OUR STATE.. OUR DERBY!!

First of all, for the record.  I am still around.  I have had to put derby aside because of some major shifts in my life, plus I had a major project with one of my other operations, J1FM, my Japanese popular music webcast.

Even though some of you have figured it out, I will be making a major derby related announcement soon.   So watch for that soon.

But even though I have ducked out of derby after that spectacular Surly sweep back in May, I have still kept an eye on our teams here in the Grand Canyon State.

With the AZDD semi-finals done, we saw the Brutal Beauties easily (and expectedly) trample the Coffin Draggers 55-37.  In more of a surprise, the Runaway Brides barely slipped by the Scrappers 63-57.    Not counting the mini-bouts, this 6 point victory by the Brides was the tightest margin ever for an AZDD bout.  It beats the previous record that was ironically set by these same two teams in July of this year where the Brides beat the Scrappers 62-51.

While all of the leagues had delivered some great derby this year, AZDD in particular has really made that $20 VIP ticket really worth it by giving us a lot of tightly contested bouts.  Not once did AZDD have a “super lopper” bout this year.  Their biggest margin this season was the 41 point margin that the Brutal Beauties had over the Coffin Draggers in April with a final score 77-36.   Compare this to three TRD bouts that had margins of 152, 110 and 99 points.

So now with all of that, let’s take a look at the ARIZONA POWER RANKINGS for August, 2009:

1. Vice Squad (TRD/89.69)
2. Runaway Brides (AZDD/52.45)
3. Copper Queens (TRD/48.25)
4. Brutal Beauties (AZDD/45.05)
5. Bad News Beaters (AZRD/27.12)
6. Surly Gurlies (AZRD/17.42)
7. Bruisers (AZRD/-15.38)
8. Iron Curtain (TRD/-18.41)
9. School Yard Scrappers (AZDD/-28.34)
10. Brawlarinas (AZRD/-32.72)
11. Coffin Draggers (AZDD/-40.63)
12. Bombshells (AZDD/-77.43)
13. Furious Truckstop Waitresses (TRD/-129.25)

Coming up next:
9/19 ~ AZDD Championship Bout ~ The (AZ-2) Runaway Brides will try to defend their title that they took from the (AZ-4) Brutal Beauties last year.  This will be an exciting championship rematch by these two very serious teams.  I believe there will also be a “battle for the bronze” undercard that will pit the (AZ-9) School Yard Scrappers against the (AZ-11) Coffin Draggers.  This will be at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.   More information will eventually be available at http://azderbydames.com
9/20 ~ AZRD Derby Summit Expo Bout ~ AZRD is inviting skaters from Tucson’s Dry Heat as well as from Northern AZ Roller Derby to play some fun Sunday derby in a place where we have not seen a full bout in years, Mesa Skateland.   More info will be avaialble at http://azrollerderby.com

For now, I will take a backseat but I will still be watching.  I may show up at these bouts.

As always… SKATE HARD, SKATE SAFE, DERBY LOVE.

＜３　ミチちゃん。

COMMENTARY — Derby lovers, the great lead jammer in the sky had spoken this past weekend and obviously, he’s a fan of the Surly Gurlies.

All kiddingness aside, derby fans in Phoenix may have felt a little let down because their night of exciting derby was ruined by a little Arizona rain.  As both a journalist and a derby fan, I can feel your pain.  But as someone who understands skaters and league business, please understand that Arizona Roller Derby had some very difficult decisions to make that night and they had to make them fast but informed.  They had to weigh the financial impacts of cancelling the bout at the last minute vs. the impact on the safety of the skaters, non-skating staff and the fans.  AZRD appeared to play on the side of caution and made the decision to call-off the bout.  I totally agreed with AZRD’s decision at the time and now that I have had a couple of nights to sleep on it, I still support their position. 

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Greetings to all of the fans of those wild women (and now also men) on 8 wheels and a special hello to those sports fans who are just derby curious.  This is my occasional perspective and commentary on the Arizona leagues.  Let’s take a look league by league…

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This Saturday night March 14, the Castle Sports Club (11420 N. 19th Avenue, Phoenix) will be the place to be for women’s flat track roller derby as Arizona Roller Derby presents their fifth regulation bout of the 2008-2009 season.  In this bout, we will see the Brawlarinas take on the Bad News Beaters.

The Brawlarinas are themed as thugly ballerinas who love to strut their purple tutus around the track. The Brawlies are 1-1  taking about a 50 point loss to the Bruisers while beating the Surly Gurlies by about 50.  This team has had a fairly consistent roster since last year’s season. It is going to be rather a short roster.  We have not been told if there will be any substitutes yet for this game.  Keep a watch on team captain Holly Would and co-captain Hacker Too Pieces but pay very careful attention to The Bone Setter who I think is one of AZRD’s strongest blockers.  I feel that the Brawlarinas will have a very defensive game that night and if the blockers can clear the way, the jammers will be able to make it through. Read the rest of this entry »

I am in the middle of doing the video captures from the last bout between the AZ and OC Renegade Rollergirls. I am up to the part in the second period when T-Wrexx goes down on the backstretch.

It was apparent she was not going to get up on her own and get back into the jam.

In the past Renegade bouts, with other teams, when this has happened, the jam would still go on.

This time, I heard someone  (I could not confirm who said it) yell “take a knee, ladies” (and the camera did pick up the voice). Suddenly everyone stopped, went to their knees and the situation was handled very professionally.

While other leagues require the refs to stop jams for this reason and since the Renegades is “no rules” where the refs do not intercede that much into the game-play, I found it very respectful that one of the skaters in that jam made that call. I could have sworn it was an OC skater that made that call but I can’t be certain.

What I have learned about following the Renegades for the past year now is that despite the fact that during a jam, if you wear a different color shirt, you are a target, that off the track, the Renegades, no matter which city, are a big family who do care about each other and the welfare of their fellow skaters. What happened last Friday night just renews my utmost respect for this league and the girls who make it happen.

Thank you for a great evening of derby and I look forward to covering OC again soon.

Derby lovers and sports fans, I am happy to announce that I am now blogging to fanster.com. You will be able to find my blog there at fanster.com/michichan. As we go forward, the content that will go to fanster will be more geared towards the general interest sports fan but at the same time, the news feed from michichan.com will be available on that site. Score and stats data for the leagues will remain at michichan.com.

I feel that there are many sports fans out there who have never had a chance to see a live flat-track roller derby bout here in Arizona. Perhaps you have seen the rollergirls on the morning news shows or read an article in the New Times or Tucson Citizen about the sport. I don’t think I would overstep my boundaries with the leagues I cover by personally inviting you to come out and see a bout. There are several events coming up based on your location as well as your taste in derby.

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