(Crossposted from my blog at ROLLERGAMES.COM)
As someone who has been mainly into flat track, I have noticed that I have been visiting ROLLERGAMES.COM much more often. In my other derby life, I am an executive on an upstart league associated with the Old School Derby Association. OSDA covers all types of derby including flat track and banked track and is gender neutral. Also, the league management are not required to be active skaters. Right now, I am not an active skater, I sometimes consider myself a mediocre skater (but my derby friends say I am definitely improving), but I am a derby fan. How was I to know that watching that old banked track derby when I was a kid was going to eventually turn into a love for our sport?
Being in Arizona, an all flat-track state, I have not given much thought into banked-track derby. But now, I seems that ROLLERGAMES.COM is one of the tabs on my Firefox browser that is always there.
In other words, this Michi-chan has been bitten by the banked-track-bug.
I am very impressed to see that my friends from the various chapters of the RENEGADE ROLLERGIRLS sending in their video auditions. I surely hope that we see skaters like Hellbent Heather, Rainbow Rage and Magnum 357 and perhaps an entire Renegade team casted for any future TV show. I have always had a place in my heart for the Renegades and I think the main reason why is that they don't find themselves in the derby drama that has been known to happen at the other leagues. Some may not take the Renegades seriously because of their "no rules" attitude, especially in this day of women's flat track derby's ever growing rule book. I think the "no rules" style of derby is a good addition to any multi-league market. Here in Phoenix, we have three (soon to be four) leagues, so there is something for everyone or as I have been saying with my "I WANT MORE DERBY" campaign, come out and check out all of the leagues and just support roller derby, overall.
I have been sitting on the fence about ROLLERGAMES until now. I have heard from some in the DIY flat track community who feel that the idea is just overall tacky. I have heard from some that it is a great idea. I have my own take on the idea. I feel that you can have a show with the derby action with kind of the Renegades antics (just the golden rule.. do on to others...) and the off-track drama like the old derby and professional wrestling, but I feel that the on-track action should be real and not orchestrated. I think that we can have an exciting show with a standard oval banked track (not that silly figure-8 stuff) and please David Sams for the love of derby, no alligators, no electric chairs, just pure derby. In this day of reality TV, I think that a real roller derby competition with a real outcome and a real winner would definitely pick up audience acceptance. I would hope that ROLLERGAMES would periodically do a short piece on the show and a section of the website about the existing DIY leagues. I think that it would get more people interested and see local roller derby action while remaining loyal to the show and it will encourage men and women to join local leagues and who knows, they may be the next roller-stars on ROLLERGAMES.
Again, best of luck to my RENEGADES and to the other skaters who are trying out for the show. Hopefully the show will preserve the fundamental aspects of our sport and do it in an entertaining way as long as it does not turn into a flea circus.
AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE RESPECT THE MASTER ROSTER!
(Opinions expressed are those of Michi-chan as an individual and does not reflect the opinions of VFRD or the OSDA.)
