What's Your Weapon of Choice?

Hey Derby Kids! Both "the League" and our Heartless lovelies are doing a Fan Favourite survey. Votes for both contests need to be in by Friday 7/30 @ Midnight with Winners to be announced on Saturday.

 Cast you votes today!
Heartless Heathers

Rose City Rollers 

If you haven't checked out the FUNd raising activities scheduled for this weekend, hit the RCR site to learn all about Skate O'thon and the WoJ WaSH too!

Roller Rama this weekend!

Does this recent summer lull in derby activity have you feeling down, like me? Tired of watching hours and hours of archived bout footage on-line just to try and fill the void? Well, head on down to Salem this weekend and get your derby fix! Cherry City is hosting Roller Rama this Saturday. It’s a roller derby event where Cherry City is introducing their four new home teams (the Dolls of Anarchy, the Panty Raiders, the Rydell Belles, and the Thrill Kill Kittens), and it sounds like it’s going to be a blast!

I sat down with Edie Disorder, captain of the Thrill Kill Kittens, and asked her a few questions about this weekend’s bout. Here is what she had to say.

George: What is the format of the bout going to be like? Are all four teams going to play against each other?

Edie Disorder: It’s going to be one regulation bout. We’re combining the Thrill Kill Kittens and the Panty Raiders into one team, and playing against a combined team of the Rydell Belles and the Dolls of Anarchy.

George: Are the teams pretty evenly matched, or are there any noticeable strengths/weaknesses that either team has?

Edie Disorder: We’re pretty evenly matched. A generalization would be to say that the Thrill Kill Kittens and the Panty Raiders are jammer-heavy, and the Rydell Belles and the Dolls of Anarchy are somewhat blocker-heavy, but that’s just a generalization. We’re on a pretty even playing field skill-wise, I would say. The league has its share of experienced hockey players and speed skaters, as well as girls with not that much experience. It’s a diverse group.

George: Will we see any familiar faces from RCR at this bout?

Edie Disorder: Butcher Block and Smack Ya Sideways will be coaching the combined team of the Rydell Belles and the Dolls of Anarchy, and Viagrrra Falls and Skatie Kat will be coaching the combined team of the Thrill Kill Kittens and the Panty Raiders.


So there you have it derby fans – a place to get your derby fix this weekend! I always enjoy going to Cherry City bouts. The venue at the fairgrounds is great, and they have a GIANT screen with instant replays. It’s awesome. I catch myself staring at the screen more than the live action sometimes. It spoiled me, and now I want instant replays at every roller derby bout! Also, this weekend there will be a classic car show going on right outside of the bout, so that’s even more of an incentive to make the journey down to Cherry City and get your summertime derby fix. I’ll see you there!

Entering our "Terrible Twos"

I couldn't allow the day to pass without reminding everyone that today marks the second anniversary of the birth of this here blog. It's hard for me to believe it's only been two years. Rummaging through the old posts, I am amazed at some of the great content I had forgotten about and amused by some of the stupid sh!t I have said over the last two years.

Speaking of stupid sh!t...DNN Power Rankings for July were announced yesterday. It appears the Easties have elected to bump Philly up three spots, past two teams they lost to earlier this year. Philly's win over Denver came with a cost in position to both Rose City and the Ratz. A bitterly ironic move given the fact that our WoJ-ster's had beaten Philly, AGAIN in a scrimmage at ECE a week before the rankings . Needless to say, controversy out West followed quickly.

As a rule, I like the concept of the Power Rankings and what the charm-ing "East Coast Focused" folks at DNN have been trying to bring to the sport. From their very beginnings they have attempted to elevate awareness and activity around the sport. They have also not given much press to the West. When I said in one my previous posts that we were "blessed" with DNN coverage at the Wild West Showdown...I was being a passive aggressive d!ck.

Though I am a financial contributor, an avid reader and a lover of the online derby bouts on DNN, I'm also a realist. They have taken on a big job, trying to cover a sport with 555 registered leagues Worldwide with no major budget and a handful of people. In the olden days, if we wanted West Coast news, we turned to Elwood's blog. Hell even the folks at DNN turned to Elwood's blog until they burned that bridge.

I realize that they're stirring the pot a bit, which drives site traffic for them and feeds their sustainability. Frankly, their rankings are only good for water cooler chat and flame wars. All that really matters is getting into Regionals and being one of the Top 3 when that tourney ends...which is a tougher task if you play in the Best Division or as WFTDA calls us, the West Division.

Hopefully this "Dis" from the mighty DNN will help motivate, focus and drive our ladies in Purple. They have some big bouts ahead of them. The Hometown Throwdown in August with BADg, Rat and Gotham followed by Regionals in October.

As that unfolds, hopefully our boy George will treat us to some more of his awesome updates like he did at ECE.