Skate Wars Return: The Fempire Strikes Back!

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!

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

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.

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

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

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!

"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