Hello again, Hello. Here we are it is Tuesday morning and we are heading further into the week. They mentioned on the television this morning that today was Fat Tuesday. That honestly does not mean a lot to me. I have never been a big Mardi Gras fan and I do not go to the church and get ashes daubed on my face on Ash Wednesday. It might be a bigger deal if I lived in Louisiana or had grown up Catholic but I am not sure. I would go so far as to say that it is one of the few things in life that I do not really have an opinion on either way. I think for some people it can really be a time of focus and concentration on faith and their life and for others it is a chance to have a huge party and just go nuts.
I went with my good friends to Roller Derby in Portland on Saturday night. I like Roller Derby and the Rose City Rollers
are starting their fifth season. But it just wasn't the same for me. I went to most of the bouts during the inaugural season and I absolutely loved it. This was a sport that really had been started by a group of women. They were not professionals they were playing because they loved playing. It wasn't about big contracts or advertising deals and they were out there having lots and lots of fun. So was the audience. They played loud music during the matches and during the halftime break they would have a show of some sort. One time it was a circus act with people doing rope work. Once it was an adult dodgeball league and I got hit in the face by a ball. It didn't matter it was fun. You could sit right on the edge of the track and the skaters would whip past you. Sometimes they would crash and could end up slamming into you. It didn't matter it was fun. That was the key, fun.
But after Saturday night I am not sure if it is fun any more. There are all kinds of new rules and at one point one team had less then half of their girls on the track. I spent more time watching the refs and trying to figure out what penalty was called then I did actually enjoying the bout. I know things change and as something becomes more mainstream the rules get manipulated to allow for different things. But I think this new batch of rules just slows the game down. There was no real flow to it and I am not a new watcher I have seen lots of matches and I understand how the game is played.
Maybe I am wrong and what is going on is going to be drawing in all kinds of new fans. But as for this one. I am not sure if I will return. Other then me being able to see my friends it was not a fun evening for me. The atmosphere was not the same. It was not the almost rock concert scene I remember. I just do not see it lasting much longer if this model continues. I hope I am wrong I really do.
You folks have a good day
9 comments:
ITA. WFTDA is/was doing a fan survey, but IMO I don't see much coming out of it unless the organization acts on the results.
Hi,
I'm involved with a league and I have to agree. The fun is getting removed from it more and more as the months pass.
The last rule set sucks.
Refs with big excuses and bigger egos are a cancer to a league.
"Prima donna" players suck.
Big Sponsorship, by my "guestamation", if aloud to get out of hand, will probably kill the sport in about 3 years.
The only thing that has kept me from quitting is that you don't quit on friends (and the hope that one day it will be fun again).
I love my league, I hate the attitude.
Hi - I can totally understand your view. I simply wanted to point out that all the rules that WFTDA releases are written and approved by the skaters themselves, not by the refs, or big interests, etc. Now to each their own opinion of that rule set, but just wanted to state that so there's no confusion there about 'Refs with big excuses and bigger egos.' And I'm not a ref either. Again, not defending, atognizing or anything elseing. Just saying.
It's not the rules; it's what they signify. A culture change. Something that once was an alternative to boring mainstream women's sports drifting more and more into that direction. A former refuge for the freaks and the geeks, turning into a place where they are anything from uncomfortable to unwelcome. The sport is shaving off its mohawk and putting on a suit and tie. It's selling out.
Well, there have to be rules, for both safety and for structure. That's not selling out at all.
I think what's happening is that there just happens to be a big loophole in the rules that allow behavior contrary to the original intent of derby, and some teams use unintended, legal tactics.
Write your league, threaten to not purchase tickets, and go fill out that WFTDA fan survey!
If the problem the author referred to involved "loopholes," his frustration wouldn't be with how many whistles were blown and how many people were sent to the box. Truth be told, the "loopholes" are about the only thing making the game exciting nowadays.
Ya it wasn't "loopholes" in the the rules. It was ticky tack fouls being called and refs who seemed to not understand the game. It just was not the same atmosphere or experience that it had been.
I started watching derby in 2005. Yes, the rules were a fair bit more lenient at the time. One could usually count on at least one fight per bout.
What may have escaped my notice at the time was that they were often strategic in nature. In other words, least effective blocker tackles top jammer as she's going by, jammer responds instinctively, both go to the box for a minute.
Today's game is a more strategic game. It's aimed at smarter strategies and more athletic skaters. If skaters can't stay out of the box, the fault is their own.
As others have said, the skaters themselves set up and approved of the rules we have. Again, if that's a problem (and I don't see it as one) the fault lies with the skaters.
Again, I started watching derby almost five years ago. What I see today is a MUCH better game than what I saw then.
The rules do not make the atmosphere anyways.
I do not know if it is a better game. The game I watched last weekend as opposed to the games I saw when it all started was slower and far less interesting. Now granted, that may have had something to do with the venue in which the event was taking place. But I do not think today's game is BETTER then the game from 5 years ago. It is a different game and not nearly as interesting.
The constant blowing of whistles and the parade of skaters to the box do not make for interesting viewing. One team scoring a quick 30 points on a jam because they have twice the number of players on the floor does not make for a better game. They are, it seems, trying to arbitrarily make things 'fair' and taking out the ability that being a better athlete gives you.
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