Rabid Derby Fan

No More 4 Ewe

2011-06-17T11:06:00.000-04:00

I haven’t been blogging about all my derby activities this year. One reason is I’m a slug. Also, I’ve been volunteering as one of the textcasters for the Cincinnati Rollergirls’ home bouts this season. You can read some comments from the bout in the DNN bout archives. Because of that I haven’t been posting here on CRG bouts this year even though I’ve been to them all (in fact, all home bouts since the first Super Roll Sunday).

I want to get a quick post out before the last CRG home bout of the season tomorrow night. If you haven’t caught a CRG event at the Cincinnati Gardens yet this year, be sure to attend tomorrow night. CRG had an ambitious schedule this year that has brought some very good teams to the Gardens. This has resulted in some exciting derby action for the home town fans! Although CRG hasn’t won these events as judged by the final score, I think they have won in terms of their performance. For the most part CRG has hung in there and kept things close against tough competition. Even against the Windy City Rollers, who are #1 in the North Central region and undefeated against North Central opponents, the two teams were neck and neck for most all of the first period! While some might not agree with DNN ranking criteria, it’s this type of effort that helped CRG move up the rankings a bit in the last update.

The main reason to post though is that tomorrow night will be the last home bout for four Cincinnati skaters: Hop Devil, Miss Print, Sk8 Crime, and Trauma. Hop Devil has been a wonderful surprise for the team these last couple years. She is a solid jammer with good speed and intuition. I hope we’ll see her on the track in the future – although sadly not for CRG. Miss Print is one of the original CRG skaters that has had an impact both on and off the track. And when I say off the track, I’m thinking both for CRG and also for derby in general through her blog and media presence. Fortunately, she’ll continue to be involved with CRG. Sk8 Crime is another original CRG skater and one that I gave some pretty harsh comments early on. Boy was I wrong! She is a skater who is talented on the track and also someone who uses her passion and leadership to help the team a lot off the track as well. Finally, Trauma has been a strong, versatile part of the team since she started (I think in 2008). She can block with the best of them and has the speed to step in as a jammer.

I’ll miss seeing all of them skating regularly for CRG! Thanks for giving us some great derby memories starting way back at Castle Skateland and carrying through to today at the Cincinnati Gardens. I wish all of you all the best in the future!

Gem City vs. Killamazoo -- 2011 Home Opener

2011-03-21T23:19:00.001-04:00

Last Saturday night I went to Dayton along with Penal Eyes and Stabby McNeedles for the Gem City Rollergirls’ 2011 home opener at the Orbit Fun Center in Huber Heights. Gem City was hosting the Killamazoo Derby Darlins for the bout. I took photos for Gem City and Penal Eyes and Stabby were helping with NSO duties. The venue was packed – standing room only off of the floor.

A little photo diversion -- This was my first big photo event using radio flash triggers (Pocketwizards) to control off camera flashes. The new Pocketwizards were very easy to use. The only watchout I discovered is that flash batteries that would be sufficient for many photos using Nikon’s CLS or on camera were not sufficient for the Pocketwizard Flex to establish a connection with the flash. Other than that, they were reliable anywhere in the rink and the control of the light groups was simple using the SU-800 on the Pocketwizard Mini on the camera. Kudos to LPA Design for putting out a fine product! It took a while to get the Nikon version out, but it was well worth the wait to get it right.

The Killamazoo Derby Darlins were in control of the bout from the start. Ladyhawk, one of the Darlins, was doing a tremendous job as a jammer. It seemed she posted a good share of the points for the Darlins. The photo above is Ladyhawk at full speed and looking to catch the pack. Click on the photo to see a larger version. At the half the score was Killamazoo 113 and Gem City 29.

Gem City used several jammers in their rotation. Some of the skaters taking a turn with the jammer star were Racey Rocker, Rage-L and Supersonic. The photo at right is of Racey Rocker during one of her jams. She has been skating with Gem City for a while now and is a solid anchor for their group of jammers. The photo below shows Supersonic during one of her jams. Gem City picked up the pace a bit in the second half and Killamazoo started making regular trips to the box that slowed their scoring just a bit. The final score was Killamazoo 198 and Gem City 71. Although Gem City was behind from the start, they all stayed focused and gave it their all the whole bout.

The best blocking photo I took during the bout is this photo showing Dizzy Queen trying to slow down the opposing jammer.

You can see all of my photos from the bout in a Flickr set here.

Gem City’s next home bout is April 16^th when the NEO Roller Derby team drives down from Akron. Check out their website for more information about this and future bouts.

Derby Hot Stove League

2011-03-03T22:29:00.006-05:00

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!

CRG's Last 2010 Home Bout

2010-06-20T22:53:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a great day in Cincinnati for a couple reasons. Cincinnati mayor Mark Mallory declared Saturday Cincinnati Rollergirls Day! It also was a CRG bout day – the last home bout of the season for the Cincinnati Rollergirls. It was a typical double header with the CRG Silent Lambs taking on the Demolition City Roller Derby team from Evansville, Indiana in a 40 minute bout and the CRG Black Sheep taking on the Brew City Bruisers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in a WFTDA bout. There were over 2800 fans in attendance at the Gardens, braving the heat and humidity to cheer on the CRG skaters.

Unlike all the previous CRG home bouts where I was a fan on the floor, I had a job this time. I tried my hand helping to text cast the bout for DNN along with candyKICKass, Moriarty’s Moll, and Mr. Fuchsia (a.k.a. the Kman). Candy has been doing the CRG text casts most of the season and she gave guidance to the rest of us first timers (thanks for your help!). You can read the archive of the text boutcast here as well as see the video. I had a little bit of a rocky start with some connectivity issues, but got in to the swing of things after a bit. We divided up commenting responsibilities during the evening. In both bouts I was providing comments on the pack skaters of the opposing teams. That focus really put the blinders on as far as the overall action was concerned, but it did give me a different perspective on the bout and a new appreciation for the work in the pack.

In the first bout of the evening the Silent Lambs took on the Dynamite Dolls from Demolition City. DCRD just obtained WFTDA status last week – congratulations! The teams seemed to be feeling each other out the first few jams. The defense was tough on both sides and the score was relatively low and close. After a few jams, CRG was up 22 to 16 and they held that margin through the first half where they ended up in the lead with a score of 34 to 28. There were two keys to Demolition City’s defense. Much of the time the DCRD skaters stayed together in a tight group that could often double team the CRG jammer or occasionally trap a CRG pack skater behind them to control the pack. Even a great skater has trouble advancing when being double or triple teamed. The other key was some great individual DCRD skater efforts. Probably the most impressive was Bangs McCoy, who somewhat reminded me of Blu with her stature and ability to single handedly use a wide stance and cuts to hold up an opposing jammer. In the second half things were the same until about mid way through the period. The Lambs had some penalty troubles and with the Lambs jammer in the box DCRD slowed the pack and racked up a 20 point jam to put them ahead 54 to 48. A few jams later, even with only three pack skaters at the start of the jam, they coordinated their defense and held back Bex Pistol as the DCRD jammer Lillith of the Valley put up a grand slam to jump further ahead. The DCRD pack coordination of defense was disturbed in some instances by CRG blockers (Celia Graves and Kitten Kicker had some nice hits to help), but not enough of the time. DCRD ended up on top at the final whistle with a score of 79 to 52. However, take away those couple of high point DCRD jams and the game was a toss up. The Lambs should be proud of their effort!

The second bout showcased the CRG Black Sheep (DNN rank #19) and the Brew City Bruisers (DNN rank #25) in what could be a preview to one of the final matchups at the North Central regional tournament. The Black Sheep controlled the match and held the lead the entire way. In this bout the Brew City Bruiser pack effectiveness was almost the exact opposite of DCRD in the first bout. While there are several talented Brew City blockers (notably Rejected Seoul, Killy, Moby Nipps and Cookie Ciano) that exhibited some wonderful individual efforts throughout the bout, they weren’t able to consistently coordinate their pack. They weren’t able to hang together like the DCRD pack and double team the Black Sheep jammers. The main reason for that was the disruption caused by constant attacks from the CRG pack skaters. While ALL the CRG blockers contributed to this constant barrage of Brew City pack disruption, I have to say that June with a Cleaver, Buckhead Betty, Ruff’n the Passer, and Nuk’em were especially effective at blocking to keep Brew City off balance. Without a consistent, collective blocking effort, Brew City couldn't put together a defense to slow or stop the Black Sheep scoring. All the skaters were getting a tough workout as the pack was generally skating pretty quickly. That made it rough for the jammers. The Black Sheep jammers were speedy and posted quite a few points each jam to lead by 46 at the half. Brew City wasn’t able to adjust much in the second half. The bout finished with a score of CRG 139 and Brew City 71. Congrats to the Black Sheep for posting another win!

Sadly, this was the last event of the home season for CRG. It was another great production in a fantastic venue (although some ac wouldn’t hurt). Thanks to all the CRG skaters for making this another fun season for us fans – the best yet as far as excitement and production value goes. It is thrilling to see the CRG fan base grow exponentially and feel the crowd getting into the sport. I didn’t get any photos this bout since I was text casting, but the CRG photomonkeys were both there and will undoubtedly have their usual fantastic photos on Flickr.

The Cincinnati Rollergirls still have quite a few away games ahead of them. Watch their website and catch some boutcasts on DNN if you can’t make the trips. Good luck to the Black Sheep on their road through the North Central Tournament!

CRG vs. Gem City and the North Star Supernovas

2010-05-30T17:27:00.012-04:00

It was a warm night in the Cincinnati Gardens on Saturday – made all that much more so by a heated bout between geographical neighbors and another by neighbors in the DNN power rankings. I didn’t hear the attendance number, but it must have been over 2000. In the first bout of the evening, the Cincinnati Rollergirls’ Silent Lambs took on the Gem City Roller Girls from Dayton in a 40 minute match. In the second bout, CRG’s Black Sheep took on the North Star Roller Girls from Minneapolis. Congratulations to CRG for coming away with two wins!

The first bout between the Silent Lambs and Gem City pitted some old teammates against each other because of transfers between the Cincinnati and Dayton teams. That seemed to add a little extra tension to the bout and it translated into a lot of hard blocking in the pack. That kept the score relatively low. Notables in the blocking department were Ruff’n the Passer (her first bout coming off maternity leave) and Celia Graves (shown at right blocking Gem City Jammer Racey Rocker) for the Silent Lambs and Juwana Hurt for Gem City – but everyone in both packs was getting a workout and giving it their all. The first photo below shows Wheezy flying to the inside after taking a hit from Juwana Hurt. There was a lot of jammer rotation for the Lambs that included Pistol Whippin’ Wendy, Wheezy, Bombtrack, Hop Devil, Miss Print (second photo below), and Bex Pistol (third photo below). CRG played smart during the match – varying the pack speed, catching babies, etc. The blocking, speedy and experienced jammers, and smart play were all factors that kept the Silent Lambs in control from the start. Gem City’s Racey Rocker must have posted most of the Gem City points, but it wasn’t enough. At the half the Lambs were up 45 to 24 and after 40 minutes they won easily with a score of 112 to 53. Congrats to the Silent Lambs on another big win that was achieved by using many different skaters in a variety of different packs.

In the second bout, the Black Sheep (DNN rank 19) took on the North Star Supernovas (DNN rank 24) in a WFTDA bout. CRG started out slow and the score was low and within a few points after the first few jams. That changed when Hannah Ouchocinco (skating in her first home bout following her finger injury) posted a 20 point jam to create a gap that North Star could never close. From that point on, CRG controlled the bout with hard work and smart play that was interesting to watch. It was obvious that both teams knew each other the way they were pairing jammers on the line and assigning blockers to double team where necessary to slow or stop jammers in the pack. Although the pack speed varied according to strategy, it was a pretty fast pack for most of the bout. However, with K. Lethal and Hannah back in the jammer rotation so Nuk’em could focus on blocking, the Supernovas had their hands full. The photo above and right shows Sadistic Sadie zipping around the track to score on her birthday.

By the half the Black Sheep were ahead with a score of 67 to 21. The second half was very similar to the first. It was the Black Sheep in control most of the time. That’s not to say that the Supernovas gave in by any means. They continued dishing out some hard blocks and use double teaming to make Cincinnati’s jammers work hard. But work they did to keep up about the same scoring pace as they did in the first half of the bout. The first photo below shows Hannah going around turn 4 with the Supernova skaters Roller Vixen in front and Katarina Hit behind. The second photo below shows Sk8 Crime holding the inside line to slow down Supernova jammer Medusa enough so Sk8r-Kinney could come in to give a hard block. In the end, the Black Sheep won handily with a score of 119 to 50. Congrats on a solid victory!

The bout production was very good as usual. Some friends who brought kids for their first bout of this season were impressed with the improvements compared to past years. The kids loved the chance to meet the skaters and get autographs after the bout. It’s nice that the CRG skaters take time to talk with the young kids – and the older kids like me too. After the bout we talked a bit with the Librarian. She was notably absent from the Silent Lambs lineup due to a knee injury. She was hobbling around with a sturdy brace on her knee, but she always has time to say hi and give a shush pose. Thanks, Librarian!

I also had the opportunity to meet Hop Devil, one of the CRG rookies and a jammer for the Silent Lambs. She also posed for a photo with me. Finally, Dianne and I posed with Buckhead Betty and Nuk’em in this photo below taken by the Kman. Thanks to both of them!

In a Rabid Derby Fan blog first, Dianne got a photo of me with one of the CRG zebras, Captain Gorgeous. You can see a more traditional photo of me and Capt. G here. All the photos I posted from the Lambs’ bout are in a Flickr set here and all the photos from the Sheep bout are in a set here.

If you haven’t been to a CRG bout, what's the matter with you!?! You better mark June 19th on your calendar as that is their last home bout of the 2010 season. After that you can follow them on the road for several bouts around the country before the North Central Regional tournament in September. Check out the CRG website for more information about their schedule as well as lots of info on upcoming matchups, events, and blog posts by skaters. The recent post by Bombtrack that gives a rookie’s perspective was very interesting. Check it out and see you at the last home bout!

Mother May I?

2010-05-23T20:41:00.011-04:00

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.

CRG vs. The Chicago Outfit

2010-05-09T18:01:00.003-04:00

Last night was a rough night for the Chicago Outfit as their two teams, the Shade Brigade and the Syndicate, took on the Cincinnati Rollergirls’ Silent Lambs and Black Sheep at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Outfit is a relatively new team organized in 2007 that became a WFTDA apprentice team last September. The Outfit was no match for CRG. As expected, CRG came away with two big wins in front of their home crowd.

In the first bout the Silent Lambs took on the Shade Brigade. The Lambs were in control of the bout from the start. The CRG pack was able to contain the Shade Brigade jammers and by the 20 minute half the Lambs were ahead with a score of 53 to 8. The photo at right shows Bex Pistol, one of the Silent Lamb jammers, in the open and looking ahead to the pack. The scoring picked up on both sides during the second half but the Lambs continued to outpace the Shade Brigade scoring by about double! The photo below shows The Librarian and Maime putting the squeeze on a Shade Brigade jammer to stop her from scoring. The final score was Lambs 140 and Shade Brigade 45. An excellent showing and quite a few of the CRG rookies got to see action. Congrats to the Lambs on another solid win!

The second bout, a full hour, unfortunately was a repeat of the first bout for The Outfit. The Black Sheep were in control from the start and the solid CRG blocking and smart play slowed the Syndicate scoring. The Syndicate skaters Lola Blow and Sweet Mary Pain led the Syndicate jammers, but there wasn’t enough depth yet in their team to keep up the scoring. The CRG blocking was just too tough for the Syndicate to handle. There were occasions where Syndicate blockers double teamed the CRG jammers to slow them down a bit, but they couldn’t keep that up and the Black Sheep jammers were scoring easily. The depth of the CRG team was illustrated by having Trauma and Dr. McDerby step in to the jammer rotation. The photo at right shows Trauma wearing the star, smiling as she skates past the Trauma Center cheering section. At the end of the first period, the Black Sheep had opened up a sizeable lead and the bout ended with CRG winning 141 to 86. The first photo below shows Sadie rounding the turn at full speed. The second photo shows Nuk'em going shoulder to shoulder with Lola Blow.

Once again the Queen City Rainbow Band was there to play during the bout and the Wooly Bully was having a ball. During the bout I was up in the stands talking with some friends and I have to say the sound is much better in the stands. Caesar and The Tank are much easier to hear up there and they really do a great job explaining the action for folks new to derby bouts. After the bout Dianne got photos of me with Bombtrack (at right) and Captain Painway (below right) – both skaters for the Silent Lambs. Thanks to both of them for taking time for a photo. Check out the usual blogs and photo sources for other opinions on the bout. With the attendance explosion, there are a lot of things to read and photos to peruse. You can see the rest of my photos in my Flickr pool here.

The next bout should be a bit more exciting as the North Star Roller Girls from Minneapolis make the trip to the Gardens on May 28th. In the latest DNN Power rankings, CRG is #19 and NSRG is #24. CRG will face a bit more competition from that match up, but I'm confident they'll come out on top. Catch the derby fever and cheer on CRG at the next bout!

Cincinnati Versus Arch Rival

2010-04-18T22:32:00.004-04:00

Last night we went to see two roller derby bouts at the Cincinnati Gardens where the Cincinnati Rollergirls hosted the Arch Rival Rollergirls from St. Louis. It was another great derby crowd that packed the Gardens – most of them cheering on Cincinnati, but a few St. Louis fans made the trip as well. In the first bout the CRG Silent Lambs lost to the Arch Rival St. Lunachix by a score of 39 to 89. In the second bout, the CRG Black Sheep took on the Arch Rival All Stars and beat them handily by a score of 134 to 68.

The Silent Lambs had a slow start against the Lunachix. The Lamb jammers struggled against the Lunachix blockers. The Lambs weren’t able to control the pack like they did in their first home bout. There was a lot of good blocking though – notably Mirderher and Celia Graves were on their game. Wheezy seemed to have the best luck jamming for CRG. However, she was no match for the Lunachix’s The Seige who posted quite a few points in the bout. The photo at right shows Pistol Whippin’ Wendy taking a hard block from one of the Lunachix. At the half, the Lambs were down with a score of 19 to 43. The battle continued the same way in the second period – each team scoring about the same. I really don’t think the final score reflected the effort put forth by the Lambs. The photo below shows Cherry Choke and Maime closing a hole to shut down the Lunachix jammer. Although a win would have been nice, all the Sheep have to be proud of their effort.

Things really came together for the Black Sheep in their bout against the Arch Rival All Stars. They seemed like a different team than the one that skated against San Diego a few weeks ago. They took control of the bout from the beginning and really focused on getting points on the board. Everyone was working together very well and the Black Sheep blocking was tough! Did the team just get back from blocking school? There were a lot of hard hits, especially in the second period. Even better, there were very few major penalties in the first period and not many in the second. The solid blocking made it very hard for the Arch Rival jammers and their scoring was minimal. The photo below this paragraph shows Karma Krash and Dr. McDerby sending the Arch Rival jammer to the concrete. The usual CRG jammer rotation was very effective. The photo at right shows K. Lethal getting a little help from Sk8 Crime to zip around the turn. At the half, the Sheep were ahead with a score of 90 to 17! In the second period, Arch Rival did adjust to pick up the scoring pace (51 points) and the CRG scoring slowed a bit (44). Still, CRG was generally in control of the bout and there was no way Arch Rival could have stopped the Black Sheep team skating on Saturday. It was a pleasure to watch – except when Hannah Ouchocinco took a tumble that resulted in an injured finger and three stitches on the chin. Now Hannah and June will be chin twins.

CRG continues their effort to keep the production quality of the bouts high too. Last Saturday the Queen City Rainbow Band was there to play during the bout and at the break. I enjoyed hearing them playing from the stands. This bout was also the debut of Wooly Bully – the CRG mascot. Dianne got a photo of me with Wooly Bully after the bout. Wooly was running around all night trying to perk up the crowd.

Dianne also got a photo of me with Celia Graves. Thanks to Celia for taking the time to chat and pose for a photo. You can see the rest of my bout photos in my Flickr pool here.

With the increase in attendance, there is also an increase in bout coverage. Besides the Roller Derby Diva Blog, check out the new CRG web site that has lots of news and blog type entries. Captain Painway, another CRG has a good blog called Like it Derby. Bob Schwartz was there and always has good entries about the CRG bouts. And don’t forget to check out Jason's and Jeff’s photos on Flickr. I know there are lots of others as my Google notifications for Cincinnati roller derby are prolific lately.

If you missed the bout (are you crazy?!?) you can catch it on ustream. Better yet, catch the next CRG home bout in person on May 8th. See you there!

CRG's First 2010 Home Bout

2010-03-28T23:02:00.003-04:00

Saturday night ended the off-season roller derby drought in the area when the Cincinnati Rollergirls hosted their first home event of 2010. It was an exciting night in the Cincinnati Gardens with a huge crowd of 3000+ derby fans cheering on the CRG skaters! In the first bout of the evening, the Silent Lambs took on the Circle City Socialites from Indianapolis. The Lambs won easily with a final score of 112 to 30. In the second bout, the Black Sheep lost to the San Diego Derby Dolls with a final score of 108 to 129.

The Silent Lambs had a great 2010 debut against the Socialites. The Lambs clearly outclassed their opponents and were in control of the match after the first few minutes. The team was a mix of experienced CRG skaters, rookies, and experienced rookies that transferred to CRG. The Lambs obviously have been working hard as the group functioned very well as a team. They listened to each other and watched for input from the bench (Pale Rider and Ruff’n the Passer) to make some very smart plays throughout the bout. The Lambs effectively slowed the pace, made the pack fast, trapped opposing blockers, and shut down jammers at various times to keep the Socialites off balance. It was fun to watch. On the jamming side, Wheezy (see photo below) was on fire for the Lambs! She used her blockers effectively and was able to find her way through the pack easily. Bex Pistol, Miss Print, Pistol Whippin’ Wendy, Glamour Azz, and Celia Graves also wore the jammer star. On the blocking side, Geez Louise was in there as usual doing her thing. Other notables included Mirderher, Envy Miyoni, and rookie Kitten Kicker who dished out a couple hard blocks. Congrats to all the Lambs on a solid, well played bout. The downside to the bout was the injury to Shirley Temptya with less than a second to go in the bout – a bout that marked her return after being out last season with a leg injury. Get well soon, Shirley!

The Black Sheep struggled a bit during their bout against the SD Derby Dolls. Near the end of the first half the Sheep were lagging behind a bit until Nuk’em came through with a 15 point jam to bring the score close. At the half CRG was ahead 72 to 61. Blocking was tough on both sides, but the Derby Dolls had clean, focused blocking that slowed the CRG jammers when their teammates couldn’t break up the coordinated blockers. K. Lethal, Hannah Ouchocinco, Sadistic Sadie (at right), and Nuk’em all wore the jammer star for the Black Sheep. The Derby Dolls also had some good jammers – especially Bonnie D. Stroir.

The second half was a see-saw battle except for the last few minutes when penalties, especially jammer penalties, really hurt the Black Sheep. Without that penalty trouble, I think the outcome would have been different. Blocking was tough on both sides. The photo at right shows a couple of the Derby Dolls about to hit Hannah. The photo below shows June With a Cleaver and Sk8 Crime blocking a Derby Doll jammer.

One thing I didn’t understand about the Black Sheep strategy was what I call the jammer/jammer cat and mouse game. I realize that jostling with the opposing jammer to get them to do something stupid may make the opposing jammer ineligible from becoming lead jammer. But if you can’t do that quickly, you eat up a lot of time when you should be scoring to regain the lead or solidify your lead. CRG has enough speedy jammers, and smart jammers, to outskate and outscore their opponents. To me that is just as exciting as the cat/mouse action.

The event production was very good as usual. Unfortunately the sound in the Gardens isn’t good – at least the folks in the flock section were having a hard time understanding anything that Tank and Caesar were saying. That may have also been caused by the noise from the crowd. It was great to see the stands of the Gardens being filled almost to the roof with derby fans!! I hope the spectator growth continues.

As usual, the skaters took time to greet fans and sign autographs after the bout. Dianne got pictures of me with Wheezy (at right) and Pistol Whippin’ Wendy (below). Thanks to both of you for taking time for a photo. You can see all my photos from the Lambs bout here and from the Sheep bout here. Don't forget to check out the team photographers Flickr sites: Photomonkey Uno and Photomonkey Dos for some excellent photos. For more info on the team, check out the revamped Cincinnati Rollergirl website.

The next CRG home bout is only a few weeks away – April 17th when they take on the gals from St. Louis. This should be another exciting match up as Arch Rival will be looking for revenge following their loss to CRG in the North Central tournament last Fall in St. Paul. Be there to cheer on the Sheep and Lambs! Be a part of the Flock!

Battle of the Buckeye -- Bout Recap

2009-06-24T23:51:00.003-04:00

There were a couple hot battles at the Cincinnati Gardens last Saturday night. It was temperature hot (the photo at right shows jam timer Susie Shinsplintski fanning herself during a timeout) and there was a lot of hot action during the Battle of the Buckeye event where the Cincinnati Rollergirls hosted the Ohio Roller Girls from Columbus. In the first bout (40 minutes) the CRG Silent Lambs took on the OHRG Gang Green. The second bout (60 minutes) was between the CRG Black Sheep and the OHRG All Stars. I thought I heard Collier Mama say this was the largest crowd yet at a bout (~1400+). I think the largest group challenge certainly added to the crowd. It was fantastic to have such a large crowd for the last home bout of the season!

Before the bout, CRG had a small party in the Legends Museum. It was a nice way for family and friends to talk with the skaters, coaches, and staff as well as take in some of the history of the Gardens shown by all the posters and sports memorabilia in the room. By the way, where was the CRG bout poster on the wall. Someone has to get a “Some Bunny’s Gonna Get Hurt” poster up there! At right is a photo of CRG announcer extraordinaire The Tank as he was talking to some fans.

In the first bout the Silent Lambs, led by Captain Cherry Choke, were solid from the start and kept control of the entire match. It was a hard hitting group of skaters. Kyle and Tresha, sitting next to me, commented on how much more physical this bout was compared to the previous CRG bout. At right you can see Bex Pistol doing a great job slowing down the Gang Green jammer. The first large photo below shows Mirderher about to put a hit on a Gang Green skater. The second photo below shows CRG skater Cherry Choke in the air after a hit. New on the team for this season were Jewel B. Hurt, Nuk’em, and Buckhead Betty who all added their blocking talent to the team. On the Gang Green side, I was particularly impressed with rookie skater NailHer who was dishing out some pain to the Silent Lambs.

The Lambs had quite a few skaters giving the jammer position a try. In general the scoring was solid all around. At the half the Lambs led 50-26 and although the scoring pace slowed just a bit in the second half, they easily won with a score of 84 to 49. Congrats to the Lambs for a great win to finish off the home season!

In the second bout, the Black Sheep had a bit of a rocky start against the OHRG All Stars. A few minutes into the first period the Sheep were behind. About half way through the period the Sheep found their rhythm, narrowed the gap, and after about two-thirds of the period they regained the lead and held it for good. At the half the Sheep led with a score of 45 to 28. Like the Lambs bout, this also was a physical match both ways with a lot of hard blocks dealt out. That was fun to watch and made it much easier to get some blocking photos. The first photo below shows Ruff’n the Passer blocking OHRG jammer Kitty Liquorbottom. The second photo shows June With a Cleaver going shoulder to shoulder with an OHRG pivot. Sadistic Sadie, Hannah Barbaric, and K. Lethal seemed to do the bulk of the jamming with Dr. McDerby and Candy Kickass helping as well. A couple jams where Sadistic Sadie was paired against OHRG jammer Drrty Grrl were entertaining – even watching them get situated at the jammer line. The photo above and right shows one of those encounters. Sadie's peripheral vision glance says it all! The CRG momentum increased in the second half and the bout ended with the Black Sheep winning with a score of 100 to 49. Congrats! It was a great way to end the home season.

After the bout I had a chance to talk briefly with Mirderher, who was doing a great job blocking during the Lambs’ bout. Kyle took this photo of me with her. I also noticed that Jeff snuck in a photo of the crowd – check it out here. Thanks for that! I look kind of serious. It must have been when the Sheep were behind in the first period. Check out all of the great photos from the bout in Jeff’s photostream and Jason’s photostream on Flickr. I have all my photos in a Flickr set here.

A big thank you to CRG for another wonderful home season of roller derby at the Gardens!! You all did a great job and showed us some great derby action. Next year let’s pack the Flock section and get a cheering section that rivals what I’ve seen at Louisville and Indianapolis!

There is plenty of CRG activity left though as they have a busy travel schedule over the next few months. You can catch them next weekend at the ECE and cheer them on as they battle Windy City and Atlanta. Check their web site for more information about their activities as well as Miss Print’s blog.

Summer Schoolin -- BBRG vs. BRR Bout Recap

2009-06-14T22:43:00.003-04:00

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!

CRG Summer Naughty, Summer Nice -- Bout Recap

2009-06-02T01:19:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday the Cincinnati Rollergirls hosted the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls for the event called “Summer Naughty, Summer Nice.” The CRG Silent Lambs took on the GRRG G-Rap Attack! in a 40 minute bout and then the CRG Black Sheep battled the Grand Raggidy All-Stars in a 60 minute bout for the WFTDA rankings. I was there along with Kyle and Tresha (their first flat track derby event – thanks for coming) and about 1300 other CRG fans.

In the first match, the Silent Lambs got off to an early lead and never looked back. Although many skaters took a turn wearing the jammer star, I would guess that Polly Rocket (shown sprinting off the starting line at right) led the scoring for the Silent Lambs. Cherry Choke, Jungle Lacy, and Miss Print also had quite a few jams wearing the star. Sadly for Grand Raggidy, I lost count of the number of grand slams that CRG had – a reflection of both speedy jammers and solid CRG blocking. Unfortunately the Librarian, usually a pivot, wasn’t skating. Candy KICKass, instead of her usual role as jammer, filled in as a pivot and was quite effective as a blocker. You can see her in action in the photo below.

Cincinnati blocking was tough and effectively shut down the G-Rap scoring. The first photo below this paragraph shows Mirderher cutting off the opposing jammer at turn 3. My impression was, unlike the last bout against Madison, the CRG skaters (on both the Silent Lambs and the Black Sheep) were much more coordinated as a team. There were many instances where you could see blockers paired and working together. When one skater would force a jammer wide, the other skater of the pair would hold the line while their partner quickly returned to them. By alternating blocks as a pair, and quickly returning to position, the team really stalled the G-Rap jammers. As a CRG fan, that was fun to watch. At the half the Silent Lambs were ahead by 55 to 9. That ratio pretty much held in the second period and the Silent Lambs easily beat the G-Rap Attack with a score of 103 to 25. Congrats to all the Silent Lambs – and especially all the rookies who were skating. The photo at right shows Guided By Vices, one of the rookie skaters, giving a block to a G-Rap jammer to force them wide. Incidentally, Quad Almighty can really yell when the opposing jammer has her helmet panty on inside out!

In the second bout the Grand Raggidy All-Stars took a 1-0 lead after the first jam. However, the Black Sheep got on the board quickly to take the lead and hold it for the rest of the bout. At the half the Black Sheep were ahead with a score of 84 to 7 and the final score was 147 to 29. With Dr. McDerby making her first appearance this year jamming for the Black Sheep. She had quite a few jams wearing the star and must have scored a lot of points. Dr. McDerby also took her licks from Grand Raggidy that included the slam by Bette Mangler (shown in the photo below this paragraph) that sent McDerby flying through the air. There was plenty of CRG jamming power along with K. Lethal (shown at right), Sadistic Sadie, and Hannah Barbaric. In another surprise position switch, Trauma wore the jammer star a few times and scored several points. It was fun to see Trauma use her blocking ability to punch through the pack as a jammer.

Most of the photos I took were of CRG blockers hitting Grand Raggidy jammers Dot Matrix and Jackie Daniels. One example is the photo at right showing Sista Sacralicious giving a shoulder to Dot Matrix. Both Dot and Jackie are talented skaters, but the Black Sheep regulated the pack and controlled the jammer path with a great team effort. That control, along with CRG’s smart use of their lead jammer status to call off jams, kept the scoring of Dot Matrix and Jackie Daniels to a minimum. Sadie even got in some taunting (shown below) of Dot Matrix during one jam that got a rise out of the crowd. In the end, the Black Sheep easily beat Grand Raggidy once again with a score of 147 to 29.

After the bout, I got to chat with some of the skaters and Kyle took photos of me with Silent Lamb skaters Polly Rocket (first photo at right) and Maim E. VanGoren (second photo at right and below). Thanks to both of them for taking the time for a photo – and for making sure I got this posted in a timely manner.

You can see all my photos from the bout in my Flickr set here. Of course Jason and Jeff have their awesome photos on Flickr as well. I’m also pleased that CRG is getting a lot of blog/internet buzz about their bouts. Of course there is the Roller Derby Diva blog written by Miss Print. In addition, check out these posts about the bout:
Randomville has a post with photos.
The News Record has a nice article with photos.
Like it Derby?, written by CRG skater Captain Painway, has an extensive recap.
5chw4r7z also has a bout post – missed seeing him this time.
The Kman.com (who I was sitting next to) has a nice post.

That’s great and hopefully that will help pull in even more fans for the bouts.

At this event, CRG donated $500 to the charity of choice that was picked by the largest group attending the bout – the Ronald McDonald House. That’s a great idea that helps the community and also brings in spectators. When announcing the winning group, I believe Sk8 Crime mentioned they would run that promotion again at the last home bout of the season on June 20th. So get a group together and cheer for CRG as they take on the Ohio Rollergirls from Columbus. You might even get a donation to your favorite charity. If I heard Sk8 Crime correctly, I also thought she mentioned they will be auctioning off dates with rollergirls at the next bout. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong about that.

So get in the Flock section and cheer hard for CRG during their last bout!

Momma Said Knock You Out! -- Bout Recap

2009-05-22T22:40:00.002-04:00

I’ve been a derby blogging slug. On the 9th I went to the Cincinnati Gardens to watch two teams from the Mad Rollin’ Dolls league in Madison (Team Unicorn and the Dairyland Dolls) take on the two Cincinnati Rollergirls’ teams, the Silent Lambs and Black Sheep. The Team Unicorn mascot is shown at right. I expected it to be a tough bout as Cincinnati was ranked #4 in the North Central division and Madison was ranked #3. In the end it turned out the rankings were accurate. Madison’s Team Unicorn beat the Silent Lambs 120 to 43 in the 40 minute bout and the Dairyland Dolls beat the Black Sheep 108 to 50 in the 60 minute bout.

I thought both match ups were pretty physical in the pack. There were a lot of hard hits dished out by both teams. Of course there were blocks made to help out jammers that were stuck so they could advance through the pack. But in addition there were a lot of what I think of as “wake up” blocks – jostling and hits made that let opposing team members know who has control even when the jammer is in the open, or hits that set up the pack to make the jammer’s entry a bit easier. Even with all that blocking, it didn’t seem like there were an excessive number of falls. That’s a testament to the skating ability of players on both teams. That made it a lot of fun to watch! Cincinnati had some very solid individual efforts during the bouts – both jammers and pack skaters. The advantage that the Mad Rollin’ Dolls seemed to have was great team coordination.

In the Lambs vs. Unicorns bout there were several Lamb skaters who took a turn wearing the jammer star, but I’d guess that scoring was led by Miss Print (shown sprinting in the open in the photo below) and Polly Rocket. At the half, the Unicorns were in the lead with a score of 43 to 18. In the second half the Unicorns widened their lead with the help of Harlot Bronte who is a fast jammer and good blocker. The second photo below shows her going around Bex Pistol.

In the Sheep vs. Dairyland Dolls bout, the Dolls shut down Cincinnati scoring for several of the initial jams. It wasn’t until about twelve minutes in to the first period that Hannah Barbaric (shown at in the photo at right -- along with Madison jammer Jewels of Denile) had a 10 point jam to put Cincinnati on the scoreboard. A couple jams later she scored 4 more points to bring the Sheep within 5 points. The Dolls kept up the heat and at the half they lead with a score of 45 to 23. It was no picnic for the Dolls though as Cincinnati was giving some tough blocks. The photos below show Panterrorize blocking Stitch (I think) and Mae C. Stars blocking Jewels of Denile (who I would guess was the Dolls' top scorer of the evening). It seemed Cincinnati was plagued by an over abundance of penalties during the bout. That definitely contributed to the widening of the Dolls’ lead in the second half.

During and after the bout I got to meet several folks including Schwartz, the author of 5chw4r7z (see his bout post here), Erin (another crazed CRG fan), and Papa Razzi who is a photographer for the Mad Rollin’ Dolls. His bout photos aren’t up yet, but here are his 2009 season photos. I'm sure the CRG bout photos will be there soon. As usual, the CRG photographers Jeff and Jason have their photos posted – Jeff’s Lamb photos, Jeff’s Sheep photos, Jason’s Lamb photos, Jason’s Sheep photos. And special visiting photographer Elisa Baker also has her photos posted on Flickr here and here.

After the bout Dianne got a photo of me with two of the Silent Lamb skaters, Fight Attendant (on left) and Cherry Choke. Thanks to both for taking the time for a photo! You can see the rest of my photos in my Flickr set here. It’s great to see a lot more buzz about the bouts on the web too. In addition to Miss Print’s recap, you can also read more about the bouts on the Game Day blog here and on the My Never-Humble Opinion blog here and a brief mention in the Isthmus.

The next Cincinnati bout is coming up fast! On Saturday, May 30th they take on the Grand Raggidy Rollergirls from Grand Rapids. Hopefully that bout will be a repeat of the two wins CRG had when visiting them earlier this year. Be at the Gardens to cheer on the Silent Lambs and Black Sheep!!

Hard Hitting Bootcamp Photos

2009-04-19T23:15:00.004-04:00

I spent Saturday morning watching roller girls from teams located in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia (hope I didn’t miss anyone) knock each other around on the track. I went to the Hard Hitting Bootcamp put on by the Quad Skate Terrors. The event was held at the Hamilton Round-up Roller Rink in Hamilton, Ohio.

The QST arranged for Mark Weber to attend the event and help coach the skaters. Mark was one of the X-men of the Nevada Hot Dice on RollerJam that was televised on TNN. He’s a heavy hitter as seen in this video and was a good instructor at the bootcamp. He got right in the pack and had the ladies hitting him for practice during the drills. Mark is shown in action in the photo at the right.

I tried some different photo techniques during the bootcamp. A couple photos are shown below. I ended up taking quite a few shots that you can see in a Flickr set here. I tried to get a photo of everyone and I hope I was successful. Thanks to Juwana Hurt for letting me know about the event.

Some Bunny's Gonna Get Hurt -- Bout Recap

2009-04-14T00:14:00.006-04:00

Wow! WOW!! Were you at the Some Bunny’s Gonna Get Hurt event at the Cincinnati Gardens last Saturday? If not, you missed a barnburner! In the first bout, the Cincinnati Rollergirls’ Silent Lambs took on the Windy City Nadabees. In the second bout, the CRG Black Sheep battled the Burning River All-Stars from Cleveland. It was quite the evening of see-saw battles. There seemed to be a good crowd for the event and there was a lot of cheering going on! The photo at right is a fisheye view of the gardens near the end of the first bout.

Before the bout, I got to talk with several folks that were tailgaiting. It was nice to meet some of the local fans, including many scooter folks and Leslie from ClassX 88.9 radio, as well as Al Naturel from Windy City.

In the Lambs vs. Nadabees bout, the Lambs started out strong and took an 8-1 lead after the first couple jams. However, the Nadabees adjusted quickly and went on a strong run that took the score to Lambs 12 and Nadabees 33 at the end of the first 20 minute period. The Nadabees have some talented skaters and some of them were pretty tall compared to the Lambs. That is illustrated in the photo at right that shows Ruth Enasia (in blue) lined up with Miss Print at the jammer line. In general the Nadabees did a great job controlling the pack with some solid blocking and good team coordination. I was particularly impressed by Windy City skater Go-Go Hatchet, which I noticed from their website is on their all-star team. The Lamb jammers were mostly the same as those in the last home bout (mainly Dr. McDerby, Miss Print, Polly Rocket, Bex Pistol, and Cherry Choke). The photo to the right shows Polly Rocket trying to get around a couple Nadabee skaters. I have to give credit to all the Lambs that hung in there and gave it their all. Near the end of the second period Dr. McDerby had some good jams that helped give the Lambs some more points and the blockers were able to slow the Nadabee jammers a bit. The photo below shows McDerby coming out of the pack. When the clock ran out, the Lambs lost to the Nadabees with a score of 40 to 96.

For the second bout between the CRG Black Sheep (WFTDA North Central rank #3) and the Burning River All-Stars (rank #9) I expected CRG to control the bout the entire way. I know CRG was looking to avenge the loss in the Black-Eyed Buckeyes bout that ended the 2007 season. Initially they started out with a strong defense that shut down Burning River. The Black Sheep had an early lead of 33-0 that reminded me of the last home bout. The usual CRG jammers Sadistic Sadie, K. Lethal, Hannah Barbaric, and Candy KICKass all contributed. But kudos to Burning River. A couple of CRG jammer penalties and some adjustments by Burning River got them on the scoreboard. The jammers Ivanna Destroya, Eva Lucien, E. Gargiulo, and Stroker Ace worked hard with their team against the CRG blockers. I caught several photos of the blockers in action. At the right is a photo of Sk8R Kinney and Panterrorize blocking Burning River jammer E. Gargiulo. The photo below shows Ruff’n the Passer giving a block while Blu Bayou cuts off the escape on the inside. At the half, CRG was ahead with a score of 60 to 40.

Twenty points isn’t much with 30 more minutes of derby action. Burning River came out of the locker room looking tough! They started scoring and the Black Sheep scoring slowed a bit. At one point in the second period Burning River was up by at least 15! With a few minutes to go, you could tell both teams stepped it up a couple notches – CRG to come back and win it and Burning River to try and hold their lead. That effort really got the crowd involved in the bout! The Gardens was rockin’ those last few minutes. All the blockers were working very hard and CRG jammers K. Lethal and Sadistic Sadie were zipping around the track to score. The photo at right shows Sadie doing a little trash talking at the line before a jam. The photo below shows K. Lethal during one of the final jams. The Black Sheep had an amazing, strong finish to take the bout by a score of 107 to 93. It was an exciting night (maybe a little too exciting ☺ ) and most of the crowd was hoarse after all that cheering during the last 10 minutes or so.

After the bout, Dianne got a photo of me with the CRG mascot – Little Bo Peep. Having a mascot to help get the fans fired up is a great idea. Now we just need to fill up The Flock section so Bo Peep has something to tend to.

I also had a chance to talk a bit with Bex Pistol, one of the CRG Silent Lambs. Dianne got a nice photo of us (below) as well as a shot of Bex signing autographs. You can see all my photos from the bout in my Flickr set. Also, be sure to check out great photo sets of the bout from Jeff and Jason on Flickr. Look for bout recaps on Miss Print's blog and Captain Painway's blog -- Like It Derby?

If that event didn’t get you hooked on derby, nothing will! Be sure to check out the next CRG home bout on May 9th when they host the Mad Rollin’ Dolls from Madison.

The Schooling of Hard Knox -- Bout Recap

2009-03-24T23:03:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday I went to the first event of the home season for the Cincinnati Rollergirls – The Schooling of Hard Knox – held at the Cincinnati Gardens. It was a double header with the CRG Silent Lambs taking on the Hard Knox Brawlers in a 40 minute bout and the CRG Black Sheep battling the Hard Knox A-Team in a 60 minute bout. The event turned out to be appropriately titled as both of the CRG teams came away with decisive wins. Congrats to all the Silent Lambs and the Black Sheep! It was a great evening for the large crowd. I didn’t hear an attendance count, but judging from the sizes of last season’s crowds there must have been more than a thousand people there. Just noticed Miss Print reports over 1500 spectators!!

The opening match was the first time most CRG fans saw some new skaters to the sport (Captain Painway, Bangin’ Brunette, and Manic Janet) and some experienced transplants (Polly Rocket and Karma Krash) joining the returning CRG skaters. It was an especially unique bout for Karma Krash, who was skating against her former teammates. The spectators also saw the return of Susie Shinsplintski as the official blowing the starting whistle with style and gusto as shown in the photo at the right.

Initially the primary Silent Lamb jammers were Dr. McDerby, Polly Rocket, Miss Print and Bex Pistol. McDerby looked strong as usual and got the Lambs off to an early lead. Miss Print had several high scoring jams in the first period and at least a couple grand slams (and I think one double grand slam?) during the bout. She took some hard hits from the Brawlers, but kept moving without getting hung up in the pack. The photo at right shows Miss Print taking a hard block from Rock Nasty that sent MP to the floor.

The Lambs were working pretty well together as a team. Skaters in the pack were doing a pretty good job shifting from offense to defense. The photo below shows Miss Print getting a nice whip from Killian Destroy. The Lamb blockers were also successful at slowing the Brawler jammers. At the end of the first period, the Lambs were ahead with a score of 41 to 19.

As the match progressed, several skaters took their turn wearing the jammer star. Cherry Choke, Jungle Lacy, and Glamour Azz all had the chance to score. The second period was a repeat of the first period and the Lambs ended up with a decisive win over the Hard Knox Brawlers with a score of 93 to 34. Great job from the Lambs. You can see more of my photos from the Silent Lambs/Brawlers bout in my Flickr set here.

The second match between the CRG Black Sheep and the Hard Knox A-Team started out with a surprise. After the initial couple of jams, the Black Sheep trailed Hard Knox with a score of 11 to 7. Although four points isn’t much in a bout, it was nonetheless a surprising start. But once they settled in, the Black Sheep went on an amazing scoring spree while almost completely shutting down the Hard Knox jammers. The CRG defense was so effective, the Black Sheep jammers had quite a few grand slams even though they had to make it through the Hard Knox blockers on their own quite a bit of the time. The primary jammers were Hannah Barbaric, Candy KICKass, and K. Lethal (photo above at right). According to the CRG twitters during the bout (by the way, nice touch having a dedicated Twitterer during the bout), K. Lethal led the first half scoring with 33! Sadistic Sadie was jamming, but unfortunately for Hard Knox the addition of K. Lethal to the jammer rotation allowed Sadie to rotate in with the already tough Black Sheep blockers. The photo at right shows the Hard Knox jammer Goblynn boxed in by the CRG blocking team of Sista Sacralicious, Trauma, and Sadistic Sadie. Good luck trying to get through that! At the end of the first half the Black Sheep were ahead with a score of 85 to 18. You know it's bad when the pivot on the opposing team is skating backwards in front of you -- I love the photo below.

The second period was another rough 30 minutes for Hard Knox. They scored 20 more points, but were shut down at 38 for quite a few jams! In the meantime, Hannah and Candy led the CRG jamming effort and the bout ended with the Black Sheep winning with a score of 178 to 38. Congrats to the Black Sheep! The photo below shows Candy KICKass rounding the turn during one of her jamming sprints. The rest of my photos from the Black Sheep/Hard Knox bout can be found in this Flickr set.

Overall I thought it was a great event. It’s good to see the Black Sheep greet and connect with the crowd while the Lambs are warming up. I like the new floor seating arrangement that puts the fans close to the track and effectively surrounds the player benches instead of having the players off to the side. The half-time entertainment by the CincyCool Skate Crew was very good! Finally, as usual, the skaters were good about making themselves available to give autographs and chat with fans after the bout. Dianne took a photo of me with Karma Krash (at right) and I got to meet K. Lethal (photo below) as well. The only thing that disappointed me a bit was that it was difficult to hear the announcers The Tank and Collier Mama. That was too bad as I enjoy The Tank’s commentary and Collier Mama brings some color and skater experience to the mix.

I was sitting by several folks from the Cincinnati Imports group from Facebook – Miss Print fans. It was nice to meet you all. I noticed quite a few blog posts about the bout. Check out this post by 5chw4r7z, this post from Queer Cincinnati, and this wonderful story and bout impressions on Kate's random musings (thanks Kate for exchanging Moo cards).
Also, click here for photos from Jason and here for photos from Jeff – the CRG photographers that rock!

The next CRG event is on April 11th. I hope attendance stays up to cheer on the Cincinnati Rollergirls. If you go, stop by the Flock section before the bout or at a break to say hello. It’s always great to meet other derby fans.

CRG Home Opener This Weekend

2009-03-18T22:34:00.003-04:00

This Saturday the Cincinnati Rollergirls have their home opener against the Hard Knox Rollergirls at the Cincinnati Gardens. The bout poster is below. The CRG teams are coming off wins a few weeks ago in Grand Rapids and should be tough. It'll be interesting to see who will be skating for the Sheep and Lambs. Hard Knox just received WFTDA status, so I expect they'll be hungry for a win against the ranked CRG team to make a statement.

It should be a fun evening. I hope there is a large crowd to cheer on the CRG teams. I'll be sitting in the Flock section. Stop by to say hi before the bout or at a break.

BBRG and GCRG Scrimmage

2009-03-15T20:54:00.006-04:00

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.

Jawbreaker Video

2009-03-12T21:47:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago the Cincinnati based band Pike was shooting a video with the Cincinnati Rollergirls for their song Jawbreaker. It was hard to imagine the end result while watching them work on some of the isolated shots. They posted the final result on YouTube. Here it is, with big skater roles for The Librarian, Ruff'n the Passer, and Susie Shinsplintski and showing many of the CRG skaters. Very cool!

Quad State Terrors versus the Killamazoo Derby Darlins

2009-03-02T22:58:00.005-05:00

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.

Upcoming Bout for the Quad State Terrors

2009-02-18T13:57:00.000-05:00

What are you doing on the evening of Saturday, February 28th? I'm sure you'll be with me watching the Quad State Terrors Rollergirls take on the Killamazoo Derby Darlins at Skatetown USA in West Chester. You can see the QSTR on MySpace. It will be the first local derby bout in 2009. Here is the bout poster with more information.

CRG 2009 Pre-Season Party

2009-02-16T23:05:00.004-05:00

To kick off the 2009 season, the Cincinnati Rollergirls held a party at Grammers in OTR last Friday night. Dianne and I had never been there before. The building has a lot of character -- the windows in the bar area are beautiful.

The group mingled for awhile in the bar. The first photo is the trio of Trauma Tease, Glamour Azz, and Jungle Lacy.

Here is a photo of Thor and The Librarian in her classic pose.

And two of the new referees are Captain Gorgeous and Jenn.

The group took a break from the bar and then headed upstairs to one of the rooms to have a round of full contact musical chairs. The carpeted floor didn't slow the action too much. It hopefully provided a little padding for the falls. Here is a photo in an early round where Trauma, Sk8 Crime, The Librarian, and a rookie skater (Anna?) jockeyed for seats on three chairs.

In a later round, The Librarian gives up after a take down by Sk8 Crime -- a reminder of years past. While they were busy "fighting", Trauma came out of the crowd and helped herself to the final seat.

It was a fun evening! You can see a few more photos in my Flickr photo set here.
Be sure to catch the Cincinnati Rollergirls at their first home bout on March 21st at the Cincinnati Gardens.

New WFTDA Rankings

2009-01-31T14:02:00.004-05:00

As you've undoubtedly heard, the WFTDA released their latest rankings (Fourth Quarter 2008) this week. In the North Central Region where Ohio is now included, the Cincinnati Rollergirls were ranked #3. Congratulations to CRG for the ranking that reflects their hard work and effort leading to the Derby in Dairyland tournament last fall.

With that being said, I must say I have never been thrilled with the WFTDA ranking process. There are two main reasons. First, I don't like the fact that the rankings come out quarterly. The system should aspire to be more like the college football poll rankings that come weekly during the season. Second, I don't like the voting aspect to the ranking. According to DNN, rankings are based on votes from member leagues in that region. What is even worse is that leagues that have not kept up on their WFTDA membership requirements are excluded from the rankings. For example, Detroit (who beat CRG last September) isn't in the ranking.

Maybe it is the scientist in me, but an objective ranking system is much more appealing. One attempt at that is the ranking provided by Flat Track Stats. If you look at the North Central Ranking there, CRG is #5 (still very good). Why the difference? Flat Track Stats uses an algorithm to make the ranking a bit more objective. You can read about the their approach and what goes in their ranking system here. Is that perfect? I say no. My main concern with the FTS algorithm is that they are still using bout results from 2007 to calculate a team's final rank. Clearly that makes it harder for teams on the rise to move up in the ranking. Eventually FTS will need to toss the old data out.

Is there a better system out there? Please leave a comment or send me a note if there is. In the meantime, we'll just have to keep up on bout results and watch teams in the region to see who is improving and who is struggling -- and also decide how non-WFTDA teams fit in the picture.

Right or wrong, sports fans keep up on scores and stats. Flat track derby needs a better system to suck more fans in to the fun.

A Surprise From CRG

2009-01-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised at work last week by a visit from Bex Pistol, one of the Cincinnati Rollergirls. We work for the same company, but at different sites. She was in the building for a meeting and stopped by to say hello. Although I recognized her, it did take a bit since I usually see her on skates and not in her "civilian clothes."

Bex also gave me a poster that shows the CRG home bout schedule for 2009. If you missed my post from last week with the schedule, here it is again. The cool thing about the poster was that quite a few folks from the CRG group took the time to sign it for Dianne and me. That was very nice of all of you to sign the poster. You can see the back of the poster with the signatures below. Thanks much to all!

I did note that Polly Rocket was one of the skaters who signed the poster. Polly was a long time Gem City skater -- doing her share of jamming. I mentioned her in several of my old posts on Earl World. You can read a post about the Holiday Havoc bout (which did include a lot of havoc), and two Gem City and CRG bouts here and here. It's good to know that she has joined the CRG group.

Derby Woodworking Project

2009-01-25T15:26:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago I stumbled across this Boing Boing post that shows a lazy susan type table made out of old skateboard trucks. That would be a good use of old roller skates too! Here is a link to the designer's page.

BBRG 2009 Schedule

2009-01-22T14:31:00.000-05:00

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!

CRG 2009 Schedule

2009-01-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

The Cincinnati Rollergirls (CRG) have announced their 2009 bout schedule. The first home bout is on March 21st against the Hard Knox Rollergirls from Knoxville, TN. I don't know anything about the Hard Knox Rollergirls except what they have on their website. According to the site they are an aspiring WFTDA league, so my guess is they are travelling to battle some WFTDA groups (like CRG) to get support for their effort.

The CRG site also describes several different package options for tickets. We enjoyed our season tickets on the floor last year. This year they offer a couple different options for reserved seating, including "The Flock" seating area on the floor. It'll be interesting to see how that works out.

The CRG group had quite a season last year and moved up the rankings. Can they continue their climb this season? I certainly hope so and I hope to see you there at the bouts.

Quad State Terrors Rollergirls

2009-01-20T15:03:00.001-05:00

If there is one thing you learn quickly about roller derby skaters it is that they are passionate about the sport. I guess that's true of any athlete. But the time commitment derby participation requires, that is above and beyond the other pressures of work and family, makes it seem that much more impressive to me when they pay to play.

So what do derby girls like to do when they have some "spare time?" For the Quad State Terror Rollergirls the answer is skate some more. The Quad State Terrors are a group of skaters from teams in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio that put together a traveling team that skates against other leagues. We saw them for the first time at the tourney in Evansville just before the holidays.

The Terrors have quite a few skaters from the Cincinnati area. I think their challenge is to gel as a group since they aren't practicing a couple times a week together. If they can anticipate each others' actions and communicate effectively, they will be a very successful team and will be a lot of fun to watch.

If you are on MySpace, you can check out their team page here. Their first bout of the season is in Knoxville on February 21st. On February 28th they'll be skating against the Killamazoo Derby Darlins at Skatetown in Cincinnati. The Killamazoo site mentions they finished their 2008 season undefeated. Should be an interesting event -- and it is right in our backyard. Be there to cheer on the Quad State Terrors!

Inaugural Post

2009-01-19T11:04:00.006-05:00

This is the inaugural post to my new blog. Many thanks to Dianne for her graphics help to customize the blog template.

Since August of 2006, I've been including roller derby posts on Earl World. My first post about the first Cincinnati Rollergirl bout was pretty rough and a bit harsh. They've come a long way and, I hope, my derby posts have improved as well.

Dianne and I have been to many of the local flat track derby bouts and we've traveled to a few in cities around the area. I always post my takes on the match along with some photos. Following derby bouts there is always a spike in blog traffic. But I know not all the regular Earl World readers are interested in roller derby posts and most derby fans aren't regular readers of other topics I post about.

So I've decided to split out my derby blogging and keep things together in this blog. I'll still blog about bouts I attend and upcoming events I know about. Comments are always welcome. Leave your thoughts, complaints and criticisms (but not spam). You can also check out derby links in the right sidebar. You'll find links to area teams, blogs, and derby news sites I find interesting.

Most of all, go to a bout in your area and catch the derby fever!