Humble Beginnings *Geez, we used Myspace back then! LOL*

I was cleaning up files on my computer and trying to put together a flash drive of stuff to pass on to next year's Training Committee when I came across this gem.  It is a collection of entries I posted on my Myspace page back when I got started in roller derby.  Makes me laugh!  Hoping the newer girls on the Quad City Rollers take a look at this to really understand that I really meant it every time I said some variation of the phrase, "we've all been where you are now."  

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 

Roller Derby Current mood: adventurous  Category: Sports Thought I'd start journaling my experience with this damn fine sport I've recently taken up.  Twice a week I will be practicing with the Quad City Rollers women's flat track roller derby team.  Let's see… Helmet?                                    Check. Mouth Guard?                          Check. Knee & Elbow Pads?             Check check. Wrist guards?                          Check. Skates?                                    Check. All geared up & ready to roll! First Roller Derby practice.  I learned basics in falling and stopping (Hey!  Good to know!), walking/ running on the toe stops, skater stance and did a push pull drill.  Using the term "learned" loosely though as I have quite a way to go to build up skills, strength, endurance, speed etc. enough so to actually participate in a bout.  It is even more fun than I imagined it would be.  Can't wait to do it again!

Friday, November 14, 2008 

Roller Derby Category: Sports Damn my thighs are sore!!!!

Saturday, November 15, 2008 

Roller Derby Current mood:  adventurous  Category: Sports Practice night again.  Did some more falling.  Trying to better my baseball slide.  It sucks at the moment cuz I'm too paranoid about landing square on my butt or worse, one of the skate wheels.  Spent a lot of this session working on my cross-over technique.  I always thought that was just putting one foot in front of the other as you take a curve but I was very wrong.  You actually have to cross completely over the other foot in a way that just doesn't seem natural.  However with guidance from a very well informed instructor (Slamazon) I managed to begin to pick it up. Scary thing is that I can feel this technique causing me to use muscles on my outer thigh…muscles that just woke up tonight!  This one's gonna hurt like hell later that's for sure.  However with continued practice I should have a great ass in no time!   Seriously though this is such a blast. It is hard work but I leave practice feeling a great sense of accomplishment.  This old dog can learn new tricks after all.   But enough about me.  The really amazing thing about this is the team.  These are some tough women who are dedicated to the sport and bring lots of fun and humor to the table.  Hell anything where you get to call each other by names like Sugar & Slice, Banshee, Slamazon, Pink Taco, Levit 2 Beaver, Fannie Fracture,  Busty Assphault (I could go on but you get the picture) is all right in my book.  Not only that but they are encouraging, helpful and quite welcoming of newbies like me and for that I'm extremely grateful.

Sunday, November 16, 2008 

Roller Derby Current mood:  mellow  Category: Sports Now it's my bum-cheek muscles!  Always the 2nd day after is the worst.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 

Roller Derby Current mood:  tired  Category: Sports Tonight at practice we did time trials.  (How fast you can do five laps.  For WFTDA it needs to be 1 minute or less.)  My first time was 1 minute 14 seconds (that's including a fall and the fact that I thought I was done after the 4th lap and let up a bit).  The second time was better controlled, no falls and no letting up and I shaved off 2 seconds.  Just 12 seconds to go.   Pink Taco had some of her best times tonight at 45 seconds on one and  44.something on the other.  Go Taco!  That was so impressive.  :0)  [I love the smileys so get used to it!] Next came the hitting.  Now I wouldn't have bothered showing up if I didn't think I could handle this part.  Previous practices we'd do a little drill where the hitting was more like a nice gentle bump.  This was full on.  I dropped like a brick the first time I got clobbered.  If that doesn't teach me to keep my center of gravity low I don't know what will.  Let's just say I did a lot of falling tonight.  At least both sides of my ass got it so any swelling should be even!  Honestly I'm glad that they dealt it hard to give me a real sense of what it's like.  Now if I can just fall correctly on my pads rather than my hips it'll be all good.   The girls as always were very supportive.  I may be a little bruised but I know it's still early and I have a way to go.  My intention is to keep working hard and improving as much as I can and learning this.  No pain, no gain.

Saturday, November 22, 2008 

Roller Derby Current mood:  determined  Category: Sports Timing is everything. I'm learning how to land a hit but it just isn't as simple as I'd like to think.  I lost count of how many times I threw a shoulder or hip to completely miss.  Just laughing it off but it personally it is a tad frustrating.  Also I gotta keep the focus on the positive.  Coach and others have commented to me that I'm coming along pretty quick and that is always good to hear.   Banshee worked with me on booty blocking and hitting.  After that Coach had her & I go round the track just the 2 of us.  He wanted Banshee to lay into me real good to see how I handled a nasty hit & fall.  After last practice, I can say that the message of keeping low is sinking in and it paid off really well during this exercise.  Took some hits where for a change I actually stayed up.  I did go down hard enough to knock some literal snot out my nose (I'm a bit sinussy lately) but at least fell on my pads like I was supposed to and got up quick...and sought out a tissue!  Poor Banshee got a little crap too for having to clobber the newbie.  It's so funny, one minute your chitty chatting getting to know someone and the next minute your out to land each other on their rear. Gotta love this!

Saturday, November 22, 2008 

Busy Derby Day Current mood:  tired QC Rollers were in the Festival of Trees parade today.  That was cool.  Got new hoodies with the logo on them.  My daughter walked with us.  Eware and our son watched from the crowd.  I love that my little guy was so excited waving & hollering at me as I rolled by.  Makes a mommy's heart melt!  We passed out lots of flyers hoping to spark more interest and round up more girls to join up & build this great team.  Got some good photos from the event but will upload them later. In the evening while Eware practiced with his band, the kids & I rode out to Cedar Rapids to see them play the Big Mouth Mickies.  Lambs, meet the slaughter.  The Mickies just recently got a big enough team not to have to borrow players from others and this was their first bout as such.  Poor girls got creamed in ugly fashion 250+ to 24.  The digital scoreboard for Cedar Rapids actually had to reset to 0 after 199 points because it didn't go up that high.  That's gotta hurt.  I know I'd be pretty bummed if that were QC.  The announcer at the bout mentioned that some of the girls playing for Cedar Rapids were from the Mid Iowa Rollers in Des Moines.  I wonder why that is since I thought that Cedar Rapids had enough players at this point.  Odd. But what do I know, I'm still FNG!

Monday, December 08, 2008 

QC Rollers Demo at Skate City Current mood:Jazzed  Category: Sports Had the demo tonight at Skate City.  Mild public turnout but I sure am glad to see anyone new to help us achieve our team goals. It was a good time. LOVE skating on that nice smooth floor!  Prior to starting the evening coach Creepy asked me to give a new time trial.  A couple weeks back when I first did them I clocked in at 1:14 (included a wipe out) and at 1:12 (gave in after the 4th lap thinking I'd already done 5). Tonight on that wonderful floor I dropped to 1:04….HELLL YAAHHH!!!!  I can't believe how happy a freekin' number just made me.  Maybe the floor had a lot to do with it but damn it I'm gonna take some credit too for personal improvement. We did a few jams to show everyone what this whole thing actually looks like.  I hold no illusions; I've got lots to learn in this area but am feeling more comfortable with it than previously.  It's hard work just staying in the pack, but then trying to keep in bounds and not stick out your elbows, know where the jammers are and when they are coming to try and land a hit on them without penalty. Funny thing happened on the way home.  After crossing the bridge, I was trying to figure out what to grab to eat.  Decided to stop at HyVee, eat some Chinese food and then grocery shop.  As I walked in, I noticed on their security camera that I still had all my derby clothes on.  It was kind of funny…not my usual shopping attire!  Didn't take long before I saw others in their sweats or jammy pants so I figured fuck it…I'm better dressed than them anyway!    Think I've finally settled on GoGo Berserk for my derby name.  I REALLY liked Effie Bomb but it's already taken.  Thanks to all who gave suggestions & input on this.

Monday, December 15, 2008 

Death by time trials Current mood:  accomplished  Category: Sports Holy roller skates, Batman!  I'm getting faster.   Friday at practice we did "death by time trials".  Sarted with a 5 lap trial, followed by a 7 lap, 10 lap, 15 lap and finally a 20 lap...and 20 push ups as icing on the cake.  My endurance really sucks too but I made it through.  Reaching the end of a practice like that feels like such a huge accomplishment.  It is awesome. Crazy thing is the 5 lap trial.  I could have swore I was draggin' ass on it just having been worn out in general from the work week, all the running around I did, and my nasty habit of staying up too late too often.  I bettered my time even from Skate City.  I got 5 laps down to 1:01!!!! I still suck at hitting & need to improve lots in this area.  Maybe the girls should piss me off somehow to make me really want to hit them!  Perhaps if they hop in a semi and follow me too close down a slippery highway at night.   Received some encouraging remarks about my falls though.  Getting better about using the pads to my advantage when I get knocked down.  There's my consolation...if I can't hit I will be hit and at least I'll know how to fall well!   With as much as I have yet to learn and improve on in the world of roller derby, I'm loving every minute of this and am extremely proud of what I've accomplished since November 11.   Finally hooked up, Go Go Berserk 40 as my derby name & number.

Monday, January 12, 2009 

Yea, I'm talkin' derby again... Current mood:  mellow  Category: Sports I had the jammer panty on my head at practice last night.  For those not in the know, a panty in derby is not what you think it is.  It’s the nylon cover that is worn over your helmet designating you as the jammer (star) or pivot (stripe).  What a strange feeling to put the target on your head like that! It was an awesome practice though.  We had a larger than usual turn out and it was so cool to have a big group together.  Lots of endurance building and a bit of jammer girl stuff. Practiced hitting a little too.   This is frustrating me.  They tell me to step into my hits and as bad as I want to do that, my feet seem to refuse at times causing me to deliver more of a nudge than a hit.  It’s driving me crazy.  The shoulder hit is getting much better…just the hip and full body checks that screw me all up.  I’d hate to be a one trick pony. All in all I’m pretty proud of what I’ve learned.  Seems like a lot but I know full well there’s lots more.  It has been since about…oh 1990, since I last had routine exercise anywhere near this level of intensity.  That I’m doing this at all is truly gratifying

Saturday, January 24, 2009 

Red, White & Bruise - ROCKED!!!! Current mood:  ecstatic  Category: Sports Great job to the Quad City Rollers for one hell of a production last night!!!!!!  I’m so proud to be on this team I can hardly put it into words.  We pulled off an awesome bout.  If you missed it I’m quite sorry for ya!  Many props to all the skaters from The Rage, Stateline Derby Divas and Cedar Rapids Roller Girls that came all that way to help make it a success. I may have only tended the penalty box for this bout but it all makes me so anxious now for February in ....Sioux City.....  I’m gonna do my best to lay the smack down out there!

Monday, February 09, 2009 

Finally broke 1 minute!!!  Current mood:  stoked  Category: Sports Did another death by time trials night at practice.  I'm extatic to announce that I finally killed that elusive second. (I was last stuck at 1:01)  Best time last night was 52 seconds on 5 laps.  I'm not the fastest by a long shot but just knowing I can move my 35 year old bag of bones around that fast is a really big deal to me.  Especially considering my 1st time trial to be 1:14.  The time is flying. So my first derby is coming up on February 21st in Sioux City.  I'm so excited already for that day to come.  It should be such a riot!!!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 

As if I needed another reason to love derby Current mood:  amused I'm not normally a big observer of my weight but about 2 weeks ago I stepped on the scale and discovered I had lost around 5 pounds after this few months of derby practice.  Now that I'm aware the pounds are shedding, I'm stepping on the scale a bit more out of sheer curiousity.  Last night it was at 129 bringing the total weight loss to date to 9 pounds.  I haven't seen the 120's since before my last pregnancy!

Skating Away

I give you the internal conversation had between my normal self (Sally) and my derby self (GoGo Berserk) as though I had the old “angel on one shoulder, devil on the other”…yet in this case both are real and neither is any more “good” or “evil” than the other. 

GoGo:  “Can’t believe we are really doing this.  Look at all we’ve done and accomplished.”

Sally:  “We gotta face hard reality, GoGo.  We always knew this wouldn’t last forever.”

GoGo:  “True.  But we are going to miss the skating AND THE HITS and the joys of learning any new little thing about the sport of roller derby.  Did I mention the hits???”

Sally:  “Oh, no… the skates will NOT be hung up.  We’ve found a great place to enjoy skating with the kids.  Sure Skate Park likely won’t allow us to hip check anyone during open skate…even during power hour but we’ll now be dedicating a solid 3 hours each week that we can to doing something we love with the kids.  Not only that but when the weather is nice we can and should hit the bike paths.  I also need to spend more time with that husband of mine that had my back getting into derby.  I’ve found a hobby to share with him and we need more time together.

Think of all the time that retiring from the Quad City Rollers will free up.   And that article we read recently:  you know #8 on the list hit home like a wrecking ball through the front of the house.  Speaking of wrecking and house…don’t forget that more than 2 months after our home disaster it is still not finished in terms of repairs creating all sorts of challenges to just living normally at home. 

GoGo:  “I get it.  It’s like we always told our league about priorities: home life and career first, then derby.  …. But we were going to take a break!  Just a little break until things settled down at home and then we would go back and just skate and do the minimum required for business involvement.  Why can’t that be the way?

Sally:  “We’ve been pretty awful about sticking to those priorities so often preached.  Derby managed too many times to creep in front of the really important things.  Not only that but it became expected of us over being appreciated too many times.  Bad attitude was setting in and it wasn’t going to get any better.  We set a personal bar at a level that is impossible to maintain over the long haul thus the complete and utter burn out we are now experiencing.  If I know you and you know me, we would NEVER be able to be a minimalist participant so long as we were still a league member.  The league is being left in very capable hands and they will be just fine.  Besides it is more than just the house.  The house is a definite stress point but it will be repaired.  While we’ve been derbying it up, Mom has gone to the hospital countless times for her heart and the outlook is more bleak for her each visit.  She deserves time as well.  I’ve barely seen her UNLESS she was in the hospital and that is just plain shitty of me.  Wouldn’t be here without her so I need to spend more time with her and not take for granted that she’s just gonna keep making it through every time.  I love her and need to show her more.”

GoGo:  “Won’t argue about that.  Lots of love for Mom.

….Reffing!!! How about reffing???  Always wanted to have a chance to wear the stripes and be on the team that never loses… Go team zebra???”

Sally:  “A common mistake made by many is to assume that reffing is in some way easier or less of a commitment…that is a complete fallacy if you expect to be a ref worth anything.  This might be a great thing to get into somewhere way down the road but not any day soon.  If and when we do this it is going to be WHEN WE HAVE TIME.  That day is not now or even a month or two from now.  If we do reffing, let’s do it right.”

GoGo:  “What does this leave us with…in the derby sense?  Damnit! I’m GoGo Berserk…this is my name…you earned this name and your number 40.  You can’t shut me up forever.”

Sally:  “I won’t shut up GoGo Berserk.  We will go to bouts when it makes sense, be an NSO when area leagues need someone with experience to fill those spots and just be a super fan for a change.  We’ve been so busy with our own league we lost the ability to just enjoy the sport or to get out and see other leagues play.  So let’s paint our face and make signs or something and just have a blast enjoying something that we’ll always know we had a very real part in.  Hell yes, we are going to celebrate derby losing our voices making noise at every bout we attend!  I hear Team Heckle is recruiting!”

GoGo:  “I must concede.  You are right on all accounts.  Haahaa,…maybe you’ll have more time to actually blog more on this that you created to ramble on about derby you big goof!  I won’t let you delete the GoGo Berserk FB page.  She LIVEs you know!

It should go without saying that I skate away now holding no ill will towards the league…some of those girls I’ve skated with for 3 years.  The newer girls too have taught me that even the most minor thing we do for them might have had a really big impact.  This is not a goodbye to my league or to derby.  It’s a, “see you around.”  Big gushy derby love to you all!

Spectator Etiquette – Derby Girls & Fans Can Haz It

Approaching Monumental Mayhem North Central playoffs in Indianapolis this weekend I cannot help but feel a well of excitement rising and to reflect on the incredible time I had last year at Nationals.  I’m looking forward with great anticipation to seeing my favorite Midwest area leagues battle it out.  Just one thing comes to mind that I found both annoying and frustrating at times throughout that awesome weekend at Nationals…the apparent lack of spectator consideration in the minds of…dare I say it…derby skaters.  Ok, I suppose I should also include the casual fans and walking food vendors in this too but honestly I was most annoyed that the greatest offenders appeared to be wearing their home league hoodies indicating their league affiliation even if not necessarily at the WFTDA level.  I’m certainly no Miss Manners but come on people.

Most of my involvement in this sport has been from the perspective of being on the track or on the team bench at live derby events, many bouts I’ve watched were online, so it took me by surprise during Nationals last season how frequently members of the crowd thought nothing at all about insisting to head to the restrooms or food, etc. or returning from such right in the middle of a jam.  Let me break it down.  Jams last a maximum of 2 minutes, just 2 MINUTES…surely your immediate spontaneous need for new wheels, derby skinz, nachos, a soda and yes even the restroom can wait 2 stinkin’ minutes…after said 2 minutes you have 30 whole seconds of time in which nothing particularly special is happening to make your way down an aisle of people.   Throw in any official reviews or time outs and you have yourself a game that is riddled with perfect opportunities to leave or return to your seat with minimal obstruction of other spectators’ enjoyment of the bout.   If my season-ticket holding hockey fan friends can live up to such consideration for others that paid good money for their seats…and they do… then certainly roller derby spectators, whether they skate or not in bouts of their own, can live up to this very simple standard.

Bad:

Roller Derby fan:  *thinks after hearing an announcement about a limited time special on Pro Tec mouth guards limited edition colors*   [Ooooohhh,  I MUST  have that color!]  “Excuse me, coming through.  .....Huh?  What jam time?”

Good:

Roller Derby fan:  *thinks after having sat for a while, downing a large drink*  [I have got to pee!  After observing the jam time on the clock I see that there could be 38 seconds left of this jam.  But alas, the lead jammer is calling it off.  Time to make my way through this aisle now.]  “Excuse me please, coming through.”

Ramblings???

Yes, ramblings…the term sounds a bit self deprecating but it couldn’t be more fitting.  Anyone that has ever worked with me and had to receive routine emails from me can verify that I tend to have a lot to say…in writing. 

It was at the Muddy Water Tattoo Convention that I was approached by a young man selling raffle tickets in a Quad City Rollers shirt.  This kid blatantly asked me if I wanted to play roller derby.  “Are you kidding?  How?”  He would point me to two ladies on skates with fishnets that went by Slamazon and QC Banshee.  Pretty sure I asked them some totally lame questions.  You see my prior derby knowledge came from watching “Roller Jam” in the 80s.  It followed Hulkamania if that gives you any idea about the sort of roller derby they played on that show.  Let me just say, “alligator pit, center track” and leave it at that.  ;0)  Anyway they were nice enough to look past my ignorance and politely answered my questions and handed me a flyer, encouraging me to come by practice any time.   The Afterdarks played at the convention that night and even one of them told me I should do it!

I attended at least two practices as an observer to see what this flat track revolution was all about.  There were about 7-8 people on the league at the time, including Slamazon who was pregnant.  She was off skates of course but it always amazed me, her level of involvement and interest and her ability to teach new girls things just by hanging out in the middle pointing things out to us.  After lots of thought and dragging my family to open skate, my husband and daughter literally told me to, “Just do it already”.  So I broke down and purchased my gear and skates and showed up for my first active practice on November 11, 2008…I’ll always know it as my derby-versary. 

Sassy Smalls started at the same time and together, Sugar N’ Slice showed us falls and stops.  I know I was far from stellar in those early moments but was totally taken with how much fun I was having just falling on my knees repeatedly (must have good knee pads!)  Within my first week, I had earned my first “badge”, a big purple bruise on my right hip which resulted from toe stop running.  I had contorted my body pretty good to keep from landing on my tailbone.

It would be a little over 3 months before I would skate in my first bout.  Sassy Smalls, Diamond Dust and I all had a *ahem* "wonderful" first bout experience together in Sioux City.  That first experience fell pretty far short of my expectations and I actually had to re-evaluate at that point if this really was for me.  Suffice it to say I hung in for the next bout which totally delivered on the fun & excitement I had been looking for.  I was here to stay from then on. 

So about rambling…after several months or so in roller derby, my husband & I were out to dinner one night and all I know is that I was carrying on and on.  Derby this, and derby that.  Derby, derby, derby…when I suddenly noticed this blank stare on Meat Puddin’s face.  It was then that I realized just how much time, energy and thought I gave to derby and that I had truly made a derby widow out of my husband. 

Me:  "I talk too much about derby don't I?"  

Puddin':  "YES!"  

Don’t get me wrong, Puddin’ is supportive of me in all this but he has big hobbies of his own.  He had one band at that time (two currently) so he didn’t personally wish to jump into my hobby as a volunteer of any kind.  But it became very clear, very quick that I would need to learn how to dial it down and reassess my time management.  This blog is probably long overdue but might just be the perfect outlet for when I feel the need to ramble on about derby.  I doubt that I will stay focused on any one single aspect of derby but think of this as a way to collect memories, opinion pieces, bout caps and whatever happens to trip my derby trigger at the time.  If anyone else is amused along with me, or learns anything from this, even better!