Boston Derby Dames at the Boston Pride Parade 2009

The Boston Pride Parade was wicked awesome fun. It's nice having everyone yell and cheer for you. It was also nice when the rugby players in front of us gave us a lift up Beacon Hill (Thank you!).

More photos here.

Keeping all your derby crap clean

Promise of Derby has a nice post on how one keeps all of one's roller derby pads and gear clean and fresh-smelling. Or at least how to minimize the nastiness as much as possible.

Here are some other hopefully helpful links:

• Derby Laundry (Promise of Derby)
• Roller Girls Yahoo Group discussion on Derby Laundry
• Why your pads smell like Doritos -- here
• advice from brawlinbettys here
  
• advice from hip domestics here
• advice from Derby Nation here
• advice from the Gotham Girls board here
• WIN high performance sport detergent
• Penguin Sport Wash

Roller Derby Injury Reporting Form

Awhile ago I created an injury report form for my league, to help us keep track of our injuries, and hopefully help prevent them in the future. It is a form created with Google Docs which can be submitted online (which people seem to find easier to do). I thought I would post a generic version here in case anyone else is interested in using it as a template for their own league.

Generic Roller Derby Injury Report Form:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rG6K629ny2yXoCicZGydZ_A&hl=en

If you are not familiar with Google forms, you should follow the link above, and then create a copy. Once you have your copy you can edit the form for your own particular needs. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to help.

Sweet DIY Roller Skates from CRAFT Magazine

I'll never forget being in Chicago years ago, scoping someone rolling by in some awesome platform roller skates, and wondering where she had found such a rare score. Well, we all know the best way to originality and customization is DIY! Enter CRAFT Volume 07, our Shoeware issue. What issue on shoes would be complete without DIY Roller Skates? This how-to is written by none other than the fine folks over at skates.com, retailers of roller skates and skateboards since 1975. The step-by-step build was done by Richard Humphreys, who has been a professional skater since 1978 and is the creator of rollerdance.com. Needless to say, the man has mad skills!

Check out the full article from CRAFT here along with a video podcast demo below.

Boston Derby Dames Bout #4

DOUBLE HEADER

Bout #1, 5 pm: Boston Massacre vs. Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (Denver, Colorado)

Bout #2, 7 pm: Cosmonaughties vs. Wicked Pissahs

Halftime sets by The Downbeat 5

After party in the Fez Room with DJ John Barera

Doors at 4 pm, Bout #1 at 5 pm, Bout #2 at 7 pm
Shriners Auditorium, Wilmington, MA

No car? Commuter rail, Zipcar, and ride sharing suggestions
Tickets $14 in advance, $16 at the door

VIP tickets $20 online only—Available until midnight on Saturday, May 9. Includes guaranteed seating between turns 1 and 2, merch goodies, and skating waitresses so you'll never have to wait in line for concessions.

Bring a canned good to be donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank and get derby swag including pins, stickers, and signed posters.

Bout #1: At the June 2008 East Coast Extravaganza, the Massacre took on the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls and lost by just 18 points as RMRG pulled away in the final jams. Will home rink advantage turn things in the Massacre's favor this time? Or will Rocky Mountain's high-altitude endurance give them an insurmountable edge? Read a recap of the June 2008 bout.

Bout #2: It's been 11 months since the Cosmos and Pissahs last took the track together in the Season Two championship bout. Both teams have lost top players to the Boston Masscre roster, with the Cosmos missing star jammers Claire D. Way and Maura Buse, and the Pissahs now minus Shellby Shattered and 2008 Wicked Pissah rookie of the year KrushPuppy. But in the meantime, new stars are emerging: keep your eyes on Cosmo co-captain and jammer Mrs. Dash as well as Varga Bomber, co-captain of the Pissahs and making her mark as a fearsome pivot.

Oh, yeah, and I'm skating in this one! Whoohoo!

Hell on Wheels showing in Boston this Friday!

I have one thing to say about this: If you play roller derby, you need to watch this movie.

From the Boston Derby Dames website:

Friday, February 20, 2009
Regent Theater, 7 Medford St., Arlington (map)
Wheelchair and MBTA accessible

Free parking across the street
$8 online, $10 at the door . 8 pm

BDD is proud to sponsor a screening of Hell on Wheels--a documentary of the birth of modern day roller derby in 2001 in Austin, Texas--at the historic Regent Theater in Arlington.

What began with plans of creating a circus-like spectacle on skates has spawned more than 200 skater-run leagues in North America and Europe, as entrepreneurship and serious athleticism have become just as big a part of the roller derby revival as campy pseudonyms and sassy uniforms.

Catch scenes of BDD's recently relocated General Lee Feisty in her days with TXRD's Rhinestone Cowgirls. Read more about the movie at the Hell on Wheels site.

Derby season is here!!! Boston Massacre vs. Maine Roller Derby Port Authorities

Boston Massacre vs. Maine Roller Derby Port Authorities (Portland)
Doors at 5 pm, Bout at 6 pm
Shriners Auditorium, Wilmington, MA
Tickets $14 in advance, $16 at the door
SEASON TICKETS now available! 9 nights, 17 bouts for $117 — just $6. 88 per bout!

Season Three kicks off with a single-header bout between the Boston
Massacre travel team and our northern nemesisters, the ever-ready
Maine Roller Derby Port Authorities. The Port Authorities wrapped up an
undefeated season in October 2008 after scoring victories against Long
Island, Connecticut, Montreal, and Providence Roller Derby.

Countryfried metal at halftime by Slim Jim & The Madcows.
After party in the Fez Room with DJ Sir Trix-a-Lot, until midnight.