament for punching Texas blocker
> Angie-Christ *in the back of the head* near the end of that bout. Stroller
> derby seems inconsequential in comparison to this.
>
> Rocky Mountain's fans may enjoy that kind of thing, and others may turn a
> blind eye to it, but I think it's disgusting behavior which shows immaturity
> and disrespect for the sport. In any other sport (well, except boxing and cage
> fighting), people would be like "what? who DOES that? booooo!" but in roller
> derby I guess it's "oh well, guess she's just a meanie!" -- although to their
> credit, the refs didn't tolerate it; I just think they shouldn't be the only
> ones.
>
> IMHO there should be an immediate "we don't condone this" from DeRanged's
> coaches & teammates, and condemnation from the fans and from other leagues who
> take the sport seriously. Rocky Mountain shouldn't let people think they don't
> mind if one of their own is out taking swings at their opponents on the track.
>
> -Mike
>

Philar wrote:
> Oly could play the slowdown game with Oly,

TX you mean.

You all have echoed my sentiments on stroller derby but I'll just add a couple
of comments. First regarding the boos, I would keep in mind that Windy City
has a large and vocal fan presence that travels to their games; chants and
boos are to be expected when their team is behind. It was the same way when
they came to play Rocky Mountain, and was the same way when I saw them at the
East Coast Extravaganza the year before.

Re: clarification of the rules, during the Denver-Oly boutcast on DNN, Val
Capone said the officials had not gotten a clarification, per se, but rather
just decided (I guess after seeing both Rocky Mountain and Denver doing so
much of the slowing/stopping/clockwise skating) to be more aggressive in
calling the clockwise blocking rule. She said they were tightening up
enforcement for safety - not to make the game more exciting. I don't think
this affected the Denver-Oly game, though; Oly trounced Denver when the pack
was slow just as much as when the pack was fast. If Windy City had won, Oly
likely would've trounced them, too.

On another topic, I think something should be said about Rocky Mountain jammer
DeRanged being ejected from the tournament for punching Texas blocker
Angie-Christ *in the back of the head* near the end of that bout. Stroller
derby seems inconsequential in comparison to this.

Rocky Mountain's fans may enjoy that kind of thing, and others may turn a
blind eye to it, but I think it's disgusting behavior which shows immaturity
and disrespect for the sport. In any other sport (well, except boxing and cage
fighting), people would be like "what? who DOES that? booooo!" but in roller
derby I guess it's "oh well, guess she's just a meanie!" -- although to their
credit, the refs didn't tolerate it; I just think they shouldn't be the only
ones.

IMHO there should be an immediate "we don't condone this" from DeRanged's
coaches & teammates, and condemnation from the fans and from other leagues who
take the sport seriously. Rocky Mountain shouldn't let people think they don't
mind if one of their own is out taking swings at their opponents on the track.

-Mike

The Texas Texecutioners beat the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls 139-82, and the Oly
Rollers beat the Denver Roller Dolls 178-91.  That means that Texas and Oly will
meet for the WFTDA championship tomorrow at around 3:30 p.m. and Rocky Mountain
and Denver will play in the consolation game around 1:30 p.m.

My favorite chant of the night during the Denver-Oly bout by a good number of
the fans was, "Let's skate forward....clap, clap, clap, clap, clap...Let's skate
forward!"

Oly could play the slowdown game with Oly, but my feeling is they would prefer
to speed things up and skate fast to utilize the speed and strength of their
skaters.

Phil

Well it looks like "stroller derby" and the Transfercutioners is the story of this years Nat'ls.

In less than an hour Texas will play Rocky Mountain, and Oly will take on
Denver.  I don't even want to predict who will win because I know all four of
those teams are capable of winning.  What a great victory for Rocky Mountain in
overtime today, and I am very happy for those skaters.  I wore their shirt, and
will wear their shirt tonight out of respect for Rocky Mountain.  But my heart
is with Texas. And a measure of my love and respect is with the Philly
Rollergirls.  Texas skated a good bout against Boston, and Boston came back
strong late in the bout.  I think Oly will probably win, but they don't have
much recovery time.  But they skated a strong, strong bout to unseat the
defending champions.  Denver may be very confident, but believe it or not I
think the crowd will be behind Oly because they skate a very good game.

Watch these bouts on Justine TV or Derby News Network or both as the case may
be.  Hopefully I'll be ok to turn in a report before I hit the sack tonight.  In
case you haven't figured it out, and I have my stat sheets at the venue. Rocky
Mountain beat the Philly Rollergirls, Texas beat Boston, Denver beat Wendy City,
and Oly beat Gotham.

Phil

You know Elwood, I understand what you were saying because I have seen snippets
of the trap and stop.  But I had not seen it in its exagerated form like I did
last night.  If this were a major sport, and the boos were raining down on the
refs and players for the rules (wait a second there is a rule of no blocking
while standing still) allowing a horribly boring strategy, major sports leagues
would have commissioners stepping in and saying things like, that's not the way
derby was meant to be skated.  But the WFTDA does not have a commissioner much
like the Articles of Confederation didn't have a President before the
constitution was adopted.  That is the nature of the democratic beast so to
speak.

So every year or so, the rules committee gets together and changes the rules. 
This year I am hearing they will get together and make changes again, and we
will be stuck with whatever they come up with for two years.  Hopefully
something like stroller derby, or perhaps more correctly stop and trap will be
done away with, but what else will pop up from the fertile minds of the loophole
spotters?

Still there is a rule that could have been enforced, and easily interpreted to
get rid of stop portion of stop and trap, and changed it to slow and trap.  I
can almost live with that because stop and trap is a not-so-funny joke.  I
believe the correct word may be travesty because right now this strategy is
making a mockery of derby as it has existed.  And sometimes I wonder if some
people who have made up the rules just said, 'Let's try this out and see what
happens.'  No wait, there is a rule that actually says blocking from a
standstill is illegal.  And I can't help but think if the refs were told that
the stop and trap was not legal because it involves blocking at a standstill,
they would have been penalizing skaters involved in commiting it, and would have
broken the back of that strategy, at least the stopping portion.

It's kind of like the new Destroying the Pack rule has pretty much stopped
happening the former intentional busting of the pack because the penalties, and
the results of having minimal blockers on the track has stopped smart teams from
actually breaking that rule intentionally.  Thanks to Nina Knockout, who will be
skating for Philly today, for pointing that out to me in Atlanta.

Anyway, I know the refs have likely received a clarification that allows this
practice to go on.  I know if that clarification was actually sent out, I
strongly disagree with that interpretation that allow Stop and Trap to go on. 
But one little slight change in interpretation, and to me it is a reasonable
interpretation, could have taken some stroller derby off the track.

Thanks Elwood, and I wonder if anyone will ever listen to us?

Phil

--- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, "Thomas" <georgetmmy@...> wrote:
>
> Remember a couple of months ago when I openly complained about this happening
during the Rose City championship night? This is EXACTLY what myself and so many
others were talking about. A pack literally standing still while a jammer makes
3 scoring passes in 3 laps. People came up to me and asked "wasn't that 25 point
jam in one minute something else? She could have scored 50 if it went the full
two minutes"! And I said "no. That sucked".
>
> When a player on that same Rose City team picked up something like a 32 point
jam at a bout earlier in the year, they were all excited because it may have set
a new modern day roller derby record. But I said then and said in my Myspace
blog that even though it may have been a record, it had all the legitimacy to me
that Barry Bonds home run record has. Granted, Barry Bonds achieved his home run
record by breaking a federal law and, as far as I know, no federal laws were
broken in that 32 point jam. Still, what Bonds did was NOT in the spirit of true
athleticism. And at the same time, scoring 32 points in a single jam while a
pack is at a dead stop isn't exactly in the truest spirit of roller derby (in my
opinion).
>
> I'm happy that you have now seen this, Phil. You now fully understand exactly
where it was that I was coming from when I was belly-aching about this a couple
of months ago. Although I am sad that you had to pay all that money to see that.
Still, you could probably understand where all the emotions from that argument
came from on my page back then. The ones who loved it were fans and players of
that team. The ones who hated it were everyone else. And I knew that a lot more
people hated it at the time than liked it simply by judging the amount of boo's
raining down from the stands.
>
> And I will also say once again what I've said since then; I understand the
strategy. I understand that it's not illegal. I understand that there are ways
to wiggle your way out of it. I understand all of that. But I also understand
that watching it sucks. It's like going to a NASCAR race and watching the entire
thing being run under the yellow flag. You go to the car races to see fast
cars---not a bunch of cars slowly going in circles around the track behind the
pace car. That would not be cool to watch. And that would not be cool to spend
top dollar on. Or even bottom dollar. Or even wasting your time to get in and
watch it for free.
>
> So again, I get it. I just don't like it. And most people don't like it,
either.
>
> Elwood
>

Remember a couple of months ago when I openly complained about this happening
during the Rose City championship night? This is EXACTLY what myself and so many
others were talking about. A pack literally standing still while a jammer makes
3 scoring passes in 3 laps. People came up to me and asked "wasn't that 25 point
jam in one minute something else? She could have scored 50 if it went the full
two minutes"! And I said "no. That sucked".

When a player on that same Rose City team picked up something like a 32 point
jam at a bout earlier in the year, they were all excited because it may have set
a new modern day roller derby record. But I said then and said in my Myspace
blog that even though it may have been a record, it had all the legitimacy to me
that Barry Bonds home run record has. Granted, Barry Bonds achieved his home run
record by breaking a federal law and, as far as I know, no federal laws were
broken in that 32 point jam. Still, what Bonds did was NOT in the spirit of true
athleticism. And at the same time, scoring 32 points in a single jam while a
pack is at a dead stop isn't exactly in the truest spirit of roller derby (in my
opinion).

I'm happy that you have now seen this, Phil. You now fully understand exactly
where it was that I was coming from when I was belly-aching about this a couple
of months ago. Although I am sad that you had to pay all that money to see that.
Still, you could probably understand where all the emotions from that argument
came from on my page back then. The ones who loved it were fans and players of
that team. The ones who hated it were everyone else. And I knew that a lot more
people hated it at the time than liked it simply by judging the amount of boo's
raining down from the stands.

And I will also say once again what I've said since then; I understand the
strategy. I understand that it's not illegal. I understand that there are ways
to wiggle your way out of it. I understand all of that. But I also understand
that watching it sucks. It's like going to a NASCAR race and watching the entire
thing being run under the yellow flag. You go to the car races to see fast
cars---not a bunch of cars slowly going in circles around the track behind the
pace car. That would not be cool to watch. And that would not be cool to spend
top dollar on. Or even bottom dollar. Or even wasting your time to get in and
watch it for free.

So again, I get it. I just don't like it. And most people don't like it, either.

Elwood

--- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, "Philar" <philar_72@...> wrote:
>
> Is it in skating on the track or is it stopping and trapping on the track
vis-a-vis Stroller Derby?
>
> Today in the first round of the WFTDA National tournament was an example of
both skating, and stopping.  First of all, in the very first game the Dairyland
Dolls and the Boston Massacre skating an exciting bout with Boston winning by a
score of 104-96.  This had some great skating.  And the final bout was also a
bout with great skating.  Gotham beat Detroit 187-38, but both teams actually
skated, honestly skated.  In that sense both teams deserve credit for pulling
off what I believe is actually roller derby, a game in which skating decides who
is better on the flat track.
>
> But that was not the case with the Rocky Mountain-Houston bout (RMRG 239, HRD
46) and Denver Roller Dolls 175, Kansas City Roller Warriors 89.  In my opinon
those bouts were not about skilled skating, but rather who could best pull a
stop on the track trap and gain what appears to me to be an illegal advantage of
blocking at a standstill.  Furthermore, this is not a safe maneuver because
skatrs are comign off of a dead stop to try to block an opposing jammer.  And
while sometimes the jammer will pull a major back block, knock the blocker down
because she was stopped (uh, no blocking from a standstill if you notice the
WFTD most recent rules), or blockers coming off a dead stop will lunge, throw
forearms, trip, and pull all sorts of stunts that have many jams down to two
blockers per team (the minimum number, although I saw some three blocker packs
today)and the stroller derby is making the sport I love, unlovable!
>
> Why oh, why refs and WFTDA, are you not calling blocking from a standstill as
a foul?  And if you aren't going to call it a foul Mr. and Ms. Officials, then
it is legal.  And if you are going to let them stop on the track to block, then
you are encouraging more skating clockwise fouls (not always called) and in my
opinion just more fouls in general.  You are not encouraging skatters to learn
how to skate better, but how to stop, break the rules, and foul just to get an
advantage over other skaters that shouldn't exist because the rules say there is
not blocking from a standstill.
>
> So, I have spent $615 on air fare, hotel, and three day pass to see this crap
on the track?  And who can blame the skaters on the teams that pull the
strategy?  If it works for them and helps them win bouts, they are going to do
it. And if they are not penalized for doing it, then what do you expect to
happen.  Well, while the Denver skaters in back of me were not happy with what I
was saying, the newer skaters from Florida in front of me were asking me and
Bulldog is this what happens at the highest levels of skating in the WFTDA?  The
best I could come up with was sometimes.
>
> Bulldog probably had the line of the night when he said concerning the
stopping in stroller derby, "That's what happens when a bunch of former figures
skaters make up the rules!"  And the newew skaters in front of us laughed and
agreed with him.
>
> All I can say, if this kind of crud is not corrected, don't ever expect for me
as a fan to spend this kind of money on derby again.  And if a new fan like I
saw tonight, had a typical reaction for roller derby after watching the
shananigans in the stroller derby games, then I suspect she and many other fans
won't be back.  Does anybody really care that derby has become a sport that is
as another skater said, this "lame!"
>
> Phil
>

Is it in skating on the track or is it stopping and trapping on the track
vis-a-vis Stroller Derby?

Today in the first round of the WFTDA National tournament was an example of both
skating, and stopping.  First of all, in the very first game the Dairyland Dolls
and the Boston Massacre skating an exciting bout with Boston winning by a score
of 104-96.  This had some great skating.  And the final bout was also a bout
with great skating.  Gotham beat Detroit 187-38, but both teams actually skated,
honestly skated.  In that sense both teams deserve credit for pulling off what I
believe is actually roller derby, a game in which skating decides who is better
on the flat track.

But that was not the case with the Rocky Mountain-Houston bout (RMRG 239, HRD
46) and Denver Roller Dolls 175, Kansas City Roller Warriors 89.  In my opinon
those bouts were not about skilled skating, but rather who could best pull a
stop on the track trap and gain what appears to me to be an illegal advantage of
blocking at a standstill.  Furthermore, this is not a safe maneuver because
skatrs are comign off of a dead stop to try to block an opposing jammer.  And
while sometimes the jammer will pull a major back block, knock the blocker down
because she was stopped (uh, no blocking from a standstill if you notice the
WFTD most recent rules), or blockers coming off a dead stop will lunge, throw
forearms, trip, and pull all sorts of stunts that have many jams down to two
blockers per team (the minimum number, although I saw some three blocker packs
today)and the stroller derby is making the sport I love, unlovable!

Why oh, why refs and WFTDA, are you not calling blocking from a standstill as a
foul?  And if you aren't going to call it a foul Mr. and Ms. Officials, then it
is legal.  And if you are going to let them stop on the track to block, then you
are encouraging more skating clockwise fouls (not always called) and in my
opinion just more fouls in general.  You are not encouraging skatters to learn
how to skate better, but how to stop, break the rules, and foul just to get an
advantage over other skaters that shouldn't exist because the rules say there is
not blocking from a standstill.

So, I have spent $615 on air fare, hotel, and three day pass to see this crap on
the track?  And who can blame the skaters on the teams that pull the strategy? 
If it works for them and helps them win bouts, they are going to do it. And if
they are not penalized for doing it, then what do you expect to happen.  Well,
while the Denver skaters in back of me were not happy with what I was saying,
the newer skaters from Florida in front of me were asking me and Bulldog is this
what happens at the highest levels of skating in the WFTDA?  The best I could
come up with was sometimes.

Bulldog probably had the line of the night when he said concerning the stopping
in stroller derby, "That's what happens when a bunch of former figures skaters
make up the rules!"  And the newew skaters in front of us laughed and agreed
with him.

All I can say, if this kind of crud is not corrected, don't ever expect for me
as a fan to spend this kind of money on derby again.  And if a new fan like I
saw tonight, had a typical reaction for roller derby after watching the
shananigans in the stroller derby games, then I suspect she and many other fans
won't be back.  Does anybody really care that derby has become a sport that is
as another skater said, this "lame!"

Phil

You know how these derby gatherings can be.  Grudge Judy texts me she has a
bunch of sushi that needs to be eaten at Mixx at Arch and 10th Street, so I head
on out kinda, sort of knowing where it is.  I see Hurt Reynolds and give him a
fist bump.  I eat 14 rolls of sushi (tuna, salmon, & snapper) along with a
couple of sushimi and that's all I can handle, plus nearly a bottle of saki. 
Thanks Grudge for the food, and the fun as we walked back to the Marriott to see
some friends.

Now I am staying next door at the Courtyard!  Anyway, as Judge and I head into
the Marriott, there is Dumptruck who calls me out!  Amazing!  I get into the
lobby and there is Jewels of DeNile from Madison and she calls me over, and then
I go see a couple of more friends from Madison.  Then I see a ton of friends
from Houston, and a few more friends like Hambone, Mama Morphine, and others,
and in many ways this is like a derby reunion.

I don't know about you, but I always forget something when I travel.  I forgot
to change out of my dress business shoes, and my Nike's are sitting in the front
seat of my car at the Austin Airport. So it is off to the store early to get new
sneaks, maybe just deck shoes.

But I'll tell you something, there is nothing like a derby reunion.  And the
flight up with the Texas Rollergirls was fun too.  It is amazing how many skate
bags and helmets can fit into the overhead bins on Southwest Airlines.  And it
was fun too that the Southwest flight crew gave the Texas Rollergirls a shoutout
when we landed an hour late.  And the Texas Rollergirls gave a Texas cheer.  We
were in three holding patterns with the remnants of the tropical storm as we
neared Philly, but somehow a derby flight is more fun than the average flight.

Phil

Any body looking for a good way to get some off track exercise? It's a great way
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The plane was an hour late.  I must find food.  It is cold and rainy.  But it
could be worse, and probably will be tomorrow!  Low tonight, 48.  High tomorrow,
52.  They call this a Noreaster.  I wonder if it is safe to walk a block in
downtown Philly at night?

Phil

I suppose because I am older than most skaters, when I just played Gonna Fly Now
(the theme from Rocky), I couldn't help but think how this would have fired me
up, and does fire me up, if I would have been a competitor in a national
tournament in Philadelphia.  I wonder if the people in Philly get tired of
hearing the song, because when I hear the brass and the guitar in this song it
thrills me more than it should. Only 35 minutes till I head to the aiport and
that time can't pass fast enough!

Phil

This appears to be a fairly busy weekend in Roller Derby.

The WFTDA and the Philly Roller Girls present the Declaration of Derby national
tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  This three day, single elimination
tournament features 12 of the best flat track roller derby teams in the United
States.   Friday will feature four bouts, two versus three seeds from the four
regions of the country.  Teams participating on Friday include the Mad Rollin
Dolls, Boston Derby Dames, Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, Houston Roller Derby,
Kansas City Roller Warriors, Denver Roller Dolls, Gotham Girls Roller Derby and
the Detroit Derby Girls.

The winners of the Friday bouts will advance to play the four first seeds on
Saturday.  Those first seeds include the Philly Roller Girls, the Windy City
Rollers, the Texas Rollergirls, and the Oly Rollers.  The winners of the first
four games on Saturday will advance to the two semi-final bouts Saturday
evening.  Those four teams will play on Sunday in either the championship bout
or the third place bout.

Doors open on Friday at 2 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown
Philadelphia with the first bout starting at 3:30 p.m.  On Saturday, the doors
will open at 9 a.m. with the first whistle scheduled for 10 o'clock.  Sunday the
doors open noon, with the consolation bout scheduled to start at 1:30.

Tickets are $90 for a three day general admission pass, and $115 VIP tickets at
the door.  Single day general admission tickets are $35 and $40 for single day
VIP tickets.  For more information please visit the Declaration of Derby web
site.   http://www.declarationofderby.com/index.php

On Saturday, the Victorian Roller Derby League presents Mo' Roller Derby
Madness.  The Dead Ringer Rosies will skate against the Toxic Avengers.  This
bout will take place at Puckhandlers Sports Complex, at the corner of Blake and
Davis Street in Reservoir, Victoria, Australia.  Doors open at 7 pm with the
bout starting at 8 o'clock.  Tickets are listed at $10. 
http://rollerderbyvictoria.wikispaces.com/

The Long Island Roller Rebels will host an interleague bout on Saturday.  The
Roller Rebels will skate against the Molly Rogers Roller Girls of Rockledge,
Florida.  This bout will take place at Skate Safe America, 182 Bethpage Sweet
Hollow Rd in Old Bethpage New York.  Doors open at 7 p.m. with action starting
at 8 o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. 
http://www.longislandrollerrebels.com

Saturday, the Upstate Rollergirls will present a November exhibition bout.  The
Vampires will skate against the Werewolves.  Action will take place at The
Pavilion, 400 Scottswood Rd in Taylors, South Carolina. Tickets are listed at
$8.  The start time appears to be 5:30 p.m.  
http://upstaterollergirlevolution.com/default.aspx

The Savannah Derby Devils will host and interleague bout on Saturday.  The Derby
Devils will skate against the Greenville Derby Dames.  This bout will take place
at SuperGoose Sports, 3700 Wallin Road in Savannah, Georgia.  Doors open at 6
p.m. with the bout rolling at 7 o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at
the door.  http://www.savannahderby.com/

On Saturday, the Sarasota Rollergirls will host their inaugural bout.  They will
take on the Ft Myer Derby Girls at the Stardust Event Center, 2571 12th Street
in Sarasota, Florida.  Doors are scheduled to open at 7:30 p.m. with the bout
starting at 8 o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.  VIP
tickets are $20 in advance.  http://www.sarasotarollergirls.com/

The Burn City Rollers will take on the Biloxi Roller Derby in a home interleague
bout on Saturday.  This event will take place at the Skate Center, 1221 Commerce
Drive in Auburn, Alabama.  Doors are scheduled to open at 5 p.m. with first
whistle scheduled for 6 o'clock.  Tickets are listed at $7. 
http://www.burncityrollers.com

Saturday, the Paper Valley Roller Girls will present an interleague double
header.  The PVRG All Stars will skate against the G-Rap Attack from Grand
Rapids, Michigan.  Also, the Paper Valley Flyin' Squirrels will skate against
the Sioux City Roller Dames.  This event will take place at Skater's Edge, 5714
Integrity Way in Appleton, Wisconsin.  Doors are scheduled to open at 5:30 p.m.
with action starting at 6 o'clock.  Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the
door.  http://www.papervalleyrollergirls.com/

The Rockford Rage will present Derby Is a Battlefield on Saturday.  This bout
will take place at the Indoor Sports Arena, 8800 E Riverside Rd in Rockford,
Illinois.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with the bout scheduled to start at 7 o'clock. 
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.  http://www.rockfordrage.com/

On Saturday, the Big Easy Rollergirls will present Brawl on the Bayou.  In an
interleague bout Big Easy will skate against the Gulf Coast all stars.  A second
bout will also feature league skaters.  This double header will take place at
the University of New Orleans Human Performance Center, at the corner of Leon C
Simon & Elysian Fields in north New Orleans, Louisiana.  Doors open at 6 p.m.
with the bout starting at 7:05.  Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.
http://www.bigeasyrollergirls.com/

Crude City Roller Derby will host the Red Dirt Roller Derby in Robstown, (Corpus
Christi), Texas on Saturday.  The Third Coast Offenders will skate against Red
Dirt from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  This bout will take place at the Richard M
Borchard Fairgrounds, 1213 Terry Shamsie Blvd in Robstown.  Doors open at 7 p.m.
with action scheduled to start at 7:30.  Tickets are only $7.
http://www.myspace.com/crudecityrollerderby

Saturday, the Pikes Peak Derby Dames will host a league bout.  The Candy
Stripers will skate against the Danger Dolls.  Action will take place at the
Colorado Springs City Auditorium, 221 E Kiowa Street in downtown Colorado
Springs, Colorado.  Doors open at 6 p.m. with first whistle scheduled for 7
o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and the $15 at the door. 
http://www.pikespeakderbydames.com/

The FoCo Girls Gone Derby will present a league bout on Saturday.  The Chanel
Cartel will skate against the Deathrow Girls. This bout will take place at
Rollerland Skate Center, 324 S. Link Lane in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Doors open
at 6 p.m. with the event scheduled to get underway at 7 o'clock.  Tickets are
listed at $10.  http://www.focogirlsgonederby.com/

On Saturday, the Sin City Rollergirls are in action.  The Tommy Gun Terrors will
skate against the Notorious VIPs.  This will be an opportunity for many of the
new skaters to be seen by area derby fans.  This bout will take place at Las
Vegas Roller Hockey Center, 953 E Sahara in Las Vegas.  Doors open at 7 p.m.
with the first whistle scheduled for 8 o'clock.  Tickets are $7 in advance and
$10 at the door.  http://www.sincityrollergirls.com/joomla/

The OC Rollergirls will present a double header on Saturday.  In the first bout
OC's Huntington Heartbreakers will skate against the West Coast Derby team.  In
the second bout, the league will feature the Back Bay Bombshells will take on
the Crash Test Bunnies.  This event will take place at The Rinks - HB, 5555
McFadden Ave in Huntington Beach, California.  Doors open at 5 p.m. with the
first bout rolling at 6 o'clock.  After the double header, there will be a skate
with the rollergirls time after the bout.  Tickets are $12 for general
admission.  http://www.ocrollergirls.com/

Saturday, the LA Derby Dolls present banked track league action.  The Swarm will
skate against the Tough Cookies.  This event will take place at the Doll
Factory, 1910 W Temple Street in Los Angeles, California.  Doors open at 6 p.m.
with the bout typically starting around 7:30 or so. Advanced general admission
tickets are $17 and VIP tickets are $40.  http://www.derbydolls.com/la

The Derby Revolution of Bakersfield will host an interleague bout on Saturday. 
DRB Privates will skate against the San Diego Derby Dolls and the DRB Militia
will take on the Battle Born Derby Demons of Reno, Nevada.  This double header
will take place at Saunders Multi-Use Facility, 3300 Palm St in Bakersfield,
California.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with the first bout rolling at 6 p.m. 
Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. 
http://www.derbyrevolution.com/drbhome.html

On Saturday, the Silicon Valley Rollergirls will present a Fight to Remember. 
In this event SVRG's Killa Bytes will be taking on the Brentwood Brawlin'
Bettys. Then the Dot.Kamikazes will skate against the Humboldt Roller Derby. 
This double header will take place at San Jose Skate, 397 Blossom Hill Road in
San Jose, California.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with action starting at 6
o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. 
http://www.svrollergirls.com/

The Central Coast Roller Derby will host an interleague double header on
Saturday.  The Central Coast All Stars will skate against the Angel City Prom
Queens.  In the opening bout of the day, the CCRD B-team will take on the
Ventura Derby Darlins.  Doors open at 4 p.m. at the Paso Robles Event Center in
Paso Robles, California.  Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. 
http://www.centralcoastrollerderby.com/

On Sunday, the Richland County Regulators will hold the last bout of the season
as they host the Rogue Rollergirls from Fayetteville, North Carolina.  This
interleague bout will take place at National Guard Armory, 1255 Bluff Rd in
Columbia, South Carolina.  Doors open at 5 p.m. with the first whistle at 6
o'clock.  Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 at the door. 
http://www.richlandcountyregulators.com/

Demolition City will host their annual ThunderCamp scrimmage this Sunday.  Skate
World in Evansville will be the venue where fans may see the newest batch DCRD
rollergirls debut their skills in a public scrimmage.  Doors open at 6:30pm, the
action starts at 7pm. Admission is only $3 OR bring non-perishable food items
and receive a discount! For every item you bring DCRD will knock 50 cents off
the admission price. http://www.demolitioncityrollerderby.com/index.php

Sunday, the LA Derby Dolls will hold their Baby Doll Brawl.  Hell's Belles will
skate against the Ice Vixens.  This is an all age banked track bout and will be
held at the Doll Factory, 1910 W Temple Rd in Los Angeles, California.  Doors
are scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m.  Tickets are $15 for general admission
tickets.  http://derbydolls.com/la/

Including the National WFTDA tournament, there are over 20 events going on this
weekend.  If I have missed and event, or messed up on some information on any of
these bouts, please do not hesitate to post the information.

Phil

(Can anybody tell I'm heading out of town soon?)

Great pics!

~Mr Platz

I don't know who will win.  I voted for Gotham in the poll in this group, but I
think there will be some variables at work.  Gotham was missing a couple of
their best blockers from the Eastern Regionals in Raleigh in September.  If
those blockers are back, and there haven't been any new injuries for Gotham, I
think they should be favored.

However, don't sell the Philly Roller Girls short!  They beat Gotham by a point
in Raleigh, and could have strong home team support at the Pennsylvania
Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia.  Philly also went on the road and
beat the Windy City Rollers in Chicago earlier this year, and that was quite an
accomplishment.

The wildcard may be the Oly Rollers, the number one seed from the West.  They
are one of the most talented teams, if not the most talented team.  And they
adjusted very well to the officiating in the Western Regionals.  But the
question is can they adjust well enough to the officiating when likely Philly
and Gotham will be very used to the style of officiating at the national level. 
That is why I don't know really who will win.

The Texas Rollergirls have a very physically talented team, but they have
struggled the last year or longer with officiating.  We'll see how they adjust
to the roller coaster world of national tourney officiating, and just general
momentum swings when evenly matched, talented teams are playing each other. 
They are a capable number one seed who will have a bye on Friday.

One of the most anticipated bouts may be the second round, assuming Gotham is
able to beat Detroit, they would match up against Oly on Saturday who has a bye.
That could an amazing bout, and Oly may have to make their adjustments on the
fly against the experienced juggernaut Gotham.  Probably, Oly would have been
better off not having a bye and getting used to the tournament conditions.

I know, I know; Windy City is not being talked about much.  The runner ups from
last year are still a strong team capable of beating anyone.  But they may be a
little invisible this year, which may be of advantage to them.

All and all it should be an interesting weekend of derby.  It looks like rain is
in the forecast for all the days of the tournament, so I doubt I will be
distracted by sightseeing, although I suspect the weather could easily change in
Philadelphia.  I will try to give you some impressions from Philly.  I fly out
at early this afternoon from Austin on a direct flight to Philly.  I even packed
my camera just in case the sun comes out for some touristy pictures.

Phil

 

Hi everyone,

My poor abandoned derby widow has taken to derby photography in an attempt
to ever see me again :P Lucky for all of us he's pretty good at it!

Maybe Australian roller derby has some novelty factor for you guys (plus I
wanna show him off) so I thought I would share some of his photos from our
last bout, a Halloween special:

http://bit.ly/1nxl5s

There are plenty more still to come, and should all be up by the end of
the week.

Feel free to say hi to Mr. Lecter and leave some comments!

Love & bruises,

Annabelle Lecter
Sun State Roller Girls
Brisbane, Australia

Hi everyone,

My poor abandoned derby widow has taken to derby photography in an attempt
to ever see me again :P Lucky for all of us he's pretty good at it!

Maybe Australian roller derby has some novelty factor for you guys (plus I
wanna show him off) so I thought I would share some of his photos from our
last bout, a Halloween special:

http://bit.ly/1nxl5s

There are plenty more still to come, and should all be up by the end of
the week.

Feel free to say hi to Mr. Lecter and leave some comments!


Love & bruises,

Annabelle Lecter
Sun State Roller Girls
Brisbane, Australia

 

For any mothers with small children attending Declaration of Derby, we will have a private area designated for you to nurse, change, or feed your children.   We will have ushers and information people there to answer any of your questions.   zombie

Web Bout
http://tinyurl.com/ygfcd9z
2009 Western Regional  - Oly Rollers v Duke City

TV Bout
Bulldog and Swede Hurt describe the 2009 Western Regional tournament
bout between Angel City and Pikes Peak.
Friday 1:30 PM PST (21:30 GMT) Seattle Comcast 77 and Broadstripe 23.
Streaming worldwide on SCANTV.org

Just think, there will be two internet video channels carrying derby at
the same time.  During half times and bouts of the nationals cruise over
to SCANTV.org and see what Bulldog and Swede have to say.

SCAN Awards
The award ceremony is on Nov. 19.  We are keeping fingers crossed.
Thanks for your support during the campaign.  Stay tuned.

Thanks Phil!

--- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, "Philar" <philar_72@...> wrote:
>
> I can vouch for Brand-Aid being a solid blocker.  Not only did she do a good
job on the Psych Ward Sirens, she did a very good job of blocking for the HRD
HaRD Knocks in Atlanta at the regionals.
>
> Phil
>
> --- In RollerDerbyIsSport@yahoogroups.com, "brand_aid26" <brandir.brown@>
wrote:
> >
> > I have signed up for the Queen of the Hive tournament as an individual.  Are
there any teams who need another player?  I can play blocker, pivot or
occasional jammer.  This year has been my first season with Houston Roller Derby
as a member of the Psych Ward Sirens and also as a member of the HaRD Knocks
travel team.  Thanks!
> >
> > Brand-Aid
> >
>