Archive for May, 2009
Derby Name: Stroker Ace
Number: 6UL DV8
Team(s): The Hellbombers and the Burning River All Stars
Position(s): A little bit of everything
What was the inspiration behind your name? Stroker Ace, the movie and the Charlie Daniels Band song.
How did you learn of the league? This whole roller-skating thing is Professor Booty’s fault!
What do you hope to accomplish in the realm of roller derby? I just wanna skate good.
What skates are you currently using? A custom Reidell 595 boot with a Reactor plate. The break-in period is hell but they hold up really well, which is important since I tend to be hard on my equipment.
What has been your greatest achievement in Derby so far? Probably this will sound a little goofy but it’s really been great to be part of the transition from derby as individuals trying to beat the snot out of each other to derby as a real team sport.
Does it make you mad that some people think Derby is fake? I invite those folks to step out on the track and give jamming a try! Really, this sport is all about the fans and our fans know the truth. Folks who think derby is fake clearly have not attended our bouts and really should take the time to come check it out.
What does your training consist of? I go for the occasional run, lift the occasional weight, kayak, snowboard, bike, make love, turn cartwheels, and nap in my hammock.
How does cross training help your derby skills? After running with the bulls in Pamplona, jamming isn’t nearly as intimidating.
Have you ever been injured due to roller derby? Nothing severe enough to land me in an emergency room. I did bruise the heck out of my elbow once in a post bout wrestling match with Vix Smackey and another time the lovely Eva Lucien scuffed my ego up a little but overall, I think I’ve been very lucky.
What do you often eat for your breakfast? Anything I’m in the mood for but on bout days I go with pasta and Pedialite.
Do you have a signature derby move? Clearly you’ve never been Strokered.
If you could meet anyone (dead or alive) who would it be and why? Steve Nash. Everyone should be a Steve Nash fan.
What are your thoughts/feelings on the new venue? It’s all about the fans so my only concern is whether we have adequate bleachers to allow all those screaming fans a proper view of our bouts.
How has roller derby changed your life? You do know Soul Eater and I met because of roller derby, right?
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For those of you who do not know Alex Boxerbaum A.K.A. Mr. Republic: You should be kicked in the face! Alex has some sweet footage of the league from a few of the last bouts! One is from the 2009 season opener; which has various moments from setup to tear down, all completely in crazy fast forward! http://vimeo.com/4248744 The other videohe has created is done with some bad-ass high speed footage; this provides us with a magnificent slowed down look of Professor Booty blasting Primp Daddy (Quagmire get out of the way) with one seriously painful fall.  http://vimeo.com/4768171 So spend a few moments on these videos, and be sure to check out his work on 36 views of a bridge too (it is some pretty sweet as shit) 
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When Turn 2 was collaborating about the 2 match ups, we thought that both bouts were going to be very close. The Hellbombers were going into the first bout undefeated like usual against the aggressive Cleveland Steamers. Even though I missed a bout in April, I could not forget the aggressive behavior the Steamers had shown in March. Were the Steamers intimidated? Were the Hellbombers overconfident? We were soon to find out.
Let’s get started with the first bout, the Cleveland Steamers vs the Hellbombers. There was a point during the madness when I thought I was actually in a horror movie after witnessing all the cutting. Between the track cutting and the rest of the penalties, the overall performance of the Steamers was greatly reduced. I don’t think I have ever seen that many penalties in such a short amount of time. The bout started off alright until the Hellbombers started pulling ahead. The record breaking jam finished by the one and only Ida Bitter definitely destroyed any gap that might have existed. I’m sure that in the next bout, Bitter might stop toying around and just jump over the entire pack! Every jam added more fuel to the out of control fire created by the Hellbombers until the Bombers were soaring in the triple digits. On the Steamers, Primp Daddy did an exceptional job but grew tired after battling continuously against the wall the Hellbombers held. Killustrator and Take-out did very well again but were also ineffective against the Hellbombers defense. Personally I was very impressed with Killustrator in the end. She continued give it her all even though the Steamers were down by more than 50 points. Holly Huntress was also a pleasant surprise after seeing her do a good job jamming at the end of the bout. Last but not least, lets not forget the incredible hit directly in front of Turn 2. All of the sudden out of nowhere, Ivanna Destroya was seen in shambles all over the track after hard hitting Halochic did her thing. We wanted to go out and help clean Ivanna off the track but she ended up pulling herself back together. In the end the final score was 114 to 44 and Turn 2 was a bit surprised to say the least. If only Dita Von B would have hit one more person…
In the second bout, the Pinups and Hard Knockers started off at an even pace. At this point we guessed that this bout was going to come down to every last point. After watching Captain Monster on the sidelines doing jumping jacks on her skates, we thought the Knockers might have a slight edge on the Pinups. With Captain monster up against Punk’d Pixie and Eva Lucien up against Pretty Scarrie, all hell was breaking loose. The half time score was tied which made it almost impossible to wait until the second half. Both teams seemed to be back and forth all throughout the second half until the end approached. The score was in the Pinups favor but there was still time for one last jam. Finnish-her was put in to go up against Professor Booty. Nobody was sure what happened but Finnish-her (can somebody please stop this girl!?!) had an extraordinary jam which tied up the score at 60-60. Everyone was arguing that the Pinups should have won by 2 but the refs probably wanted to see the hard knockers take a little more abuse. In overtime, Eva Lucien came out blazing, while the Knockers jammer was stuck in the box, and the Pinups triumph again.
There was only one disappointment and that was with the sign guys. We are thinking about putting together a search and rescue team soon so if there are any volunteers, contact us right away. Turn 2 had another amazing time watching both bouts and cannot wait until the June 20th semifinals.
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The third game of the third season is bound to be explosive. In bout one we have the pinups vs the hard knockers, and in bout two we have the 1-1 Steamers challenging the 2-0 Hellbombers. These bouts are pivotal in placement for the battle for the hazard cup. In bout number one, the 0-2 Hard Knockers challenge the 1-1 Rolling Pinups.
The Hard Knockers seem to be in unfamiliar water losing their first two bouts. These girls are hungry for their first win, however the Rolling Pinups would rather the Hard Knockers starve. The Pinups latest win over the Steamers while skating nine, proved that good things come in small packages, don’t ever count these girls out! The Pinups have their aces in their places; this was the Booty-Lucien (Bootylicious) team that everyone expected to see. Every player on the Pinups knows her job, and does her job well; this makes them a dangerous group on the track, be wary. Looking at the Hard Knockers, you see so many power-houses, it is shocking that they are not cleaning up this year. I would not be surprised to see if Stella Hard Knocker got her groove back this bout! Strong jammers, and powerful blockers, the Knockers are not a team to be taken lightly. Monster and Scarrie have something to prove this bout, I would be afarid to be on the track with them! This bout is going to be a close one, I could see it going both ways. It will be a surprised which jammers are going to have the least amount of trouble breaking through the pack and put points up for their team.
In the secound bout the Cleveland Steamers challenge the undefeated Hellbombers! I see this bout as being one of the first real challenges to The Hellbombers. The Steamers are an extraordinary team this year, with many of the skaters being new to this league, this give them a great advantage. In previous bouts the Hellbombers have been studying the Steamers in great detail, trying to formulate a good strategy to play against them. The Steamers have been playing on the the track like they have nothing to lose; which makes for great gameplay, but at times can be costly. The Steamers are a young team which makes them very cunning this year, this will be the bout to test every aspect of their strategy. One thing the Hellbombers do best is play each jam like the entire game rides on it; even when they are up 10 points they are just as cut-throat when they are tied. There is a strong level of maturity (well at least on the track) for the Bombers. The Hellbombers are extremely good at capitalizing on others mistakes, so play it smart out there Steamers. Best of luck to everyone!
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Derby Name: Soul Eater
Number: #53 (It was originally supposed to be infinity, but when I realized what a pain getting a custom number would be, I decided to go to a regular number. Then I thought, how can I do something in relation to my name for my number. I realized 5 and a backwards 3 would be my initials: SE. I used to have a backwards 3 on all my jerseys, but got tired of explaining that “yes, I do know it’s backwards, and here’s why…” to drunk people at loud after parties.)
Team(s): The Rolling Pin-Ups and The Burning River All-Stars
Position(s): It changes, but lately I’ve been pivot a lot and I’ve also been training as a jammer, although my rib injury put a temporary hold on that. I’ll step up and do whatever the team needs.
What brought you to the world of roller derby? A few years ago I got back into playing soccer after taking time off from sports during college, and although I like soccer, I was never in love with it. I was thinking of checking out what other sports were in the area when I heard they were forming a roller derby league in Cleveland. Without seeing a bout, reading the rules, or having any clue what it was other than the vague memories of what I had seen on TV as a kid, I made it to a registration meeting and joined up. I’ve been in love since!
How has your life changed since roller derby? I am in the best shape of my life thanks to roller derby. I worked out a little and tried to eat healthy before, but I was never too motivated just for the sake of fitness. Since I’ve joined roller derby, I’ve learned so much about nutrition and cross-training just to better my performance, it has really improved my overall health. I also met the love of my life, Stroker Ace, at the registration meeting, and my life hasn’t been the same since (for the better of course!).
Last year you were nominated for biggest bitch, yet you seem so sweet, how can this be? Haven’t you heard me screaming at my teammates, or “barking” as it has been called, from Turn 2?! I may seem sweet off the track, but I’ve been known to be a bossy little b*tch on the track. I’m also not one to sugar coat anything and can be a little abrupt, which I’ve been trying to work on, but sometimes you just have to call it how you see it.
How did you come about your name? Just like any derby girl, I went through the names I wanted and realized they were all taken. I was set on being Goldie Roxx until I found out it was too close some other derby names for me to have it. So I spent months trying to find something, then realized I already had one. I have two ex-boyfriends that said I’m an “eater of souls.” That sounded like a title, and not a name, so I changed it to Soul Eater.
You are dating Stroker Ace, does it make it difficult to play against her? Nah, not at all. Actually it helps keep us motivated. When one of us wants to be lazy and lay around the house instead of going for a run or working out, we’ll talk some smack about the other’s team and how it’s okay for them to lose, or something like that. The only thing that’s hard is that we spend a lot of time with derby related events, and being on separate teams means separate team practices, team meetings, etc. There are some weeks we don’t even get a night to ourselves between all of it. Luckily we’ve been on the All-Stars together so far, which has been nice, especially with the traveling and additional practices it requires.
What your hopes for roller derby in general? I would love for roller derby to become more accessible and with more options to girls and women around the world. It’s becoming a reality little by little, thanks to all the new leagues popping up around the world, not just WFTDA or WFTDA-aspiring leagues, but also recreational and junior leagues. Most sports have all sorts of leagues, from pee wee, high school and college, to “beer leagues,” to more competitive and serious leagues that have tournaments, roller derby should be no exception. A handful of adult women in a few major cities shouldn’t be the only ones that have the chance to play this awesome sport!
What album having you been enjoying most recently? Album? I live off my iPod these days, which is always on shuffle. I guess Shiny Toy Guns, We Are Pilots, and the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack, since it’s the most recent music I’ve downloaded.
What is your favorite derby memory? My favorite? There are so many! I think the most amazing day of derby was our league’s first public bout, Black & Blue 1, and its after party. Our league had worked so hard for so long, and to finally see our hard work come to fruition and produce a successful event was great. Everyone was so happy, it was a true celebration. I felt like I was in a movie it was so surreal.
You are on the sk8intheface header, how does that feel? When I saw it at first I thought “wow I’m making an aweful face,” but I’m still very flattered to have made the header!
If you could take a skater from another team and put them on the Pin-ups, who would you take? Stroker Ace, of course! Mostly because it would be nice not to have separate team obligations, but it doesn’t hurt that she’s an awesome skater too.
You were just out due to injury, how hard is it to just watch? It sucks!!! I’ve skated every bout that The Rolling Pin-Ups and The Burning River All-Stars have had until last month. It was kind of cool to be able to watch and enjoy, but I wanted to put on my skates and help my teams so badly! Especially the Cincinnati game… I played against their B team early last year and was looking forward to finally getting to play their A team, and on top of that it was such a close game! Since I couldn’t skate, all I could do was scream my head off, but at least I had the honor of being Turn 2 for a day
What are your ’09 season goals? I am working on becoming a great overall skater. I would love to be able to step up to any position in roller derby and just rock it without a sweat. Winning Best Pivot or Triple Threat this year would be pretty sweet, but dethroning Ivanna Destroya (who won Best Pivot for the past 2 years) and Stroker Ace (who won Triple Threat for the past 2 years) will be no easy feat! Always keep the bar high, right?
What are your thoughts/feelings on the new venue? I like it a lot so far. I’m not a huge fan of sport court because it slows the play down a little, but it’s good training for when The All-Stars play against teams that have sport court, which is pretty common.
Pinups are a skeleton crew this year, how do you feel you will fare? We’re going to do just fine. It is making our individual skaters stronger because everyone has to step it up and play a lot. Our recent victory against the Cleveland Steamers is a testament to that. We had 5 less skaters than they did, skating with 9 people, and we still pulled out a win, exhausting as it was for all of us. Every skater on our team currently has a positive attitude and is truly a team player, which makes all the difference, win or lose.
Do you have a favorite quote? “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth
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One thing that brings great joy for Turn 2 on Sk8intheface, is hearing back from you! We have been overwhelmed with the amount of traffic that we have been receiving on this site! Last month we had over 300 unique visitors (IP addresses) and over 1400 visits to the site! One thing that we had hoped for in creating this site was communication; whether good, bad, or indifferent, never bite your tongue! So for those of you who love to comment, We wanted to make you aware of gravatar, a free globally recognized avatar site, which associates your email address with an avatar of your liking. You may have recently seen the Destroya has accomplished this; well that is because she is freakin awesome! So get hip, get a gravatar account, and get to posting comments!
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Derby Name: CoCo Sparx
Number: 4
Team(s): Hellbombers & the All-Stars
Position(s): For the Hellbombers, primarily jammer & pivot. For the All-Stars, I’ve done everything; started with the team being told that I wasn’t a good enough jammer and I was going to be blocking only. After jamming as a pinch jammer a couple times, they moved me to jamming only. Now I’m in limbo again as they’ve added some ace jammers to the All-Stars roster and my blocking has improved. So… I guess that means I play all positions.
How did you learn of roller derby? I got a MySpace message saying “Hi, we’re looking to start a women’s roller derby league in Cleveland. We’re looking for girls who are 21+ and have health insurance.” I didn’t really know what roller derby was, but I knew it involved roller skating, which I was decent at, and I’d already been looking to find a sports team to play on but hadn’t found the right one. I figured I’d check it out.
What made you decide you wanted to play roller derby? My parents were dead set against it. Haha, but seriously, when I told my dad that I was joining a roller derby league, he sighed loudly and said, “Lindsay, we raised you better than that.” True quote, he’ll deny it now, but he said it. I kept going to practices out of stubbornness. After a couple of months it dawned on me that I was ACTUALLY playing roller derby, and that I LIKED it. By then everyone was a lot more supportive.
If you had to choose between Jammer or Blocker which would you choose and why? That’s actually a hard question, since I like different things about each position. I’m going to say I would choose to be a pivot. That way a I block & can jam if my jammer passes me the star. Best of both worlds.
You seem to turn your rookies into fierce assassins, how do you do this? I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. But seriously, we’ve always tried to pick girls that we thought not only skated well, but that we knew would work well with our team; the ones who show they want to work as a unit, not as an individual.
What do you hope to accomplish in the realm of roller derby? Whatever I can. I’d love to see our All-Star team go to regionals this year (which is a very definite possibility), and even nationals someday. A few people have asked me how long I plan on doing this. Even at 26 & 1/2 years old, I’m still one of the younger girls on our league. I look at some of the really amazing skaters across the country, and they might be 10 years older than me. I’ve got a long time yet before I’m thinking of retiring.
You recently froze on the Jam line (Fort Wayne), care to enlighten people what happened there ? Hey, thanks for bringing that up. But here’s what happened. As I was skating up to the jam line, it dawned on me that I had a little bit of a wedgie. So, instead of squatting down into may take-off stance & flashing a fish-belly white butt cheek at the crowd, I quickly yanked it out. So as I’m waiting for the whistle to go, I hear this really girly-sounding voice yell, “Hyuk, quit pickin’ yer wedgie!” And all I could think was, “OMG! They’re talking about my butt!” Next thing I knew, they other jammer took off and I was left standing on the line looking like a moron. If I ever find out who that girly-sounding hillbilly was, I swear….
What skates are you currently using? Reidell 965 Minx boots, Powerdyne Triton plates, and a combo of Radar Zodiac (red) & Radar Mojo (black) wheels.
What has been your greatest achievement in Derby so far? I think getting nominated for Triple Threat last year, even though I didn’t win. I knew I was a pretty good jammer, but at the time, I’d always thought of myself as a big wimp in the pack. I guess I was just a big eye-opener to find out that I was not a big wimp.
What were your feelings, when you saw yourself on the sk8intheface header? I had no idea that my mouthguard made me look like I had hillbilly teeth. It’s a great header though, nicely done.
What do you love most about roller derby? Your mom. No, that’s wrong. I like the camaraderie, I like the competition, I like the fishnets, I like the travel, I like the feeling of getting your ass handed to you with a hard hit but knowing that I can get up and keep going, I like the strategy, I like the fans, I like hearing my name over a loudspeaker (or up in lights, like in Cincinnati!), I like the after-parties, I like the look on people’s faces when I tell them I play roller derby… I could go on & on.
You are engaged to the ref “Oliver Pist”, how has that changed the game for you? I definitely see the game from the refs point of view now. I try not to argue about small calls that were or were not missed, because really, refs are *gasp* human and can’t see every little thing. If it doesn’t get called, I don’t take my mind out of the game anymore; just keep going because getting pissed about it only ruins my focus on the game.
What was the inspiration behind your name? There really wasn’t much of one. The original name I wanted was registered already and I couldn’t think of anything else. I just liked the way the words sounded. No irony, no cleverness, no little pop-culture reference, just liked the sound.
Which do you like better, cats or dogs? I think I’m more of a cat person. Pist & I just got a puppy in January, and she’s making me warm up to dogs. But as it stands right now, I like MY dog and my friends’ dogs, but I love ALL cats. I’ve never seen a cat I didn’t want to pick up and squeeze and cuddle and talk to in a ridiculously high-pitched voice.
Last year you won best booty (then showed us all why), any pressure in keeping that award in 2009? I won Best Booty in 2007 too, so I had plenty of pressure last year. The competition was tough, and I was sure that Hannah Bull was going to take home the giant trophy. It really was a shock when they called my name. I felt like Christina Aguilera when she won the Grammy for Best New Artist. So shocked that yes, I felt the need to flash the goods. For 2009, I’m seeing some stiff competition again. We’ve got girls like Primp, Slammy, Syren, Booty… winning again isn’t going to be easy. I may have to campaign this year by not wearing pants at all.
What do you think is necessary to propel the sport of roller derby further? Everyone has to be on the same page, and right now, a lot of cities are not on the same page with their aims for roller derby. Everyone has a different idea of what roller derby SHOULD be, and until everyone shares one vision, I think it’s going to be very difficult to get roller derby on the mainstream radar. However, organizations like WFTDA (Women’s Flat Track Derby Association) are working very hard to streamline that vision and get everyone on the same page. Many WFTDA leagues are getting a lot of mainstream recognition and are promoting a very good and positive image of roller derby to the mainstream audience.
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