Daphne Does Derby: RCRG! bout recap

Back by popular demand, the Blitz Dames Bus was once again called upon to carry the travel team and entourage across the land to their next away game. The bus loaded up in the centre of Birmingham and the Dames set off to Oldham, Manchester, for their bout with Rainy City Roller Girls.

The coach journey is one of my favourite times. I try to see the Dames outside of practice, but I never spend as much time with them as I want. The two hours was spent with much larks and cake. Even the people who ignore the conversation and pretend to hate everyone on the bus with them secretly enjoy it.

The Thunderdome, home of RCRG was like no other venue I’d been to. Miles away from the blue sports court of the Dames’ training venue, it more resembled Toronto’s Bunker. With a sort of derelict charm, the Thunderdome made for a more intimate event, with many people sitting on carpets and cushions in the suicide seats. That was maybe good, because it was freezing in there and spectators had to huddle together for warmth. Whether this was a marketing technique designed for optimum hot chocolate sales from the RCRG tuck shop was uncertain.

The bout itself was impressive. The Rainy City jammers had fantastic agility and the blockers kept the walls tightly. The home team also had several strong hitters, and first hand reports say that falling against the Thunderdome’s concrete floor was a world of pain, though I’m glad to say serious injury was avoided.

Though RCRG took an early lead which they sustained, seasoned Dames jammers Suzette la Flamme and Nina Nunchucks snuck in points here and there. (Nico Warrior also jammed, but she pointed out recently that she skates really low and it makes her look like a gorilla. I was so struck by how true this was today that I found it hard to keep track of how many points she got.) Finally, a great powerjam by Violet Attack ended the game on a high note, despite the score 51-217 to Rainy City.

Since I wanted to skip the after party and go home early, I’d hoped to catch a lift with a couple of Dames that had driven up. Apparently, about four different people were concerned about me getting home and asked the driving Dames if I could ride with them. This is about ninety percent touching and ten percent funny. I really should have asked myself, but as is always the way, I’d gone out to get some chips and when I got back, the game was about to start.

“I was a bit surprised you came today,” Thunderkat said as she drove me home.

“Really? Why?”

“I’d have thought you’d have something better to do on your birthday.”

“Like what?”

I’m sure I can’t think of anything

~ Daphne du Gorier #905

(Roller derby is serious bananas and Daphne is the most serious banana)

Daphne Does Derby: Forward! March! bout recap

There’s nothing like bout day, is there?

It’s not even about the skating - that’s a whole experience in itself. But the beauty of having your league come together to celebrate something they love is truly excellent.

Yesterday saw the Blitz Dames bouting their old friends Croydon Roller Derby. It must be said, the Dames were on fine form. Their jammer lineup consisted of Violet Attack who sliced through the pack time and time again; Suzette la Flamme who consistently bumped up the scores and never faltered, even in jams that seemed to last forever; Nico Warrior who has always been sneaky but in this game was an actual ninja, and Nina Nunchucks who was just incredible.

No seriously. Nina was incredible. I used to have mixed feelings towards her because she was my derby mum and I always thought she was giving me tough love from afar, when in reality she’d forgotten that I was her daughter. But yesterday she was everything a roller girl aspires to be. Her crossovers! Her juking! Her leaps. I’m telling you, at one point she jumped the apex and I nearly cried, it was that beautiful.

The Croydon side was no less formidable. Totting fearsome war paint, they kept the Dames on their toes. Led by their coach, Herbie Licious who was wearing extremely wide trousers, they were cleaner skaters and impressively kept four blockers on track for the majority of the game.

Mosquito graced our venue again, sprinting around that track and giving our jammers a run for their money. What she lacks in height she makes up for in skill and confidence. One of the jammers I wasn’t familiar with was Vikispeedia but aside from having a great name, she really did live up to it!

I tried to take more notes on Croydon, but instead all I seem to have written about is Gin Atomic’s tiny, tiny skirt. It was so small, I am not even kidding. I mean, this is derby, most players dress like there’s a clothing shortage, but the skirt deserves a mention of its own. She also was kind enough to show me that if she had fallen over, the skirt would have flipped up to reveal pants that aptly read ‘FAIL’.

Ah, rollergirls. What’s not to love.

Aside from the actual bout and Gin Atomic’s TINY, TINY SKIRT, there was much excitement off track The Blitz Dames were selling scandalously generous slices of incredibly yummy cake. My derby wife bought me one slice and I ate it for the entire four hours that I was there, that’s how big it was. There were also gingerbread dames that sadly all suffered debilitation injuries.

Additionally, Izzy Dauntless who makes jewellery that is sort of good (kind of) was taking orders for league rings with name and league initials on (she’s making me one with ‘Daffy Gu Gu’ on it as we speak) and many an order was placed while her son, the Blitz Dames mascot, ran around roaring at people.

Our next match is against Rainy City Roller Girls in Manchester. We’re hiring a bus, so if you want to ride with us - and who wouldn’t - drop us a message!

~ Daphne du Gorier #905

(Roller derby is serious bananas and Daphne is the most serious banana)

*images by Simon White.

Daphne Does Derby: All Ireland Roller Derby Vs Blitz Dames and All Star Challenge

Daphne du Gorier #905 played her first ever bout for the Blitz Dames travel team on Saturday, and it was against the Irish World Cup Squad! Here is her take on the day:

"Today the Birmingham Blitz Dames played host to two fantastic bouts against the All Ireland team representing Ireland in the Roller Derby World Cup. The first was with the Blitz Dames, while the second pitted the Irish team against an All-Star lineup made up of teams from the Midlands, termed the Midlands Massive.

The BBD bout was my first time bouting for the A team, while the second was much anticipated as it gave me a chance to watch some of my roller derby crushes play at close quarters.

The All Ireland team took an early lead which they maintained throughout the game using their formidable blockers to create a solid defence even the nippiest of jammers had problems getting through. The Dames were at a clear disadvantage with two skaters playing on the A team for the first time, Violet Attack only jamming and Roisin Roulette playing for the other team! Despite this, we made AIRD fight for their points. In the second half the dames adjusted their game and Izzy Dauntless and Thunderkat made some great blocks while Suzette la Flamme and Nico Warrior racked up the points in some beautiful passes.

As virgin voyages go, I couldn’t have asked for a better bout. The atmosphere was relaxed and I was confident in the positions and lineups I was being played in.

The game ended with a score of BBD 55 AIRD 244 but the dames felt satisfied with their performance and grateful to AIRD for the opportunity. No sooner had the teams done their laps of honour, the Midlands Massive team started to warm up, and excitement was in the air!

The second bout was one that proved just how much of a spectator sport derby is. As if seeing Violet Attack, Helen Fury, Nuclear Miss-ile, Voodoo Ray, Inky Minx and Kid Block skating on a team together wasn’t enough, we had the tiny but deadly Mosquito jamming like it was going out of fashion, some mind blowing power jams and BB Bombshell slicing through the pack while skating on one foot as her toe guard had come loose.

Getting to watch this bout was a real treat as you get a completely different perspective from when you’re on track. I quickly fell in love with Zola Blood who darted off the jam line like she’d never heard of inertia, and ChemiKill Hazard (who was awarded MVP) also captured my heart. Crow Jane who I had been looking forward to seeing sadly went off with an injury but not before putting up a good fight for the AIRD team. Between these fearsome ladies, Violet Attack and Roisin Roulette, I had a hard time knowing who to cheer for and gave myself a sore throat from all the screaming.

It was a fantastic day from start to finish with a great effort from all the skaters, refs, NSOs and the BBD bout production team. Thank you to everyone who made my first A-team bout such a fantastic experience. Hope to see you all on track some time.

(If I’ve made any mistakes or not linked to profiles where available, let me know and I’ll edit!)"

Blog post taken from http://daphnedoesderby.tumblr.com where Daphne blogs about all things derby on a regular basis.