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.”
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