Gapers Block

Roller Derby Turns 75!

Fun fact: The first-ever roller derby game was played here at the Chicago Coliseum in August 13th, 1935. This Friday join the Windy City Rollers as they host the sport's 75th anniversary at Shambles (2050 W. Division St.), starting at 8 p.m. Tickets to the next WCR All-Star game against the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls will be given away, derby footage will play all evening, and expect a night of drinks, dancing, and derby trivia.

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Venus Zine

Got Derby? Two Skaters Provide a Comprehensive Look into the Sport

Down and Derby has a hip, conversational tone, like a girlfriend giving you the lowdown over a pitcher of PBR. They take you on an insider tour through the life of a derby girl and all that entails: dynamics, drama, friendships, injuries, interleague romances, practices, and "derby widows." Profile interviews with star skaters and support staff from across the country break up the chapters, including Windy City Rollers’ skater Jackie Daniels... and Tahirah “Tequila Mockingbird” Johnson of the Windy City Rollers.

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Chicago held a commanding lead throughout the first half, ferrying points onto the scoreboard through the likes of Beth Amphetamine scoring five quick points in the 2nd jam and a handful of other one-pass jams from Shocka Conduit. Boston’s own Killary Clinton was able to gain Lead Jammer and put her team on the board with six points giving her team the lead with a score of 6-5 in the 3rd jam.  Varla Vendetta answered quickly by taking advantage of an Illegal Procedure by Massacre jammer Claire D. Way and racked up a monster 20-point jam through, in part, the hitting of Jackie Daniels, and the score was set 25-6 in favor of WCR.  The flip side of Jackie Daniels’ tenacity landed her a trip to the sin bin, the first of a handful that would later plague the Rollers.  Both Lil’ Paine and Sugar Hits from the Massacre were tirelessly attempting to add to their team’s lead but were stopped short by excellent blocking from deadly accurate sniper Hoosier Mama, and other blockers Sargentina, Jackie Daniels and Blossom Bruiso.  Blossom Bruiso and Sargentina proved to be an excellent 1-2 combination blow landing merciless hit after hit and also landing in the penalty box.  Their hitting made way for Jackie Daniels, who stepped in to jam and scored four points in the 8^th jam.  Claire D. Way showed off some acrobatic skills by jumping over a wall of WCR blockers and was able to beat Beth Amphetamine to Lead Jammer status, netting three points for Boston and leaving the score at 38-9 in the 10^th jam.  With 6:45 left in the first half, Sugar Hits from the Massacre got Lead Jammer and a Grand Slam and the score was 63-24.  Chicago went to the locker room at half-time with a 76-29 lead showing that they weren’t going to let this game peter out easily.

The second half proved to be a different story, though, and Boston came out from half-time looking as though they had just studied hours of WCR bout footage, evidenced in their amped-up defensive playing. The first jam started with Varla Vendetta facing off against Claire D. Way.  Varla Vendetta went to the box with a Multi-Player Block major penalty and Claire D. Way took full advantage of the power jam, putting up an impressive 19 points for the Boston Massacre.  Though Boston’s blockers were working hard to hold their own in the pack, penalties against WCR are what allowed the Massacre to move closer to evening up the scoreboard. Both teams were fighting back and forth with their jammers scoring quick, one-pass jams with Boston blockers trying to stand up to the relentless assault of the WCR blockers.  Hoosier Mama kept the heat turned up on Boston and was able to help Shocka Conduit through the pack, getting WCR over the century mark and setting the score at 101-53.  This didn’t slow the Massacre, though, and with 17:45 left on the clock, Killary Clinton put up a monster 24-point jam while Athena DeCrime was sent to the penalty box.  Even with all of the penalties, Beth Amphetamine was able to bring the crowd back into the bout with every lap on the track and every point scored, and the crowd was on its feet.  At 13:30 left, the score was only 30 points apart at 110-80.  Shocka Conduit faced off against Sugar Hits in the 11^th jam and put another quick four points on the board.

With the hits coming relentlessly and the penalty minutes adding up, Boston inched their way closer and closer up the scoreboard.  Sugar Hits, Killary Clinton and Claire D. Way were mounting a comeback via one-pass jams and a couple big multiple pass jams that racked up 35 points in total and gave the crowd even more reason to step in and voice their feelings.  With 2:41 left to go, Claire D. Way lined up against Beth Amphetamine and got Lead Jammer.  Beth Amphetamine was sent to the penalty box with a major penalty and the crowd began to boo the opposing team and yell “Defense!”  Claire D. Way came off the track on a major Elbow penalty after tallying nine points for her team and setting the score at 121-115 in favor of the WCR.

Boston’s jammers were able to brave a vicious salvo of hits issued by a tiring WCR team and pull to just within six points before the final buzzer sounded.   Though the Boston bench tried hard to marginalize the WCR lead, it was sheer grit and determination that kept the Windy City Rollers All-Stars alive.

The Windy City Rollers All-Stars face off next against the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on August 21st, 2010. A win against Rocky Mountain could raise WCR up significantly in the national standings and set the tone for an interesting WFTDA championship to be held in Chicago in November.

By Thomas Gerbasi

Four bouts between The Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars and the Windy City Rollers All-Stars.

Four wins for Gotham.

Yet as the fifth meeting between the teams Derby News Network ranks #1 (Gotham) and #9 (Windy City) approaches this Friday evening at the East Coast Derby Extravaganza in Philadelphia, Gotham isn’t counting on a cakewalk. Instead, team captain Bonnie Thunders recalls a valuable lesson taught to her team in Raleigh, North Carolina last September.

“You have to keep perspective,” she said. “We had a really good example of how that happened when Philly beat us at Easterns last year. We always expect a tough fight from Philly, but we really had dominated them pretty intensely for most of the games that we played in the past, and it was kind of a surprise that we lost to them. So I think that’s always a good reference point to keep going back to, to remember that anything can happen at any time.”

Before Gotham lost to Philadelphia 90-89 in the 2009 Eastern Regional Championship, they had won 18 consecutive bouts, including a 2008 victory over Windy City that netted them a National Championship. As Thunders admits, “at times it’s hard to keep perspective when you just keep winning and winning.”

At the same time, Windy City was looking for the magic formula to climb over the Gotham hurdle. The Midwest standouts dropped bouts to the New Yorkers at the first East Coast Extravaganza in 2007, in the East Regional finals in 2007 and 2008, and then in the WFTDA Nationals. Ask Windy City co-captain Beth Amphetamine the first thing that pops into her head when the name “Gotham Girls Roller Derby” comes up, and she laughs.

“The first thing that comes to mind for me would be a growl,” she said. “They always beat us. We’ve played them four times in big games, and they’ve won every time. But we always look forward to playing them because we really, really want to win the game.”

And if she and her cohorts have their way, this Friday will be the night that they get it done, and make a statement to the rest of the WFTDA that this is their year.  And this year, for the first time, the Gotham/Windy rivalry will be commemorated with the Skyline Cup, a new perpetual trophy jointly commissioned specifically this year by both teams to reward the winner of this big-city rivalry.

“There are a few leagues around the country that have been consistently in the national tournament for the last few years – us, Gotham, Texas, Seattle – and I think all of us share a friendly rivalry with each other,” said Beth. “Gotham has been able to be on top for quite some time, and I’m sure they’ll remain a really competitive team into the future, but we think that we have been as well, and none of the games [against them] have been huge blowouts as far as I can remember. So going into this game we have a lot more confidence, and we have a lot of new players who don’t have that sense of history, which is probably a good thing in this case (Laughs). But we want to maintain Windy City’s reputation as a top contender, regardless of who we’re playing, and we want to make sure we’re respected around the country as a formidable opponent.”

Given their performances over the last few years, that’s a given, but since 2009, when the WFTDA expanded into four divisions from two, Windy City has turned into a true juggernaut as they’ve dominated the North Central region, where they’re currently the top-ranked team. This season has seen All-Star team victories over North Star (159-59) and Madison (115-104), and they’ve been firing on all cylinders despite having to work in some new faces into the rotation.

“Probably similar to what Gotham has set up; we had to set up a training machine,” explains Beth. “There are some players on Gotham that have been around from the beginning, but they’ve also had new players on their All-Stars and you would never know. And it’s the same thing with Windy City. We try to have a pretty seamless training program where you move through the team levels until you get to the All-Stars, and it’s a league-wide effort.”

“We have some very talented jammers,” she continues. “Varla Vendetta is a legend around the country as a pivot and jammer. You should also look out for Jackie Daniels, who just transferred to us from Grand Raggidy this year and who is a famous player in her own right. And then we’ve got a whole bunch of vets – Shocka Conduit, me, and Hoosier Mama – who have been around for a very, very long time. So we’ve got a lot of experience on this team, we’ve got a lot of very, very fast talented girls and it’s going to be fun.”

But then there’s Gotham, with an imposing lineup that can strike fear into any team and that can hurt you from anywhere on the track. Whether it’s jammers Bonnie Thunders, Suzy Hotrod, or Em Dash racing through the pack, Beyonsláy sending opposing jammers into the VIP seats, or Fisti Cuffs, Ana Bollocks, Kandy Kakes, and Ginger Snap holding down the fort in the middle, Gotham is number one in the country for a reason, and after opening up their 2010 schedule with a 201-75 defeat of Charm City in April, they don’t look like they’re slowing down. In fact, with some new blood on board in the forms of transfer Swede Hurt, rookie B-Zerk, Montreal import OMG WTF, and returning all-star Carmen Monoxide, the team just keeps getting stronger.

“We have new skaters on the team, and it’s always challenging to integrate new people, but we still have our really big core of girls that have been skating together for a long time,” said Thunders. “Everybody has made some really great improvements on the team and integrated pretty well. We had some big holes to fill when we lost Polly Gone and Barbara Ambush last year, and everybody stepped up their game. You’ll see Carmen Monoxide as a regular on our roster now, so she’s really stepped up, and Swede will playing this weekend as well.  Then we’ve got lots of other skaters that aren’t on the roster, but are new to the team, and they’re pushing really hard to creep up there.  I think it’s really good for the old-timers, and it keeps us working hard because we know there’s somebody who wants to steal our spot.”

Thunders, GGRD’s 2009 Jammer of the Year, was the one who led the way for Gotham in their last victory over Windy City, scoring 48 points and earning tournament MVP honors.  It’s clear that the Midwest standouts must keep an eye on her, but as Beth Amphetamine points out, respect and fear are two different things, and her team fears no one.

“We tell [the newcomers] some stuff, especially with players like Bonnie,” she said. “I was talking to one of our blockers the other day -- a really talented blocker -- and this is her first year on the All-Stars, and I was, like, ‘don’t try to hit Bonnie, because it’s not gonna work, she’s gonna go away.’ (Laughs) We want our people to never underestimate any of the Gotham players -- but don’t be too scared of them.”

And Thunders is well aware that just as in the previous four meetings, nothing comes easy when you’re playing Windy City.

“Overall they’re a pretty strong team, a pretty hard hitting team, and what we always find with them is that it’s kinda like a brute battle,” she said. “They’ve lost a lot of key skaters since last year, so it’s gonna be interesting to see how the rest of the team steps it up. But they gained a transfer from Grand Raggidy, Jackie Daniels. She was in ‘Whip It,’ and she’s a famous face in roller derby and someone to look out for. They also have some old vets who’ve been around for a long time. Varla Vendetta is excellent and she’s a small, scrappy jammer who’s always really challenging to have to stop. Those are two people I’ve definitely got my eyes on.”

More importantly, the eyes of the derby world will be on Friday’s headline bout at the East Coast Derby Extravaganza to see what may just be a precursor to a possible championship match down the line. That’s just fine with the two opposing captains.

“I think that it will be an exciting game,” said Beth Amphetamine. “Both Windy City and Gotham play an interesting, very fast and loose kind of style. What I like about the way we both play is that we’re not one of those west region teams that stands still and builds a little wall across the track and is boring for everybody to watch. This should be a fast-paced game; you’re gonna see some really talented jammers going crazy on the track and some fast, hard-hitting blockers. It’s gonna be exciting.”

“Last year, we didn’t do as well as we were expected to, and I think there’s a lot of vengeance built up for this year because we want to win and we want to get it back,” added Bonnie Thunders. “I think that everybody’s really prepared to put in the extra practice and do the off-skates work and make it happen for us because we’ve got something to prove now.”

Watch the #1 GGRD All-Stars and #9 WCR All-Stars battle for the Skyline Cup at 7:30pm Eastern Time on Friday, June 25^th, on the Derby News Network at www.derbynewsnetwork.com/live.

On Saturday, June 26^th, the GGRD All-Stars take on #13 Boston at 6:30pm Eastern, while Windy City battles #7 Philly at 8:30pm.  Both bouts will also be streamed at www.derbynewsnetwork.com/live.

Thomas Gerbasi is the Editorial Director for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Senior Editor for BoxingScene.com His work has also been published in ESPN.com, YahooSports.com, UFC Magazine, the Boston Herald, MSN Canada, Inked, the Village Voice, and Metro New York.

Time Out Chicago

Windy City Rollers Derby Championship

The subtle art of whooping on one another was on full display for the Windy City Rollers Derby Cup Championship this weekend. The Fury, unbeaten since a single season-opening loss, crushed the injury-bedeviled Double Crossers 130-71 for the Ivy King Cup Championship.

Gapers Block

This past Saturday, the near-undefeated Fury took home the Ivy King Cup, the highest achievement for local competitors in Windy City Rollers, Chicago's female roller derby league. They showed no mercy taking down underdogs the Double Crossers, ending the game with a score of 130-71.

Chicagoist

On Saturday night at the UIC Pavilion, the Windy City Rollers' league season came to a close as The Fury over-powered an injury-riddled Double Crossers squad for the Ivy King Cup, champions of the league for 2010.

Sports Illustrated

Chicago Fan’s Guide

The crowds at these roller derby events are not overly large, but what they lack in capacity, they more than make up for in fervor. Many paint their faces or wear skull masks in support of their favorite teams. Players are accessible for autographs before and after matches, but be aware that many stay in character.

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 Gapers Block

There Can Only Be One (2010 Champ, That Is)

This year's batch of Rollers came back from the last season leaner and meaner than ever before; the league as a whole upped the ante, practicing harder, smarter, and more often, and it definitely shows.

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 Chicago Now

Windy City Rollers Rock the House!

You still have time to catch the Windy City Rollers, as they'll host their Home Season Championship on June 5th as they battle for the Ivy Cup.  Tix can be purchased online for $20 and if you want to really get up and close you can get track tix for $35.

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The two teams spent the first 14 minutes in a defensive war, with the Fury setting the tone early. In the fifth jam, Sargentina put consecutive big hits on Crossers Donna Party and Sassy Squash; when Ska Face was sent to the box on a major, with help from Jackie Daniels and Go-Go Hatchet, Sargentina orchestrated a fierce penalty kill on Party’s powerjam. She would finish the game with an eye-popping 30 offensive/defensive actions and be just the second blocker this season to win HOWCOOL.COM Player-of-the-Game honors.

The Fury gave the Crossers a bit of their own medicine, winning the slow-down game that the Crossers used to grind down the Manics in February. The two teams started the 11th jam with the Crossers up just 12-9. Loka finally broke it open with a nine point jam against full-strength blocking, and teammate Ska Face followed with two grand slams in the 12th. Indy Cent picked up nine of her 23 points in the 14th, and two jams later Julia Rosenwinkel stormed out of the box with :55 left in the jam, leaving Adore and Red Zeppelin in her wake on the way to nine points.  Down just 37-33 with 2:15 left in the half, the Fury took lead jam on the last two rounds. Daniels ended the half on what has become her signature in this first WCR season since transferring from Grand Raggedy—the four-point hit-and-quit.

After half-time, despite some inspired play by Crosser blocker Karmageddon and Pivot/Jammer Nina Millimeter, the game never felt close. The Fury built a 34-point lead midway through the second half by controlling the pack; Hatchet, Adore, and Sargentina engineered walls of white up front, and Fury jammers Loka and Daniels played physical off the line against the Crossers’ leading scorer, Julia Rosenwinkel. The Crosser Captain, who seemed to wring just about everything possible from her injury-plagued team this season, went pointless on four of her last six jams against withering defense. Loka doubled Rosenwinkel in points, 41-19 to lead all WCR jammers at the end of the season with 273 points.

The Fury—with six top-shelf All-Stars on the roster—simply out-muscled the Crossers down the stretch and won pulling away. In a respectful gesture to players who saw little game play all year, Rosenwinkel emptied the Crosser bench in the last three jams; Tina Flay, Apple Hackintosh, Abbey, and Joanie Utah got a chance to absorb some hits from the Fury, who never let off the gas.

These two teams will line up for the third time this season and all the marbles on Championship Saturday, June 5^th. Think this one is all sewn up?  Just ask the Manic Attackers, who needed every second of their game to squeak past the winless Hell’s Belles on Saturday. In roller derby, anything can happen and probably will. See you there.

Metromix

Windy City Rollers

The Manic Attackers take on Hell’s Belles, and the Double Crossers face the Fury at this professional women’s roller derby league competition. The Revelettes go-go troupe performs. Doors open at 5 p.m. The first 300 attendees receive a keychain.

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Peter Coffinail

Tour de Pain: A Stroll Through the Roller Derby Community

Flying around somewhere in the ozone is the thought that women’s sports isn’t going to play second fiddle to a man’s world any more... In the capable hands of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association or WFTDA, Roller Derby in the United States is on the rise and fulfilling the role as a validated women’s sport.

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ChiIL Mama

Windy City Rollers Fun: Sagezilla and Du-Jay Go VIP for May Day

The kids had fun with the masked manic, and Mya Ssault still gamely smiled and posed for pixs after getting smashed in the face.

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photo by Gil Leora

The Windy City Rollers All-Stars kicked off their 2010 season on Sunday morning in a closed bout against the North Star Roller Girls’ Supernovas. Windy City shut out North Star 15-0 in the first 5 jams, but the window of opportunity opened for the Supernovas with a 9-0 power jam for Jawbreaker in the sixth jam. WCR’s Varla Vendetta jammed next, putting 14 points unanswered on the board as her pack (All-Star rookies Di Richmond and Sargentina, along with vet Hoosier Mama) kept Supernova jammer Katarina Hit tied up for two minutes, taking Windy City to 29-9 10 minutes in.

North Star and Windy City would trade lead jammer status for the next nine jams, with Windy City only growing their lead a point to 48-27. A 7-0 run by Katarina Hit in jam 17 put the Supernovas in striking distance at 48-34. However, 14 points would be the closest North Star would get for the rest of the game, as WCR put 20 more on the board in the next three jams to close the half 68-37.

The Supernovas started off the second half strong, with Medusa and Jawbreaker getting lead jam back-to-back. Windy City transfer Jackie Daniels changed the momentum in jam 3, securing lead and a quick 5-0. WCR would get lead in the next 8 jams, shutting out NSRG in the process.

During that 44-0 run, WCR rookie Ska Face jammed for the first time against veteran Jawbreaker. Jawbreaker’s aggressive defense racked up enough minors to earn her a trip to the box and Ska got 9-0 on that power jam. Varla Vendetta had the game’s biggest score in the next jam at 18-0.

North Star ended WCR’s run in jam 12 with a quick 4-0 by Roller Vixen, but that still left North Star on the wrong side of 114-47 with under 15 minutes to go. At that point, the Supernova jammers shifted their focus to play defense outside the engagement zone to prevent multiple Windy City passes. Even with this more defensive play, in the last 4 jams of the game, WCR was able to go 27-3 (17 of those points by Shocka Conduit) to a score of 159-59 as time expired.

The WCR All-Stars are in action next weekend, as they face regional rival Madison’s Dairyland Dolls at the BrewHaha. North Star’s Supernovas will be in action next against Carolina and Nashville at June’s ECE.

Gapers Block

Windy City Rollers: Double Crossers, Fury Win

The Windy City Rollers bout last Saturday, May 1 at the UIC Pavilion was notable--not merely for the high-paced, tight games, but because the winning teams will go on to compete in the Ivy King Cup Championship game on June 5th.

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Chicagoist

Windy City Rollers Battle It Out in Bout Five

There's one more bout to go on May 22 which features a rising Belles team looking to finish the season on a winning note against the Manic Attackers and a preview of the championship bout when the Double Crossers and Fury face off.

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Chicago Now

Gettin' Derby. A Night with the Windy City Rollers!

At first glance, it seems like there isn't an exceptional amount of strategy to the sport. Just a bunch of fierce chicks, skating in circles, knocking one another down... Beneath the glitter and tattoos and fishnets, there are well thought out plays, endurance and a bit more athleticism than one might assume.

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photo by Gil Leora

UPDATED! The Fury stormed into Chicago’s UIC Pavilion on Saturday night aboard a 3-game winning streak. The orange crush devastated Hell’s Belles by 97 in February, jumping past 100 points in the third jam of the second half, and conventional wisdom expected the Belles to collapse like a Louisiana levee in this game, too.   But Belle captains Shocka Conduit and Hermione Danger changed up the game plan; 6 of the least experienced Belles who dressed for the game played in a minimal amount of jams, and the Belles came at the Fury hard with 3 jammers in heavy rotation.   The teams’ two veteran captains squared off in the game’s last jam with the Belles well within striking distance, but when it was over the Fury had iced a 125-110 win and a place in the Ivy King Cup championship game on June 5th. 

 Danger--playing her first game since an injury sidelined her for the April bout--took advantage of a major penalty on the Fury jammer in the third, pushing the Belles to their biggest lead of the season, 21-0. Fury jammers took the next four lead jams, however, including Kola Loka’s ten-point run in the seventh.  After that, Conduit, Danger, and second-year stand-out Deb Autry jammed exclusively for the Belles, and the three of them kept team red in it until the last jam of the half.  With just 30 seconds left, and up by just 12, Tori Adore and Ivy Sedation  held up Danger, allowing Fury jammer Ska Face to bolt around the outside and into the lead. The Belles were caught in perhaps the biggest pack mismatch of the game, and when Danger was sent off for cutting the track, Ska Face cut up Belle blocking for 15 points to put the Fury up 69-45 at the half. 

 Kids from School of Rock, Chicago, took over jamming at halftime, rocking an appreciative crowd with early MTV hits. As one astute observer pointed out, it may have been the first time in roller derby history that Mötley Crüe and Skid Row have been heard back-to-back at a bout. School of Rock played several sets with varying line-ups, prompting really painful-looking air guitar from some, uh, well-meaning skaters.

 Hell’s Belles put up 10 points in the first two jams of the second half, and the two teams traded punches until two huge jams on either side of an Official time out.  Loka scored 20 of her 68 total in the seventh as Sonya Mouthshut, Dee Monica, and Tori Adore opened big splits.  Then in the eighth, with the Fury penalty box packed full, Deb Autry put up 17 of her 42, cutting the Fury lead to 22.  Autry benefitted from Fury penalties on her two biggest jams by scoring 2 ghosts points in each.
 
The Belles fell into penalty trouble midway through the second half; Ska, Loka, and Jackie Daniels sliced and diced their way to a 115-73 lead with 14 minutes left. Shocka Conduit rallied the Belles with a 20-point twelfth that may have been the most interesting jam of the night. Ska Face was sent off for cutting the track, but missed the box twice, extending the Belle advantage. Conduit put a highlight reel move on Ivy Sedation and then coaxed Take-Out Box outside the engagement zone before allowing her a hit, leaching another major out of the Fury. The two teams scored just 16 points over the next 8 minutes. With Pominatrix, Bloody Elle, and Mya Ssault playing over their heads in the pack, the Belles scored 12 of those and might have had more save stout defensive play from the Fury’s Adore, Sedation, and Sargentina, who the fans voted blocker of the game. Those three, along with Dee Monica and Mouthshut, picked up for three Fury veterans who did not dress for the game—Go-Go Hatchet, Juana Rumbel, and Red Zeppelin.

 Down 12 with 55 seconds to go, the Belles looked like believers; their pack was at full strength.  Conduit, with 3 minors, called her own number to jam against Loka for the game. When Conduit cut the track in an effort to take lead jam, Loka floated around behind the pack, killing the game clock and much of the jam clock, forcing Conduit to exit the box and race up behind her before calling it. 

 This was the game Belles fans had been waiting for. In the last minute a roster full of rookies, many of whom sacrificed precious playing time for the chance to see the team within striking distance at the end, sat on the edge of their seats with All-Star on All-Star for the win. But as has been the case so often this season, there was just too much Kola Loka, who walked away with HOWCOOL.COM Player-of-the-Game honors. 

 The Fury will finish the regular season on May 22nd against the Double Crossers in a preview of the Ivy King Cup Championship game. The Belles, likely feeling closer than they have all year to their first win, will close the season against the Manic Attackers.