Thursday, December 23, 2010

And the virus just keeps spreading...

For a small little country that had never heard about Roller Derby a year and a half ago, we have grown to an amazing number of leagues.
We now have no less then SIX leagues!!

The brand new league is the Arnhem Fallen Angels!!



One of our very own Amsterdam Derby Dames, Peachy Piek moved to Arnhem and after being infected with the derby bug she couldn't live without anymore. So she started her own league!!! Good job Peachy Piek! We cannot wait to play against the Arnhem Fallen Angels. :p


For the Amsterdam Derby Dames there is a winter stop right now, which sucks. Cause I want to skate. But I guess if I would have to say something positive about it. I would say it's good to have some time off so I can focus on uhmmm well work, relaxing and board stuff. I still miss practice though... A LOT!!!!!

Earlier this week I got my end of the year bonus and threaded myself to a x-mas present... I finally ordered new protective gear. After reading the intro from Black Dahlia in Blood and Thunder magazine issue #15 I got the last push I needed to order it.
She had crappy knee pads and fell really badly... Took her months to recover. And she said that good (and expensive) protective gear is not something to safe your money on. And she is so right!! The only derby scar I have until now, I have because of cheap shitty kneepads.
So anyways, I finally ordered some 187 Pro's!


Of course it's hard to resist ordering other stuff when your are on a webshop like wickedskatewear.com.
So I ordered new elbow and wrist protection and some clothing too. Cannot wait for it to arrive!!

Well everybody, I want to wish you all a merry x-mas and an amazing derby filled 2011!!!!

- Furrrocious




You can find the Arnhem Fallen Angels on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arnhem-Fallen-Angels/147617188621900?v=wall&filter=3

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Fresh meat makes you feel all fuzzy inside!

Today I was finally able to go to practice again. Glad to be finally on skates, especially after just seeing so many bouts this past Saturday.

So a couple of weeks ago we started our three month training program for the fresh meat girls and guys. And I was there the first night they came. It was great to see all those girls and guys trying to skate, after not being on skates for years.
Some girls had shaky legs and were like those new born animals standing up right for the first time. Shaking and unbalanced.

So I didn't see them skate for a couple of weeks and my gosh was I amazed!!! The baby animals are turning in to fierce ladies!
It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see these newbies improving so much.
And I love how motivated they are.



For myself it was just great to be on skates again. My ankles are doing a lot better and I was finally able to finish my five minute endurance laps with a pretty decent score. It's been so frustrating not to be able to skate as much as I wanted and keep up with the rest. But slowly but surely it's getting better. And I am back on my way to play!


- Furrrocious

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Roll DMC - What a day!!

Friday
After spending a almost a week in Berlin, my fellow ADD ladies arrived on Friday. After some hang out time, it was registration time at the Berlin Bombshells practice space.



After declaring that we take full responsibility if we break our legs or get paralyzed and more stuff like that, the officials meeting started.
Riff Reff (Stuttgart) and Dr. No-No (Berlin) did a great job at organizing the officials side of Roll DMC. The refs and NSO's were split up in three teams, Treptow, NeuKölln and Kreuzburg. Each team worked two bouts and for the finals the head refs created one team with all the 'best' refs and NSO's from the whole day.
After the meeting it was time to socialize and with a group of officials we had a bite to eat at this great restaurant.

Seeing how we needed to be at the Arena the next day at 10 am it seemed wise not to go out and party. But my wifey Lola Rock 'n' Rolla had her birthday coming up on saturday so we went to the bar to be able to toast on her b-day at midnight. After that we went straight back to the hostel, so we wouldn't be tempted into partying more then we should!


Saturday - The BIG day
It was a crazy morning, after not sleeping to much, due to excitement for the big day , a lovely but snoring roommate, some roommates that weren't NSO'ing the next day and did go out for drinks, and these awesome derby girls from Rotterdam and Utrecht that I had placed in a room above ours (....) and enjoyed partying a lot, I went on a quest to find my derby wife, Lola rock 'n' Rolla a birthday cake at 8.30 am in berlin...
It was crazy, but I managed. :) After all surprising her for her birthday, me, Vegan Vengeance, Limpin' lily and Belle Anger set off to the Arena.
Once there we had another officials meeting, and starting getting ready for the first bout!




The first bout was between the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girls All stars and Rollergirls and friends.
It was also the first bout that I was NSO'ing. It was great being a part of this exciting event and even though my NSO job as outside whiteboard isn't the most important job on the earth, it still felt great to be a part of it all.
The officials teams are so important to the game and you learn so much about it by NSO'ing. I would definitely advice each derby girl to do this. Although the most annoying thing about being a Non Skating Official, is the Non Skating part. Man oh man, how it is torture to see everybody skate! I wanted nothing more then to skate myself. But I will skate a bout, one day....

The bouts lasted 2 x 20 min, and to be honest they were over before I knew it. I was working together with a great team.
On the referee team we had:
Matt the knife - inside pack #1 + Head Ref (Leeds)
Dr. No-No - Inside pack ref #2 (Berlin)
TestosteRon Jeremy - Jammer ref #1 (Helsinki)
Crank Skice - Jammer ref #2 (Barock city)
Joe Rout - Outside pack ref #1 (Stockholm)
Fluke Skywalker - Outside pack ref #2 (Stockholm)
Zäpp VänDäle - Outside pack ref #3 (Hamburg)

On the NSO team:
Nena - score keeper #1 (Berlin)
Maelstrom - score keeper #2 (Paris)
Rosa DeLux - Penalty tracker #1 (Berlin)
Brute el Peste - Penalty tracker #2 (Paris)
Ma'am Phizz - Penalty board (Stuttgart)
Mary ME - Jam timer (Berlin)
Mojo jojo - Penalty timer Jammer / box supervisor
Ms. High-handed - Penalty timer blocker #1(Berlin)
Christina Agapitou - Penalty timer blocker #2 (Berlin)
Cosmic ReAction - Outside Whiteboard #1 (Stuttgart)
And me Furrrocious - Outside whiteboard #2

You can see we had a pretty international group, and it was great working with so many derby refs and nso's from all over Europe!
As an Outside whiteboard you write up the penalties the outside pack refs report and communicate them to the inside to the penalty trackers.
So I was most in touch during the game with the outside pack refs, especially with Joe Rout and Fluke Skywalker both from Stokholm. And even though they didn't have to much to report to me, we had a good time working together. It was a great team to work with in general, the communication was good and there was great team work.

I am not going to give you all a recap on every bout, because first of all, I am not a derby expert (yet), and second I was working during a lot of them, so I had a different look on the game. But I will advice you all to go see them at: http://justin.tv/eurorollerderby/b/275532878
You'll love the commentary, it's Swede hurt (and Mad Maloony) and she actually says during the final:
"NSO's out there in the world, you know we love you guys, you are very important to all of us!"
Thanks for saying that Swede!


The whole officials team:



Photo by Michael Wittig

I said earlier how frustrating it was not to be able to skate. Well I found out after the first bout how annoying it was to not be able to Scream and Shoot during other bouts... Being an official is all about being impartial. So even when you are not working you can not cheer on other teams. And even though I am actually impartial about the teams in Germany. There are just sometimes that you want to scream at an awesome block or whatever, and I love doing that. I really become a little hooligan! :p But I couldn't.....

So after NSO'ing two bouts and watching a couple more, it was time for the bout for third and fourth place, between Devil Dolls Essen and Hanse Connection for the last bout.
And Essen won!! Number 3 of Germany, a great score I would say. One of the Essen girls, Lola Brentt formally know as Gina Gasolina is one of the most awesome Derby girls I know! And is actually Dutch! :) Here she is as a Jammer skating her but off!!



Photo by Michael Wittig

The finals were, as expected, between Stuttgart Valley Roller Girls All Stars and the Berlin bombshells.
After the game between the dolls and hanse the head refs picked the refs and nso's that would be working the final bout. All of us Amsterdam Derby Dames NSO's wanted to work it, and were very happy to hear we all got picked! So me and Vegan did the outside whiteboard and Belle Anger served as a penalty tracker and Limpin' lily as a score keeper.

It was a crazy bout!!! The place was packed and there were 'camps' for both teams cheering as loud as they could. It was just amazing!!



Photo by Michael Wittig

As the bout started it was very clear that these two teams were equally good and it would be a close one.
The teams both showed some really beautiful Roller Derby, great hits, blocks, whips and very fast and skilled Jammers!
As an NSO I was a lot busier at this bout. More penalties were caught by the outside pack refs, which was good cause there was some much going on.
I was standing at turn one, and had a great view at the Pivot line, so I saw the start of every jam. It was great!



Photo by Michael Wittig

It was really hard to hear the outside pack refs sometimes, because the Stuttgart fans were right behind me and screaming their heads off!! It was so loud and wild, really amazing to see and experience how big Roller Derby can be in Europe.




In the end, it was down to the last jam which would decide who was going to be Germany's first Champion. As the score keepers were giving the score keeper the final jam's score, the crowd went completely crazy! As Berlin got their points first, they seemed to have won, so their fans went wild. But then Stuttgart's points came in and they got four points more then Berlin. Setting the finale score to 124-128.
The crowed went mad, and then the Derby love was showed, by the final laps, where the crowed stands around the track and skaters high five everybody around the track. I love that. It such a nice interaction between skaters and the audience.
Then the Berlin bombshells as organizers of this great event, gave out Thank you buttons to refs and NSO's and medals to the teams.
It was just a great bout, a amazing championship, an awesome day all together!! And I am so glad I was lucky enough to be a part of it.

One of the nice benefits about Roller Derby bouts/events is that derby girls know how to throw a party. And the after party was great! It was at another part of the arena and there where bands playing and it was just a great way of hanging out with other derby girls from all over Europe!



This is me and my Derby wife Lola Rock 'n' Rolla and my brand new intentional Derby wife Vegas (Stuttgart). These great ladies, both had their birthdays during this day!

Again thanks to the Berlin Bomshells for organizing this great event, thanks to Dr. No-No an Riff Reff for organizing the officials side of the championship, you did a great job! And thanks of course to all those derby girls playing their asses off and the last thanks goes out to the officials team, it was a pleasure meeting all of you and working together!

- Furrrocious



Ps: Pictures of the bout that you see here, came from the Berlin Bomshells Facebook - for more great pictures, check them out on their profile.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Berlin will never be the same....

Only a few more days before the big event!! The first German Roller Derby championships!!

And I am lucky enough to be there and to NSO. I am even luckier then most, cause I am all ready in Berlin! I arrived Saturday and have been staying with a friend of mine. Which has been amazing.
I absolutely love this city. It's got culture, great sights, great affordable food, fun little shops, and the best of all: it's got ROLLER DERBY!!

The past days I have not really been busy with Roller Derby, but just enjoying Berlin, and while I was walking on the street I was happily surprised when I saw the poster for this Saturday. Of course I had to take a picture, all tourists take pictures of pretty sights and street views, but not me, I take pictures of posters! HA!
I guess it was time for me to start thinking about derby again, cause only a couple of hours after I spotted the poster, I was sitting in the u-bahn and saw the commercial on the tv screens! I couldn't believe my eyes! Roller derby promo everywhere. Awesome!!



After all these 'signs', my head was back in the game. So yesterday I went to a ticket office to get a couple of tickets for friends who weren't able to get tickets online and for some of my friends in Berlin that have never seen derby before.

Today I met up with Dr. No-No and went with her to the Berlin newbie training.
Unfortunately after waiting for about half an hour there was a case of 'not-having-a-key' and practice and scrimmaging was off.
So me, Dr. No-No and Ms. High-handed went for a drink. Which was great. We talked and talked about Roller Derby. NSO'ing, Reff'ing, playing, all of it!! Practicing hand signals, sharing stories and learning that there are the same issues and pleasures everywhere. It was just a good 'ol Roller Derby time of skates! :)

After this night of Roller Derby talk, I cannot wait for this city to get swamped by Roller Derby girls and guys!! It's gonna be AWESOME!!




Roll DMC - first German Roller Derby Championship - 11/12/10 - Arena Berlin.
Be there!!!



- Furrrocious