Derby Hot Stove League

Although it has been quiet here for quite awhile, there has been a lot going on in the derby world.

We were fortunate to be able to attend the WFTDA nationals (yes, I’m still calling it nationals) last Fall in Chicago. The Windy City Rollers did a great job hosting the event at the UIC Pavilion. We got to see a lot of good derby during the event – with the highlight being the final bout where the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls beat the Oly Rollers by a single point to take the 2010 championship. Can’t ask for anything more exciting than that. It was a fun weekend and we got to connect with friends and make some new ones!

The last few months have been hot stove league derby time for us here in Cincinnati. Now with the increase in popularity of derby, you can find quite a bit of derby news and in depth derby discussions on the web. The Cincinnati Roller Derby Examiner has lots of derby news posts and skater interviews/profiles for Cincinnati local skaters. If you haven’t been there, check it out. A solid derby site that has come of age in the past several months is Roller Derby Inside Track. That site has lots of news, bout previews, and good discussion about the sport in general. For me the most interesting hot stove league post there was that written by Tank discussing minor penalties in derby. It is an interesting post that made a good case against minors and opened the door for some good commentary on whether minor penalties should be removed or not. If you haven’t read the post and the comments, check it out -- some good reading. I hope some leagues do start gathering data as Tank suggested and work toward simplifying the rules without sacrificing safety. Finally, the Roller Derby Diva blog written by Miss Print is always a good spot to check for local info, national news, and derby related tidbits.

While many teams have started their 2011 season, the closest women’s teams to me haven’t had bouts yet – but they will be starting their home seasons soon! (Thank goodness!!). Of course everyone is wondering what the rosters will be for the teams. Who retired? Who moved (the WFTDA version of being traded)? Who are the rookies? All these can have an influence on the teams.

First up are the Gem City Rollergirls that will have their first bout on March 19^th against the Killamazoo Derby Darlins. That is followed by the Cincinnati Rollergirls home opener on March 26^th when they take on Nashville. The CRG home bout schedule has some historically good teams (Nashville, Windy City, and Detroit) that promises to challenge them and bring some exciting derby action to the Cincinnati Gardens. Finally, the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls have their home season opener on April 16^th against Vette City at Midwest Hoops in Florence. Check each of their websites for their full schedules and ticket information.

It’s going to be an exciting Spring filled with roller derby action. Get out and catch some bouts!

Mother May I?

Last night we went to watch the 2010 home opener bout of the Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls that was held at the Florence Fundome. The place was packed with fans and friends that came to watch the BBRG double header event dubbed “Mother May I?” In the first bout the BBRG Blue Lightnin’ team took on the Vette City Vixens and in the second bout the Black Thunder team took on the Quad Skate Terrors. Congratulations to the BBRG skaters on two wins for their home opener!

The first bout was a see-saw battle the whole way. Both teams were struggling to pull together a consistent, coordinated blocking effort. There were some good individual efforts, but the teams weren’t able to bottle-up the opposing jammers consistently. Both teams were getting their share of lead jammer status based primarily on speed. As a result, there were quite a few lead changes during the bout that kept the fans of both teams on edge. BBRG jammers included Beka Rekanize (shown at right), Scary Garcia, Kris P. Cream, and Honey Bunny. At the half, BBRG was up by two points.

During the second half of the first bout the scoring pace kept up, but with several minutes left in the bout BBRG was down by around 20 or so points. With a never-say-die attitude, the BBRG skaters buckled down and had a couple good jams that left them closer, but still behind the Vixens going into the last jam. The first photo below shows Kris P. Cream getting a whip to help her get around the turn and score. In the last jam the Vette City jammer was sent to the penalty box and the outcome of the bout was on BBRG jammer Honey Bunny and her teammates. BBRG slowed the pack and Honey Bunny kept up her speed to post a couple grand slams that in the end put BBRG ahead by one point when the whistle blew. The second photo below shows Honey Bunny wearing the jammer star in an earlier jam. What an exciting finish to the bout! BBRG won with a score of 164 to 163.





In the second bout of the evening the BBRG Black Thunder skaters took control of the bout from the start and held the lead over the Quad Skate Terror skaters (that included some BBRG Blue Lightnin’ skaters) for the entire time. It’s no secret from past posts that I’m a QST fan, but this wasn’t the iron fisted QST team we’ve seen in the past. They were struggling against the BBRG squad. The Black Thunder jammers included Pinup Pussycat (first photo below), EMolition (at right being blocked by a QST skater), Petal to the Metal (second photo below), Shelter Skelter, and Aine Ass. They were able to consistently get through the QST blockers to score and the BBRG blockers were able to slow the QST jammers and on occasion double team them to block their progress. There was a lot more blocking in this bout, but because the score gap was so wide it didn’t have the nail-biter appeal of the first bout. At the half BBRG was ahead with a score of 95 to 30 and at the end of the bout the Black Thunder won easily with a score of 167 to 64. Congrats to BBRG on the win and kudos for QST for skating hard the entire bout!





I didn’t hear final attendance figures, but it seemed to me that the crowd was about twice the size of the crowds at BBRG bouts I attended last year. The crowd really taxed the capacity of the Florence Fundome – a good thing for BBRG. It was standing room only and the floor suicide seating was packed for the first bout. After the bout I got to meet and talk with Honey Bunny and Dianne got a picture of us. Besides the photos shown in this post, you can see all the other photos I took during the bout in a Flickr set here. The next BBRG home bout is on June 26th when they take on the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. Check out the BBRG website for more information about tickets, times, and other events around town where you can meet the skaters.

Summer Schoolin -- BBRG vs. BRR Bout Recap

On Saturday, June 13th, we went to the Florence Fundome to see the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls (BBRG) host the Blue Ridge Rollergirls (BRR) in the “Summer Schoolin” event. BBRG had their Black Thunder team skating for this bout. After their last bout, the BBRG website had a detailed description of each jam. I expect they’ll have something similar posted again so I’ll just give some general impressions.

During the first half, the Blue Ridge team was in control of the bout. Most of the jamming work was done by Moong Chi, Skelley Tor, and Poison Sue Smac, but there were several other skaters like Sugar Magmaulya wearing the star as well. The first photo below shows Moong Chi going outside to get around Hellaina Havoc. At right, Moong Chi gives a hard block to Pinup Pussycat. Blue Ridge was getting the majority of the lead jammer status and they had several grand slams that helped them hold the lead. The pace of the pack seemed to be a bit slow and the Blue Ridge blockers were fairly good at holding up the BBRG jammers. The BRR pack was also very good about giving whips to their jammers. Although the pack was slow, the blocking slowed the jammers and the score of most jams wasn’t terribly high. At the half, BRR was ahead of BBRG with a score of 59 to 30.



The second half was a different story though. Something happened in the BBRG locker room during halftime. BBRG came out with fight in their eyes. They slowed the scoring of Blue Ridge and picked up their own scoring pace by getting lead jammer status more often. Petal To The Metal (in the photo at right) had some good jams and teammates Pinup Pussycat, Hellaina Havoc, and Haterade were also contributing to the scoring. The blocking seemed more coordinated and focused on the Blue Ridge stars. Aine Ass, Damnit Janet, Irish Iris and Hot T Molly were among the especially busy BBRG blockers. The first photo below shows Aine Ass giving a hard block. The second photo has Hot T Molly giving a block that knocked the BRR jammer off balance and out of bounds. With just a couple jams left in the second period, BBRG got within 5 points! Unfortunately the BRR held them off in the last jams and won the match with a score of 86 to 98. Both teams deserve kudos for a good bout with an exciting finish!





After the bout I got the chance to talk with Petal to the Metal and Damnit Janet. Dianne got photos of me with each of them – thanks to both of them for taking time to chat and for posing for a photo. Besides the photos included in this post (click on any photo to see a larger image), you can see all my photos from the bout in a Flickr set here. I was experimenting a bit more with multiple remote flashes and I got some interesting effects. It’s a very different style than what you get with an on-camera flash.

Black-n-Bluegrass goes on the road for the next couple of bouts before their next home bout against the Lafayette Brawlin’ Dolls near the end of July. Check out the BBRG website for more information on their schedule and information on tickets. Get there to cheer them on!

BBRG and GCRG Scrimmage

Today I went up to Skateworld of Kettering to watch a scrimmage between the Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls and the Gem City Rollergirls. There were some familiar faces skating on the BBRG team, but there were also several skaters that were new to me. Very few of the GCRG skaters were familiar from past bouts against the Cincinnati Rollergirls, and they had quite a large group of skaters suited up for the event. Apparently GCRG has a lot of new blood (or fresh meat) coming in to the team.

As you might expect with a scrimmage, GCRG was trying many different combinations of skaters for each jam and they were rotating people among positions as well. That seemed to make it hard for GCRG to get a rhythm going, although it was good experience for the skaters. There seemed to be some confusion with scoring at the start of the first period -- or at least some confusion in the crowd. Four of us, including a couple volunteers, noticed GCRG's score go from 9 down to 4 at one point. BBRG dominated the first half with some speedy jammers and some good blocking. The photo at right shows Aine Ass skating straight out from the inside of the turn to block GCRG jammer Seoul Sister out. At the end of the first 30 minute period the Black-n-Bluegrass team was ahead 73 to 11.

In the second period, GCRG put together some good jams. At one point with BBRG shorthanded due to some penalties, GCRG used a wall of blockers to effectively tie up the opposing jammer while their own jammer, Racey Rocket, scored quite a few points. She had a few good jams in the second period that increased the GCRG point total quite a bit. The scrimmage ended with a score of BBRG 129 and GCRG 63. Congrats to Black-n-Bluegrass!

I posted a few photos from the scrimmage below -- including a BBRG team photo. You can see all my photos in a Flickr set here. I was trying a new, multiple flash technique. I haven't perfected the technique yet but it was a good place to try multiple flashes since the lighting made natural light photos impossible for me.

The next GCRG bout is against the Ohio Roller Girls on April 19th. The Black-n-Bluegrass team gets in full swing in May. Check out their site for more information.

Florence Nite-n-Hell squeezes between two GCRG blockers.


Nuk'em blocks Slay as Nastee breaks out of the pack.


Roseanne takes a fall after some GCRG blocks.


Black-n-Bluegrass team at the scrimmage.

Quad State Terrors versus the Killamazoo Derby Darlins

Last Saturday night, Dianne and I went to Skatetown USA in West Chester to see the Quad State Terrors (QST) Rollergirls take on the Killamazoo Derby Darlins (KDD). The Quad State Terrors group is a pick-up team of skaters from Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. For this bout most of the QST skaters were from the Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls with Grand Raggidy Rollergirls Dot Matrix and Viva La BOOM joining for the bout. I was not familiar with the KDD team. The announcers mentioned that several of the KDD skaters were rookies skating in their first bout.

During the opening minutes of the first half, the Killamazoo team started well and they capitalized on a couple QST jammer penalties that let KDD take and hold the lead. The KDD skaters Lady Hawk, Javelin, and Charisnakov were doing most of the jammer work. According to the KDD website, Lady Hawk is the team captain and Javelin is a coach. Both are solid skaters. Javelin was doing a lot of good work as a blocker too.

After those initial minutes, QST settled down and started chipping away at the KDD lead. It didn’t take long before they moved ahead and kept the lead for the rest of the bout. At the end of the first half the score was QST 61 and KDD 37. The primary jammers for QST were EMolition, Roseanne Scarr (in the photo at right), Dot Matrix, and Petal to the Metal, with Viva la BOOM taking her turns as well. One of my favorite jammer photos of the night is this photo of Dot Matrix headed for the pack at full speed.



My impression was the QST blocking was led by Nuk’em and Juwanna Hurt. The photo at right shows Nuk’em giving a shoulder block to KDD pivot Noam Stompsky. The photo below shows what happens when Juwanna Hurt gives a booty block -- it sent KDD jammer Charisnakov flying through the air.



Many other QST skaters such as Nastee, Arche Enemy and Buckhead Betty were always busy in the pack making some hard hits. The first photo at right shows the result of Arche’s block on KDD skater Ivanna O’bliviacha. Click here to see a photo showing Buckhead Betty trying to slow down the KDD jammer Charisnakov.

The QST continued to pull away in the second half and the match ended with a final score of QST 144 and KDD 91. Congratulations to the Quad State Terrors on their first victory in 2009!

Both teams have some talented skaters. Skaters from both teams were able to get lead jammer status on and off throughout the bout. There were some high scoring jams – at one point Roseanne Scarr had a 14-0 point jam that was answered by KDD with a 14-0 point jam just a few minutes later. Dot Matrix was one jammer that had a grand slam. There were some good blocks here and there throughout the bout and some pack members gave whips to assist their jammers. While there were some great individual efforts, I didn’t get a sense that either team had consistent, coordinated actions in the pack. As the season progresses and teams get more experience communicating with teammates and anticipating their actions, both teams should improve their competitive skills.

The announcers, The Tank and JoeXCore, did a nice job during the bout. Both of them know the rules and used that knowledge to explain the action very clearly. One thing that was missing was the excitement provided by a good sized crowd. Although Pistol Whippin’ Wendy brought along a cheering section with signs (see a photo here), overall the crowd at this first local Quad State Terrors bout was small and relatively quiet.

Their next local bout is against the Riverside Rollergirls at the Hamilton Roundup on March 28th. After the bout I talked briefly with Skinnie Minnie (at right) and Nuk’em (photo below). Thanks to both of them for taking the time to chat. Dianne very kindly took photos of me with each of them. You can see more photos from the bout in my Flickr photo set here.

BBRG 2009 Schedule

We're fortunate to have not just one but two women's flat-track roller derby leagues in the area. The Black-n-Bluegrass Roller Girls league in Northern Kentucky is getting ready for their upcoming season. There are a lot of talented skaters with BBRG and I expect this season they will be stiff competition for their opponents.

Check out their website for the schedule. The first home bout is scheduled for May 23rd at the Florence Fundome. Their site has a link to Brown Paper Tickets. I also noticed on the same page that they have an event calendar that you can subscribe to and stay current on all their upcoming events. A nice feature!