Derby lovers, here we are again. The derby season is about to get into high gear here in Arizona. TRD had a great way to open the month by showing evidence that your Michi needs to move to Tucson and attend the Helen Wheels school of skating correctly.
Let's talk derby. AZDD, AZRD, TRD and Brats!
COMMENTARY
AZDD
Let's open this time with the Dames. First of all, congratulations to the Brutal Beauties for sweeping the mini-tournament (again). Perhaps the Runaway Brides' win last year was just an anomoly. I hope the Bombshells show some promise this year. Some have told me that they are mainly a fresh meat team, but don't let that intimidate you.. My heart is still Bombshell red.
I did see the pictures from the bout that were published online at the New Times as well as some of the fan and skater shots that were floating on the net. I will admit, the stage and the projection screens looked really neat. Kind of a mix between roller derby and Lalopalooza, it looked good for the concert (we go to derby bouts to see a concert, right?) but ehhh for derby. But the portable lighting was the bomb. Here you are in this darkened arena and you have this event taking place and it's only being lit by these portable lights. Reminds me of something from the aftermath of the post World War 3 when people would break into the abandoned venues to play their games. The lighting seemed to also be a challenge for the New Times photographer because the lighting issues were definitely noticable in some of the shots.
Appears also that fans were not allowed to come to the floor. They had to sit a distance away from the track. I even noticed some photos with fans in the "nosebleed" section. The word that came back to MCRD was that the Dames was able to pull in over 1,200 (twelve hundred or, four figures), which for a derby bout in Arizona is very impressive. In due time, I am sure that the Dames will build a little more base especially now that they have breathing room and there will be no more turnbacks. The AZDD is addressing some issues with the bout and they are collecting feedback. If you are on MySpace, feel free to send them a message with any feedback if you attended the bout.
The Coliseum is the largest venue being used for roller derby.. for now. Starting this Saturday, the Rat City Rollergirls in Seattle will be using the Key Arena, current home of the Seattle Sonics. Before I pass too much judgement on the Dames use of the Coliseum, I will need to see how Rat City does it there. Perhaps they will use portable lights too.
Despite my critisism, I wish the skaters in the Dames a very safe and successful season.
AZRD
During the TCT vs. San Diego bout in the second period, San Diego skater Lemon Drop took a major hit off of The Bone Setter. This hit resulted in Lemon Drop getting a dislocated jaw. Based on MCRD footage, it appears that Bone Setter, a taller skater transplanted from Minnesota, squatted down to try to give a shoulder to shoulder hit on Lemon Drop. Unfortuantely, her shoulder was just a little too high and Bone made contact with Lemon Drop's jaw. My thoughts are with Lemon Drop and I wish her a speedy recovery and all the best.
Coming up this Saturday for AZRD, we finally see the return of the 2008-09 regulation season. With the changed schedule, we have the 1-0 Bruisers taking on the 0-2 Surly Gurlies. This will be the Surly's last chance to save themselves for this season. I have heard that Rayna Rage will be skating for the Surlys. This is good news for them as Rayna is one of AZRD's faster jammers and will be a great complement to Dianasaurus Wrexx. I also welcome one of my long time friends Mz. Mazzeppa to the Surlys. Mazz was originally at AZRD, then went to AZDD and has come back home to AZRD. The Bruisers will be hopefully skating Shirley Demise, Angela Darkness and Shedonist. Of course we will all miss Denise Lightning. I did chat for a moment with Denise Lightning at the TCT bout and she told me that she has pretty much retired from daily derby life. She will continue to play exhibition games for Team Awesome. I am looking forward to seeing her skate again sometime soon.
The Michi-chan Derby Love Tour will be at the Castle Sports Club this Saturday for the AZRD bout. Remember, doors open at 6:30PM and bouting begins at 7. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Advance ticket information is available at azrollerderby.com.
TRD
This past week, TRD has thrown two fundraisers to help the Saddletramps get to the Four Corner Feud in Colorado Springs later this month. First it was a party at the Surly Wench last Saturday. Then on Monday night, Dan the Plumber and I took the Michi-chan Derby Love Tour to Skate Country and for the first time may of the adult TRD skaters saw how pathetic I skated. I could make excuses, so I will. It was the dark floor at Skate Country. When you have an open skate, please please please turn on the lights so we can see. The darkness at the rink was really messing with my sense of balance. I only had one nasty fall when I fell right on my ass after talking to Pixie. Thank god I was wearing pads and wrist guards that night.
Let's talk about Pixie. As you all remember from the last episode of MCRD, Pixie from the Derby Brats has turned 18 and has graduated from the program. We are happy to announce that not only has Pixie been drafted to the Iron Curtain, she's also on the Saddletramps! Pixie told me she is going to use the name "Lucifer" for the Iron Curtain bouts. So good bye Pixie and good luck Lucifer. Now, TRD has a Lucifer and a Skeletor. Throw in some of Jackrabbit Slam's giant robots and you will have something like a very strange Japanese manga.
Coming up this Saturday, TRD will play their first bout of the season. Actually, it will be 6 15-minute mini-bouts. The schedule will emulate the regular season schedule for the rest of the year. Also, I am hearing that these mini-bouts will count towards standings. What this means is that at the end of this weekend, each of the 4 TRD teams will have stats and standings for three bout each. Let's see how this all works out. You can see the match-ups for the roundrobin at michichan.com. Just click on 'standings' and then on 'Tucson Roller Derby'.
The doors open at Bladeworld at 6:30PM and the action starts at 7. Please visit tucsonrollerderby.com for more information including your last chance to purchase tickets in advance!
I want to personally conrgatulate Sami Automatic, the new TRD president. We did have a chance to talk a little on Monday night but I will say that I do look forward to the relationship between TRD and MCRSP for the 2009 season.
BRATS
The Saddlebrats are alive and well. This will be their first bout as a travel team in quite awhile. You will get a chance to see them twice on Saturday. First, they will be holding their own bout at Bladeworld at 4:30PM. Doors open at 4. Admission is only $5. Come down and see our Brats take on the Los Angeles Junior Dolls. Then, during the TRD bout, the Brats and the LA Jr. Dolls will play a 20 minute mini-bout against each other.
So Arizona, this weekend, you are not too far away from some awesome derby. This weekend may set a few paces in each league. Hang in there.
Just a reminder of the current Derby Love Tour dates:
2/7 - AZRD: Surly Gurlies v Bruisers @ Castle (*^u^*)
2/20 - RRG: AZ Renegades v Orange County Renegades @ 5th/Madison (*^u^*)
3/7 - TRD: Vice Squad v FTW @ Bladeworld (*^u^*)
3/14 - AZRD: Brawlarinas v Beaters @ Castle (*^u^*)
4/11 - AZRD: Bruisers v Beaters @ Castle (*^u^*)
5/9 - TRD: Iron Curtain v Vice Squad @ Bladeworld (*^u^*)
5/16 - AZRD: Semi-final @ Castle (*^u^*)
5/30 - TRD: FTW v Copper Queens @ Bladeworld (*^u^*)
6/27 - Interleague: AZRD v Pikes Peak @ Castle (*^u^*) (may be postponed until later in the year)
8/15 - This is my birthday and it falls on a Saturday this year. I will be somewhere that night, even if it's not Arizona. Right now, the pillows at the Duke City Holiday Inn seem oh-so-fluffy! (sorry Wierd Al)
Until we chat again...
SKATE HARD
SKATE SAFE
DERBY LOVE
MICHI-CHAN
=m
