Yesterday I had the pleasure of announcing the CT Death Quads Men’s Roller Derby bout against the Mean Mountain Boys of Vermont. It was a bit different from the ladies’ bouts. The Men’s Roller Derby doesn’t have quite as large a following as the women’s league, so attendance was a lighter than what I’m used to with the women. That said, the fans that were there were enthusiastic and as an announcer it was kinda fun to announce to a more focused crowd. Some of the roller girls came up to compliment me on my announcing which was really nice to hear – thank you roller ladies! I really appreciate your words of encouragement. I’ve only been doing the announcing gig for about a year so I still feel like a mega-newbie. It’s good to hear that I’m occasionally doing things right. Three cheers for Roller Derby!
I’ve faltered a bit on my derby recaps in part due to the onslaught of my workplace. In fact, it has paralyzed my posting life in general but I’m trying to at least keep up with the daily posts for May. We’ll see how it goes. So stay tuned good people, there’s plenty more to come!
A few weeks back I let everybody know that I was going to be broadcast on local Connecticut television. I was asked to help give a play-by-play for the Stepford Sabotage bout.
The good news: The television broadcast which I was a part of did indeed go live. The bad news: I didn’t have the cable station, so I wasn’t able to see it. DARN IT.
Still, here’s a picture of me in ACTION. Actually, this was taken just before the bout. So I’m not really in action, I’m about to act. Either way, it’s a sweet photo.
Me and Don at the CPTV broadcasting table
Special thanks to Jeremiah Adametz, Jr. for letting me use this photograph on mikedidonato.com. If you’re in need for a photographer you can check out Jeremiah’s stuff here!
Stupidly, I forgot my camera at home today so I will be unable to load my pictures from Germany. BUT! I still have exciting news to share: On Saturday night I had the privilege of continuing my role as an announcer for the Connecticut Roller Girls. Saturday’s bout was a double header with both the A team and the B team skating against visiting leagues.
Saturday was a little extra special because I got to sit out the Stepford Sabotage bout and provide commentary for Connecticut’s Public Television Station: CPTV. How cool is that? So for those of you who reside in CT, tune into your local CPTV station on Wednesday at 7pm to watch the bout and listen to my play-by-play (along with the CPTV guy Don).
It was SOO much fun. I had a special headset and we got to watch instant replays of the most brutal hits and sweet skating maneuvers – all the while trying to detail what was happening on the track and point out those things viewers should pay attention to.
Admittedly, it was not easy – and felt much different than speaking to a crowd. The commentary was much more informative and far less entertaining. Fewer jokes, more rules. Still, I had tons of fun. I’ll try and record some of the video and post it on the site!
Author’s note: I apologize for the lateness of this recap.
Saturday Sept 24th’s double header, where Connecticut’s Yankee Brutals met up against Ottowa Canada’s Rideau Valley Roller Girls was a challenging one for the hometown team. To say that CTRG’s team was outmatched is an unfortunate understatement. Rideau’s team had an almost surreal ability to work as a team. As the Rideau jammer would speed around the track, the Vixen pack, acting with eerie uniformity, seemed to pull the pack all at once to one side or the other opening up a gaping hole for their jammer to skate through. Though frustrating for the players and the fans both, it was an impressive sight to see.
The Rideau strategies pulled in huge dividends. Right from the start, the Canadians aggressively accumulated points. They earned lead jammer status for the first seven jams, pulling in 13 grand slams and completely shutting out the Yankee Brutals. The Brutal’s Slugg’er Face was the first to score for Connecticut tallying a single point in the eighth jam stealing lead jammer status from Canadian skater D.D.T. While the point did little to change the tide for the Brutals, it did wonders to liven the atmosphere at the Connecticut Sports Center. The crowd exploded with that single point. It was a moment of life for the ladies in black!
Slugg'er Face scores a point!!!
The opportunity for scoring only came up once more time in the first half with Revengela scoring an impressive four points having taken advantage of an opportunity as Rideau’s D.D.T. was sent to the penalty box.
Aside from those five points, the glory was in the hands of the Rideau Valley Vixens. The first half ended with a deeply lopsided score an oppressive 153 for Ottawa to a mere 5 for Connecticut.
From the beginning it was clear that Ottawa was sticking with a strategy that was scoring points. The Rideau Valley Vixens were alternating almost exclusively between jammer Soul Rekker (#55) and jammer D.D.T. (#74). These two women were fierce jammers with impressive pack awareness. When the hometown team was able to break through the monstrous blocking of Rideau Valley, the visiting jammers were perceptive enough to end the jam before any points were scored by the Brutals.
The collective strength of the Rideau team was awe-inspiring. This was best exemplified in the seventh jam of the second half as Soul Rekker rolled up to the jammer line. She whipped around the outside of turn one as her pack screeched to a halt. She circled three times before the pack made it around once – such incredible skill on the part of both the jammer and her pack. And she kept going. and kept going. and kept going. Pulling in a jaw dropping 6 grand slams for 35 points… all in a single jam. 35 points! Amazing!!
Soul Rekker in the midst of her crushing 35 point jam!
There were a few bright spots for CT in the second half. Most notably eleven points scored by Paula G. Imnaughty and 5 by Dee Nasty and Slugg’er Face. But even with these great moments, there was little hope for the overpowered Yankee Brutals. As the time expired the score stood 301 for the visiting Vixens and 26 for the Yankee Brutals.
Whew!
Stats!
Top scorers!
Rideau Vixens
Soul Rekker: 186 points (17 leads in 19 jams)
D.D.T.: 106 points (14 lead in 16 jams)
Yankee Brutals
Paula G. Imnaughty: 11 points (0 leads in 9 jams)
Slugg’er Face: 6 points (2 leads in 9 jams)
This was a tough one for CT, but it was still exciting to watch the impressive skating of Ottawa’s team. Special props to Soul Rekker for her 35 point jam and to Slugg’er Face for securing both of the Brutal’s lead jammer statuses.
A big thanks to Matt for sending over statistics and also to all those that help make Roller Derby as awesome as it is. If you’d like more information on the game, check out CTRollerDerby.com The next bout is THIS SATURDAY! Whoa! come join us at the CT Sports center. Visit the above website for more details!
