eRacer X-Files

Derby Tour Update 2011

2011-07-18T07:57:00.000-07:00

I've done a craptastic job of updating this blog regularly, as in most of 2010 was missing. I'm trying to pick back up the slack and get back to regular updating, but one of the fun projects has fallen seriously out-of-date.

In case you don't remember, I started my Derby Tour project in 2009 when I began skating with DDG. The tour includes away bouts in other cities as well as my random drop-in to a league practice in another city that I may be wandering through.

Since I'm a few months behind in this blog in terms of my derby-associated travel, let me update my travel summaries....

Sin City Rollergirls -- Las Vegas, NV [April 2009, April 2010, June 2010]
Ohio Rollergirls -- Columbus, OH [April 2009]
Roller Girls of Southern Indiana -- Evansville, IN [May 2009]
Hard Knox Rollergirls -- Knoxville, TN [June 2009]
Sintral Florida Derby Demons -- Orlando/De Land, FL [June 2009, July 2009]
Nashville Rollergirls -- Nashville, TN [July 2009, 2010]
Memphis Roller Derby -- Memphis, TN [August 2009]
Mobile Roller Derby -- Mobile, AL [August 2009]
Classic City Rollergirls -- Athens, GA [September 2009]
Carolina Rollergirls -- Raleigh, NC [November 2009]
Chattanooga Rollergirls -- Chattanooga, TN [December 2009]
Burn City Rollers -- Phenix City, AL [February 2010]
Oklahoma Victory Dolls -- Oklahoma City, OK [March 2010]
Houston Roller Derby-- Houston, TX [May 2010]
No Coast Derby Girls -- Lincoln, NE [June 2010]
Green Country Rollergirls -- Tusla, OK [June 2010]
Panama City Roller Derby -- Panama City, FL [September 2010]
Tallahassee Rollergirls -- Tallahassee, FL [September 2010]
Little City Rollergirls -- Johnson City, TN [June 2011]

I'm back to tagging all Derby World Tour stops and compiling a map... look out for future stops! And if you have any "Gotta See It" suggestions on stops I need to make, let hear them in the comments section!

Puerto Rico poster!

2011-07-18T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm getting excited!

Puerto Rico or BUST!

2011-07-12T11:37:00.000-07:00

One of the great things I love about Roller Derby is the fact that its a hobby that allows us all a new avenue to travel and explore different areas. This was the inspiration behind my "Derby Tour" project, to skate with as many teams as I could all across the country... and the WORLD. (I need to do some updating of my Derby Tour notes, yikes I'm behind)

To that effect, I was majorly bummed to have missed the trip last year to Hawaii with the rest of the girls, but always wanted to make a trip to my homeland of Puerto Rico and have been searching for a start-up team there for some time now.

Thanks to the wonder of Facebook, not only did I find a team there.... I found several! They've organized together into the Tropic Terrors of Puerto Rico. This consists of about 5-6 teams spread out across the island in San Juan, Mayaguez, Ponce, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas... a BUNCH of rising derby on a pretty small little island! That's exciting to me!

The Reckless Bandidas in San Juan is the team that I have been working with on a Pan-American game versus DDG. They are all very new to derby there, and will be using this as one of their first public debuts to the sport. We've set up a bout for October 22 in San Juan, and are really excited to be skating on the island!

So.... there's a bunch to do in just a short time to get there, and a few of us DDG's are trying to come up with some ways to support getting the team there. Look out for a benefit show to be announced soon!

In the mean time, if you can help throw a few coins into my Puerto Rico or Bust piggy bank below, I'd be MUCHO grateful!

WEPA!

Skate Wars Return: The Fempire Strikes Back!

2011-06-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm slacking again on updates, FOR SHAME!

This bout was our annual Skate Wars saga bout, with this year's episode being The Fempire Strikes Back! The inner geek in me loves this bout... we get the added excitement of the Storm Troopers and Darth Vader breathing down our necks that the fans (and us) just eat up.

Our B-team was taking on the Tragic City Rollers B-team from Birmingham, AL while the All-Star team faced the Louisville, KY Derby City Rollergirls.

The B-team did a fantastic job, and just fell short after some tough jammer-in-the-box plays. Man, they were really making some great improvements! Excited that they are coming into their own now!

I had the honor of being voted our co-captain for the second game in a row, which means I got the fun task of figuring out a game plan for our line-ups. Talk about a bajillionty scenarios! What to do if Skater X gets injured, if Skater Y is in penalty trouble, if Skater Z has to cover for X, and who is going to JAM?!? Its a complicated chore and in my OCD about readiness, I think we came up with a million What-IF lineups.

Not that it means much in the throes of bout-dom. That chaos is impossible to predict, and even the best laid plans are often little consolation. Thank God for level-headed crews!

So for this bout, we gained back some of our veteran blockers that had been missing, and it was decided that I would concentrate on jamming this game, instead of tiring myself out by blocking too.

I was in a 3 jammerish rotation of sorts, which gave me time to really watch what was happening on the track. The first half was really crappy for me. Derby City started walling-up in the back and would be 4 across right in the middle of the first turn. That gave me zero room to A) gain speed, and B) avoid the giant wall of 'gina without taking some massive stop-dead-in-your-tracks hits. For most of the first half, I'd have to fight my way through slowly. I missed getting lead 3 times, and would have to call off the jam early if I got it to keep DCRG from scoring. I managed about 13 points in the first half, figuring out by about the last jam of the period that the wall wasn't a strong as it appeared and coming through the middle was pretty easy after a quick little juke to the outside.

With that little gem of information, the second half was all a different story for me. The blockers were doing great at breaking that initial wall up, and being able to go in an just grab those quick 3 and 4 to zero jams were slowly adding up. Unfortunately, I was the only DDG jammer to score in the second half, and they just didn't add up enough for the win. We ended up losing, 53-104. It gets frustrating, we know we are a good team, but just can't pull it out on game day.

Here's a little highlight reel from Rocktt Xtra:

After seeing that, I know of a few things I want to "tweek" myself in my game.

Thanks to all the great fans that came out to support us! We really appreciate all of you!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 13 out of 43 jams (30.23% of the game), all as a jammer.
Of the 13 jams, declared lead jammer 10 times (76.92%)
Scored a total of 31 points in the game, an average of 2.38 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +9
Highest scoring jammer of bout
Highest +/- of bout, the only jammer for DDG in positive
Highest lead percentage
Only DDG jammer to score in the second period
Only 1 minor back-block in the bout.

Up Next: An away bout vs Little City in Johnson City, TN, then its Greased Lightning time for Summer Fights on July

Dixie Derby was RAPTURED!

2011-05-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

All in good fun, we decided to get in on the #RaptureBomb fun!

NO PACK!

Because we all know refs don't get raptured!

ROLLER DERBY REALLY DID SAVE MY SOUL!

A weekend to remember

2011-05-05T14:01:00.001-07:00

I'm sure plenty are aware of the situation in Northern Alabama as a result of the marathon of storms to hit this region on 4/27/11.

But there is positive news to come out of the tragedy, and this is OUR story as team and the kindness and outpouring of love and support from the derby community:

Please read my Examiner.com article: Not Even a Tornado can break derby bond and spirits.

No words.

2011-05-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

There are no words to describe how angry this makes me that someone could do this.

Meet Lori, aka Lmbr Timber Onu of Emerald Coast Roller Derby, was victim of a severe domestic violence attack on April 23, 2011. Lori is having surgery to repair broken eye sockets, nose and cheek bones. She faces a long recovery and mounting medical bills with no medical insurance. ECRD and many other people who love Lori are planning events and fundraisers to help.

PayPal link to help Lori:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_sxclick&hosted_button_id=36EF74RAATAZS

You may also send donations to:
First Citizens National Bank
Attn: Scott Luce
391 Main Street, Genesee PA 16923

Checks need to be made payable to : Kristine Milkeris-Smith

Please write : "Lori Milkeris medical" in the memo line.

More information at Lori's Aid Facebook Page

Awesome Good Luck Charms

2011-04-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

One thing I didn't mention in my last bout post was how grateful I am for some awesome supporters and fans that came to cheer us on for our first home bout of the season!

My biggest and favoritest one being my good luck charm:

He brought an army of people from Rocket Harley for this one, and even a new recruit in the process!

THANKS ALEX!
And thank you to all who came out!

Dismember the Alamo: 4/9/11

2011-04-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

Its only one event into the season, and I'm already slacking on regular and prompt updates!

Our first home bout, Dismember the Alamo, was 4/9/11 against the Alamo City Rollergirls from San Antonio, TX. Normally, I'm the preach-y one about eating right, and hydrating, and all that, but I had a major fail of being busy and screwing up my own pre-game regiment.

So when I arrived (late) to the VBC, I had to hurry up and scarf down the pasta I had made to load-up for the game. Eating that fast caused a major case of indigestion (NOT WINNING). But all upset tummy aside, warm ups felt pretty good, and I was finally feeling like my new 88a Heartless Stalker wheels were broken in enough for the slippery VBC floor. I also got to debut my new intro prop: my checkered flag that I ::cough cough:: borrowed ::cough cough:: from my part time job at the auto parts store.

For this game, I was put in as a jammer every fourth rotation for the duration of the game. I'm really happy to have mobility back in my knee and glad to be back to jamming in the chartered games this season. Taking the line on the 2nd jam, we were down by 4 points and scoreless in the first jam, and I knew I had to get on the board to put this game in the right direction. I was able to get through, but didn't get lead because I failed to repass a down skater. Not an issue, because Alamo's jammer got called on a track cut major, which sent her to the box and gave me a power jam. I was able to score 14 points before the two minutes, making the score 14-4 our favor.

After that, the game turned a bit uglier. Tripping, majorly sloppy, messy hits and some real brutal full-tilt-to-zero takedowns were taking us jammers down pretty hard, and making it quite the struggle out there. We stayed ahead in the score, all of us playing smart and getting those 3 and 4-point jams to keep us up. My highest scoring jam of the bout came right at the end of the 1st period, with a 16-point power jam. We went into halftime ahead 79-48.

I started off at the jammer line in the 2nd period, and we'd again trade 0 point or 2-3 point jams with Alamo. A series of jammer penalties would get us in trouble deep into the 2nd period, allowing Alamo to take a 1-point lead. I took the line knowing we could very easily lose this game, and worse, I already had 3 minor penalties. Talk about PRESSURE! I was getting a bit frustrated with the low blocks/dive hits that I felt should've been major impacts because they slowed me to a near stop in the pack most times. I *may* have took a little extra liberties getting up a few times after being tripped by these shenanigans.

Dixie doesn't typically do well under stress, and it was great to see everyone remain calm and take back control of the game. BOA landed 4 to move it back into our favor, and then my blockers did AMAZING, holding off the Alamo jammer for 3 straight jams and letting me get around twice for 8 points. After this jam, we're back in control 120-109.

BOA sealed the deal with a 20 point power jam right behind me, and it was all uphill from there, with Dixie taking the win 141-115. This is our first sanctioned WFTDA charter game of the season, and it feels good to put a "W" in the column!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 14 out of 39 jams (35.90% of the game)
Jammed in 13 jams (33.33% of game as jammer)
Of the 13 jams, declared lead jammer 6 times (46.15%)
Scored a total of 53 points in the game, an average of 4.08 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +23
Highest scoring jammer of bout
Highest +/- of bout
Served 1 minutes in the penalty box during the game (12.5% of my track time) for a major back block, and had 3 minors: a back-block, an illegal procedure, and a track cut

Up Next: An away bout at Knoxville, then the Rocket City Rumble III! Our 6 team, WFTDA Sanctioned tournament at the Von Braun Center South Hall.

Its Dodgeball time!

2011-03-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"

I should be good at both! This weekend is the 6th Annual Dixie Derby Down n Dirty Dodgeball Tournament. It's my 3rd year at the event, and its always a great way to start spring for a fun day in the sunshine.

The event is bigger this year, and so far 22 teams have pre-registered, with more sure to sign up the day of the event.

Come out to Dublin Park and watch or register a team and play!

More details are at: http://www.dixiederbygirls.com/dball.htm

Preseason Scrimmage -- March 13, 2011

2011-03-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

To prepare for our upcoming regular season, we decided to have our first intraleague bout since probably 2007-ish, and to give it even more nostalgic atmosphere, we hosted it at Roller Time, our practice home.

For those who weren't around then (myself included), before DDG started playing other WFTDA teams and scheduling bouts with other cities, they had two intraleague teams within the league that fought for championships: The Red Hot Riots vs. The Thrill-Killers. Now, despite being on the same league overall, there is always some pent up animosity and bitterness that comes with the competition-- and this was an especially heated rivalry (re: DRAMA!) back in the days from what I'm told. The concept was abandoned completely when DDG began playing bouts at the VBC.... many very grateful to see it go, and very vocal about it never returning again.

So, it was a BIG huge deal to be playing an intraleague bout after all this time of it being such a taboo topic. Some whispered about the "Riots vs. Killers" dark aura that lingers at RollerTime. Its almost a bit of a legendary curse (reaffirmed with the rather forgettable loss to Memphis last RCR) that plagues the hardwood. But with the growth direction the league has taken, it was time to put away the bad juju and just play some fun-filled, no pressure roller derby with our teammates.

The day began with laughter and the unsuspected flying of the Red-Hot Riots Flag during track set-up. There were plenty of laughs abounding... and we knew that regardless this day would be a-okay.

We faced off PINK vs. BLACK. I would take the jammer starting line first for the pink team against Ebbin Flow. She got through just ahead of me to claim lead, but I was able to pick up the first point before she called it off. Injured-Asian Invasion was coaching us, and she had me jamming and then immediately going into the next pack as a power/outside blocker before coming out to rest for a jam. I took the jammer line again in the 5th jam, taking lead and scoring 5 unanswered points. My game-high jam came in the 9th with a 20 point jam, and the rest were quick 3 and 4 pointers before a call-off to keep ahead of the Black team.

Blocking I felt great too, with several big take downs and great holds against black. Bitchy Valens and I held off the black jammer against a full-strength black team for several great laps when all the rest of ours were in the box. My favorite photo of the night captured one of my bullying hits on Sarah Von Knockaho. I seemed to pick on her a bunch this game, with some knockdown hits that left for a great highlight reel.
The final score had us up 188 to 111. We had a great time, no one was hurt, and we had some great real-time practice in front of our most faithful fans! I can't wait to get our regular season started in April at the VBC!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 15 out of 33 jams (45.45% of the game)
Jammed in 8 jams (24.24% of game as jammer)
Of the 8 jams, declared lead jammer 6 times (62.50%)
Scored a total of 42 points in the game, an average of 5.38 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +32
Served 2 minutes in the penalty box during the game (13.3% of my track time), once for a major track cut, and once for my 4 minors: 2 elbows, 2 track cuts.

Up Next: First home bout of the season, April 9th against Alamo City in a WFTDA Sanctioned bout at the Von Braun Center South Hall.

Coming back together....

2011-03-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

And just as suddenly as it disappeared--- POOF! eRacer X got her MOJO back!

I had a lot of great advice about my recent mental beat-down, lots of encouragement from my team, and one statement that really drove it all home.

"You need an instigator--a shit talker. You need someone to really just piss you off. Not in the throwing punches kind of way, but the 'gas to the fire' way."

That came from a very good friend and one of our officiating staff-- one who inexplicably knows me better than I probably know myself and one who is wise beyond reason. She was right. I just needed that extra push to engage the "Dammit, I'm not gonna TAKE this anymore" survival mode. It started with that one extra-determined fight to break the pack in practice, and that had a ripple effect.

All of a sudden, I AM taking that outside corner to out maneuver the last blocker, I AM riding that inside line and holding up against the hits trying to take me down, I'm juking, cutting, weaving, bobbing and I AM breaking through that pack to score.

The fog lifted... that allowed me to resharpen my mental awareness... seeing when to call it off, knowing when to race in the pack, when to stall, where to help. My hits improved, my timing improved, my PLAY overall just did a 180. By far, the most critical and strongest muscle in my body -- my BRAIN.

It seems silly now that all these things that are so second nature to me now could be so easily lost in a mental break-down. But they were, and I'm even more hyper-aware that if I can suffer from a case of self-inflicted Mentally Beat Up bruises, then its quite possible that there are many others on my team that may also need the extra assurance.

I've always considered myself mentally strong... I can push through pain, I know what it is to give 110% effort and the rewards that come with the exhaustion. In my drag racing career, I depended on my confident ability to stay cool in even the most sudden/life threatening situations. So that mental breakdown? It caught me completely off-guard.

I know the antagonist route that ended my journey isn't going to have the same effect for most. I'm weird like that... you get me mad, I dig deeper and come back harder. But it makes me very aware that our actions can have a very real and lasting effect on our teammates.

From now on, I'm going to watch my words. I'm going to look for those chances to help and encourage my teammates. I'm going to be the POSITIVE light at the end of the tunnel for someone else in their fog.

Because at the end of the day... we are all in this together.

On the plus side

2011-03-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I may be sucking as a jammer, can't hit a 2lb baby out of bounds, and can't even get my stance straight, but on the PLUS side.... my clothes are way too big again!

At least I'll look good trying.

Mental Beat-down

2011-02-28T06:35:00.000-08:00

I've reached a roadblock... albeit probably mental, but successful in stopping me in my tracks and chipping away at my confidence.

Taking a break from derby September-February was the best and worst thing I've ever done. I needed the break. I was wore out and burned out on the tough travel schedule we faced last season. I needed some time to recollect myself, to focus on some other areas of my life that needed attention.

But I missed it. I missed my girls, my family. I needed the stress relief and the outlet that skating provides to my mental health. The physical health benefits as well... its amazing how quickly you lose "it".

Coming back felt great.... I felt like this being my 3rd year playing, things would finally "click" more for me. I know its a constant fight... pushing the limits, pushing the comfort levels to be the best skater I am capable of being. But first contact in, and I took a brutal hit to the knee during a drill, most likely worsened by the fact that my supporting muscles are weak and not able to protect my knee as well, and all of that confidence is gone.

As a jammer, I realize that a very large and very real percent of derby is a mental game. Its a game that tests not as much your ability to knock others down, but YOUR ability to get back up. I've been working a grueling 7 day-a-week, 75 hour work schedule, with my only other free time devoted to skating. But as much as I NEED to skate, when I enter the rink, I'm already mentally tired. I want to forget about all the tasks looming before me and focus nothing more than derby. Somehow, that's not happening.

After my little knee snafu at the beginning of February, we pushed right into scrimmages. I felt like a baby giraffe, and the knee was compounding the problem. Lined up on the jammer line, and promptly got stuck in the pack, time-after-time-after-time. Mentally, I wanted to make excuses for myself: the teams are lop-sided, we have a lot of newbies, I'm easing back into it to guard my knee, etc.

But the reality is that I'm mentally out-of-shape. I'm letting each of those failed attempts at getting through the pack eat away at my confidence. I'm allowing myself to let fear and self-loathing affect how I skate. It changes the way I approach the pack, it stops me from trying to get around that stubborn blocker. And the worst part is, its mental and the only person I have to blame is myself.

I left practice last night after a particularly frustrating scrimmage wondering if I am not ready to be out there yet. No exercise can help with mental struggles-- its an internal problem that only I can overcome. But I began feeling like my super-low confidence and mental strength may be putting myself at risk for even more injuries, like I'm a walking accident waiting to happen.

I want this year to be the best... I want to grow as a skater. I want so bad to be a valuable asset to this team. But right now, I just want to crawl into my little hole and stay there for awhile.

What do you do to get mentally tough? What pulls you out of the derby-funk haze?

Comments much appreciated.

We are all FAMILY.

2011-02-25T08:22:00.001-08:00

You see the attitudes. The smack talk, the power hits, the brutal knock-downs, the bruises and even the occasional broken bones. You hear about the skirmishes, the penalty box confrontations, the ejections, and the expulsions.

But what you might not hear enough about is that at the end of the day, as we unlace our skates, we are the most loyal and fiercely protective family that anyone could ever ask for. Derby is more than the aggressive sport, its more than the persona we portray on the track. It is a lifestyle that we've chosen, and a family that we have adopted for better or worse as our own.

Whether it be the trust and respect that is earned by one another in the throes of bout-time battle, the solidarity in running a successful business and community champion, or perhaps the fact that getting 40+ women together 3 times a week things start to "sync" up (if ya get my drift), the outcome is a family of like-minded women who despite it all, have your back through thick and thin.

Whether its your derby wife you call in the middle of the night when you need a sober ride home, or the army of derby girls that comes to your rescue when a relationship goes south and you want him out NOW, or the crew that will pull miracles to save you from 2,000 miles away.... you come to know that despite whatever headache may face you on track or at practice, your family is solidly and firmly rooted behind you.

This family extends beyond the confines of your own league. Almost like the cousins you hardly know and only see once a year or every other year at best, skaters on competing leagues are part of this family. Because while we may hate each other for two 30-minute periods, at the end of the day we all do this thing we love -- we play derby. And it doesn't matter which team we're on or what positions we play, we're all there doing the thing we love together.

Which is why when I read that a fellow derby girl is in need of help, I don't even think twice about helping her. I've never met Sk8 Outta Compton, a recently retired skater from the Atlanta Rollergirls team. I don't have to know her personally to respect what she has done for this sport and what she accomplished in her skating career. But even though I never had the chance to know her, or skate against her, she is family and she needs our help. Those satchels will be used in my skate bag proudly, and I will print a big #310 (her derby number) on them to remind me of my far-away derby sister and her new journey.

I'm proud to call all of the strong women in the derby-verse my sweaty, stinky, and often PMS-y family, and am proud to know that if ever a time comes where I have to put in the derby-distress beacon, that an army will be there for me where ever I might be in my life. How has YOUR derby family come to save you? Share your stories in the comments!

Be sure to visit Sk8 Outta Compton's blog. Read her story. See how you can help.

Derby Presents

2011-01-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

Ever since they started popping up at derby practice and bouts everywhere, I've had a severe case of Zuca bag envy.

Well, I officially have my own Zuca bag of awesomeness, and how much more eRacer X-ish can this bag get?!?

It's appropriately named the Zuca ZOOM bag. And its mine! Yay for derby presents!

Back with a Vengence.

2011-01-31T08:24:00.000-08:00

So I nudged my way back a little early. I just couldn't wait to get back any longer. I stepped back in the middle of bootcamp last Wednesday, and have been trying to get my skate feet under me since.

The new skates are heaven. Literally. They feel like they were made for my foot. I am in LOVE. So far, only very mild break-in discomfort, and that was after the 5 minute timed laps deal because of the pressure put on my ankles from crossing over for 5 minutes straight. EZ Fits helped immensely, I suggest getting them for those breaking-in new skates. Asphalt Beach has them in stock all the time.

Which brings me to the OMG story for the blog.... 5 Minute Timed laps.

I was fully expecting myself to be full-of-SUCK for this time trial being that I haven't skated or done much of anything except work since September of last year. Since this is only my 2nd time on skates since then, I still feel like I'm baby-Bambi on my skates all over again.

Last season, I figured out the key to success for these is a nice steady pace of nothing but cross-overs in the diamond formation for the ENTIRE 5 minutes. Yes, nothing but crossovers. Its hell on your ankles and lower back, since you MUST be in for-real derby stance the entire time, but you aren't expending the energy gliding the curves and having to work back up on the straight-aways.

Having figured this little gem of information out, the most common annoyance for me is getting stuck behind someone and having this rhythm disrupted. Don't believe me? See what a difference it makes, and you'll understand why I avoid breaking rhythm at all costs. With it becoming such a methodological rhythm, the only thing left to focus on is breathing deeply in and out, and trying to push that rhythm a bit faster each time. I almost want to bring my ipod and ear-buds for total relaxation to see how well I can do to an up-tempo techno tune, so I can tune out the distractions even more.

So for this time trial, I just went back to that happy place in my mind, and focused on the breathing and crossing. Last season, I averaged about 31.5 laps, with a season high of 32.5 laps. I was fully expecting to come in around 29-30 laps being out of shape and out of practice.

Imagine my OH MY GOD surprise when they tell me I posted a career high of 33.5 laps!

Seriously. I am in shock. Not only is that the highest amount of laps I've ever posted, but I did some digging through our old stats and that's the highest ANY skater has ever posted in our records.

The awesome part about this is that I didn't feel like that was 110% of my possible effort. I had reserved a bit too much in the tank at the end.

The only explanation I can offer for this is:

My new skates are BAD ASS. They are lighter, and they must be helping keep me lower and more efficient by keeping my heel in place. As DDG's experimental skate mechanic, I am hoping I can convince the girls this season how important the proper gear and maintenance is to their performance. (Hello, ASIAN INVASION, with ceased up bearings and falling apart skates last season. I'm talking directly to you...)
Quitting smoking is for winners. FOR REAL. I quit at the end of November. I feel SO much better. For all of those timed laps last season, I was hacking up a lung and about to puke after each time trial. This season? Not at all! I'm now a believer on how much smoking and drinking impairs skate performance. I have been working so much I haven't had a chance to drink much either. Mission #2 for the season: getting our league to improve smoking/drinking/nutrition habits. Just look at Nashville. They quit as a team and they went to Nationals. Enough said.
I'm praying this isn't a fluke. I've been known to post ridiculous beginning numbers and then take forever to reach or exceed them again, so I'm hoping this is not one of those flukey-type performances. I'm hoping this is a precursor to an awesome season of lots of super-jammer performances. I'm taking it as an inspiration towards greatness....

Man, I cannot tell you how great it feels to be back! I'd love to hear from others to see what you/your league have as average and top honors in this drill! Leave comments!

PS: Above is a pic I snapped at day 1 of bootcamp. I think these freshies are going to be great! They've done better than any of the recruits I've ever seen us have, so I can't wait to be playing with them this season!

Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon 2011 Edition

2011-01-25T07:50:00.000-08:00

Well, its that time of year again, folks.

The 4th Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon is coming up again! This is the fund raiser we do every year to benefit the American Heart Association where we ask for donations per lap we skate during the 2 hour skate-a-thon.

Last year you might remember I was challenged by a friend to do 250 laps in an attempt to "melt my little skate wheels off". I accepted, and turned in a dizzying 316-lap performance which took me about a week to recover from.

Well this year, I'm going to attempt to melt down my new skate wheels and shoot for 325 laps. We raised a ton of $$ last season for the American Heart Association to give back to the "Broken Hearted", and I'm hoping that with your spare change we can beat that this year as well!

Everyone is invited to come skate laps for Broken Hearts with us on February 9th at Roller Time Skate Center (707 Arcadia Cir. Huntsville, AL) for a $10 donation (+$3 for skate rental).

you can make a one-time donation online!

I've made it super easy... just click below to donate via paypal.

Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

Thanks for all your support!

New Skates = Happy Dance!

2011-01-24T08:28:00.000-08:00

At the end of the 2010 season, my good old Vixens found a new home with one of our freshies, Marley. I loved those things, but after trying on Cakeface's super light weight skates, the skate mechanic in me decided I wanted some new super badass skates for my 2011 return.

I did months of research (what else is there to do in the offseason, anyways?). I had decided I wanted the new Riedell Powerdyne Revenge plates, but hadn't made up my mind on a new boot. I know I wanted to upgrade, but couldn't decide between the 951, 965 (Minx), 911(Jammer) or 1065(Siren) model boots.

In December, Asian Invasion and I made a quick day trip up to Asphalt Beach in Nashville. I had narrowed it down to either the Minx or Sirens by this point, but really wanted to try them on. Both felt wonderful, but with my skinny little ankles, the Sirens had the Heel lock system that helps to keep your heel planted in the skate instead of the slippage I'm used to dealing with. So, I decided to go with the Sirens.

My official return is February 2nd, so I won't get to try them out in practice mode until then. But let me tell ya, I'm finding every excuse to put them on my feet and play around that I can. The night I picked them up, I had to work at my second job Advance Auto (how else am I gonna afford awesome new derby skates?!?). We were slow, which worked as a perfect opportunity to test them out by doing laps around the store and booty blocks into the display racks! Take that, brake cleaner!

Can't wait to be back!

Hello, and welcome to 2011!

2011-01-14T11:55:00.001-08:00

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO OUT THERE?!?!?

Wow, I've been neglecting my eRacer X-files blog entirely too long.

My excuse is that I got wrapped up in the selfless and team-oriented writings that I do as the DDG Examiner. But that doesn't really allow me to talk about my skating exploits personally, so my resolution for 2011?

BACK WITH THE BLOG!

Man, I have a ton to catch up on. But for now, just know that I'm currently working towards returning to DDG and have been on skating hiatus since September. Skating = my sanity, and I really need some sanity back!

I'm also really missing the focus that blogging here gave my skating, so I'll be working on those 2011 skater goals and all other forms of craziness shortly!

Shoves & Bruises,

eRacer X

Pimped out by my derby sisters

2010-04-23T07:21:00.001-07:00

Rocket 95.1FM is my favorite radio station in Huntsville, and I never miss the Go Fish morning show on the way to work every morning.

Fish's sidekick, Ken, was just dumped by his girlfriend this past weekend, and they played the breakup on air. So by Wednesday, they decided to do a rebound radio contest to find Ken a rebound date. I was listening on my way into the office thinking... "What he needs is a derby girl!" and trying to ponder who on the team I could wake up at 7:30am to call in for the show.

But as I'm sitting there thinking this, MY phone rings. Its Bama Brewser, apparently I wasn't the only one who had the idea, only she had determined that it was ME that needed to go on and "take one for the team".... that I was the perfect candidate and that Oh by the way, she was calling Fish right now to give him my number. Yes, I have officially been pimped out by my league, folks.

Now, the Dixie Derby Girls have quite a reputation on the Fish morning show. Asian and Hell Razor have both given poor Ken a beat down before with a wooden paddle. (poor guy... those two don't even NEED a paddle to do some serious damage) So of course, Ken was already scared before I even arrived.

KEN: "How much can you bench?!?"

ME: "Oh, about 2 blockers...."

Fish was clearly enjoying his obvious fear, so I became the WILD CARD entry. (That's what HE said... I know!) I was the 3rd and final to show up at the studio on Thursday.

After a very quiet Ken asked a few small questions, the gauntlet was thrown down by Fish for an Arm Wrestling Competition. Let's just say score: eRacer X -2-, Ken -0- I tried to take it easy on him... honest, I did!

And for your viewing pleasure... you be the judge!

I offered up not just me, but a date with MULTIPLE derby girls. What guy turns down a chance to be a total stud with a bunch of HOT derby girls on his arms? Alas, I think he was worried he couldn't handle it and they chose one of the other contestants.

No Sleep + Derby = OUCH.

2010-04-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

In all my years of athletic endeavours, I've come to depend on my unnatural level of endurance under pressure and my borderline masochistic tolerance of pain. But every once in awhile, my body is sure to tell me when its had enough with a big EFF YOU. That was the case at our first home bout this year, the Spring BLAST OFF. I knew that I had burned my candle both ends too thin, but since when is that ever a problem!?

My bout week was spent under chaotic stress and pressure of my biggest career tradeshow of the year in Las Vegas. 10 hour days on my feet, followed by hosting social events for our dealers and customers into the nights. I hadn't had more than 4 hours of sleep a night in weeks. (I did get in a quick practice with the Sin City Roller Girls while there though, thanks ladies!) Top that off, I wasn't leaving Las Vegas until 12:40 AM, the DAY OF THE BOUT. Yep, the redeye back east and landing in time to change, get ready, and get to the VBC for the Spring Blast off.

Our B-team was playing first thankfully, so I had time to get some pasta into my system, and drink a good amount of energy supplements in hopes of boosting my jet-lagged system for the bout. We would be playing the Panama City Roller Girls from Florida, and I was told they were a fast bunch. A quick look at the line up (I hadn't seen it at all since I had been in Vegas all week), and I was on jammer rotation for the start of the game.

Warming up, I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible. I didn't want to over do it and run out of my reserve fuel for the bout. Hindsight, that might've been my mistake. The bout started with CU Afterclass scoring a quick 10 point jam, I followed with 15 points and Wicked One another 5. I went in for 2 more jammer cycles, scoring 4 and 3 points respectively, and by that point we had built a pretty large lead and were switching to our alternate roster, which put me into block.

And that's where it went horribly wrong. I was playing power and got tangled up with a sliding blocker who cagged my skate and fell on top of my ill-placed knee. I hit the ground and couldn't get up. It hurt really bad, but I figured it was something I could walk off. They wheeled me back to the bench, and I sat there poking my knee for a few jams and getting the medic to wrap it with an ace wrap. I'm used to playing with some discomfort (ie.. if it ain't broke, it ain't nuttin), so near the end of the 1st half, I decided to go back in.

That lasted oh, about 20 feet. One of the PCRG blockers came at me at the front of the pack and I went to easily counterblock her, but when I pushed against my right knee, it collapsed underneath me and I went down hard again with shooting pain at the back of my knee. I knew I was done, my body gave me the big EFF YOU and decided it was through.

I couldn't put weight on my knee all day Sunday, but it seems to be doing a bit better today, and I'm hoping its just some muscular damage opposed to something worse.

Dixie ended up winning 192-63. Out of the 3 jams that I played as a jammer, I managed 22 points, lead all 3 jams and had +22 in my plus/minus total. I was pretty happy with that considering I had zero sleep.

Fingers crossed that my knee makes a complete recovery by next week... we have one of our biggest games of the season against #5 Houston on May 2nd!

Skate Mechanics: Tuning my Skates

2010-03-22T17:39:00.000-07:00

This is only my 2nd season playing roller derby, but coming from an automotive racing background, one of the cool parts of derby that I like to tinker with (funds allowing) is skate hardware performance.

Now every skater has their own personal preferences, and its hard to determine what that might be as you're learning because to be honest, your form/skating style changes dramatically one day to the next during the learning period.

As for me, in my 1 year, 3 months as a skater, I am on my second pair of skates, my third bearing swap, and my 4th set of wheels Apparently, I'm hard on equipment. But in all fairness, I skated the heck outta that equipment every chance I got, so it was way above and beyond our normal season practice/bout schedule.

Changing out equipment and their different performance angles is a lot like tuning a car for me. Each component has a different overall effect on performance. Here's some of my experiences to date (your results might vary).

Starter Skate:

RW Outlaw Boot

Radar Tuner Hot Pink (Quik~94A)

Abec 9 bearings (yellow)

This was my first set of starter skates. I was super excited to get them right off the bat. They were fairly inexpensive ($130ish) and were leaps and bounds better than the rentals at the rink. First off, freshmeaties should know that getting your own skates improves your performance like 100,000% over the rentals. Those things are calculated train wrecks for derby. This setup got me out of Freshmeat land and over to scrimmage eligible. We practice on a hardwood rink surface, so grip typically isn't an issue as long as your wheels are kept clean. The boots never gave me blisters or any other discomfort and were extremely well padded. They felt like a cushy pair of sneakers. (incidentally, these are still being worn by my cousin, who has taken up derby in Ohio as well. She changed the wheels out and seems to be doing fine with them)

Bones Bearings:

My first upgrade not long into being scrimmage eligible, was to change the bearings out to Bones Reds Bearings. These are about midway up the bearing totem pole in terms of roll resistance and speed. My first set were used, and I just cleaned and oiled them well, and picked up a ton of speed over the ABEC-9 Yellows that came with my starter skates. These seemed like the most beneficial investment in terms of noticeable skating difference.

After skating in my first few bouts away, I noticed that I had a real issue on the slicker floors. This was when I started really checking into compounds and wheel grip ratings. Most of the DDG's used Radar Flat Outs on the slick polished concrete floors. I also was noticing that the bulk of my skates and the flex of the nylon plates were really making me feel less stable in jamming. I think my skates might've been a tad on the too big side. So, about 6 months into my young skater career, I decided to upgrade to a new skate.

Riedell Vixens

Riedell 165 Boot

Powerdyne Triton Aluminum Plate

ABEC 7 bearings (blue)

Radar Flat Out Black (Grip ~88A)

I bought these from the Riedell vendor at our Rocket City tournament, so I got to try them on while skating the polished concrete surface. The very first thing I discovered, I had to go down 2 sizes, not just one, to get the right, snug fit. Once I put them on, the more pronounced "speed" setup is apparent. You HAVE to skate in a normal skaters stance with these. They also feel a whole lot more secure. But those wheels and bearings? Felt like I was stomping through mud... the Flat Outs had a lot more grip than the tuners, and I took those bearings right out and replaced them with my Reds. That did a whole lot better, but when we started practicing on the hardwood, I had to skate twice as hard to overcome the grip on an already grippy surface.

Radar Mojo Wheels:

After a few months, I had already started noticing wear on the Flat Outs. They indeed worked great on polish concrete, but where as my speed was coming along, I felt I was still lacking in the agility department while jamming, and often tripped on my own wheels trying to shuffle through the pack. I borrowed a set of Radar Mojos, the slimmer (38mm vs 44mm), aluminum hubbed version of the Flat Out. They were heavier, but I felt much more agile in the pack and my juking and lateral cuts dramatically improved. I was sold. I used these for the last half of the season up until now. They've done well, but I still notice I'm slipping a little at high speeds on polished concrete.

Atom Stingers:

Well, this weekend we're headed to play the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls. We were pre-warned that their venue's floor is the slickest that many have ever encountered. My last skate session with Nashville had me stumbling and sliding everywhere, and since I'll be most likely jamming this game, I didn't want to take that chance. I called up Sin City Skates, and spoke to Ivanna. I wanted to keep the narrow 38mm wheel, but wanted to go gripper than the 88A of the Mojo. The Suregrip sugars (85A) and the Radar Shadows (80A) are the only two grippier wheels I could find, and both came in only the wider 66mm sizes. Ivanna then explained that all the Radar wheels went by their own hardness rating (grip, gripper, quick, firm, etc.) The Mojos were actually the equivalent of a 92A in another brand wheel. Same with the Flat Outs. So I decided that a true 88A would probably be the best bet. Ivanna recommended the Atom Stingers, worn by the 2009 National WFTDA champs, the Oly Rollers. Atom is also the official wheel of the WFTDA, so I figured I'd give them a try.

They are on my skates and ready to go, so I'll report back after this weekend and let you know how they do! Wish me luck!

Beating the Brakes off the Vette City Vixens

2010-03-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a DIE HARD Ford Racer. Although I can appreciate all kinds of horsepower, the one car that I absolutely can't stand is the Corvette. It probably has more to do with the stereotyped driver than the actual car, but its enough to have ignited a long-term hate relationship with any Corvette newer than oh, about 1963.

So that in mind, you must understand my mentality heading into our first 2010 expo home bout on the Redstone Arsenal against none other than the Vette City Vixens from Bowling Green, KY. This wasn't just about derby anymore... this was the deepest of rivalries. Ford vs. Chevy. Corvette vs. Mustang. Whatever you want to call it, this was eRacer X on a MISSION.

As the first home bout of the season (unofficially... the regular season kicks off April 17th), this was a special expo bout held for Arsenal/NASA employees and their families and friends to come out and watch the action for free. Our hope is that they would see how wickedly awesome derby is and buy tickets for our regular season... and we might all pick up some new fans. There were quite a lot of fans at this bout, and I'm pretty sure that we succeeded in the goal of picking up some newbie fans. I signed a few autographs for the kiddies and took lots of photos with them, so I expect they'll be asking Mom and Dad to bring them back. (photo: a young fan with my jammer panty on her head... isn't she a cutie?)

Now, to be fair, Vette City is a brand new derby team. This was their first public bout. You'd think we'd show them some kind of mercy. Mmmm, No. They are a great bunch of girls, and they have lots of promise, but derby is derby my friends, especially when its an auto related rivalry for me.

So I would start the game wearing the bright pink star. After going back and forth last season between jammer/blocker, it appears that I've been marked a jammer for this season. And what a way to start 2010... with a 19 point jam! I ended up in the box twice, once for a major elbow and then another right away for an illegal procedure 4th minor that sent me right back to the box (I wasn't behind her hips apparently... I got a little antsy!) But I did score 2 separate 19 point jams, which is the highest single scoring jam I've ever had to date.

Dixie ended up beating the brakes off Vette City, 219-50. The afterparty carried over to the Benchwarmers, and was a ton of fun. The Vette City girls are a great group! I look forward to skating against them again when they've got some more play time under their belts.

Part of my personal goal/training plan is to really analyze my performances by studying the numbers after each game. This is how I ranked for this bout:

I played 11 jams out of 32 in the bout (34.3%).
Of the 11 jams, I was declared Lead Jammer in 9 (81.1%)
I scored a total of 83 points in the game, an average of 7.55 points per jam
My plus/minus total was +64, that means 64 positive points during jams I played.
I ended with 1 major elbow, a 4 minors box trip, and 2 left over minors at the end of the game. That's actually a pretty sloppy game for me, I tend NOT to collect any penalties at all.

Overall, I feel I'm starting to get a little better jamming. I'm trying to develop my style a bit, and photos are helping me see areas I need to work on. One big accomplishment for me this bout has been getting my jammerline start more proficient. I've always been kinda awkward on the start, and never felt I had a starting procedure that worked for me until now. I did some research on toe stop running starts and duck walk starts, and what I saw was that there was some wasted momentum in the way I was trying to run on my stoppers. So I played around with something I'm gonna call the ToeStopDuckyHop start.... its too difficult to explain in words, but it basically means I'm almost running sideways off the line and straight into a power push 3 -4 hops later. Its probably wrong, but its a lot quicker than what I was doing before, so I'll keep it for now.

Up Next: WFTDA Sanctioned bout against the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls on my 30th birthday, March 27th.

Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

2010-03-03T12:07:00.000-08:00

Well, its official... Huntsville now has its own dedicated section on Examiner.com for Dixie Derby Girls news and other derby related reporting.

And guess who is the writer for the section??? Yep, yours truly!

The website, which organizes and features hyper-local news related to your community, has implemented a Dixie Derby Girls Examiner section into their sports category. I'll be posting bout reports, news, and other related articles to the section.

Please check it out! Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

Make sure you subscribe, and leave comments while you're there!

Down & Derby in Phenix City

2010-02-26T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, the first bout of the season! Always good for some butterflies and a few opening night jitters. I figured that starting the season off at a mixed-team scrimmage bout was a great way to get back into bout mode without some of the pressure of a sanctioned, points earning bout against our WFTDA competitors.

The teams were a mixed group comprised of skaters from Burn City (Auburn, AL) Tragic City (Birmingham, AL) Chattanooga, and of course Cakeface Killa, Erica SLAPton, Brigitte Badonkadonk and myself from Dixie. The bout was a memorial bout for Sally Slaughter from Tragic City Rollers and Danger S of Tallahassee Roller Girls, and the proceeds were donated to Spread the Love for cervical cancer research.

Trying to organize a line-up with 14 people of all different teams isn't the easiest thing to do, so there was a little confusion before the bout on how to get everything rotating smoothly. I ended up Jamming and playing middle-outside blocker in the 6 line-up rotation. I'm almost not used to that much bench time between jams, so it was refreshing not to be winded up on the jammer line. The track was concrete, and wasn't too slick at all, which made it a really fast surface to skate on. Overall, that was great, ...except for coming off turn 4 when you have less than 4 feet of out-of-bounds room to try and stop in. Let's just say I got a nasty blister from carpet burn of slamming into and sliding down that wall. Ouch!

Performance wise, for a group of girls who have never played together before, I think we did great as a team. We traded point exchanges back and forth most of the game, and came out just short in the final jam when our jammer was sent to the box. Personally, I wasn't having the best game... especially blocking, but I managed a 12 point jam, took lead jammer several times, and only went to the box once for a track cutting major. I've had some persistent shin-splints this season, and I felt like I just couldn't get my skates solidly beneath me this game. I have some major work to do before our first DDG bout for sure.

The other great thing about this bout is that it was held in my old stomping grounds in Phenix City. I hadn't been back much since I left in 2007, so it was great to have my old friends come cheer me on down there. I'm pretty sure they didn't quite know what to think of roller derby. Thanks for coming and watching!

The after party was held at the Sports Rock, but unfortunately I didn't attend that one, so I don't have any excitement to report in that department.

(Photos: Melissa Humble)

View eRacer X's Photo Gallery

-----------------------------------

DERBY WORLD TOUR NOTE: Phenix City, AL (Burn City Rollers) becomes stop #12 on the Derby World Tour.

Charter 1 Team Success!

2010-02-22T06:32:00.000-08:00

Mission #1 in 2010 Complete.

The Charter team results for the first of 4 WFTDA Charter submissions have been selected. My first goal of 2010 was to be selected for the Charter Team. YAY! I am one of 20 girls on our team to make the Charter!

What's a charter? Well, all sanctioned WFTDA games must be comprised of teams made from Chartered WFTDA members. Teams can only list 20 girls at a time on these. All of our "All Star" and most travel bouts are WFTDA regulated, so that means that I've made the first step towards being part of the All-Star team for Dixie.

The next goal is to be selected as one of the 14 skaters pulled from the Charter team for the active roster each game. Only 14 girls can be on the active roster turned in before the bout. That means I'll be competiting with the 20 Charter members for a spot on the bench for each game. The first biggie coming up is the Oklahoma tour on my birthday weekend.

Time to step up the training!

Down & Derby in my old backyard.

2010-02-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like visiting your old stompin' grounds and catching up with your old friends after being gone for several years. Even better when your return is to take part in a kick-butt Roller Derby event that you can invite old friends to come watch your new found passion!

Coming up on February 27th, I was asked to take part in an exhibition bout with the Burn City Rollers (Auburn, AL). The event is titled "Down and Derby" with all proceeds going towards the Spread the Love Charity.

Spread the Love is a 501(c)(3) charity organization to benefit those fighting cervical cancer and promoting awareness of the disease and the importance of early detection. The fundraiser is in honor of women like Tallahassee Rollergirl Danger S. (Stephanie) who are battling the disease. (A battle that I hits close to home for me.)

Even better, the bout isn't in Auburn, but in Phenix City, Alabama... minutes away from my previous address from several years ago. I'm very familiar with the area, and miss many of my friends from the Chattahoochee area. I'm inviting them all out to witness my derby alter-ego in action and to catch up while I'm in town.

Down and Derby Exhibition
February 27th, 2010
6pm EASTERN
$5 admission at door

Gr8 Sk8 (up the hill behind Big Lots)
1031 Hwy 280 Byp
Phenix City, AL 36867
334-448-8848
view map

*Fold-up chairs/ seat cushions recommended

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, DODGE!

2010-02-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, folks. The much-anticipated time of year when you can round up 10 of your rowdiest friends and throw them in the cage for all-out ball-busting battle for Dodgeball supremacy.

16 teams will dodge, duck, dip, dive, and DODGE their way through the tournament. The last team standing wins cash and our utmost respect (and believe me, that's a bunch.) Think you've got a team that contend? REGISTER HERE.

For those that want to come watch the assault (and believe me, its BRUTAL), you can catch the fun half-time antics as well as all the other excitment for $5 general admission.

5th Annual Dixie Derby Dodgeball Tournament
Saturday, March 13th noon
Lowe Mill (Below Flying Monkey Arts Center)
2211 Seminole Drive Huntsville, AL

See you there!

Broken Hearted Wheel Melt

2010-02-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Last night was the 3rd Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon. Its a great event where each skater raises pledges per laps (or simple flat donations) to help the American Heart Association.

This year, I was challenged to skate over 250 laps in the 2 hour skate-a-thon time frame, or as my friend so nicely put it, he wanted to know how many it took to make my "little skate wheels melt". Well, I took that challenge, and was ready right at 6pm to start the wheel melting, dizzying warp speed lap journey.

In 2009, I tried counting my laps to myself as I went.... yea, that was a disaster. I apparently can't count past 5 in my head without forgetting what number I was on. So this year, I had a little hand held clicker that I could click each lap to keep track. I knew I had to do about 125 laps an hour to make the goal.

I started off strong, trying to keep a good pace. About 45 minutes into it, my back was aching pretty good from the left-turn leaning and crouched skater-stance. But check-in at the hour marker had been on course for my wheel melting goal. A quick stretch out, a little truckin' music, and I kicked it into high-gear for the last half of the skate-a-thon.

About 5 minutes left, I finally threw in the towel to seek out a quick back massage for my achy back! I called in my lap count, and waited to hear what my ranking was at the end of the tally.

For the 2010 Skate-a-thon, I skated a total of..........................

::DRUM ROLL PLEASE::

316 LAPS!

Oh yes, not only did my little skate wheels melt, but so did my poor legs and feet. I can hardly walk today, and I have all kinds of blisters on my feet from the aforementioned melting. (ewww, gross!) And although I didn't even need a defibrillator on site or a transplant heart from the American Heart Association, I sure did need an epsom salt bath, a heating pad and some shock therapy when I got done!

The finally tally of how many laps we've done as a league whole and how much we've raised overall for the skate-a-thon will not be released until next week when all the pledges are collected. I'm really excited to see what we raised for the AHA and how many laps we finished as a group. I think I came in 2nd or 3rd in overall laps skated as an individual.... yay! I'll keep you posted!

Big thanks to my supporters this year, whom helped me raise my pledged amount to over $200 for the AHA:

Steve Barone
Jennifer Stern
Will Agee
Bob Sykes
Kris Combs aka Hell Razor
Jimmy Pogue
Robin Bernstein aka @RollerWomyn
John Ramspott

Its not too late to help! Chip-in below until the 17th. Its tax deductible, and you're really helping a great cause!

Survey

2010-02-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

A Public Service Announcement:

WFTDA, the national sanctioning body behind today's Flat Track Roller Derby movement, is hosting a survey to help aid in demographic studies, etc.

This short survey will help all leagues know more about our audience and how we can improve our sport.

Please take a moment and complete the survey for us.

We want Roller Derby to take over the world!

Training: Week One

2010-01-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

Out on the interwebs, the theme among most roller derby skaters is simple this time of year: TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN.

If there really is such a thing as a derby off-season, January probably is the closest thing you'll find. Admittedly, this skater took to the couch for most of the holiday season, and for various reasons, only just returned back for week one training. (Slacker! Yes, I know...)

In any case, one of the big things I've read many teams (including DDG) are doing is to document your personal short-term and long-term goals.

I've got one main goal this year... skate with a vengence.

I started last year not being able to skate at all. I got beat up one side and down the other. I learned. I paid attention. I hustled. I skated every chance I got. I was overlooked often. I flew under the radar. And by the end of the year, I felt like I had fought the hard fight to have my skates underneath me finally.

But 2010 is the year where I will NOT go unnoticed.

My short-term goals:

Really improve agility. Step, step, step, step! I want my skates to be as natural as shoes underneath me. I want to be able to move in every imaginable direction quickly and gracefully. I picked up some fancy-pants footwork drills on one of my many guest-skating practices, and its really been helpful to me. I can practice during open skates even. Just quickly switching all different directions from left-right, backwards-forwards.
Get LOW. I always thought I was skating in derby stance, until I see photos of me from bouts. Then I realize I look like a Redwood Tree.... standing TALL and UPRIGHT. Bad deal! So, my immediate goal is to get down, get low, and STAY there. That's going to require some core strengthening, as my lower back is already feeling my lower stance attempts. (Photo Caption: TIMBER! How to skate like a tree 2009 edition NO MORE.)

Bootay blocking perfection. I realized midway through last season that I wasn't effective as a blocker the way that I was taught. I am not built the same way, and cannot deliver near the blow that many of my DDG teammates can with a shoulder block. So, I honed in on the swooping-bootay block. A quick cut across the track and a snap of the bootay, and away they go. I've managed it in practice a few times, but need to get better at applying it on different surfaces. Seems slicker tracks and faster, more jumbled packs are very difficult for me to setup naturally. I need to practice quicker cuts and setting up in more congested packs.

And the long-term goals:

Speed/Endurance. I'm off to a decent start here, but not nearly All-Star jammer worthy. The goal for All-Star jamming is 18 laps in 2 minutes. I'd also like to do 5 laps in under 40 seconds. Right now, I feel my physical endurance is okay, but my back aches pretty badly around minute 3 of the 5 minute drill and I can't stop hacking a lung afterwards. Translation: Core, Core, Core and some breathing exercises to help with the cold air and exertion.

Mental Game. I spent the entire Regional tournament studying the mental game of derby. If there is one thing that I learned in 2009, it was the SMARTER team would prevail. I am really studying tactings and blocking strategy as well as game mechanics to increase my game attentiveness. Our jammer in the box? Speed up. Their jammer in the box? Slow down. I want the game to be second nature... something I don't even have to think about, more reflex and reaction than thought out strategy.

Score, Score, Score. Translate all of the above into a hard fought second whistle performance, and what my end result hopes will make me the go-to jammer for points scoring. I want to be the one who can get through the pack repeatedly, cleanly, and reliably. I want to be known for being fast and durable. I want to be the one my team can count on in a tight scoring, buzzer beater of a bout.

I'm only into week one of preseason training, but I plan on trying to document my personal goals and progress on a weekly basis. The only update I can give as of right now is that my slacker self left my skates in the trunk of my car during the holidays, which means that the cold/hot weather caused the leather to shrink and I am fighting a break-in period All. Over. Again. So not cool.

What about you? What are your training goals for 2010?

Broken Hearted Skate-a-Thon

2010-01-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

Can you spare a little change?

Its time for our Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon, where we skate our very festively-dressed bootays off to raise money for the American Heart Association.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

You can come skate laps for Broken Hearts with us on February 10th at Roller Time Skate Rink (707 Arcadia Cir. Huntsville, AL) for a $10 donation (+$3 for skate rental).

you can make a one-time donation online! I've made it super easy... just click below to donate via paypal.

Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

How I discovered Derby...

2010-01-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

....Though the real question is how DIDN'T I discover it before!?

It had been over 15 years since I had really been on roller skates (save for some inline skating about 10 years ago), but some of my favorite childhood memories were from putting on my aunt's old roller skates in our garage and pretending to be the next Nancy Kerrigan on roller skates.

Then when I hit my tween years, I managed to earn a few extra bucks cutting the lawn to head up to the local skating rink with some of my peers at school. I wasn't allowed to do it very often, and I couldn't really stay late on Friday nights or the All-Night skates like my friends, but I LOVED going to the rink and watching all the kids who got to spend countless nights there on the floor shuffle skating, speed skating, and even a little couple skating... (which at 12 is a really big deal folks!) I wanted so much to join the speed team (when they were actually still on QUADS and not inlines... boy, I'm old!) but the parents really weren't very accepting of that idea.

High school came and quickly thereafter adult life... and though I missed skating, there aren't too many opportunities for going skating as an adult that doesn't include a child of some sort. I think we may have tried once in my early 20's to go back to a rink and skate for nostalgia sake, and felt ENTIRELY old bag loserish. That pretty much ended any ideas of me skating again until maybe I ended up with a kiddo of my own one day.

Then in late 2008, I read a few updates from a local Huntsville Twitterer about skating. Intrigued, I asked what she meant and where was she skating that was adult-no kids friendly. She told me about the Dixie Derby Girls... the local women's flat track roller derby league. Color Me INTERESTED.... a place where adult women can not only skate, but play a badass sport like roller derby?!? Really? In HUNTSVILLE, AL?!?

It took me all of a week to show up at my first practice. I was mucho worried about the fact that I hadn't been on skates in over 15 years, but its supposed to be like riding a bicycle, right? On with the rental skates and some borrowed league pads and I was wobbly rolling around on my first night (Photo is actual first night evidence of craptastic rentals). I wasn't wall-hugging bad, but I wasn't exactly the picture of poise and grace. Good thing that derby is wonderful about teaching the basics and making you relearn the right way how to skate.

So about 3 months of Freshmeat training ensued... learning how to stride, how to stop 3 different ways, how to fall correctly 4 different ways, crossovers, stepping, stance... you name it, we learned it. And a brief vomit-inducing assessment later, and I was scrimmage eligible.

And that's where the hand holding ended. It was straight into scrimmage with some fiercely intimidating chicks who showed NO quarter for a newbie. I became VERY acquainted with the floor. In fact, the floor just might've been my best friend for much of the first half of the season.

I know every team has their powerhouses, but I can objectively say after skating an entire season that I truly believe that Dixie has an entire TEAM of powerhouses. The hardest hits I've ever taken have been from my own players in scrimmage... at first it was brutal. But, in the end, it made me so steady on my feet that hits from other teams were weak in comparison and while it still slows me down, at least I've managed to NOT stay crawling on the floor any longer. I may have even learned to put a few on the floor as well along the way.

Now, a full season later, I'm wondering how I didn't know about the sport before. I've met incredible people, had extraordinary opportunities to skate with some great competitors, and have learned a whole new sport and adopted a whole new lifestyle. I've even managed to recruit a few freshies of my own... my cousin in Ohio just became scrimmage eligible and I'm still working on my baby sister getting out there to skate too.

The 2010 Recruitment cycle is about to begin, and its really come full circle for me... now, I get to happily watch as I move out of the rookie shoes into the seasoned vet group and another group enters into the discovery and wonderment of roller derby. They have no idea what's in store for them, and how greatly the sport will impact every aspect of their lives.

Dear Derby Santa

2009-12-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

Dear Derby Santa,

I've been a ~~bad~~ good, good rollergirl. How about getting me a few gifts to shove in my fishnet & stiletto stockings? You know, it IS the off-season training time, and what better time to break in new gear than as I sweat off all those holiday ~~hangovers~~ extra pounds??!?

Tell Blitzen & the rest of the reindeer pack to plow-stop right on over to my place! It really isn't much!

Hits & Bruises,

eRacer X

Chain Gang Train Wrecks the Junktion

2009-12-14T07:22:00.000-08:00

Another great bout weekend, this time I was lucky enough to participate in Chattanooga's first Roller Derby expo bout as a guest skater. The Chattanooga Rollergirls are a newly formed league, filled with some great skaters with a lot of great things happening for them.

Dixie was the first team they ever bouted against when they came to play us at the Thrill-HER bout. I was really excited that I also was able to play with them in their other first, at their debut home exhibition bout.

The bout was a huge hit! CRG had already presold over 400 tickets, and had more than 900 people show up to watch and rally behind their new roller derby team. The Chattanooga girls were split into two home teams: The Chain Gang (black) vs. The Junktion (white). I was on the Chain Gang team, and was really excited that they made me a super nifty CRG reversible jersey with my name and number that I got to keep. Way cool! Black/White jerseys are always handy to have for scrimmage purposes with other teams, so that will get to see a LOT of usage.

In addition to the CRG teams, myself and 3 other NRG (Nashville, TN) skaters joined in to guest skate. Smith and Wesson was a Chain Gang member with me, and 5Scar Jeneral and Fully Addomatic joined the Junktion team, coached by Miss Murder from Hard Knox Rollergirls (Knoxville, TN). The Chain Gang had me on the line up rotating between Jammer and Pivot. I haven't played jammer really very much lately, so I was a bit concerned. Okay, I also haven't really been scrimmaging lately. We're on our winter wind-down practice schedule, so things haven't been too intense at practice, and how quickly you get rusty in this sport!

My jamming was pretty weak in my opinion... I had a heckuva time trying to get around 5Scar Jeneral, and took a pretty good beating. I haven't played Pivot too much, but I didn't seem to awful at that position. The Chain Gang played great defense, so we entered the half up. The second period would see me jam even more (yikes!), but I managed a few leads and scored a few points. Our team worked together great, and we finished up with the victory.

Final Score: Team Junktion 66, CHAIN GANG 81

Way to go Chattanooga! I'm looking forward to watching you ladies grow and playing with you in the coming season!

Watch a clip from the bout: Chattanooga local 9 TV.

View eRacer X's photo gallery.

-----------------------------------------
DERBY WORLD TOUR NOTE: Chattanooga, TN (Chattanooga Rollergirls) becomes stop #11 on the Derby World Tour.

ROLLER BALL 2009

2009-12-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

Roller Ball is Dixie Derby's annual season ending bash, and 2009 quite the doozie.

Awards were given, food was plentiful, and drinks were flowing. I had a great time with my girls, and got to get crazy for the last time with my derby fiancee, Asian Invasion, and my Hell Razor, who have decided to move on from Dixie Derby.

Ian McCalister did a fantastic job shooting the action and making everyone look great. Here's his album: http://edited4tv.com/rollerball3/

>>>View Roller Ball 2009 Album<<<

Sending the Bootleggers limping...

2009-11-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

Its been a heck of a rookie season for me, but the official Dixie Derby season is finally OVER.

What a way to end on a really kickass note too! We headed up the road 10 hours to play the Carolina Rollergirl Bootleggers in Raleigh, NC. This would make twice in just a few months that I visited the Raleigh area. I had just been there a few weeks back for my cousin's wedding and to visit my best friend, so I was really excited that I'd have some cheering support for this game.

We actually went into this bout a little psyched out. Honestly, since CRG is ranked #5 in the east, we knew they were a high caliber team. Due to the travel strains, only 10 of us were able to skate for this bout, so knowing we were playing a fundementally great team also short was a little un-nerving going into it. But sometimes, if you try, you even surprise yourself.

BOA and I left after practice to get a jump on driving, and did a bonzaii run to Carolina straight through the night. The valuable life lesson gained: 2 Full Throttle Energy drinks + 1 NOS Grape energy drink = one seriously wired skater (incidentally, it also = a MAJOR energy drink hangover the next day, but whatever, we made it!). After some quality time with my bestfriend and her family, it was game time on Saturday.

The Carolina Rollergirls play at the historic Dorton Arena. This is probably one of the COOLEST venues I've ever skated in. The floor was unpolished concrete, and fairly grippy, but the best part was the late-setting dusk sun flooding through the windows during our early warm-ups. We arrived at 1:30pm for our 5:20pm bout start time, which felt like an eternity, but it allowed me some time to get my skates cleaned and ready and all the other pre-bout preparations that I didn't get to do while visiting my bestie.

For this bout, I was playing the Middle Out position, which I hadn't ever played in a game before, but I am liking more and more every day. My pack consisted of Blazin' Barbie, Ebbin Flow, myself, and BOA with CU Afterclass as our main jammer. This was one of the best, most cohesive packs I've ever worked with. We really had great communication and teamwork going on, and it felt GREAT to play with those ladies.

We jumped out on the first 2 jams to an early lead, and held strong the whole game. I haven't seen the stats yet for the game, but I know I had a few great jammer takedowns (YAY! My can opener finally was effective!) and only went to the box once the entire game for 4 minors. I did take the jammer line once, and managed a quick 4 points before it was called off, but CU and ChaChee were rocking the jammer line all night with no issues!

The final score was 86-76, with DDG never losing the lead during the bout. For a game we thought we were coming in as severe underdogs, we did excellent! I feel as a group, we were able to learn a lot about ourselves from this bout.

The afterparty was at a bar called Alibi, and of course was a good, crazy time. Who knew Chocolate Demolition was such the showstopper on the dance floor?!? A couple of PBR's later, it was off to bed and homeward bound.

UP NEXT: Guest Skating with the Chattanooga Rollergirls for their debut intraleague expo bout December 12th.

-----------------------------------------
DERBY WORLD TOUR NOTE: Raleigh, NC (Carolina Rollergirls) becomes stop #10 on the Derby World Tour.

DDG's 1st Annual Powder Puff Football

2009-11-16T06:58:00.001-08:00

We have some awesome new freshmeat, who are really spirited and coming up with some great new ideas to implement. Zombie Kitty and Erica SLAPton came up with the idea to host DDG's 1st Annual Powder Puff football game.

With fall in full swing, and football fever at its height, we figured DDG needed to hit the gridiron for a little action ourselves. About 14 of us signed up to sqaure off into two teams and play some good ole flag football. Carlos and Carson (coach and guard, respectively) from Huntsville's Womens' Football league, the Tennessee Valley Tigers came out to help coach us and ref the game.

The teams looked like this:

THE BOMB SQUAD (black)

M'Shell O'BombHer
Legally Bombed
Snidely Bitchslap
Blazin Barbie
Nookie Monster
Erica SLAPton
Brutal Honey
Coach: Carlos

BAMA BITCHES (pink)

Bama Brewser
Tallulah Skankhead
Brigitte Badonkadonk
eRacer X
Pinky Tuscadero
Zombie Kitty
Bama's daughter, Sidney
Coach: Carson

After a quick rules overview, and a few quick run-throughs (the extent of our practice for this game) it was coin toss time and away we went. Since catching and running seems to be my forte, I took on the Wide Receiver position.

The Black team had first possession, but we got in there for a safety, and the early lead. Back in our territory for our first possession, Sidney threw me a great pass that I was able to run in for a touchdown on the 2nd down. Some more great runs by our team put us up 22-0 at the half.

Second half, we came out just as strong. Black's defense was improving, but some great running plays by Sidney, Badonkadonk, and some great blocking by Zombie Kitty, Tallulah, and Pinky continued our scoring run. We even organized a beautiful pass-fake run that allowed me to run the ball down the field for my 4th touchdown of the game. There was some great teamwork on both sides, and I know they'll be plenty of good-natured ribbin' until next year's event.

I was pretty excited when they voted Sidney and I game MVPs. Kinda makes me want to give some Tiger Football a try next.... hmmmmm!

Final Score: 44-0 Bama Bitches (pink) over The Bomb Squad (black).

Up Next: Our last away game of the season against the Carolina Rollergirls in Raleigh, NC.

Shot at as an X-Pistol

2009-10-19T07:50:00.001-07:00

Note: I'm a ~~little~~ LOT late finally finishing this blog, so this is pretty old news, but better late than never!

Mission Accomplished. I had a fantastic time at the X-Pistol vs. Assault Rivals bout with the Nashville Rollergirls. Being that I'm a first year newbie skater, I was a little concerned that I might not be able to hold my own against their advanced All-Star players, especially since they had pre-warned me that I was going to be on their jammer rotation for part of the game. But it turned out not so bad at all.

Don't take me wrong. I got pummelled pretty well by some of the Rival powerhouses. Sexy Slaydie sent me completely airbourne on more than one occasion. And of course, skating against my own Asian Invasion is never easy. R2D2 was in attendance, and I'm sure he approved of some of the jedi-style yard sails I was doing.

The original plan in the locker room was that I'd be jamming in the first period and blocking in the second, but that really never happened. I ended up on jammer rotation for the entire bout. Nashville is a very fast skating team, which made my job all the much more difficult for me. I don't really know the stats from the game, but I scored a few points and managed lead a few times as well. That made me really happy personally with my performance, because I've really never had the opportunity to jam in a bout against A team players.

Besides loving the Nashville girls, and being really honored to have been ask to skate with them, I was really excited about the learning potential from this bout. It was a packed house in Nashville, and their fans are pretty spectacular. Seeing the game from a different team's perspective and learning a different style is something I think will be beneficial to my quest to become a better skater. I learned a lot and played around with adjusting my own style of skating to see how I could improve. It was also a great way to gauge my progress this season, a sort of benchmark that I don't get to experience in game situations very often.

The final score had the Assault Rivals taking the win 83-62, but the score isn't really indicative of how close the gameplay felt.

Sadly, it was the last X-Pistol/Assault Rival/Distress Damsel game Nashville will be playing, as they phase out interleague play. But I'm very grateful for the chance to have played with NRG!

View more photos:

Hungry Photographer -- Roller Derby Pictures -- DeWeese

Guest Skating in Nashville

2009-10-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

Talk about TIRED.

I'm at work and barely functioning this morning. Took a quick bonzai run to Nashville last night to practice with the Nashville Roller Girls. I've done it once before, and I really love practicing with them because I get to learn a lot of things that you can't get from skating with your own team every week.

This time, my excuse to go practice was because myself, Asian Invasion, and Hell Razor were invited to skate with Nashville in their season ending Intraleague bout, the X-Pistols vs. the Assault Rivals. I wanted to get in a little skate time with the Nashville girls I'd be playing with this coming Saturday, and figured I'd be some extra work out time as well.

Nashville is about 2 hours from Huntsville, so I took off right after work. I didn't make it home until about 12, so I'll be needing some catch-up sleep tonight.

If you happen to be in Nashville this weekend, come out and cheer us all on!

Date: Saturday, October 17, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds-Sports Arena

Doors open at 6pm. The action starts at 7pm. Tickets are are $10 online and $15 at the door, but don't wait until the last minute. The venue routinely sells out, and they expect a full house! Be there!

Whip-IT

2009-10-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

This weekend was the opening for the major motion picture, Whip-IT, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut and feature flick dedicated to the wonderful sport of Roller Derby.

I'm pretty excited to say that I was a part of roller derby before it went mainstream, an idea which we have been preparing for since we got word over a year ago about the movie and its potential influx on our sport. That I'll get a front row seat to watch WFTDA grow leaps and bounds will be an added bonus to the benefits I get from playing.

This weekend, our team (Dixie Derby Girls) teamed up with Rave Valley Bend to do some joint promoting of the movie out front of the theater. Though there wasn't enough room to set up a mini-oval, we did stick some cones out for some mock drills as people were coming up to the theater. Jumping, Blocking, Whips....

We all piled into the theater (on skates, mind you...) and gave a brief intro before the movie to let the movie goers know that Huntsville does indeed have a local team to support come April when our home season kicks back off.

Then it was onto the movie...

The summary seems to be the go-to Hollywood coming of age flick. Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is your average 17 year-old rebellious teen in small town Texas, driven by her beauty queen mother Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden) to compete in pageants in effort to mold Bliss into her ideal of a presentable woman. Joined by her best pal Pash (Alia Shawkat), a fellow waitress at the local BBQ joint, Bliss struggles to break free of her mother's 1950's inspired idea of womanhood and find her calling and ticket out of suburbia.

Enter nearby Austin, TX eccentric rollergirls, the Hurl Scouts, whose flashy and carefree personas entice Bliss into sneaking away and checking out her first TXRD bout, and ultimately taking her spot next to the hard-hitting ladies of roller derby as "Babe Ruthless", her derby alter-ego. Though some of the derby action was a bit misleading (Clothesline plays only qualify for ejections), the action and gameplay was overall realistic and well explained to the audience.

The movie did a great job of navigating the common misconception and stereotypes of a rollergirl, captured by Bliss' mother's beratting rebut of who would employ, marry, or otherwise condone the behavior of such a group of women. Without overly dramatizing the issue, Whip-IT delivers the counterpoint... that roller derby players can still be mothers and professionals, while embracing the fact that above all they are capable, strong beings, and proud adversarial competitors. The film does a wonderful job of portraying the women as strong and ruthless without diminishing women in general as overtly weak by nature. Though the girl-power chord rings strong, it is not watered down by sugar-sweet stereotypes.

Perhaps the most realistic aspect of the film to the current roller derby landscape is how all-encompassing derby life can be to its participants. Enter the very real conflict with the many non-derby people in her life, Bliss finds it hard to balance when Pash takes offense and just fails to understand the level of commitment Babe Ruthless displays in her new passion.
There is a small hollywood-esque love story to make the coming-of-age equation valid, but thankfully it plays a backseat to the storyline and doesn't detract from the flow and overall message of the film.

All derby bias aside, the flick was a great debut for Drew Barrymore, who not only directed, but also played a convincing Hurl Scout (Smashley Simpson).

Four Skates out of Five!

View eRacer X Whip-IT Gallery --- View Dixie Derby Whip-IT Gallery

Another win at Classic City!

2009-09-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

Another great weekend of derby! I could really get used to this whole winning streak thing!

Asian Invasion, BOA and I all rode out extra early to Athens, GA on Saturday morning to take on the Classic City Rollergirls. Its about a 4 and a half hour trip, but we lose an hour because they are on Eastern time, AND I was quite a bit paranoid of traffic jams due to the UGA game that was blocks from the venue. We actually made great time, and ended up there a few hours early to nap in the parking lot.

The venue is the local Skate Around USA rink, and was unfinished hardwood. A little more slippery than our rink floor. It was also a LOT warmer than we're used to, which is going to come into play in just a sec... This bout was considered an advanced B team game, so I was playing power for this bout. After a string of bouts as a jammer and one middle inside bout, I was a little frustrated in our only practice for this bout trying to retrain my brain for power. It's a completely different skating style and frame of mind between how I prepare for jamming and how I prepare for power.

The bout was great! We all are really meshing as a team. It was HOT out there, but since I'm a FL girl and love heat, and because I'm used to jammer conditioning, the blocker pace didn't affect me. We led at the half by a little over 20 points. BOA, ChaChee, and CU Afterclass were doing a great job of getting through the pack and scoring well, but the heat definitely was affecting them.

BOA asked at the half if I could take over for her jamming -- which I gladly did! I ended up with 24 points total, and another 15 point power jam. I really am liking this whole jamming thing! I ended up in the box only once with 4 minors, unfortunately it was while jamming, which is never a good thing. But overall a great game! FINAL SCORE: DDG Ragin Rockets 96; Classic City Rollergirls 75

The afterparty was right up the road at a bar called Fat Daddy's. It was really a great little bar. Since I'm new, I had never met most of the Classic City girls. I was told that their visit to Huntsville last season was one of the best afterparties many of the girls have had, and of course they proved just that at this one.

After some very yummy pizza and some PBR pitchers that really hit the spot, we took over the stage on Karaoke. M'Shell O'Bomb-Her sang Sir Mixxalot's Baby Got Back and had the crowd going. Then the Classic City girls got up on the mic for a great rendition of Touch Myself. Knowing how silly I get, I'm sure you are not surprised to know that my song of choice was Vanilla Ice- Ice, Ice, Baby. I also tried some Paramore, but I'm not really sure how that was received.

The venue was literally a few blocks away from the UGA stadium, so when we decided to leave and all piled into the vans to head back to the hotel, we weren't exactly thinking that the game had JUST ended, and that the streets were lined with some really *excited* Georgia fans. It took us a good hour and a half just to get out of the Athens area. I've never seen so much red and black in MY LIFE. I was pretty darn tired once we got done with a late, late night snack at Dennys, so I promptly crashed.

I wish I could find more photos to share, so I may be updating this post later, but enjoy the link below.

View eRacer X's Photos

UP NEXT: DDG-B at Central Arkansas Roller Derby, October 17th

-----------------------------------------

DERBY WORLD TOUR NOTE: Classic City becomes stop #9 on the Derby World Tour.

Derby World Tour

2009-09-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Possibly one of the best added perks of being a rollergirl (like you needed more benefit than the obvious badassedness!) is the amount of travel associated for someone with wanderlust such as myself. What's better than being able to travel city-to-city kickin some serious ass!

As I get to travel quite a bit for work and many of my other exploits, I've now made it my personal goal to go on a Derby World Tour. (and for your added amusement, I'm going to blog about it too!) My tour will include both scheduled away bouts in other cities as well as my random drop-in to a league practice in another city that I may be wandering through. For those that don't know, it seems to be common derby courtesy to allow visiting rollergirls to attend a practice to meet their attendance requirements while traveling. I'm taking full advantage of that courtesy to both boost my skills training and to meet some awesome people and see how derby is done across the world!

Not only are there HUNDREDS of leagues across the US, but there are quite a few across the pond in Europe, Australia, etc. It may take me some time, but I hope to do a skatebag trip to Europe and skate with as many leagues as possible while I'm "Skatebagging" through Europe.

Since I'm a few months behind in this blog in terms of my derby-associated travel, let me catch you up with my to-date travel summaries....

Sin City Rollergirls -- Las Vegas, NV [April 2009]
While in town for work, I was able to make it out to a practice with the Sin City Rollergirls. They practice outside (I can't imagine skating in that summer heat!) on a roller hockey court at the local park. Pretty dusty, so next time I'll bring my outdoor wheels/bearings.
Ohio Rollergirls -- Columbus, OH [April 2009]
My very first bout. They skate on sport court, which is much different than I'm used to skating on.
Roller Girls of Southern Indiana -- Evansville, IN [May 2009]
One of the nicest teams around. They skate on sport court, in the Ice Arena.
Hard Knox Rollergirls -- Knoxville, TN [June 2009]

Sintral Florida Derby Demons -- Orlando/De Land, FL [June 2009, July 2009]
Orlando is home to me, so anytime I go down to visit family I've been dropping into their practice. Very cool team, they skate on a concrete rink floor.
Nashville Rollergirls -- Nashville, TN [July 2009]

Memphis Roller Derby -- Memphis, TN [August 2009]

Mobile Roller Derby -- Mobile, AL [August 2009]
Always nice to be able to lay on the beach AND play a mean ass game of derby all in the same day. They skate on a concrete rink surface. Nice team too!

I will be tagging all Derby World Tour stops and compiling a map... look out for future stops! And if you have any "Gotta See It" suggestions on stops I need to make, let hear them in the comments section!

Thrill-HER Double Header

2009-08-31T07:08:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! This by far turned into my favorite bout weekend yet.

Dixie Derby closed out our home season with a doubleheader this weekend, dubbed "Thrill-HER" as a tribute to Michael Jackson.

To kick it off, our "B" team, The Ragin' Rockets, took on the Chattanooga Roller Girls. Again, some of our recently graduated freshmeat made their derby debut and did exceptionally well! I was put on a 4-jammer rotation for this one, which was very different for me as I felt extremely well rested throughout the game. Besides a small incident in my first jam of the 1st period (I broke another finger... AGAIN), I felt great for this game. Our super speedy stats people have already distributed the stats (kudos stat nerds!) I jammed a total of 7 jams, got lead jammer 4 of those 7, and scored a total of 32 points. Not too shabby! Only landed in the box twice... once for an alleged forearm major and once for a major track cut. No minors, which means I played a damn clean game! (or I didn't get caught~ mmuwahahaha) Might be liking this whole jamming thing a bit more again. The final score was Ragin' Rockets 110 - Chattanooga 56.

During the final jam, I escaped to the locker room to do a super quick change for the between game Thriller performance. Everyone was really excited and the performance went really well! It landed us a spot on several TV stations, and the crowd went wild with it. That was really fun to do, and I'm super glad I got to participate in the performance. It looked great with all the smoke and lights. We even had our own great Michael Jackson lookalike... it worked out perfectly that it all happened on what would have been Michael's 51st birthday too.

After I got my zombie on, it was time to race back to the locker room and get ready for Bout #2 with the DDG All-Stars. Yuppers, I skated in BOTH games. I wasn't jamming in the All-Star game, but let me tell you... that marathon Stomp weekend really prepped me for this. 2 bouts back-to-back? Cake!

So they had me playing the middle-in position for this game. I hadn't ever played that position, and its not really one I'm comfortable with, but I guess I didn't do too bad. I managed 3 or 4 take-downs, which for a beanpole like me isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Wooohooo! I was pretty excited! Stats say I again didn't commit any major or minors at ALL in the All-Star game, which means either A) I'm not hitting enough or B) the refs seem to not see me, haha. Oh well! The game was really intense... we battled back and forth with the mixed team of Smooth Criminals, but in a buzzer beater they pulled out a one point victory. Final Score: DDG All-Stars 115, Smooth Criminals 116.

We didn't have time to really be down about it, because a special guest grabbed the mic right after the final buzzer. Big congratulations to (BOA) Bitch on Arrival who was proposed to (and accepted) at the end of the All-Star game! Much derby love!

View DDG Photo Album **** View eRacer X Photo Album ****

More DDG photos

Up Next: DDG vs. Classic City in Athens, GA -- September 12th

Photos: Ian McAlister, Angela Zaborny

THRILLER from GO Magazine & Huntsville Times

2009-08-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

Just a sneak peak at what's coming this weekend...

Go Thriller

http://videos.al.com/huntsville-times/2009/08/go_thriller.html

I'm also going to be zombied out for Thriller, just another reason to come watch us get our zombie on!

Mobile Madness

2009-08-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Dixie Derby's Ragin' Rockets (B-Team) headed down to the LA (Lower Alabama) coast to take on the Mobile Roller Girls in Mobile, AL.

The trip is about a 6 hour drive, and the team was all scattered among several different cars heading down, so we all arrived at varying times.

I rode down early with Asian Invasion, Hell Razor and BOA so we wouldn't have the stress of sitting in a car for 6 hours before the bout. We arrived in Mobile around 10:30pm on Friday night. Ever the lame-o, I decided to crash out early so that I'd be in tip-top shape for the bout on Saturday night while the others explored the hotel amenities.

Not one to ever let a chance for sunshine, ocean water and white sand escape me, a few of us headed out to the beach in Gulf Shores for a little R&R before the game. I'm kinda glad I left early that morning, because apparently while I was laying on the sand and letting the ocean breeze blow, all hell was breaking loose at the hotel.

Talk about a commute from hell... some of the girls chose to leave early Saturday morning, and encountered engine failure about 90 miles from Mobile, leaving 4 people stranded on the side of the road only 3 hours before the bout started. So, after much logistical nightmare, Therapissed's hubby drove out to pick the stranded hitchhikers up. They made it in time, and we'd worry later about getting them all home. (Pain Russell had her own scary return home as well, when a tire exploded on her)

The bout was only the 3rd B-team game of the season, and was the skating debut for 4 of our recently graduated fresh meats: Blazin' Barbie, Chemical X, Zero Factorial, and Therapissed. They did awesome in their first bout!

And what a bout it was... it was the first game in which I stayed on the jammer rotation for the whole game. It felt GREAT to get through the pack! I managed a 19 point jam (YAY!) in the beginning of the first period, which put us up and we never looked back! There were some pretty intense plays, with a lot of our girls taking high blocks to the face. The bout was pretty physical and tempers were getting pretty high, but we finished with a victory of 111-86! I am so proud of all the great teamwork from all the girls and what a great job Hell Razor did coaching with Bama Bruiser as bench manager.

The afterparty was at a bar called Veet's, conveniently located about 3 blocks from our hotel. They had an awesome Captain Morgan statue right in the doorway for some seriously hilarious photo ops (more to come when I get ahold of Asian's camera). The Mobile ladies hosted a great party along with the tradition of Indian Leg Wrestling. Our own D'Sassy Apache was a BEAST in the leg wrestling wars and took down player after player... way to represent for DDG, Sassy!

Around 11, we all headed back to the SkyView Lounge on the top floor of our hotel, because we were tipped off by the awesome staff at the Holiday Inn that Absolut Vodka was going to be there giving away free shots all night. Free Booze + Derby Girls = 1 hell of a good time. We even gave a brief preview to our upcoming Thrill-HER show on the dance floor when Bama Bruiser, M'Shell O'Bomb-her, and I pulled out some of the Thriller dance (not easy, as it was the radio version and not the video version). All said and done, I think I ended up in bed around 3:30am. GREAT night!

More eRacer X Photos from Mobile -- Dixie Derby Girls Photos from Mobile

Up Next: Thrill-HER! Saturday, August 29th VBC South Hall -- Huntsville, AL

THRILL-HER

2009-08-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

Its coming up fast... you're coming, RIGHT?!? Who in their right mind would MISS this?

DDG Thrill- Her promo

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=61882631

Derby Awesomeness

2009-08-16T13:48:00.001-07:00

What do you get when you have 6 derby teams, an entire auditorium worth of floor space at the Rocket City Rumble and the CUPID SHUFFLE comes on?

Derby Dancin' AWESOMENESS!

Derby Dancin

Bust ASS in Hawaii or BUST!

2009-08-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

So a few of the Dixie Derby Girls are heading across the ocean to do battle with the Pacific Roller Girls in Honolulu, Hawaii over Labor Day weekend.

On August 30th, there will be a Burlesque show put on by some individual skaters (Cathouse Canaries) to help raise funds for Hawaii. Trust me, you don't want to miss this! It will be held at Partners at 7pm.

Can't make the show? If you can spare a latte or two, please donate here:

THANKS TO ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
HUGS & BRUISES,
eRacer X, Asian Invasion, Hell Razor, Sweet Lucy, Lola Pihrana, Ebbin Flow, & Miss Trie

Honky Tonk Stomp

2009-08-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

I just got back from probably one of the cooler derby events I've attended thus far in my short derby career, the Honky Tonk Stomp. It's the Tennesee state championship tournament: Memphis vs. Nashville vs. Knoxville. This year was Memphis' turn to host, so a bunch of us Dixie Girls drove up to watch.

I personally love watching the Nashville team play. They are phenomenal this year, and they have a very distinct skating style that I really covet. I always learn a lot from watching them play, and this weekend was no exception. They ended up winning the Stomp and taking the State Championship. Congrats NRG!

Saturday night, we headed out to the afterparties. Yes, as in Parties: PLURAL. The hosted event was a pub crawl, which is what we started off with... but we quickly hopped a cab with the Nashville girls to Beale Street and hit up a club there. Around 1:30am, about 12 of us piled into Hell Razor's Escape to hop back to the hotel (I was in the trunk with 2 other people). The hotel had a wonderful pool, so Asian Invasion and I continued the party out there with the rest of the Nashville girls. Somewhere around 5am, I finally hit the pillow...

That being said, my 9am wake up call came entirely too early. Sunday's activities were a full day of mini-bouts (7 total), which ChaChee, Asian Invasion, Hell Razor, Blazin' Barbie, FemiFist, Pinky Tuscadero and I had all signed up to play. My apparent insanity for derby caused me to sign up for all 7 bouts... yes, 7 back-to-back, full tilt bouts equaling out to a record 6 hours on skates for me.

The bouts were "themed", so our Dixie team was mixed up among the different sides along with skaters from all different leagues in the region. These were the bouts (the teams I played with are in BOLD):

Steak vs. Tofu (Carnivores vs. Vegetarians)
This was a tight bout, coming down to the last jam. Our jammer was in the box, so we didn't get to score in the deciding last jam.
Final Score: 53-61

Dumptrucks vs. Beanpoles (No explanation necessary)
This was the bout that I originally had much anxiety over. The idea of facing off against the powerhouse blockers was a little scary, I'll admit it. Everyone had expected to watch the beanpoles get pumelled, but us little bean poles held our own against the biggest, baddest blockers out there! Wooohooo Beanpoles!
Final Score: 75-25

Generation X vs. Millenials (Born in 1979 or earlier vs. Born in 1980 or later)
This was a fun game... nothing noteworthy that I remember. I tried to eat a banana before this bout and was feeling pretty quesy.
Final Score: Not sure, but Millenials won!

Inked vs. Clean Slates (Tattooed vs. Not-Tattooed)
This may as well have been Dumptrucks vs. Beanpoles Part 2: Revenge of the Dumptruck, because let me tell you, they had some serious power on that team with the extra force of some really solid jammers. That was by far the roughest most demanding bout of the day, compounded by the fact that we only had 8 skaters on our team. I just wanted it to be over.
Final Score: 109-19

Breeders vs. Baby Eaters (Skaters with kids vs. Skaters without)
This was the most exciting bout of the day. Most of our Dixie team was on the Baby Eaters team (with the exception of Femi), so that was comforting. ChaChee was trading scoring runs with Memphis' Lil Cinner most of the bout, and at the end of the regulation jam period, the score was tied. ChaChee faced off against Lil Cinner again in overtime, and squeaked out a victory over the Breeders with the help of Hell Razor, who delivered a massive critical hit to push ChaChee to the front.
Final Score: 44-45

Bizarro Derby Black vs. White (Everyone skates clock-wise)
Bizarro was exactly that... BIZZARO. I think the bout was pretty evenly matched because most of us were just trying to get used to skating and blocking in the opposite direction. The refs had a little fun with this one too... we were edged out at the last minute on this one.
Final Score: 32-35

Fresh Meat Black vs. White (Newbies vs. Newbies)
I was really looking forward to jamming on this one, but after only about 4 hours sleep and playing for a solid 5 hours, I just didn't have the fuel in the tank to make it happen. I jammed twice, but took myself out of the jammer rotation because it was more than I could exert myself at that point. I concentrated on playing power, which is my new favorite position, and where I feel most comfortable. The white team had some really good newbies, and our team had some really fresh meat girls playing for the first time, so we couldn't answer their runs.
Final Score: 37-106

Overall, I'm very proud that I accomplished the insane task of skating for 6 hours straight. I'm sore as hell, but I feel pretty accomplished and learned a ton.

View photos of eRacer X from the Honky Tonk Stomp

Next up: Dixie Derby's Ragin' Rockets are playing Mobile away in 2 weeks!

Hi I'm eRacer X #X9!

2009-08-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, since Roller Derby has now become such a big part of my life, it makes sense that it now take over its own niche blog.

For those who know me as Erica Ortiz, the drag racer, you may not know that during the off-season and while the crappy economy has me sidelined, I've picked up another high speed, adrenaline rushing sport.... ROLLER DERBY.

I always loved skating, but after middle school, felt like a tool going to the rink without borrowing someone's tween or kiddie to "chaperone". So, I hadn't put on a pair of skates in probably upwards of 15 years when I heard about the Dixie Derby Girls here in Huntsville, AL.

Instantly, I fell in love. Hard hits, fast speed, fun personas, and cute ass attire..... I'm hooked. I started attending practice in December 2008, and in April I skated my first bout as eRacerX #X9. My goal is to become a badass jammer, but you know... adjusting to a track with corners and curves... yea, that takes some time. I'm used to my speed in a straight line and balls to the wall!

I picked my derby name eRacer X as a play on Speed Racer's mysterious brother Racer X. Originally the first racecar driver in the family, Rex Racer went to the dark side of mysterious by faking death and coming back as Racer X, a vigilante determined to put a stop to corruption on the track. Known as the Harbinger of BOOM-- fast and dangerous, erasing the competition just comes easily... Since Racer X drove Car #9, I adopted my number as X9.

So this blog will probably be a commentary on my life as a Dixie Derby Girl...and trust me, what happens at the afterparty WILL be the talk on the internets for days!