I’m still working to get caught up after 3 days in the Wild West, but here’s a taste of what I’ve missed over the past week. As always, if we missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][1] with your stories.
Continue reading
Wild West Showdown anyone? We’re experimenting a bit with video and our friends with Slaughter County and Blaze Streaming Media were kind enough to share their video feed with us. They want to capture as many eyeballs as possible, so we thought we’d try sharing it with you the RDIT fan.
Continue reading
Tons of action on both coasts and a little in the middle as this weekend brings us two big roller derby [conventions][1]*: the Wild West Showdown in Bremerton, WA and Franky Panky in Tampa, FL. Meanwhile in the midwest we have North Central powerhouses Windy City and Detroit facing off on neutral ground somewhere in the middle of that state up north. The D.C. Rollergirls are the latest team to take the Twin City trip to face both leagues there.
Continue reading
Saturday and Sunday, March 5th and 6th, 2011.
University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, 33612. ([Streaming Video][1])
Continue reading
I’m running around getting things in order for Wild West Showdown 2011 kicking off tomorrow evening so please excuse if this week’s roundup seems rushed. As always, if we missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][1] with your stories.
Continue reading
This weekend we have a bit of a calm before the storm with just a few games on tap involving ranked teams (next week between Wild West Showdown, Franky Panky, and normal action we will have a bunch of games to discuss). Montreal @ Boston looks very interesting, and a few of us saw enough improvement from the New Skids in beating Rat City a couple weeks ago to expect them to upset Boston for the first time. Gotham playing on the banked track should be interesting, and we all think they’ll adapt to the different game well enough (assuming all their stars are making the trip with the team.)
Continue reading
This roundup comes from beautiful [Winter Park Colorado][1] where I’m waiting out the morning white-out. It’s brought to you by the letters S for Sleep deprivation (or Sailor Jerry) and O for Ouch-my-hyper-extended-thumb (the worst derby injuries happen when you’re not even playing). Once again I’ll attempt to scrape the derbyverse for news and happenings that may matter to you. As always, if I’ve missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][2] with your stories.
Continue reading
Each year when Eastern Regionals rolls around, the derby world becomes temporarily infatuated with the Steel City Derby Demons of Pittsburgh. In the past two years they have played several impressive games before ultimately falling to one of the perennial powerhouses of the East (Charm City in 2010 and Philly in 2009). They then return to relative obscurity, in large part due to being geographically isolated within their region. The team has many standout players, but one of them,** ‘snot rocket science*, has impressed me since 2007, when in a game versus the heavily favored Ohio Roller Girls she scored 64 points and got 12 lead jams in a memorable performance (under a rule set where points were *much harder to come by than they are today). I have been a fan ever since, and recently had a conversation with her.
Continue reading
There are some top teams in action this weekend, and this time it all happens in the East and North Central Regions, with the South Central Tampa team making a road trip up north. Most of these games are mismatches on paper and probably won’t give us any upsets like last week. There is a potential for regional ranking implications in the Naptown @ Grand Raggidy, Tampa @ Dutchland, and D.C. @ Carolina games. Grand Raggidy could get a little closer to the North Central top ten if it can upset Naptown, and D.C. could solidify its slipping grasp on the #9 rank in the East with a strong game. Dutchland is currently ranked #10 in the East, but after beating #9 D.C. recently, it has a chance of climbing higher by beating Tampa. On the other hand, the favorites in all of these games probably won’t fall too far in the rankings even if they are upset this weekend. With the exception of the Tampa @ Dutchland game, we are all in agreement.
Continue reading
The sun is out and so was I, but I suppose it’s time to check in on the wide world of roller derby. As always, if we missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][1] with your stories.
Continue reading
A year and a half ago, I was talking to my buddy Rocker Boy, announcer for the Carolina Rollergirls, swapping stories about announcing at the North Central and South Central Regional tournaments. Rocker is not only a good friend, but he’s also one of my favorite announcers to listen to because of how intelligent he is. As we were talking, Rocker hearkened back to a conversation he had with our mutual friend Corndog, “Man, I don’t know why they just don’t call these things conventions. All I do is see the same people over and over again; there are hardly any fans there.” That made me stop and think. I realized that Rocker was right. People walking around in funny costumes (I am not talking about the girls’ jerseys), getting drunk in a hotel that everyone shares, and the people that are there are all somehow part of the same subculture? Check, check, and check. Sounds like a convention to me.
Continue reading
For the second week in a row, the biggest action happens in the Pacific Northwest, where three teams will host a visiting team from the east, this time the New Skids on the Block of Montreal. While this team has captivated the hearts of many a derby fan with their neon rainbow boutfits and creatively choreographed lip dubs, they are also no slouches playing roller derby. The match up between Montreal and Jet City on Saturday should prove to be well worth watching, while their games with Rat City and Oly are likely to be blow outs. This year’s Texas Governors Cup oddly includes a few non-Texas teams, but we expect that won’t matter. In fact, we aren’t even going to bother with the individual games, we’ll just tell you who we think will win it all.
Continue reading
Living under a rock like I’ve been the past week? This is for you. As always, if we missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][1] with your stories.
Continue reading
Under the current structure, a new WFTDA (Full Member league) team is required to play 2 in-region bouts (against other currently ranked Full Member leagues) to be eligible for ranking the first time. After that leagues are required to play 6 games a year (interleague or otherwise) in order to be considered active and eligible for an invitation to their respective Regional play-off tournament. Other than that, there are no other requirements regarding a team’s opponents. The system is far from flawless, but it has sufficed so far. Could it be better?
Continue reading
Roller Derby “season” is starting to pick up and we are starting to see more match ups between top teams. This weekend features several games among highly ranked teams, although we don’t expect any of these to have much impact on rankings this early in the season. The possible exception is the Arch Rival @ Naptown game because Naptown plays the bulk of their games during the winter and typically lays low heading into tournament season. Their chances of reaching the North Central regional tournament for a second consecutive time (which they are hosting in Indianapolis) hinge on strong performances over the next few months. With the exception of Vince Hannity, we are all pretty much in agreement here at RDIT on how this weekend will shake out. As usual, we hope we are wrong on some of these.
Continue reading
This is the derby news and randomness we found noteworthy in the past week. As always, if we missed something please add it in the comments below or [contact us][1] with your stories.
Continue reading
Everyone involved with roller derby is aware of the potential for injury. The rules include provisions for protective gear and assign responsibilities of safety to the officiating crew. But these mandates are for physical protection, not financial protection. Currently no officiating body requires primary medical coverage, but both USARS and the WFTDA require anyone on skates to carry their supplemental coverage. Any requirement of individual primary health coverage is left up to the individual teams/leagues.
Continue reading
