whew! WFTDA Nationals
Nov. 16th, 2009 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonlady7Z and I zipped down to Philadelphia this past Friday and stayed at his cousin's house, right in Center City, until Sunday. It was awesome: the Convention Center, where WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association, the governing body that sets the rules my league skates by) held its national championship competition, was a two-mile walk from her house. Everything came together beautifully despite a relative lack of planning.
We drove down Friday morning, and arrived juuuust in time to see the first bout kick off-- it started a little late. And it was an amazing game-- Madison, WI's Dairyland Dolls, the original home team of one of the founders of the league I skate for now, vs. Boston MA's Boston Massacre. It was just a classic bout, with see-sawing lead changes, hard hits, breathtaking speed and just all around great play on both sides. I was a Madison fan before-- I hadn't seen the Dolls, but their non-WFTDA-ranked travel team, Team Unicorn, came to bout Hamilton ON's Hammer City Harlots the summer before last, and I was thoroughly impressed by them then. But now I'm a Boston fan, too. Such heart, and good teamwork.
We watched the rest of the bouts that night-- there are better overviews of them on Derby News Network-- and collapsed exhausted at Z's cousin's place, only to rise and stagger back to the convention ctr. Saturday a.m. We wandered around the Reading Terminal Market for a brief span, arriving too early, but it was a lot to take in.
A full, very long day of derby ensued. I also successfully purchased new wheels and bearings, to my great excitement-- saving myself about 20% off the list price, plus shipping, plus sales tax. So I treated myself to better bearings than I normally buy, but decided to go with the cheaper wheels that are identical to the ones I've been riding for twelve solid months-- the new-style wheels are smaller, narrow-profile, and there's a learning curve to using them. I don't have time for that right now; I should've bought a set in July or August and spent the summer learning how to use them. If I decide to come back for a fifth season of skating, maybe then I'll splurge and make the effort to learn to use the more expensive wheels.
edit: I had written a whole long rambly point-of-view thing on the bouts and the tournament play, basically to the effect of admiring the winning team (Oly) and thinking that the controversial Denver technique boiled down to, well, they're free to do what they do, and I'm free not to like it much, and I've been booed much harder for much less, so whatever.
I'm removing all that because I'm getting linked to from somewhere, by someone hostile it seems, and people are coming in primed to take me waaaaaay more seriously than I ought to be taken. This happened with all that stupid bullshit about me not being allowed to have opinions on our travel team bouts, and it's apparently happening again-- I figured there are plenty of people who hate on things and get things much wronger than I do, and do so much more plainly with intent to be controversial. Me, I'm just writing for me. And I fucking hate when people link to me to make trouble, which is evidently what this is about.
So whatever. I am so disinterested in drama that I'm really over the Oh Noes Censorship thing. I just wish I knew who is so fucking fascinated by me that they have to keep doing shit like this.
Anyway. We stuck around for the final, but didn't stay for the awards ceremony. We booked it out of there, went and had a nice sit-down dinner at a nearby Vietnamese place, then hoofed back to Z's cousin's. "You're crazy," she said. It was 8pm. We packed up hurriedly, went and sprung our car from lockup, and hit the road. We got onto the expressway at 8:15. It's six and a half hours from Philadelphia to Buffalo.
But we made it. Z, champ that he is, drove the whole way. The only incident was that near Scranton, at the intersection where I-81 crosses over a small state rte. 107, there was a traffic backup and a guy, just a guy in jeans and a sweatshirt, was out directing traffic with a flashlight. There was a tractor trailer jackknifed across both lanes of the highway, and as we approached we could see that the front end was heavily damaged as if it had collided with something. I assumed it had lost control and hit the railing. There were no emergency services onsite, just the guy with the flashlight-- in hindsight, he must have been the driver of the wrecked truck. He was guiding traffic to the offramp just before the accident, which by great good fortune was the type that goes down to the intersection, has a stop sign, and then comes right back onto the road.
As we went off the off-ramp, we had to swerve around part of the truck's fender. Then we had to swerve again around a big black thing, which I thought was a tire-- the truck must've had a blowout, I thought, and hit the railing. But no. It was not a tire. It was an animal. Z thought it was a bear, but I caught clear sight of the hind end/tail area and am pretty sure it was a cow or bull. Enormous, black, and very, very thoroughly dead.
Yes. In the dead of night (it was midnight, and moonless, and very slightly foggy), the truck must've hit the bovine, which was a solid matte black with no markings, full on. The whole radiator was totally stove in. If any other vehicle but a semi had hit that enormous animal there would've been human fatalities too-- it was big and tall enough that it certainly would have come through the windshield of our compact car.
But we arrived in Buffalo at around 2:30 with no further incident. We went straight to bed, and I dragged myself out to get to work on time this morning. Ugh. I'm looking forward to a couple of weekends at home, but we're into the holiday season now, so... No rest for the wicked!
We drove down Friday morning, and arrived juuuust in time to see the first bout kick off-- it started a little late. And it was an amazing game-- Madison, WI's Dairyland Dolls, the original home team of one of the founders of the league I skate for now, vs. Boston MA's Boston Massacre. It was just a classic bout, with see-sawing lead changes, hard hits, breathtaking speed and just all around great play on both sides. I was a Madison fan before-- I hadn't seen the Dolls, but their non-WFTDA-ranked travel team, Team Unicorn, came to bout Hamilton ON's Hammer City Harlots the summer before last, and I was thoroughly impressed by them then. But now I'm a Boston fan, too. Such heart, and good teamwork.
We watched the rest of the bouts that night-- there are better overviews of them on Derby News Network-- and collapsed exhausted at Z's cousin's place, only to rise and stagger back to the convention ctr. Saturday a.m. We wandered around the Reading Terminal Market for a brief span, arriving too early, but it was a lot to take in.
A full, very long day of derby ensued. I also successfully purchased new wheels and bearings, to my great excitement-- saving myself about 20% off the list price, plus shipping, plus sales tax. So I treated myself to better bearings than I normally buy, but decided to go with the cheaper wheels that are identical to the ones I've been riding for twelve solid months-- the new-style wheels are smaller, narrow-profile, and there's a learning curve to using them. I don't have time for that right now; I should've bought a set in July or August and spent the summer learning how to use them. If I decide to come back for a fifth season of skating, maybe then I'll splurge and make the effort to learn to use the more expensive wheels.
edit: I had written a whole long rambly point-of-view thing on the bouts and the tournament play, basically to the effect of admiring the winning team (Oly) and thinking that the controversial Denver technique boiled down to, well, they're free to do what they do, and I'm free not to like it much, and I've been booed much harder for much less, so whatever.
I'm removing all that because I'm getting linked to from somewhere, by someone hostile it seems, and people are coming in primed to take me waaaaaay more seriously than I ought to be taken. This happened with all that stupid bullshit about me not being allowed to have opinions on our travel team bouts, and it's apparently happening again-- I figured there are plenty of people who hate on things and get things much wronger than I do, and do so much more plainly with intent to be controversial. Me, I'm just writing for me. And I fucking hate when people link to me to make trouble, which is evidently what this is about.
So whatever. I am so disinterested in drama that I'm really over the Oh Noes Censorship thing. I just wish I knew who is so fucking fascinated by me that they have to keep doing shit like this.
Anyway. We stuck around for the final, but didn't stay for the awards ceremony. We booked it out of there, went and had a nice sit-down dinner at a nearby Vietnamese place, then hoofed back to Z's cousin's. "You're crazy," she said. It was 8pm. We packed up hurriedly, went and sprung our car from lockup, and hit the road. We got onto the expressway at 8:15. It's six and a half hours from Philadelphia to Buffalo.
But we made it. Z, champ that he is, drove the whole way. The only incident was that near Scranton, at the intersection where I-81 crosses over a small state rte. 107, there was a traffic backup and a guy, just a guy in jeans and a sweatshirt, was out directing traffic with a flashlight. There was a tractor trailer jackknifed across both lanes of the highway, and as we approached we could see that the front end was heavily damaged as if it had collided with something. I assumed it had lost control and hit the railing. There were no emergency services onsite, just the guy with the flashlight-- in hindsight, he must have been the driver of the wrecked truck. He was guiding traffic to the offramp just before the accident, which by great good fortune was the type that goes down to the intersection, has a stop sign, and then comes right back onto the road.
As we went off the off-ramp, we had to swerve around part of the truck's fender. Then we had to swerve again around a big black thing, which I thought was a tire-- the truck must've had a blowout, I thought, and hit the railing. But no. It was not a tire. It was an animal. Z thought it was a bear, but I caught clear sight of the hind end/tail area and am pretty sure it was a cow or bull. Enormous, black, and very, very thoroughly dead.
Yes. In the dead of night (it was midnight, and moonless, and very slightly foggy), the truck must've hit the bovine, which was a solid matte black with no markings, full on. The whole radiator was totally stove in. If any other vehicle but a semi had hit that enormous animal there would've been human fatalities too-- it was big and tall enough that it certainly would have come through the windshield of our compact car.
But we arrived in Buffalo at around 2:30 with no further incident. We went straight to bed, and I dragged myself out to get to work on time this morning. Ugh. I'm looking forward to a couple of weekends at home, but we're into the holiday season now, so... No rest for the wicked!
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no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:17 am (UTC)I might be leaving Buffalo soon.
And if I do I'm getting rid of extra un-used stuff.
Including a pair of skates that are not badly beaten up at all.
I wear a woman's size 8. So if you know anyone who is looking for a good deal on skates let me know?
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:30 am (UTC)What are the specs? Do you remember what kind of boot, and if there are bearings/wheels, what kind? Just expecting people will ask.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:53 am (UTC)wheels are a grippy neon green 'sure grip fugitive.' as I recall they are not quite as grippy as those orange things, but still stick pretty tight. I probably have the original, harder wheels around here somewhere as well.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:23 am (UTC)I was in philly a week ago and had a great time, though all i did was eat.
no subject
Date: 2009-11-17 03:31 am (UTC)Actually
Date: 2009-11-18 12:56 am (UTC)The injury to the RMRG skater had nothing to do with pack speed. Any reasonably paced jammer is going to come up on the pack at a much faster pace, and it looked like the Denver jammer was hit into the RMRG blocker, knocking her over. This is what I heard from a friend who spoke to the injured skater: The RMRG skater fell and aggravated a pre-existing shoulder injury and she did not end up going to the hospital for it at all. Because she had tingling in her arm, they played it safe and took her off the track on a back board. Getting back blocked can happen in pretty much any type of strategic play, but it's just not in the best interests of a team to keep fielding a jammer that keeps going to the box for major backblocking.
I heard all of the booing on DNN and I think it's pretty not cool to demonize Denver for perfecting a strategy that has been used by many other leagues. Denver is an awesome group of girls who have worked SO hard to get to where they are today. They are not a very big team, but they hit hard anyways. While they've got great skating abilities, they aren't world class speed skaters like Oly. So how do teams like that win over the teams with more individual talent? They practice hard and they play smart. They try and learn the rules better than anybody else. And most importantly, they pay attention to what other teams are doing and learn from them. Last season, Denver played and lost to KC, Duke City, Madison, Gotham and Carolina (and maybe a few others), but they obviously learned from those experiences and grew stronger.
Strategies only work if the other team does not know how to fight it. If someone is slow off the line and the pack keeps skating, the lagging skaters will be out of play and the whistle will be blown. If a team is unable to trap a skater from the other team to slow the pace, then they won't be a pack and they'll get a splitting the pack penalty. Teams playing Denver were just playing right into their hands when the trapped person backed up instead of fighting to get out of the trap.
After beating Denver by 2 points earlier in the season, Oly obviously did their homework and didn't take Denver lightly. Other teams may have done just that. I think BOTH Denver teams were drastically underestimated by most teams in the tournament. Oly isn't just your average group of hard-working women with mixed athletic backgrounds like Texas, Denver or most any other league in WFTDA. The majority of the team consists of world class athletes or seasoned derby vets. That gives them the extra edge needed to dominate other top leagues, like Gotham and Texas, who are super fit, disciplined and play with top notch strategy and teamwork. Denver only lost to Oly by 9 points more than Gotham and it was their second bout of the day. I think a Denver versus Gotham bout would be a lot more exciting than the last time the two teams met on the track.
Anyways, don't be a hater. It's too bad there was such pack mentality about hating on Denver at Nationals.
Re: Actually
Date: 2009-11-18 04:04 am (UTC)not just 1 former champion speedskater.
Date: 2009-11-18 01:03 am (UTC)"Sassy was on the world hockey and speed team for several years. Tannibal Lector also played hockey at the world level and is a national champion in speed. There are also several more national level speed skaters on our team that I’m not mentioning; bottom line is that we have a huge background in skating!"
(http://www.fracturemag.com/derby/features/atomatrix)
-Xena Paradox
Boston Derby Dames
Re: not just 1 former champion speedskater.
Date: 2009-11-18 04:07 am (UTC)Re: Ignorance is bliss.
Date: 2009-11-18 04:05 am (UTC)