Another derby filled weekend has come and gone. Friday I got to attend Friday open skate from 1-5pm before I saw the Wheels of Justice play Denver's 5280 Fight Club. While the first half started out promising for WoJ, Denver came out strong in the second half and simply would not be beaten. It was a VERY technical game with both teams putting up huge efforts. On Saturday I drove to Salem to watch the High Rollers play the Cherry City Derby Girls. I expected to see HR do well and was not disappointed. Honey Hellfire, Sully Skullkicker, Madame Bumps-a-lot, and White Flight were all but untouchable much of the bout, landing several 10-15+ point jams and playing solid defense as blockers. Also out for HR, Minnie van Mayhem, Intensive Scare, Hurricane Skatrina, Devaskating Diva, Crusher, and others I can't remember were in fine form, helping bring about the 199 points for their team. Lots of fun, and great medicine after being so frustrated with the outcome of the WoJ bout the night before.
Sunday practice was only an hour due to a Rosebuds double-header immediately afterwards. General Anarchy started us off with some drills to get us warmed up followed by a variation on crossovers where we actively block the inside line in the curves while doing crossovers, scary right now... maybe less so later. The horse stance exercises appear to be paying off, Anarchy spent less time than before telling me to get low. Eventually we broke into groups of three and one person had to get by the other two. I ended up with Demon and Next of Ken, Next got the first shot at jammer, and due to my exquisite ineptitude at that exact moment in time, got through in relatively short time. I got the next rotation and spent the rest of the drill show how shitty I was as a jammer, never getting by Demon & Next. On the bright side I did manage to get in plenty of practice getting back up, a very useful skill right now. After Anarchy got tired of watching me pick myself up off the court we went 3 on 3 with one side's skater being designated as a jammer. Once again, everyone got to be jammer, though some were noticeably better than others. Some bumps and knockdowns throughout the drill, but not as bad as the first time we did pack drills. Bees proved to be every bit the wheeled ninja I thought him to be; I really want to see him go head to head against Speed Bump. Sadly, there was no Speed at practice yesterday. Demon took an entirely different approach to jamming, flooring much of the pack with an impressive block from the inside line before cruising through at his leisure. Awesome to watch, somewhat less awesome to be on the receiving end of. Just before practice ended I managed to get my hand skated over in a big pileup, which sucked every bit as much as I was told it would. Fists at all times, even when dialing the phone...
After a painfully fun hour of practice, the RCR Rosebuds A and B teams played, the Kitsap Derby Brats. Both Rosebuds teams played with a skill and intensity that made me jealous, but they are a great team to watch. Somehow I don't remember not getting tired when I was their age... I'll leave you with a picture of me in my new profession: Derby Janitor
Goal for the week: work on side-to-side mobility and awareness.
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