Roller Derby Times

I've Moved!

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 19:39:45 GMT

As of Febuary 2006 I've been a skater on the Bay Area Derby Girls league based out of Oakland, California. To read about skater life in the bay area, check out my new blog.

way back machine

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:15:08 GMT

Lisa Lawless and Rettig to Rumble at last year's Rat City Rollergirls Holiday Party!

Photos

Fri, 09 Sep 2005 04:05:09 GMT

Some great photos from the July bout. Hot enough for you? Come see us next Saturday the 17th at Magnuson Park. Ticket information here.

You can also come find me and the hot ladies of Grave Danger this Saturday at the back bar of Neumos after 9pm. Buy your ticket in person :-D

From Roller Con

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 05:40:28 GMT

Rettig To Rumble and Lisa Lawless

Team Burt Reynolds! (myself and Edie Brickwall)

and more from the talented roller side kick beatnikside.

Bout 6 MVP

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:30:42 GMT

If you went to the Rat City Rollergirls bout on July 23rd, you should vote for an MVP. You could win a prize! Email vote@ratcityrollergirls.com.

Post bout 6

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 17:13:52 GMT

The bout on Saturday was fun, but exhausting. We lost by something like 22 points. We ended up being down by 7 girls in the second period, so our blockers were playing back to back jams. We played as hard as we could. I think I ended up in 6 of the 8 or 9 jams second period. Mentally we were all prepared and ready for it, physically I know I got pretty tired by the last half of the second period. It would have been interesting to see how that game would have gone if we'd had our whole team. Derby Liberation Front played a great game, though. They were hard hitting and clean and losing to them was ok, I think they were truly the better team out there that night.

Interesting to me was that I didn't fall once in the first period. I took hits and kept going, and even knocked a few other girls down along the way. Second period DLF came out hitting hard from the start. I felt like a punching bag. But I think if things were reversed we would have done the same. They were only winning by 9 points even with our measley 10 players. They knew we were down to 9 players so honestly, hitting us hard and wearing us out by having to get up over and over was a smart move.

This was my first game playing the Pivot position. Cool thing about that is you end up in more photos ;)
I have a lot to learn. Its a tough position because you're the last line of defense, but you're also trying to help your jammer through. We sacrificed Basket Casey in one jam to keep Kim Reaper from scoring and I felt awful about it.

More photos here.

No game in August. I'm thankful for the break. Semi finals in September in a bigger venue, and with beer!

ecstasy in the water

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 18:09:28 GMT

As fun as roller derby is, making practice several times a week gets difficult. Every girl on the league has a day job or two or goes to school. We've got lovers and family and hormones and sometimes we just want to go out and have a beer with friends. I've had plenty of days where I fully resent the fact that I've got to make sure I'm drinking enough water, eating enough protein, not having lunch too early or late. My day job happens to be the kind where the work never ends and sometimes leaving work in time to make practice leaves me feeling surly, with the thought of unfinished work clouding my head.

At practice, we're expected to warm up, stretch, lace up, gear up and be skating and ready to work our asses off- leaving all of our outside distractions off the rink. Its probably the hardest moments for me, that transition between 'I don't want to be here today, I can't do this' and the brilliant feeling of bursts of energy as the warmup hits my blood stream.

Our team does 25 laps around the larger track (about 1.5 miles?) as a warm up. By the end of it my legs feel they're about to give out and my back feels incapable of holding my low stance. I hate it and love it. I want to tell my coach to shove it, and I'm gushing with thanks for pushing us to beat our previous time, for not letting us stop for a rest, for yelling at me to get my hands off my knees.

Last night the stars and everything lined up just right so that every single person on my team was working their ass off- and having fun doing it. We're skating with a few players out this bout, so practice involved 2 or more minutes per jam, 2 minutes off, then back again. While we should have become more tired and sloppy, each jam seemed to make us work harder, hit harder, give us more energy.

We finished off practice after an hour of bouting with a drill used at speed skating practice. 6 girls lined up and did a 1 lap race, the next 6 girls lined up for a 1 lap race, then the first group does a 2 lap race, etc up to 3 laps, then back down again to 1 lap. I'm getting better at digging in to the corners so I can cut around the other girls taking a more wide turn. Its taken a lot of work to be able to do this, because the instinct is to think you're going to fall or slip out taking a corner that sharply. The trick is digging in with the thighs to a deeper position, pushing through with both legs (not just your crossing leg) with smooth strides and keeping low. Also, no fear! The end of each race left me feeling like I wanted to collapse- but after the brief rest I was ready to go again. I really didn't want practice to end, and I think most of the team felt the same way.

We were practicing some blocking with partners when I somehow managed to reach out and fully grab the boob of a well endowed teammate. I was doubled over in laughter for at least the next 2 laps around the track. Of course, were this to happen during a bout against another team I'd have to keep my game face on.

Weekend Update

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 04:07:23 GMT

On Saturdays my team picks a trail and meets up in the late morning for some off-rink skating. Alki has become a favorite, with its long trail (starting point just off the bridge exit, ending at the Liberty statue), smooth pavement on long straight stretches, unbeatable view plus additional promotional opportunities.

As is often the case, the weather forecast called for showers on Saturday. It was, in fact, completely gorgeous. I suspect most of us were betting on the skate being canceled and nursing hangovers may have been the reason I was the only team member to show up Saturday.

After a slow start (ok maybe I was also out too late) Henry (a rollergirl in training?) and I made it to the beach in time for the Seafair Pirates comical landing. There was a large crowd and a few even mentioned the rollergirls as I skated by. Little kids love the roller derby outfit. I'm not sure if its the big pads and festive skates or what, but they always stare. Next time will have to remember to bring stickers.

We detoured on the way back. There is a large parking lot with a sloped bank, and a series of ramps up to a lookout. I want to bring the girls back to that spot on our next out door skate.

2 weeks until our next bout. Its the last regular bout of the season, before the championship games. We're playing against Derby Liberation Front. Last game against them was a blast- and also very close. I can't wait for our rematch!