The hottest debate going on all over the derby community right now is not about whether or not to use it, so much as how to get rid of it. I think I have a solution that won’t change the fundamental principles of the game. If you want to be rid of patient offense, then you have to get rid of the reasons to use it.

Why Is This Happening?

Patient offense is a great “equalizer.” Your team doesn’t necessarily need to be able to block the other team’s blockers if your team can simply have the “patience” to line out and stand there while the pack disintegrates to set your jammer free. Some teams are going to be better at holding back the jammer than others, but as soon as the jammer gets free, she’s going to be back again in about eight seconds.

Patient offense usually gets the other team into penalty trouble, as well. The longer your jammer gets held up, the better the chance an opposing blocker is going to block clockwise or get out of play. You start with a power jam; you end up with a four-on-two blocker advantage when the power jam is over. Power jam extended.

Finally, in the new world of mathematically-based WFTDA rankings, where point spread is so important, your team is likely going to use whatever strategy it can to rack up point totals. If you want to move up the rankings ladder, you have to run up the score even after the game is well out of hand, which in most sports is considered poor sportsmanship. With the advent of the new rule set, we’ve seen the average combined scores for sanctioned games going through the roof. It’s not at all unusual to see games with over 500 points scored, while all those 145-85 games seem to be rare and curious throwbacks.

Rule Changes & Big Big Scores

Rules changes over the years have made it increasingly easy to score mad points, and it is a trend that has been building for years.

Back in 2008, a 25-point jam was a jaw-dropping, athletic feat. If you’re an old-timer like me, I bet you can still remember when Kelley Young (Snot Rocket) from Kansas City, Kamikaze Kim from Duke City (now Rat City), Kola Loka from Windy City, and of course Bonnie (The Michael Jordan of Roller Derby) Thunders crossed the 20-point barrier in a single jam. Those were memorable jams that fostered the legends of those all-time great jammers. But, that was back when packs were flying, and old speed-skaters ruled the flat-track.

Stricter pack definition and track-cutting rules, coupled with innovations in pack speed control, made the 25-point jam old hat, and 20-point jams the standard. Prior to 2012, the highest scoring single jam in WFTDA-sanctioned play was 39 points. Since 2012, and the advent of patient offense, there have been more than fourteen 40+ point jams. That’s because packs are not moving and jammers get more passes per minute. The new WFTDA rule set seems to be hardest on jammers, so we are definitely seeing more and more power jams per game. More power jams plus more points per power jam means higher and higher point totals for BOTH teams.

Power Jamming: To Skate or Not to Skate

Even acknowledging that power jams are likely to even out a bit as jammers learn to adjust their style to better suit the new rules, you can’t deny that as long as you have power jams, you are going to have patient offense. Since patient offense is so unbelievably difficult to defend, teams are going to continue to use it to score heaps of points fast. A team can be down by 80, late in the first half, but with patient offense, the game isn’t over by a long shot.

If you are of the mind that patient offense is just the latest strategy and people will eventually get used to it, then there’s no problem. If nothing changes, then that’s just what you’re going to see during a power jam. Fans will eventually get used to it, too. (We hope.) Maybe you just think it’s up to teams to get better at defending against patient offense, rendering it ineffective, which is an excellent point, except that it doesn’t address the “watchability” or marketability of the game.

The majority of discussion that I’ve seen, though, wants to be rid of patient offense now. Some teams are seeing their ticket sales dwindle as a result of spectator complaints, because fans liked derby when it was “fast” and don’t like watching teams just standing there while the other team–the team that’s actually doing what the fans want to see–is getting thrown off the track for doing it. Some people argue that inflated scores are skewing rankings and making blowouts more and more common, even among relatively well-matched teams. Others say, you shouldn’t be able to win derby by actively not playing derby.

Whatever side you’re on, you have to admit that patient offense helps win games. It may not be fun to play or to watch, but your chances of scoring big points are drastically increased by using it. Not to mention, that it’s a perfectly “legal” strategy (although one could argue that just because something isn’t illegal, doesn’t mean that it is fair or acceptable). Like it or not, though, it actually does take a certain amount of discipline and savvy to get it right. Forty-point jams might be a consequence of patient offense, but it’s not something to dismiss out of hand. It still takes skill and prowess to pull off a lunker like that under any circumstances.

Drastic Measures

What frightens me most is that some of the solutions I’ve seen offered to rid derby of patient offense would have severe and unintended repercussions for parts of the game that are still exciting, athletic and fun. It’s like swatting a fly with a shotgun.

Mandating forward motion, for instance, seems like it would create a lot of unnecessary problems. What if I’m at the front of the pack, and my teammates are walling up in back? Mandating forward motion means I can’t hustle back to them. It means I have to slowly roll forward hoping they eventually catch me. It means I can’t reverse the jammer at the last possible second, nineteen feet from the front of the pack, and save the day with an unbelievably athletic and perfectly-time block while the crowd goes crazy. I don’t think that would mark the death of patient offense anyway. I think teams would still line out and skate very slowly forward on power jams.

Mandating a set standard for “pack speed” is going to create MORE penalties based on subjective interpretations of pack speed. And, let’s face it, if your pack is doing its job, then you SHOULD be drastically speeding up and slowing down the pack to your team’s advantage. Why punish good blocking?

Maybe you’re going to be rid of patient offense, but you’re also going to eradicate parts of the game that are fun to watch and fun to play and a good part of what makes our sport so elegant and complex. You can’t fight lawyer derby by making legal things illegal. Patient offense is a loophole. Creating whole new sets of rules simply creates more loopholes.

A Modest Proposal

I have a modest proposal that would eliminate the usefulness of patient offense (at least it would greatly diminish the number of times during a typical game where it would be beneficial) without drastically changing the basic precepts of the game.

If you want to eliminate patient offense, then you need to eliminate power jams.

WAIT! Keep reading! I’m not a complete lunatic. This could work.

Here’s how we can do away with power jams without giving jammers a free pass to cheat. (Let’s take a happy moment of fond remembrance for the ancient and glorious days of WFTDA Rules 1.1. Ah, that’s better.)

First of all, jammers would obviously still get penalties. Those penalties would be tracked just like normal. Jammers still foul out if they are (caught being) very naughty seven times.

However, jammers would not leave the track. There would be no seat for the jammer in the penalty box. (I bet I’ve got the jammers’ attention now, don’t I.) Here’s the thing, though. When a jammer commits a penalty–or rather when a jammer gets caught committing a penalty–her entire pass is rendered an “Illegal Pass.”

The Illegal Pass

There were days not long ago before the “any pass” rules, when a jammer would not get lead or score a point if she committed a minor penalty (remember minor penalties… what were we thinking?). This would be a similar concept, but now that major penalty would have a major consequence. If the jammer does something illegal to gain an advantage on a pass, then that whole pass is forfeit.

When a jammer is on an Illegal Pass, nothing counts. She can’t get lead. She can’t score points. In order to get lead or score points, the jammer needs to finish her Illegal Pass and restart that same pass her next time around. (Sorry, Jammers. Try to behave next time around.) A jammer is only eligible to score points or get lead jammer on a Legal Pass.

As soon as the jammer commits a penalty, her jam ref would signal the penalty and report it to the tracker. The jam ref would then wave the Illegal Pass signal for the remainder of the Illegal Pass (maybe pat his head while rubbing his belly, or something less fun like the signal we now use for Not Lead Jammer). The jammer, her team, the officials, and the crowd know that she is currently unable to score or get lead jammer, and she’s going to have to get out and restart that pass. Do over! (Really exhausting, time-consuming, do-over.)

The Illegal Pass would be a serious consequence and would take away any advantage a jammer might get from “cheating” during a pass. Even if she were to cut the track in order to escape the pack on her already Illegal Pass, she’d still be racking up penalties towards fouling out.

If she does foul out during a jam, then she would not be able to score points or get lead during that entire jam. Every pass would be illegal. When the jam is over, she is removed from the game.

That pretty much does it. The Illegal Pass would eliminate the power jam. The elimination of the power jam would make patient offense far less useful and far less frequently utilized.

Bye Bye, Power Jams. Hello, F#@k You, Get Past Me Roller Derby.

Power jams can ruin good, back-and-forth game, and skew the point spread. How many times have you said that the score wasn’t a good reflection of the how good the game was? I bet a dime to a dollar that’s because that game ended with a big power jam. If the score wasn’t a good reflection of the competition, then the power jam that generated that score is probably not the best reflection of the skill of the two teams involved.

Not to mention that power jams are often much harsher punishments than whatever advantage was gained by the crime. I’ve seen a game turn on a big power jam in the last two minutes, because a jammer’s mouthguard barely slipped out over her lips. (An inch is a mile!) I mean, come on. Sixty minutes of all out war, sweat and blood, and a mouthguard completely ruins the whole deal? Heartbreaking and misleading.

I realize that power jams are exciting. However, do you honestly feel that power jams are the best measure of competition? I think four blockers versus four blockers playing offense and defense at the same time, with two jammers fighting for two minutes to score points is the best measure of derby prowess. That’s the trenches. That’s where the excuses end and you either put up or shut up. That’s the very measure of May the Better Team Win.

We’d miss power jams for a while, but I think we’d miss them like we miss any contrivance, like penalty wheels or alligators in the infield. I think it would make the game more honest, frankly, and more fair.

So, if you’re serious about getting rid of patient offense–and, if you want to be careful that your solution doesn’t mutilate the game in a dozen unintended ways–then you should really consider how much we really need power jams.

Think about it, and please keep in mind that Quad Loves You and wants you to be happy. Thanks for reading.

Featured image by LeVar Hurtin’ (source).

Let’s get in our time machine and go back a few years. Back in the day, Derby News Network and broadcasting games was one in the same. If there was a tournament, more often than not DNN would be there to cover it. The DNN website became the place to watch bouts, even though the production and video was amateurish at best in the early years all was forgiven just for the chance to be able to see a game that was 2,000 or more miles away. At the same time DNN, began to ask for more money through its contribution drives giving people who were watching the games at home a chance to kick in donations to help keep the stream alive. I figured my money was going towards better equipment to help the stream, new cameras, new microphones, paying for camera men’s salaries, etc. At the time I was not only willing to work for free but to donate money to do so that the stream would stay alive. When I was contacted in 2010 to be a part of the DNN Brewhaha announce team, I declined gas money from them and said, “I haven’t donated this year, put it back into the stream.” That same trip, I discovered things weren’t what they seemed.

Although DNN was broadcasting the games, it generally wasn’t them setting up the video crews. Instead, the local leagues were booking and paying for the video crews and then allowed DNN to control it from the production end. I guess the thought was, “Well you brought the encoder to upload the feed to the web, and you do all the other tournaments, so you should do this one too.” The even crazier part was DNN was schilling their own sponsors and presumably collecting money from them for it but not giving the hosting leagues of these tournaments a cut of that sponsorship money. The leagues were recouping the costs of filming the event by selling DVDs of the games or just straight up eating the costs. This set up a business model that a) Allowed DNN to sell sponsorship for video content they didn’t produce and b) Allowed DNN to claim ownership of this content as their own. In the real world, a distributor would pay for the product, which did not happen here. So to recap: Not paying for the cameras, not paying for the talent, not paying for the tech crew, yet somehow having full creative control and getting to keep all of the money from sponsorships? If you think this is a good deal for anyone but DNN, then you probably think the Louisiana Purchase was a fair trade as well.

Draggin Lady of the Rose City Rollers was one of the first people to stand up to this lopsided business model when she was doing production work for the West Regional Playoff hosting league, Sacred City. Together they told DNN that they would not be covering the West Regional playoffs in 2010. This was not taken well as DNN had already sold sponsorships for content they did not own. Draggin’s reputation suffered from it, as uniformed people who were unaware of what was happening behind closed doors in terms of sponsorships and creative control left multiple comment threads/Facebook posts blasting her, made multiple threatening prank phone calls, and even a death threat. And while Draggin was the first, she certainly wasn’t the last, as ECDX took firm control of their video rights as well in 2011. WFTDA as a whole followed suit and decided to move the entire Big 5 out of DNN’s hands and put on their own production.

This brings us to today and this editorial, “Pay Per View: The Enemy of Success,” in which DNN points to six different reasons why this model doesn’t/won’t work. These points tend to come back to the same two points: People don’t get it for free and thus less people see it. Allow me to address three key points to this argument. 1. Price 2. Television 3. Who is watching?

Under the WFTDA.TV model, you have 3 options: 1) Buy a regional playoff tournament for $12 2) Buy the Championship weekend for $20 or 3) Buy everything for $50. RDIT friend/constant comment section devil’s advocate John Maddening said to me, “It’s 71 cents a bout if you buy a 3-day $12 package.” If you paid $50 to get all five tournaments, that breaks down to 15 days’ worth of roller derby consisting of 80 bouts at 62 cents a bout. In comparison, monthly UFC and WWE pay per views cost $55 for 2.5-3 hours’ worth of action. $55 for 3 hours vs. $50 for 15 DAYS, all of which is carried via a high quality multiple camera set up.  On top of this, this is if you are one person. I generally don’t watch sports alone and when I do get things on pay per view, I have my friends give me a few bucks for it.

If your argument is “but it’s not free,” I can’t argue that point and I concede to you, yes it’s not free. But, I can say that you get what you pay for. Blaze Streaming Media knows how to shoot roller derby and they do it well with 3 or 4 high quality camera set-ups. WFTDA.TV also has a solid stable of volunteers working for them including a few who have a background in television and are genuine sports fans who understand what sports show is suppose to sound and look like. This brings me to the announcing which has grown leaps and bounds over the past two years as the WFTDA and AFTDA have partnered together to make sure that the people who are talking about the game can actually do their jobs. Gone are inexperienced skaters who have never called a game before talking about how drunk they will be at the after party and in their place are announcers who take great pride in their craft. You get what you pay for and everything that WFTDA.TV is doing is better and worth the money I am paying for it.

Why are people still talking about roller derby being on television in 2012? WFTDA, under its current model, is never ever going to be television in the way we know it today. As of September 2012, there are 160 full member leagues and 87 apprentice leagues internationally. What network(s) are going to be able to carry that many games with that many leagues? The closest model is Division 1A NCAA football, which has 119 teams and is carried by multiple cable channels on Saturdays, and still you can’t see every game. There is no way that 247 derby teams are getting that kind of coverage. The only way this would be feasible is if someone did something much smaller like an eight-team league and did weekly featured match ups.

What television, can’t do, the internet can. You don’t have to convince a television executive to air your content or worry about being renewed for next season.  You can broadcast as many games as you want, whenever you want, as long as you have the money and bandwidth to do so. At some point, the internet and television are going to be the same thing, so the need to be on television really shouldn’t exist because it’s not needed. At the same time, what is expected out of an internet broadcast in 2012 is at a much higher standard than it was just five years ago. With this type of technology available, why would you not want to see roller derby at this level of quality and professionalism? And again, at this point WFTDA is not beholden to a network but to themselves, their sponsors, and their fans.

Finally, let’s talk about who is watching these games. Roller derby is going to continue to grow, but currently it’s a niche sport or hobby. I know a lot of people don’t want to hear that. I know for a lot of people this is their life, their identity, and they want the rest of the world to love it as much as they do, but you have to realize that they don’t and that’s fine. I work out with five guys who play rugby and it’s very important to them. And while I think its great that they go scrum it up every Saturday, ultimately I don’t care. The same way they don’t care that I create artwork, the same way people don’t care that you play roller derby or not.

The arguments that pay per view aren’t good for roller derby don’t have much in the way of teeth. Even when the tournament streams were free on DNN, the average person didn’t know about them, hell they didn’t even know what Derby News Network was. Let me ask you this: what is the most popular lacrosse website or rugby website? Do you know where you can watch field hockey games? Without a large marketing campaign that not only tells the world about roller derby and where to watch it, then it doesn’t matter if it’s free or not. You can’t watch what you don’t know exists.

WFTDA realizes this; they realize that roller derby exists in a microcosm with a small (albeit rabid) fan base. And they are banking on the fact that you will pay to see the Big 5 because you are emotionally invested. You want to see the teams you love win, you want to see the teams you hate lose, and all the action, excitement, and drama that comes with it. If you want roller derby to succeed, to be available to you watch, then you are going to have to pay for it, the same way you would pay for a ticket if you went to see a game in another city between two leagues. What is the average ticket for a live derby double header? $10, $15, or $20? For $12 per playoff, you are getting to see 10 of the Top 40 teams in the world play for 3 straight days.

Am I saying the DNN fund drive model is wrong? No, I am not. I personally found it annoying in the past when I would go to DNN and when I opened a new page, another “donate to DNN” link would pop up. I question where my money is going if I did decide to donate to them and what it’s being spent on, but I am not saying it’s wrong for others. If you want to have a fund drive, have a fund drive, if you want to donate money to DNN then do so. Obviously, there are multiple ways to fund these projects.

DNN is now streaming USARS and MRDA games this year. I can’t speak to whether their business model and sponsorship contracts have changed, but these streams are free to anyone who wants to tune in. The quality of the video production for these games continues to be a crapshoot and sometimes doesn’t include vital graphics (score, clock, etc.). Honestly, I am happy to see USARS and MRDA streaming their games online because competition breeds innovation, and I hope the same can be said for DNN and its video production and streams.

Like or not, The Big 5 for 2012 is pay per view only. Will it stay that way? Who knows? But what I do know is that WFTDA.TV is presenting the sport of roller derby, emphasis on the word “sport,” on the highest-quality level I have ever seen. The games are presented like a real sport with previews and interviews, the announcers are talking about strategy and informing the viewer, and the picture is so good that I can see the mustaches drawn on the Chicago Outfit’s players’ faces. It may not be free, but as I said before, “you get what you pay for,” and with the quality of content that WFTDA.TV is producing, I am more than willing to pay for it.

-About the author: Anthony “Tank” Mansfield is a retired roller derby announcer and a founding member of the Announcers of Flat Track Derby Association (AFTDA).  He plans to spend the 2013 Cincinnati Rollergirls home season, tailgating, sitting in corner 1, and writing previews and recaps for all their games. When he isn’t watching roller derby on his laptop, he can found creating artwork (www.anthonytankmansfield.com and www.ghostempirecollective.com) , preparing for his upcoming wedding, and spending time with his fiancée, retired Cincinnati Rollergirl Miss Print, and their smelly Boston terrier, Doyle Von Frankenstein.

My worst moment as an NSO happened when no one was really paying attention or cared except for me—and Professor Murder but he is just a caring individual. During a bout at Nightmare on 95, I also totaled the score wrong. I had just had a quick check-in with my jam ref to make sure I’d recorded all the passes correctly in the last jam. It looked good to us, but then I made the mistake of adding the jam total with the old number. It took a couple of jams to notice the error, but I caught it during a routine check (done every 5 jams and every stoppage of play, normally swapping with my partner but not in this case). The trouble was the next jam had started. This error was compounded by having to recording new passes while trying to fix the old total. Jam ends. (Note for those NSOs playing at home, this is when you should ask for an Official Timeout and beg forgiveness). I spent another jam trying to fix “The Mistake” and my brain went blank with stress burning in my ears. When we finally paused the action to get it right it was about 5 jams after the original error. I now know that I am human and more than capable of mistakes, and most importantly I understand the strength required to ask for help. This was a blowout and the score didn’t make a difference. But every game is important and every game is ripe for game-affecting mistakes even if it’s just yet another Official Timeout. Oh, and it happened to my scoring partner the very next day, but I caught when we began doing regular checks of each other’s work. We made mistakes, but working together we fixed them before they became a larger problem.

These nightmares should teach us two things. First, we need to recognize that all positions are important and worthy of people committed and capable of doing the job right. The recently unveiled WFTDA NSO Certification is a huge step in the right direction here. NSO Certification will help guide NSOs as they level up and emphasize the positions where they excel. This provides a roadmap for the individual and a roster of qualified NSOs for those needing to staff bouts of all levels. Penalty tracking and management is important but it is only part of the whole. In the old days of derby, the bout paperwork was signed off by the scorekeeper, they were the final say in the bout on the NSO side. When a bout has gone wrong, it can be impossible to make sense of it without accurate lineups. Monumental Mayhem showed me the potential of individuals to excel at even the lowly outside whiteboard position. My crew’s whiteboard officials went above the norm and developed their own system to reduce and clarify duplicate penalties using subtle but swift communication. It’s important that NSOs speak openly about their strengths and weaknesses and what positions they are not comfortable performing. It’s also important that the crew heads and even our fellow NSOs ensure that their crew members are up to the job as well. Feedback should be continuous and frequent. We should not wait for evaluations; instead, we should openly talk about our performance at every opportunity. The crew working last Saturday should have known everyone’s relative strengths and weaknesses so that they could function as a unit. If the scorekeeping team had been working together more, then the misstep would have been caught earlier.

Second, as a derby community we need to recognize that the bout is not over at the fourth whistle. It’s not over until the last penalty is recorded, the last second coming off the clock is verified by the jam timer and the last point is recorded and checked by both scorekeepers. Roller derby is a complex sport in that there are no stoppages in play for penalties and points can be scored in the hundreds. In the past, labeling the tally at the end of the last period as the “Unofficial Score” sometimes meant that the score could change a bit but the game was generally done. After so many years of play at all levels, a score reversal, or in this case a tie, was bound to happen in a “bout that mattered.” Every NSO knows that the information visible to skaters, referees and fans is often out of date—or worse—wrong. These “visible facts” are not the truth. The jam timer can adjust the clocks when they disagree. Late minors may not be recorded in time for bench coaches to realize it until it’s too late for them to make changes. The scoreboard can only be updated as quickly the scorekeeper can do math and verify with the jam referee. A coach playing to the visible facts may miss that their next jammer has three (not two) minors going into the final jam (Rose City vs Windy City). A team rallying from behind might miss that the opposing jammer has unreported points going into the box and start celebrating a tying jam that actually fell short (Philly vs B.A.D.). It’s a system full of human error and less than realtime results. Some of this may be helped by technology, but “to err is human” and technology may only mask the underlying issues.

So what now? RDIT kicked around a few options. The score as played while incorrect could stand giving Minnesota the victory and a sad asterisk to go alongside it (The “Scoreboard Rules” solution). The corrected tie score could stand and the results would be dealt with somehow in a game where there are no ties (The “Reactive Change” solution). Either score could stand and the game simply loses its sanctioning and serves as a cautionary tale (The “Null Game” solution). It’s up to the WFTDA Games people to decide, but you know what I want? I want that missing overtime jam, that would have been awesome right?

Caesar

No minors. I’m gonna bet five bucks (this does not reflect my confidence, but my poverty) that no minors easily passes and is installed, and that by summer WFTDA sanctioned games (and by extension, a vast majority of all games) will be played under a new rule set that eliminates minor penalties. This will be the greatest improvement in the sport since it was invented.

Quad Almighty

I started thinking about this and realized that, where derby is concerned, I spend TOO MUCH time thinking down the road.

I’m always thinking about how this win/loss affects our ranking/seeding/juxtaposition down the road with teams A, B, or C in tournament X so that once we get to Regionals we are lined up to play team Y on Friday, which will give us the best opportunity to finish in [?] place, etc. I watch derby and think about how Watertown matches up against Stickburg who demolished Fence City and how does that affect our ranking? I’m always concerning myself with rule changes, rankings, regions, divisions, strategy innovations…  I worry so much about the future of the sport that I forget to actually enjoy the sport RIGHT NOW.

I think that much stress and burn-out comes from this filtering of the present through the future. I’m fixing that in 2012. I’m going to celebrate more derby. In 2012, I am going to be more present. I’m going to enjoy the wins, and learn from losses. I’m going to give today more of my energy. I’m going to make “fun” and “rewarding” the keywords of my 2012.

Don’t Hate. Celebrate. 2012.

Tank

Changing the Rankings.  Rumors have been flying around for the past year that WFTDA will be changing how they do their regional rankings in some way, shape, or form.  While nothing is concrete in terms of a plan or time line almost anything has to be better than the current system which allows for very few surprises in tournament play and currently doesn’t do much to encourage teams to play in their own region minus the 2 games they have to to qualify for their regional tournament.  Ideally I would like to see some type of European Futbol club style rankings emerge where teams could go up and down tiers depending on how a team performs season to season and would make the current unofficial model of teams playing other teams who are close to them in skill, regardless of region, official.

deadeye

I’m claiming 2012 as the Year of the NSO (a la Marvin the Martian). Being an NSO is not just for injured skaters and derby widows. This is becoming more clear as the role of Tournament Head NSO and Crew Head NSO takes hold more and more. It’s become a big part of WFTDA clinics and more referees and skaters are part timing it as NSOs. But most importantly, there are just so many dedicated NSOs who are traveling more widely, doing crew exchanges, and creating new standards than ever.

So my hope is that 2012 is a tipping point for the Non-Skating Official, even if Caesar is correct and No Minors puts most of us out of a job.

What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Hit us up in the comments or broadcast your opinion on Facebook/Twitter. As a faithful reader, you know RDIT loves a good back and forth.

Watching Team U.S.A. hoist the cup brought to mind an announcer’s comment that stuck out to me at Championals last month. To paraphrase, he said that this year had seen a resurgence of “legacy leagues,” referring to Texas Rollergirls (2006 Champs) and Kansas City Roller Warriors (2007 Champs) taking 3rd and 4th respectively.

We talk in time-laden terms a great deal in derby 2.0: ‘veterans’ and ‘rookies,’ ‘new generations’ of players, ‘back in the old days.’ Sure, there is always a past in the mathematical sense of it. But right now, we are talking about a sport with a maximum outside age of 10 years. If you plotted a population pyramid using years of involvement in flat track roller derby, it would look like a ziggurat. From visions of flaming bears on unicycles to a parade of nations in less than the life of a Honda. I may be mistaken, but as far as I know, the player of longest tenure on the track at the World Cup was Smarty Pants, with 8 years of experience between TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls and the Texas Rollergirls. We are first graders talking about ‘when we were little kids.’

There is no monolithic vision of the derby future-perfect, but among some communities, there is a sense of urgency, now is the time: professional derby, roller derby in the Olympics, roller derby on television, roller derby in schools. What makes us feel like we’re so “grown up?” Perhaps it’s the longevity of the sport from which ours was derived. Maybe it’s the combination of the skyrocketing capabilities of technology and its plummeting costs (and let us take a moment to gratefully contemplate the people who bring the derby to our computers for free just about every weekend of the year). Could be the enormous amount of professional-quality, unpaid labor scores of people put into it. Whatever the magic confluence of circumstances, it masks the fact that we are still very much in Phase I of flat track roller derby, and a good set of wheels still has a longer lifespan than an edition of the WFTDA ruleset.

This brings me back to the skaters waving the U.S. flag. The World Cup was a breathtaking experience, even from my living room couch. It will almost certainly be seen as a turning point in derby history. Nevertheless, the question remains in my mind, does this sport have any business in global competition when so few countries have had roller derby for more than a couple of years, much less on a tournament level? Remember how controversial London’s invitation to the Eastern Playoffs was just this year? Remember how Argentina and Brazil didn’t even have skates as of this summer? Should the level of competition evolve along with the sport, or is this a case of if you build it, they will come? We are only recently coming to a point where flat track tournaments look like high-level amateur sporting events, and are being covered in the Sports section instead of Life & Style. There was plenty of non-blog media coverage of the World Cup, but the comments on this CBC article (which appeared in the “Offbeat” section, later bumped by “Vancouver Man Trapped In Automatic Toilet”) were a wakeup call that we may not have “arrived” beyond the cushy world of the derbylove echo chamber. It is easy to let how far we have come obscure how far we still have to go.

As far as we may have come in the past 10 years, we’re still building the legacy of flat track roller derby. The rises and falls that seem so meteoric right now will seem less so when the timeline of the sport has extended beyond the point where league longevity is a primary advantage.  Nowhere is this more clear than in the forays into international play. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to lay down a grand to have my ass handed to me by the likes of any of the players on the top 3 World Cup teams. But when the difference between first and second place is over 300 points, there will have to be more regional groundwork laid and some more miles in the rearview mirror before global competition is cheered by anyone other than citizens of Derby Nation.

Additional Photo Credit: Tom Igoe, Team USA v. Team Canada

Match Up	Caesar	Tank	Quad Almighty	Strawberry Jam	Vince Hannity
Thursday December 1st
Canada vs. France
Australia vs. Germany
Argentina vs. Ireland
New Zealand vs. U.S.A.
Brazil vs. Sweden
Australia vs. Finland
Friday December 2nd
England vs. Ireland
New Zealand vs. Scotland
Canada vs. Sweden
Finland vs. Germany
Brazil vs. France
Scotland vs. U.S.A.
Argentina vs. England
France vs. Sweden
Brazil vs. Canada
Running Totals
Last Week	1-1 (.5)	1-1 (.5)	2-0 (1.0)	1-1 (.5)	1-1 (.5)
2011	231-80 (.74)	217-75 (.74)	201-68 (.75)	241-66 (.79)	217-87 (.74)

Congrats to Quad for his 2-0 run last week!

The questions of “when will roller derby be on ESPN?” and “when will roller derby be in the Olympics?” continue to be asked. This year is a step in the right direction for both, sort of, if WFTDA decides to go in either of those directions. WFTDA as a league (in the traditional definition of the word) is way too large (124 member leagues and 65 apprentice leagues as of September 1, 2011) to give significant airtime to. The most similar sports model to WFTDA is the NCAA, and with over 6 different channels showing college football games on Saturday, from noon till 11:30 p.m. EST, you can still only follow a handful of teams, depending on the importance of the games and where in the country it is being played. Could Gotham vs. Oly get airtime? Absolutely. Would Hard Knox vs. Memphis? Outside of their local area, my derby eight ball says “unlikely.”

The Olympics is also a possibility for roller derby as a sport, but it comes with various trappings. WFTDA would not control it; some form of Olympic committee would, which blatantly breaks from the “by the skaters, for the skaters” philosophy. Then there is the amount of training and sponsorship that would be involved, which would be unlike anything derby has seen to this point. I don’t really care either way if roller derby makes the Olympics, but I do think that people need to be realistic about what that would really mean to the sport and not to just romanticize it.
Even bigger than these two things is what the television industry is going to look like in 5 years.  More and more content is finding its way onto sites like Hulu, streaming via Netflix, and crossing multiple platforms such as ESPN 3, which can be found on Xbox Live.  Then of course there are websites such as Justin.TV and Ustream.tv, which allow people to stream content.  Finally, there is the option to stream video directly through your website which many cable channels are doing and the WFTDA is doing with the entire Big 5 at www.wftda.com.

So what does this all mean?  It means that the WFTDA might have already found their best solution for airing their content.  By doing this, WFTDA is its own master, setting their own rules and not answering to a network that could make them change the presentation of the sport.  They would, however, still be responsible for answering to their sponsors, but they have the advantage of being able to pick and choose who those sponsors are.  The trade off for that freedom though is how much money they can bring in as big time sponsors are going to want to see certain things for their dollar.

If WFTDA continues to use this model of steaming their own content, then the next step will be to grow their fan base, which means marketing and advertising will have to take major steps forward.  Sure, you know where to find the Big 5, but you are also reading a website dedicated to roller derby. Basically what I am saying is you are in the know.  The next step is going to be to grow outside the derby microverse and get the attention of people who are not in the know.  That is going to mean spending a lot of money to be seen via web ads, magazine ads, and commercials.  The old saying of “it takes money to make money” is true as the more eyes see roller derby the more money will come in.  A perfect example of this:  The UFC’s original beer sponsor was Mickey’s Malt Liquor, but now Bud Light exclusively graces the canvas of the Octagon.

As I stated in the opening paragraph, the move this year towards better fan relations and interaction is a big step in the right direction.  Roller derby needs to cultivate relationships with people who don’t skate, ref, or volunteer but actually pay money for tickets to come watch the sport itself.  The success and growth of roller derby is going to depend on this, as people who are purely just fans fill the stands for regular season home games yet still sparsely attend regional playoff tournaments.

While all this is happening, other roller derby organizations continue to grow and depending on their marketing, business practices, and what they have learned from WFTDA’s past mistakes could eclipse the WFTDA model.  The sexually discriminative jokes about men’s roller derby have faded greatly in the past 2 years, and what was once an amusing half time show of bumbling refs on skates trying to mimic the ladies is turning into a serious sport that continues to grow both in size and skill.  USARS will also be a threat to WFTDA as the premier name in roller sports has decided to plant a serious stake in the world of roller derby.  With a number of independent leagues in the world and the possibility to establish new teams in large markets, USARS could quickly become a force to reckon with.  On top of this are various non-WFTDA events such as the World Cup and the Chicago Invitational (http://www.prorollerderby.com/) who are using current WFTDA skaters and teams.

Does WFTDA still have things to fix?  Sure they do.  Minor penalties, how and when the jam begins, and regions that are incredibly unbalanced in terms of talent immediately spring to mind, but they get an A plus for what they did with the Big 5 this year from a fan watching at home standpoint.  The advertising of future events in 2012 to guarantee participation and interest was great during the WFTDA Championships.  The announcing was close to picture-perfect this year, as the commentary was focused on the track action and not inside jokes and drinking games.  And while there were tech issues from time to time, they did the best to correct them with FAQ trouble shooting links and direct email access to Blaze Streaming Media for help.  I hope that WFTDA continues to evolve this model, because this aspect of their organization is moving in the right direction.

Quad Almighty

1. I am thankful for my broken collarbone. No. Seriously. It put a lot of things in perspective. I received a ton of love and support during that time (and some darn good drugs). It re-inspired me to buckle down and work more on my skating. It definitely reminded me how much I love, love, love roller skating. Injuries are as much a part of derby as roller skates, unfortunately. As long as you have primary medical insurance, a loving support system, and a good attitude, it doesn’t have to be the worst part. Plus, I got a badass scar (and some darn good drugs).
2. Spring Roll. The Ft. Wayne Derby Girls’ annual tournament is fast becoming the highlight of the men’s derby calendar year. There were hundreds of guys playing a ton of games at the highest level. It was overwhelming in a really, really good way. I stood there watching skaters spin, jump, hurdle, hit backwards, and execute complex strategy. I thought, “Damn, these guys are REALLY good at this.” I was at the first Spring Roll (which was called Fall Brawl back in the day), and I played in the first “REF JAM,” which was like rodeo clowns on skates. It was a mess, but it was a fun mess. There were like three or four men’s derby teams in the whole country back then. The rest of us had to hold out for Rollercon once a year. REF JAM at Fall Brawl gave men’s derby in the midwest a much-needed shot in the arm. Men’s derby went from rodeo clowns to a serious endeavor in just a few years. Now there are a dozen men’s teams in the midwest alone, and MRDA currently has 18 members. Seeing how far men’s derby progressed in such a short time was really inspiring. I think men’s derby grew up in 2011, and Spring Roll was the Debutante Ball.
3. Hannah “Ouchocinco” Barbaric, my fiance. I went ahead and popped the question in 2011, and she went ahead and said, Yes. We are officially the ultimate derby power couple now and you should fear us. (Love you, baby!)

Caesar

1. Slow and steady wins the race. Seeing Rose City make it to the world championships inspires me. One of the best games I have ever seen was Rose City vs. Sin City at the Dust Devil in (2006 or 2007?). Back then, Sin City was a real good team, and this game was close, back and forth, and Rose City ultimately lost. They spent a few years as a kind of inconsistent team, but fell in the rankings and out of the national spotlight for a time before creeping back into dominance. I know little about what fueled their rise, but I do know that their story should serve as a faint glimmer of hope for all teams that are out there.
2. Upsets. They don’t happen as often as I’d like, an indication of the severe lack of parity across the board in roller derby. But they do happen just often enough to remind us why all sports are great. Upsets capture the underdog story, the fascination we have with “David vs. Goliath” tales. They reflect the real world both historical and present. They give hope, salvation, and pride. They offer teams the hope that just maybe, if we work really hard and do the right thing and believe in ourselves AND get a little bit of luck, we can be great. Upsets are the story of America, of Freedom, of Democracy, of Humanity and Civilization. Upsets rank among the best highs know to humankind. They erase the drudgery of life and take us away from the real world, much in the same way as art, music, love, sex, drugs do. Upsets are the definition of epic. Now, can we just have more of them?
3. Men’s derby. In 2011 I saw the light. I had resisted men’s derby. I had seen it before and it was a joke and unnecessary. But when I witnessed a great game in a closed warehouse with a handful of spectators and saw some of the most amazing game play and skate skills I have ever seen, I couldn’t help but change my mind. What really drove it home for me though was seeing these men do it for the pure sake of love and thrill and camaraderie, free of drama and expectation and tears and glory. Derby for derby’s sake. Nothing on the line, no expectation. It still happens out there to be sure, but it’s not as common as the community would have us believe any more.

Deadeye Knight

1. I’m thankful for NSOs being taken more seriously this year. The position of Head NSO is beginning to take form at sanctioned bouts, invitationals like Brewhaha and this year’s Big 5.
2. North Central. There is awesome derby and officiating happening up here. The derby world may have been surprised by some of the upstarts coming from the North Central, but we weren’t. Also there’s a lot of cool stuff spawning from the MidBest; have you checked out http://tv.mnrollergirls.com yet?
3. Derby for all. More people are getting it. More people of all ages and sexes are skating, officiating and watching. More people are sharing their derby all over the web. So many new blogs, op eds and folks taking things way to seriously (in all the best ways).
4. High quality video. Yep, that was totally a cut and now we can all see it and the # of the skater and referee who called the penalty.

Vince Hannity

1. Improved variety and general call of announcing.  Unlike years past, whether it was ECDX or the Big 5, I got to hear a wide variety of different voices making the call.  Some were long-time veterans, some were just making their first times on the stream.  But I’m thrilled that announcing for the stream has been thrown wide open so that more and more in the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of announcing can be heard and can get a chance to refine their craft on the stream (which is a totally different animal than calling over a venue P.A., let me tell you).  As good as the veterans are, we’ll always need new people who’re ready once the veterans put down their mics for good.  Additionally, organizations like the AFTDA have stepped up to help announcers become more familiar with hand signals, rules, and a uniform code of conduct for what should and shouldn’t be done on the mic.  The vast majority of announcers stepped up this year in their performance, be it through passing the AFTDA Certification Test at various events throughout the year, or just generally kicking ass.  I’m thankful for the improved variety and quality in announcing this year.
2. South Central stepping it up in the post-season/Big 5 – Since WFTDA went to four regions in 2009, no team in the South Central (other than Texas) had ever won a bout at Championships.  Going into this year’s “Continental Divide and Conquer,” I predicted that Kansas City would still be reeling from those mistakes in the second half of this year’s South Central Region Championship bout, and would fall to Rose City’s Wheels of Justice in the opening round.  I am happy to admit I was sorely mistaken.  The Roller Warriors’ run through Denver was nothing short of amazing, defeating not only Rose City and the Windy City Rollers, but almost toppling the Oly Rollers in a classic semi-final bout for the ages.  Kansas City finished fourth after losing to the Texecutioners (again!), but for the first time in WFTDA history, the South Central had two teams in the Final Four.  I’m thankful for Kansas City (and yes, for Texas) stepping up at Championships, and hoping that it was a sign of things to come from the South Central Region, and not a one-shot deal.
3. I’m thankful that I get about two months off before this whole crazy roller coaster of roller derby starts back up again in 2012, and we get to do this all over again.

Tank

1. The Best WFTDA Playoffs/Championship Ever.  Without a doubt this was the best post season the WFTDA has presented on multiple levels.  In the past regional tournaments had been filled with blow outs and easy to pick games.  This year that changed and while many of the mainstays of the WFTDA Championships remained (Gotham, Philly, Texas, Rocky, Oly, Kansas City, Windy City, Charm), nothing was for certain outside of who was eventually playing for the Hydra.  The 3 vs. 4 spots were wide open as there were multiple games that turned into nail biters.  Mix in London proving that international derby is no joke across the pond, an entertaining as always Westerns, the unpredictable South Central, and a North Central region that continues to improve.  Was there controversy?  Sure, Dutchland was a big topic  for a weekend, watching Rat City stand around found me devoting my time to playing Gears of War 3, and Atomatrix questioning the reffing at Championals both in person and on her Facebook page shook things up a bit.  But all of this paled in comparison to the action we saw game in and game out on the track.  Overall, this year was a step in the right direction.
2. Watching Derby Online.  So far the triangulation of WFTDA, AFTDA (Association of Flat Track Derby Announcers), and Blaze Streaming Media looks to be a healthy partnership that delivers everything you could ask for while watching roller derby.  In the past you never knew what you were going to get when you tuned into a playoff game on the web, maybe you were going to get multiple camera angles and 2 announcers who knew what they were talking about or you might get something that looks like it was shot on a flip phone while being narrated by a drunk “Boom, Goes the Dynamite” impersonator.  This year Blaze delivered, for the most part. When there were technical problems, they were just an email away to help.  AFTDA put their best foot forward by putting announcers on the call that didn’t distract or detract from the action, but instead enhanced it.  Finally WFTDA made full use of Twitter to interact with fans, give live score updates, and spread important information in real time.  I would like to give everyone involved a turkey leg to say thank you, but my wallet can’t handle it and I am not sure if anyone wants to eat their Thanksgiving dinner from a Fed Ex box.
3. Suzy Hotrod.  All sports need a face, someone who everyone in the sport knows but more importantly those outside the sport know as well.  The NFL has Peyton Manning, the NBA has Lebron James (for better or worse), the MLB has Brian Wilson, the NHL has Sidney Crosby, MMA has George St. Pierre, and the WFTDA has Suzy Hotrod.  She is everything you could want in a spokeswoman for your sport.  She is a legit bad ass who jams like one of the infected from 28 Days Later, always aggressively moving forward.  She is intelligent and funny, easy to talk to in person and one hell of an advice columnist for Five on Five.  She is covered in tattoos, plays guitar in punk rock bands, and knows more Simpsons quotes than you.  This year ESPN magazine picked her for the body issue and introduced her and roller derby to a new demographic of fans.  When WFTDA starts to actively pursue coverage outside of the derbyverse, Suzy is the person they need to put out front on the PR trail.

More thoughts from some of our readers:

via Twitter

• bjmacke Clipboards, whistles, stopwatches, retractable whiteboard markers and, of course, effen magnets.
• sharklegs coconut water! it really gives me that extra oomph at practice without added sugars or dyes!
• bizarroclair hard-working leaguemates, Minnesota nice, and ouch-free knees
• BiffMixalot I am thankful for the @chicagooutfit, @ldnrollergirls, and the @newskids and the fun and energy they bring to the sport.
• GarrisonKiller The upsets and the heartbreaks. If you don’t scream at the scoreboard after the game, it didn’t count. #parity
• FNZebra thankful in 2011 for being an official. Worked new leagues, some striving for regionals, & #WFTDABig5. MRDA, too. All good.
• sfour the action packed rugby scrum start. Stand around starts are dead.

Match Up	Caesar	Tank	Quad Almighty	Strawberry Jam	Vince Hannity
Friday November 18th – Banked Track Invitational
(#7banked) Rocky Mountain vs (#8banked) Gotham Girls
(#9banked) Windy City vs (#2banked) LA Derby Dolls
Running Totals
Last Week	3-2 (.6)	3-2 (.6)	1-4 (.2)	2-3 (.4)	3-2 (.6)
2011	230-79 (.74)	216-74 (.75)	199-68 (.75)	240-65 (.79)	216-86 (.72)

Rough picks for us last week during WFTDA Championships.

And, not to be forgotten, the men have a derby bout this weekend too.

Match Up	Caesar	Tank	Quad Almighty	Strawberry Jam	Vince Hannity
Friday November 11th
2pm MST NC2 Minnesota vs E3 Charm City
3:45pm MST W2 Rocky Mountain vs SC3 Nashville
5:30pm MST SC2 Kansas City vs W3 Rose City
7:15pm MST E2 Philly vs NC3 Naptown
Saturday November 12th
#9 Harm City vs #10 Connecticut
Running Totals
Last Week	1-0 (1)	0-1 (0)	0-1 (0)	0-1 (0)	0-1 (0)
2011	227-77 (.77)	213-72 (.75)	198-64 (.76)	238-62 (.79)	213-84 (.72)

The last week we had picks was 2 weeks ago when we picked the winner of the Gotham Girls season championships.  Caesar was the only one to pick the Brooklyn Bombshells as the winner.  Congrats to him!

The most important event of the year is less than a week away, and just about everyone we know is starting to get giddy about the prospect of twelve incredible games. We assigned our writers to talk about three things they were looking forward to at Continental Divide and Conquer…then pony up and make a prediction about who enters the semifinals.

Never say ‘no’ to a challenge.

Caesar (RDIT editor):

1. Naptown vs. Philly. I knew Naptown was really good heading into the NC playoff, and I knew they would continue their trend of turning heads. I just did not realize how complete a package they have become (vast improvements on offense, defense, general smarts, coaching, game management, and confidence). Pair that with more questions than ever out of the City of Sisterly Shove regarding the Liberty Belles’ depth and their ability to make in-game adjustments, and you have all the makings of an upset.
2. Minnesota going deep. MNRG could easily have won the NC tournament, had they not been drawn into Windy City’s mental trap in the second half of their match up and had they not lost key player Second Hand Smoke to suspension. If they can improve on their confidence, swagger, and play their own game, they’ll go farther than the rest of the NC.
3. Kansas City vs. Rose City. This should be one of the two best games of the tournament (see below). Although I pick KCRW to advance, I won’t be surprised if I am wrong. I expect this to be decided by fewer than 20 points. Clock management by the coaches could be the difference maker in this one.

Who goes forward:

We won’t see the first-ever back-to-back champion, as Rocky Mountain lacks the firepower and depth this year that fueled their dominance in 2010. But we will see our first repeat champion. Either Gotham or Oly will take home the Hydra. They’ll do this after eliminating Minnesota in Gotham’s case; Kansas City in Oly’s. Minnesota vs. Kansas City for 3rd place will be one of the most epic games in the history of the sport.

The outcome of Gotham vs. Oly will come down to a number of intangibles: health, penalties, who wants it more, who is more focused, etc. I could see it going either way, and I could see it being a very close game, or not. I give Gotham a slight nod, although I think they are the more inconsistent of the two. If they are not 100% focused and in the right mind set, Oly’s impressive ability to stay calm under pressure combined with their superior skate skills and athleticism could result in victory.

Tank (RDIT editor):

1. Minnesota vs. Charm City vs. Texas:  Paper, Rock, Scissors 2011. The first game in the bracket gives us Minnesota vs. Charm City, two of the toughest teams in the sport today bar none.  Minnesota’s teamwork is astounding. They work with a hive mindset in their pack, constantly moving as a unit.  Charm City has grown as a team over the years in terms of strategy, but underneath all that big brain thinking, they are still what they have always been: One of the hardest hitting teams in WFTDA history. Whoever wins moves on to play Texas.  The expectations for TXRG are always high, as a trip to the WFTDA Championships is basically a sure thing for them every year.  After coming in second in 2009, Texas took a couple of steps back in 2010, but they have reloaded for 2011 with a plethora of talent.  I could watch these three teams play a mini round robin tournament any time of the year, but adding in the one and done aspects of the WFTDA Championships is going to make this part of the bracket something very special.
2. Oly vs. Gotham: Undefeated vs. Undefeated for the Hydra? In 2009 an undefeated Oly won the Hydra; the last game they lost was by one point, in 2010 in the WFTDA Championships final game to Rocky Mountain.  In 2011, they are 13-0.  Gotham won their first Hydra in 2008.  The last time they lost was to eventual champions Rocky Mountain at the WFTDA Championships last year.  Since that game they are 12-0 (10-0 in 2011).  The storylines write themselves for this one: Small town vs. the big city, West Coast vs. East Coast, and the what-if matchups that happen when some of the best roller derby players on the planet are compared against each other on paper.  These two teams have met once before, back in 2009, when Oly denied Gotham a chance at back-to-back Hydras en route to winning their first one.  I know people love seeing an underdog get a chance to grab the brass ring, but this possible matchup has been building for a number of months now, and I want to see these two juggernauts go at in 60 minute battle to find out who is the Queen of the Mountain in 2011.
3. Is Naptown the Next Rocky Mountain? Stick with me for a minute.  In 2009 an upstart Rocky Mountain came to Philadelphia and took on the WFTDA Championships host league, Philly Roller Girls.  During the course of my favorite game I have ever called, I watched an underdog (at the time) Rocky Mountain go jam for jam with Philly, a game that went into overtime, and saw the Fight Club win in a thrilling upset.  In 2011, Philly takes on another black, red, and white clad-team, but this team comes from the Circle City.  Naptown is like a Swiss army knife: They have a lot of things to choose from.  Fast game? Yep. Slow game? Sure.  The Scrum?  You best believe.  Smash and Bash?  If they need to.  Add in the fact that Philly tends to play up to or down to the level of their opponent and we could have ourselves quite the game.  Is this a lock?  Not at all. Philly looked tough as nails at Easterns this year, handling both the biggest surprise of the tournament season, London, and fellow East Coast powerhouse Charm City.  No matter what, this is going to be one of the biggest games of the weekend to watch and could prove to be very pivotal for 2012.

Who goes forward:

deadeye knight (RDIT Admin):

Who goes forward:

Garrison Killer (North Central writer and long-time reporter for the MNRG):

1. The newcomers. Rose City and Naptown got their tickets punched for Championals this year. Rose has been on the verge of the playoffs for as long as I can remember, and their strategies and fast rhythm finally broke them out of the pack. Their counter against Rat’s no-play strategy was fantastic and reminded me of Oly’s victory over Denver at 2009′s Championals. Rose plays Kansas City on Day 1 and – should they advance – Windy City in the quarters. That’s not an easy path, but Rose has shown itself able this year to rise to the occasion.
   As to Indianapolis. Naptown came up with a jammer-line start variant (ie: “the Naptown Fence”) in 2010 and honed it well enough with it to nearly upset the MNRG on Saint Paul’s home track in April. They adapted their play throughout the summer, executed on the Fence and a wide array of tactics, defeating Detroit and almost taking out Chicago. This team gets its first-ever taste of serious inter-region play against the Liberty Belles at the WFTDA Championships on Day 1. I have to wish the Northern underdogs well. MNRG came within a jam of defeating Philly in August. After watching their defeat of Detroit’s physical field, I feel as if Naptown might pull off the upset against the Belles.
2. The Scrum. I love the new Eastern opening – call it The Scrum, call it Derby v3.0 – I think it’s incredibly fun and powerful to watch. This tough, forward-moving, physical version of roller chess is far more exciting to me than the no-movement game of the past couple of years. If Gotham were to succeed with this method (and they are the current queens of the strategy, though Philly, MNRG, and others are adherents), my only issue would be whether the folks at Blaze Media can get their cameras in tight enough to follow the movements of the pack. It doesn’t film well from the side, but from my point of view at NCs (watching from just above the back apex), the shifting, tight game was incredibly fun to watch.
3. Our people. Last year’s trip to Chi-town gave me an opportunity to meet leagues from across the nation. I walked into a pizza shop for a quick bit before Day 3 and met a whole damn league texting, slinging a little gossip, and totally ZOMG for Bonnie Thunders. Felt like home. I remember walking through a Chicago El station that final day and noticing that every tough-looking woman – the kind that you wonder whether or not she plays plays or refs – was in fact wearing some kind of derby swag. There is nothing like spending a weekend amidst people who get it. We are all fans, and going to Championals gives us the opportunity to watch the best sport in the world with an incredible audience.

Vince Hannity (South Central writer and beloved SC AFTDA rep):

1. Simply Unpredictable – At “Uproar on the Lakeshore” last year, with the exception of maybe Texas vs. Bay Area Derby, most of the opening round bouts seemed to be foregone conclusions.  Precious few outside of their respective hometowns saw Minnesota (with maybe a few exceptions – DOH!), Madison, or Nashville making it past the opening round.  Those three teams each lost by no less than 131 points.  In 2011, “Continental Divide and Conquer” has four opening round bouts for which it’s much harder to predict the winner.  For example, during last year’s opening round, Charm City handily defeated Minnesota, 249-118.  While last year’s MNRG team seemed to hit the wall in losing to Windy City in the North Central Regional Championship bout, this year’s MNRG team looks even better than last year, and might just give Charm a run for its money, just how they gave Windy City a run for their money in two bouts this year.
   A banged-up Philly Roller Girls team proved me wrong and finished second in the East Region this year, the third consecutive year that they’ve finished no lower than second.  They face a Naptown team that went 10-and-2 in the regular season before defeating Detroit to take the third seed from the North Central Region.  Windy City remains their lone defeat so far in the postseason, and that loss was by a mere 11 points.  Philly’s got the obvious experience edge, but one or two breaks for Naptown might just lead to an upset.
   Reigning and defending WFTDA Champions Rocky Mountain face an improved Nashville Roller Girls team, who looked absolutely dominant in the second half over Atlanta to once again claim the third seed from the South Central Region.  Both Nashville and the Kansas City Roller Warriors (still reeling from the loss to Texas in the South Central Championship bout) will fight to become the first South Central team other than Texas to win a bout at Championships, as the Roller Warriors face Rose City’s Wheels of Justice.  The best bouts are the ones with evenly-matched teams with an equal chance of winning, and with any luck, “Continental Divide and Conquer” will offer just that.
2. The Second Verse May Not Be The Same As The First – Through the quarterfinal round of “Continental Divide and Conquer,” we have the possibility to see no less than three matchups from last year’s championship tournament: Charm City vs. Minnesota, Oly vs. Philly, and Rocky Mountain vs. Gotham.  However, in at least two of these bouts, we could end up watching this year play out much differently from last year.  Oly vs. Philly in last year’s semifinals was a fairly-competitive bout, and in that aspect, I hope this year’s bout remains the same.  You’ve already read my thoughts on Charm City vs. MNRG.
   Perhaps the most intriguing rematch (assuming they defeat Nashville, of course) is reigning and defending WFTDA Champions Rocky Mountain vs. Gotham Girls Roller Derby in the quarterfinals.  The derby world was poised last year to see a Gotham-Oly championship bout, but Rocky Mountain killed that dream, completely stymieing Gotham in the semifinals.  Moreso than any other Gotham bout I’ve seen since 2008, the Mile High Fight Club bewildered Gotham, making both Suzy Hotrod and Bonnie Thunders unable to negotiate the pack.  This year, a less-focused-but-still-dangerous Rocky Mountain faces a more-focused, much-angrier Red Army from New York City.  Can Rocky Mountain get it together and become the first team in four seasons to beat Gotham twice?  Or will Gotham continue its march towards a possible rematch with Oly and its second WFTDA Championship?
3. Can The South Central And North Central Finally Compete With The East And The West? - Since WFTDA went to four regions in 2009, the collective won-loss record for teams from the South Central and North Central regions at the Championship tournament is 3-and-12.  The Texecutioners are responsible for all three of those wins.  The last time any team from either the South Central or North Central Region made it past the quarterfinals was 2009’s “Declaration of Derby,” during which the Texecutioners fell to the Oly Rollers in the championship bout.  This year’s teams from Windy City, Texas, Minnesota, Kansas City, Naptown, and Nashville arguably comprise the best-ever collection of talent from both regions at the Championship tournament.  With that said, however, there can be no more excuses this year.  If the North Central and South Central regions ever want to be viewed as competitive with the East and West regions, this is the year to start winning those bouts.

Who’s Going Forward?

• Oly Rollers
• Gotham Girls Roller Derby
• Rose City Rollers
• Minnesota Roller Girls

Postscript:

I think it’s safe to say that we were all a little surprised by the commonalities between our points of view. We look forward to reading your opinions as well.

Match Up	Caesar	Tank	Quad Almighty	Strawberry Jam	Vince Hannity
Saturday October 28th
Gotham Girls Roller Derby 2011 Championships Bronx Gridlock vs Brooklyn Bombshells
Running Totals
Last Week	14-14 (.5)	11-17 (.39)	12-16 (.43)	12-16 (.43)	10-18 (.36)
2011	226-77 (.75)	213-71 (.75)	198-63 (.78)	238-61 (.80)	213-83 (.72)

We all took big hits last week as the final bracket line up for MRDA Champs was quite a bit different from what any of us picked.  Caesar had two correct picks, leading all of us.  The Pikes Peak/Gold Coast game seemed to not happen.  Sorry!  I was also able to add up totals from the 3 playoff weekends we posted.  Our running totals are all up to date.

In this follow up to “One Whistle to Rule Them All,” I get a little more detailed. I dug through the current WFTDA rule set and made some changes that I think would make the start of a jam go much more smoothly.

Below are my suggestions for changing the language of the WFTDA rule set for one starting whistle. There would no longer be a “Pack starting” whistle and a “Jammer starting” whistle. There would be just one “Jam start” whistle for all players.

I’ve added a few more additional tweaks to make the one whistle starts more consistent.

First, all Pivots and Blockers must be part of the pack when the Jam start whistle blows, or they are subject to illegal procedure penalties. When any jam starts, there is a defined pack. When the jammers start, they will enter a defined pack. When the blockers start, they can block and move according to the rules in a defined pack. This eliminates a lot of confusion.

Secondly, a player who is not standing when the jam start whistle blows will not be permitted to join the jam in progress. (So, if you are on a knee when the Jam start whistle blows, you have to leave the track and your team has to skate short.) My reasoning is consistency. Players who aren’t on the track when a jam starts cannot join in after the pack start whistle. For sake of consistency, I think that it makes sense to extend that to all out-of-play skaters. If you’re not in play (i.e. down or out of bounds) when the jam starts, then you can’t play in that jam.

A nice side effect, I think, is that it also eliminates certain “winning-derby-by-not-playing-derby” tactics like running away or taking a knee in order to get your jammer a free initial pass through a “no pack” loophole. Mostly, I think a jam should logically start with a defined pack and defined pack speed.

Last, if a Pivot lines up on the Pivot line, then all Pivots and Blockers have to form the pack with her. Basically, a Pivot on the Pivot line establishes the pre-jam pack. The Pivot line was established in order to give the Jammers a fair shot at a running start into a mob of eight skaters.

Flickr Photo by Mark Nockleby

I think the Pivot line is the place where Pivots ought to line up. I think Pivots ought to have some say in establishing the pack, since the rules say “Pivots line up at the front of the pack” and Pivots can be penalized for pack destruction if there’s no other obvious single culprit. You could still have starts with all blockers lined up on the Jammer line, but only if both teams are down for that.

My purpose is to make the start of a jam more consistent. When a jam starts, the jam starts. You have a pack. You have jammers. Everyone is in play and everyone is playing. There is still room for tactics and strategies that establish pack domination, but you eliminate a lot of unnecessary confusion.

In the spirit of “give me solutions, not complaints,” here’s my idea for some specific changes to the language of the current WFTDA rule set. I’ve done my best to comb through to find places where my revisions conflict with current language and repair that damage, but I’m sure I’ve missed some things. I’ve also not combed through the mad plethora of “clarifications” to the current rule set. (Sorry, but those things tend to confuse the bejesus out of me, and make my internal logic-monitor malfunction.) So, if I’ve missed something, please forgive me and be kind. I’m all ears.

WFTDA RULES

2.4 – Jams

2.4.4 – If all skaters are not on the track and ready to start the next jam after the allotted time, the jam will start without the missing skater(s) and the team will skate short for that jam. If skaters are not in position when the jam start whistle blows, they will be subject to false start penalties (see Section 6.13.5 and Section 6.13.16).

2.4.4.1 – Jammers are considered in position and ready if they are in bounds when the jam start whistle blows. Jammers are subject to false start penalties if they are not on or behind the Jammer line when the jam start whistle blows (see Section 6.13.5 for specific penalty details). Jammers are permitted to put on their helmet covers after the jam has started. However, each Jammer must have her helmet cover in hand before the jam start whistle. A helmet cover cannot enter a jam in progress.

2.4.4.1.1 – A Jammer who is not on the track when the jam start whistle blows will not be permitted to join the jam in progress. No penalty will be issued.

2.4.4.2 – A Pivot or Blocker is considered in position and ready if she is on the track, in bounds, standing or skating into her position, between the Jammer and Pivot lines, and part of the pack when the jam start whistle blows. She is subject to false start penalties if she is not between the Jammer and Pivot lines, or not part of the pack when the jam start whistle blows. Pivots are permitted to put on their helmet covers after the jam has started. However, each Pivot must have her helmet cover in hand before the jam start whistle. A helmet cover cannot enter a jam in progress.

2.4.4.2.1 – A Pivot or Blocker who is not on the track, in bounds, and standing or skating when the jam start whistle blows will not be permitted to join the jam in progress. No penalty will be issued.

2.9 – Whistles

Jam Start: One long
[DELETE] Jam Start—Pack start: One long
[DELETE] Jam Start—Jammer start: Two rapid

4.2 – Pre-Jam Positioning

4.2.1 – Prior to the start of a jam, all skaters must be in position with the Blockers lined up between the Jammer and Pivot lines and Jammers lined up on or behind the Jammer line. The Pivot line is a straight line across the track at the head of the straightaway. The Jammer line is exactly 30 feet behind the Pivot line.

4.2.2 – Pivot Starting Position: Only the Pivots may line up on the Pivot line.

4.2.2.1 – If a team’s Pivot lines up on the Pivot line, then all Pivots and Blockers must form a pack with her. A Pivot or Blocker is subject to false start penalties if she is not part of the pack established by the Pivot who is lined up on the Pivot line when the jam start whistle blows.

4.2.3 – Non-Pivot Blocker Starting Positions: Blockers line up behind the Pivots as demarked by the hips. If a Pivot is not on the Pivot line, Non-Pivot Blockers are not required to line up behind her.

4.2.4 – Jammer Starting Position: Jammers line up on or behind the Jammer line.

4.2.5 – No rules govern inside/outside positioning. Blockers may line up in any order behind the Pivots.

4.4 – Starts

4.4.1 – All skaters begin rolling on a single whistle blast from the Official to start the jam. This is the jam starting whistle.

4.4.2 – Jammers may not be accelerating when the jam start whistle blows. They are, however, permitted to be moving, coasting or braking.

Section 6.13 – Illegal Procedures

6.13.1 – A Blocker who is on the track, in bounds, standing or skating into her position, between the Jammer and Pivot lines, and part of the pack when the jam start whistle blows.

6.13.5.2 – A Non-Pivot Blocker false starts for being out of position at the pack starting whistle when she:
6.13.5.2.1 – is touching on or beyond the Pivot line.
6.13.5.2.2 – is touching behind the Jammer line.
6.13.5.2.3 – lines up in front of a Pivot Blocker who is on the Pivot line.
6.13.5.2.4 – is not part of the pack established by the Pivot who is lined up on the Pivot line when the jam start whistle blows.

6.13.5.3 – A Pivot Blocker false starts for being out of position when the jam starting whistle blows when she:
6.13.5.3.1 – is touching beyond the Pivot line.
6.13.5.3.2 – is touching behind the Jammer line.
6.13.5.3.3 – is not part of the pack established by the Pivot who is lined up on the Pivot line when the jam start whistle blows.

11 – Glossary

In Position – When a skater is on the track, in the designated area for their position, when the jam start whistle blows. Blockers are in position when they are on the track, in bounds, standing or skating into their position, between the Jammer and Pivot lines, and part of the pack when the jam start whistle blows. Jammers are in position when they are on the track behind the Jammer line when the jam start whistle blows.

Match Up	Caesar	Tank	Quad Almighty	Strawberry Jam	Vince Hannity
Saturday October 22nd
SC6 Tampa Bay @ NC1 Windy City
SC9 Gold Coast @ W17 Pikes Peak
MRDA Championships
Champions:
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Running Totals
Last Week	3-3 (.5)	3-2 (.6)	2-4 (.33)	4-2 (.67)	3-3 (.5)
2011	212-63 (.77)	202-54 (.79)	186-41 (.82)	226-45 (.83)	203-65 (.76)

In playing catch up, I went back to the last known numbers on Sept. 9th and factored in our picks from that week.  These numbers do not reflect playoffs at this time.  Maybe I’ll have time to figure those out at some point and then calculate them in, (or maybe you want to do the work for me and put it in the comments section to include in next weeks picks) but for now, this is what we have.

What is unusual is two of the names currently on Gold Coast’s charter roster for South Central playoffs: Blaque Jac and Jamsterella. While at least one of these ladies has previously skated against Gold Coast, before September of 2011, they have never skated with Gold Coast in a bout. For those of you unfamiliar with these two names, Blaque Jac lives in the Sarasota-Bradenton area and has been skating with the Bradentucky Bombers since sometime in 2009. Jamsterella has been a mainstay on the Ft. Myers Derby Girls’ travel team since that same year. How and why these ladies got on the Gold Coast charter roster (as well as how WFTDA rules currently allow this) is our story today.

At the beginning of the 2011 season, both the Gold Coast Derby Grrls and the Palm Beach Roller Girls existed as separate leagues with separate rosters. The Palm Beach Roller Girls had established a limited liability corporation in the State of Florida on or about June 7, 2010. Sometime over the next six months, the Palm Beach Roller Girls had gone through a league split, as several skaters and staff members split off to form the Dub City Derby Girls. The leagues and rosters remained separate once Gold Coast was promoted to full-fledged WFTDA member league status in March of this year, and when Palm Beach skated against the Ft. Myers Derby Girls on Sunday, April 17th. Both leagues held separate rosters, and both the Gold Coast Derby Grrls and the Palm Beach Roller Girls maintain a separate web presence, both on Facebook and on their own websites. However, around June 24, 2011, the Palm Beach Roller Girls Board of Directors voted to dissolve its LLC; a record of the dissolution is on file with the State of Florida and can be viewed online.

Around that time, the decision was made either for the Palm Beach Roller Girls to merge with Gold Coast, or for Gold Coast to “annex” the Palm Beach Roller Girls. On a bout held on July 9, 2011, Palm Beach Roller Girls rosters began featuring skaters from Gold Coast (including Freekarella and Krap Appel), and vice versa. Some of these Palm Beach skaters (including Pyromaniac, Electrix, and Tackle Me Elmo) partially comprised the roster for Gold Coast’s B-team, the Beachside Bombshells, when they faced Ft. Myers’s B-team, the Misdemeanors, on Saturday, August 27th, at a bout during a Blood and Thunder Magazine Derby Boot Camp. In my opinion, in a sport that began in many ways from a league split, there is absolutely nothing illegal or unethical if the two leagues have officially merged into one, or even if Gold Coast has “annexed” Palm Beach. There’s nothing wrong with a consolidation, and it certainly helps the talent pool for the surviving league. Three of Palm Beach’s skaters, Shred-Her, Tackle Me Elmo, and Pyromaniac, are also listed on Gold Coast’s WFTDA charter for South Central Region Playoffs.

As of September 18, 2011, the Gold Coast’s Derby Grrls’ website featured at least 27 skaters on their roster (Interestingly enough, neither Pyromaniac nor Electrix nor Tackle Me Elmo nor Shred-Her were listed on the website roster.). To my knowledge, all were eligible to make the charter roster for the WFTDA 20. For reasons unknown to me, Gold Coast chose to go outside of their roster (and Palm Beach’s roster), and to recruit at least two other skaters from outside leagues in Blaque Jac and Jamsterella.

While not skating for a WFTDA team before September 16th, Blaque Jac has become one of the most intense students of her sport in her three years with Bradentucky. She’s often been seen in the stands at East Coast Derby Extravaganza, in attendance at derby boot camps and at RollerCon, and has become one of the most fierce (if not the most fierce) blockers for the Bombers (not unlike her idol, Beyonslay of Gotham Girls Roller Derby). An argument can be made that, although the league was founded back in 2006 by jammer-turned-blocker Gigi RaMoan, Blaque Jac has become the heart and soul of her league. On Friday, September 16th (a mere two weeks before “Show Me Der-B-Q”), Blaque Jac skated with Gold Coast’s travel team against the Gainesville Roller Rebels at the Bank United Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida.

“I can only explain the difference between ‘borrowing’ and ‘becoming a part of’ like this,” Blaque Jac states. “(The) Bradentucky (Bombers) borrows skaters sometimes as do other non-WFTDA teams… they skate for a bout here or there and are not required to meet any attendance requirements. GCDG isnt ‘borrowing skaters from outside their league.’ I have decided to become a part of GCDG. I am making the same requirements that are placed on the other skaters that are on the GCDG Charter. I was told before I decided that if I did not make practice attendance then I would not be rostered for any bouts. I bouted in my first GCDG bout as a part of the A team (on Friday, September 16th). Even though this (was) not a sanctioned bout I still had to make full attendance to be rostered.”

Jamsterella came to roller derby as a jam skater, as many in Florida have (including Jacksonville’s Meow Mix Yo Face Up, Magic City Misfits’ Streak, and her Ft. Myers teammate Bellicose Blondie). Skating since her youth, Jamsterella has become a double-threat at jammer and pivot. In an amazing turn of events, Jamsterella and her teammates Bellicose Blondie and deJENerate made a last-minute trip to Feasterville in June to try out for Team USA for Blood and Thunder Magazine’s World Cup of Roller Derby. To her credit, Jamsterella was invited to the final tryouts in Tampa on Saturday, July 23rd. Among a roster that includes Atomatrix, Suzy Hotrod, Teflon Donna, and countless other all-stars from around the country, Jamsterella was named as an alternate to Team USA – one of only two skaters not with a WFTDA league to be named to the team.

Jamsterella’s remarks echo her rival (and now teammate). “I asked about it and since I’m not a WFTDA member (Gold Coast) said it would be okay. I had to make attendance with their team for the past month. Which I’ve done so far including (Ft. Myers Derby Girls) practices as well. ”

It’s hard to find fault with Gold Coast’s choice in recruits. Furthermore, WFTDA rules allow Gold Coast to supplement their charter with outside skaters, so long as those skaters are not currently on another WFTDA league’s charter. However, this situation presents some serious questions to me. First, how does this affect morale within Gold Coast? Skaters who have skated with the league who would be otherwise eligible for the WFTDA Charter have lost spots to skaters from another league. Jamsterella, while no doubt thrilled to skate with Gold Coast and to compete on a national level, has no intention to leave her spot with the Ft. Myers Derby Girls, so South Central Region Playoffs will be a one-shot deal for her.

If we go by Blaque Jac’s definition, isn’t Gold Coast “borrowing” Jamsterella for “Show Me Der-B-Q,” rather than having her “become a part of” the league? With all due respect to both Jamsterella and Blaque Jac (who I respect and even consider to be friends), and while acknowledging that both have made practice requirements as other league members would, would their spots not be better assigned to skaters who skate full-time with Gold Coast and no other league?

How does this situation compare with a league in the South Central Region like the Hard Knox Roller Girls, a league that barely rosters 30 skaters and who has skaters doing double-duty when they skate in double headers, yet still qualified for South Central Playoffs in 2010? Furthermore, how does this situation compare with Deranged et. al. transferring from Pike’s Peak to Rocky Mountain just before Western Playoffs in 2009? Or Amanda Jamitinya transferring from Duke City to Rocky Mountain last year? What about the Oly Rollers rostering Stella Italiana for Western Playoffs this year?

Additionally, just why does WFTDA allows this rule? It’s understandable that perhaps WFTDA did not expect member leagues to supplement their roster with skaters who were nationwide all-stars like Jamsterella (and arguably Blaque Jac). But the rule raises further questions, such as should this rule still exist in this way? Did WFTDA expect teams to exploit the rule in the manner in which Gold Coast appears to be exploiting the rule (a la Rat City’s controversial strategy against Rocky Mountain last weekend, which was within the rules, but is it within the spirit of the rules?)?

As the rule exists, in a hypothetical situation, were Harmony Killerbruse to return to the Minnesota Roller Girls after skating for the Oly Rollers at Western Region Playoffs in 2010, wouldn’t she be allowed to skate with Minnesota at Championships after helping the Oly Rollers to Championships? Does the situation with this rule and the roster for Gold Coast this weekend compare to a situation where Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers plays quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts while Peyton Manning is out with a serious injury? Is this a rule that needs to be revisited and revised by WFTDA at the end of the Big 5, along with slow/no skate play and with forfeits of tournament bouts (all of which we’ve seen over the past two weeks)?

Gold Coast’s accomplishment in making it to South Central Region Playoffs in barely seven months as a full-fledged WFTDA member league is an accomplishment that cannot be denied. However, why Jamsterella and Blaque Jac are on the WFTDA Charter roster for Gold Coast, and why WFTDA rules allow this to happen, should be questioned.