Roger McCord, a blogger on MaineToday, put together a fantastic videoblog of our last bout with Pioneer Valley. Check it out at http://www.mainetoday.com/rogermccord/016800.html.
Olive Spankins does a lovely helicopter spin on the floor as she calls off the jam!
Don't miss our last bout tomorrown (Oct 6) at the Expo. Join the other 700+ screaming fans and experience roller derby Maine-style.
Have you been yet? Good grief! Our first two bouts were incredible! Both were attended by over 700 people. And both were victories for Maine Roller Derby. Come and see our next bout October 6.
Door are at 5 pm at the Portland Expo. Live action starts at 6 pm.
Don't miss it! This is the last bout of the season!
Go to www.mainerollerderby.com to get tickets.
See you there!
This Saturday (Sept 8) is Maine Roller Derby's first bout of the first season. I am so excited I might piddle. The league has worked so hard to make this happen. Hell, it took us a year just to get the Portland Expo to secure us a date. I could drone on paragraph after paragraph about the hours of training, the sleepless nights, the meetings, the emails, the begging, but no one outside of rollergirls wants to hear about it. You all want action, action, action!
We're going to give it to you this Saturday (and Sept 22 and Oct 6). We're gonna give it to you hard.
At the bout you can expect live music, beer, raging lunatic fans, kid fans, quiet fans, freaks, and FULL-CONTACT ROLLER DERBY!
Personally, I am going to be out of control. I know this because I put together the soundtrack we skate to and there are far too many fast, angry songs on it. How can you not slam into a woman when you hear Master of Puppets?
I am probably one of the cleanest skaters on the league - meaning I rarely get penalties. This Saturday I am out for blood. And I'm taking everyone down with me.
Everyone has to see this. Make a sign for me. Make a sign for MRD. Just come and cheer! It'll be the best thing you ever saw.
We have been confirmed that our official first season will be this fall at the Portland Expo. Dates include Sept 8, Sept 22, and Oct 6. Information about ticket sales, season passes, and bouting teams will be available within the next couple months. Bouts are family friendly, and we invite all ages to attend; however, we do rate ourselves somewhere around PG-13.
We are in the process of creating at least two permanent teams (Nautical Knockouts and Port Authorities were only temporary teams for our last bout). This has been difficult for our league, due to such small numbers, but we are hoping to have enough girls ready to bout for the Fall. If we do not, we will invite other leagues to esemble an all-star team to bout against our all-star team.
I'm hoping for both a bout of our own teams and a couple bouts with other leagues. It's terribly exciting to play another league.
I just can't wait to get out there and show you all how awesome roller derby is!
In addition to skating in bouts, I am the head of Bout Production, which means I must plan and manage all bouts. It's a big job, but most of the league pitches in. Currently, we are looking for EMTs, statisticians, and other support staff. We are also taking submissions of music from anyone interested in becoming our official DJ for bouts and after parties. If interested, contact me at punchyoguts@mainerollerderby.com.
Maine Roller Derby bouted Pioneer Valley Roller Derby twice (which I skated in both): once at Topsham Roller World (1/14/07) and again in Amherst, Mass (2/24/07). We were victorious in both bouts. Here's what we wrote on our myspace site about the January bout:
"The fierce women of Maine Roller Derby (MRD), Maine's first and only women's flat track roller derby league, defeated western Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PV) league in their first public scrimmage. This was MRD's second public showing of this hot new incarnation of the sport of roller derby to Maine.
The event took place at Roller World in Topsham, Maine, on January 14, 2007, and was full of nail-biting excitement as MRD and PV battled point-for-point to end the first period in a tied scored of 25 to 25. It looked to be a tough match. As the second period started, however, it was clear that, while PV had a lot of very hard hitters, MRD's speed and endurance could not be beat and they soon widened the gap. While all of MRD's jammers and blockers played very well, exceptional jamming by MRD's three top scorers, Vexacious D (31 points), Breezey (25 points), and Killer Quick (21 points), helped keep MRD ahead of the game during the second and third periods. Noteworthy blocking by Punchy O'Guts and The Mom Bomb, aided by some especially hard hits from Patty O'Mean and Goldie Headlocks, helped to clear the track of PV blockers and get their jammers through.
PV braved the long drive through inclement weather, bringing most of the players from not only their women's team, but their men's team as well. The men of PV showed great support for the women's team, shouting encouragement during the entire match. PV's most effective jammers, Piss N' Mona, Andy Nihilate and Beast Infection, gave MRD's jammers a run for their money on several occasions. And, while PV proved to be extremely hard-hitting on the whole, MRD took some particularly hard hits from Andy Nihilate, Beast Infection, Juggernaut Bitch, Pixie Scabs and Pink Panzer."
This bout was quite a thrill. Pioneer Valley's skaters are huge. With the exception of teeny, weeny Piss N' Mona, I think they're all over six feet tall. I thought they were going to cream us for sure, but after the first period I stopped looking at the score and just played the game. We had quite a lead and there was no reason to worry. Our endurance definitely won us the game as we wore Pioneer Valley down. They looked so tired during jams I actually felt bad about knocking them to the floor. Well, not bad enough to stop.
The second bout against Pioneer Valley was on their turf in Massachusetts. Because our win against them was so large, I assumed they were going to train extremely hard and knock the crap out of us. They did knock us around, but not enough to secure a win. The most horrifying part of this bout was the surface we skated on. It was like skating on sand. During warm-ups I was out of breath and worn down just trying to get around the track a few times.
I would have refused to skate if it hadn't been Pioneer Valley's debut bout. They were counting on this to make money and a name for their league. Although we compete against one another, there is a unification between derby sisters. We all struggle to operate our leagues and depend on other leagues when things are tough. So MRD sucked it up and took one for the team.
Now that we've won both bouts with Pioneer Valley's women's team. I'm secretly hoping to bout the men's team. Punchy can take 'em all!