Playing Like a Boss

Yes I know it sounds hokey but sometimes you can be more impressed by the team that loses than the one that wins. That's how I felt last night! I never like to see my Bosses lose but last night those ladies played their hearts out down to the LAST JAM. I was impressed. They could have easily just thrown in the towel and not given it their all. Nobody would have blamed them. The other team was playing dirty and there were a lot of penalties that were not called. The refs were missing really huge obvious calls. *I know reffing is a very difficult job. I've stood in the middle of the track at practices  and tried to catch all the madness at once, and it's just not possible but when when the one opposing player is chasing the jammer and the rest of the team is LITERALLY on the other side of the track someone should say something. There was a lot of that kind of stuff going on. The team I was rooting for had 4 blockers out on the track while one sat in the box. Somehow nobody caught it for that entire jam!* Despite all of the missed calls the ladies seemed to have fun and played very very hard.

In the second half of the bout with a huge deficit in score, I could still clearly see the Bosses # 19 Betty Watchett having a lot of fun and keeping a big smile on her face. You could see the determined look on Kiki Mojo's face when she took the jammer line. She almost looked scary except that Kiki is my derby friend and an extremely sweet person and I can't see her as scary. (I DO NOT want to take a hip check from her because she looks like she hits hard but still it's Keeks and I can't be scared of her.) Shank with her scary face paint looked deadly out there as well and played like ever jam mattered.

Ladies, thanks for playing that way because to all of the fans out there, it did matter. VERY MUCH! I don't ever remember a crowd cheering that hard for their home team after such a loss. I have never cheered that hard. It didn't matter to us that you didn't win. You played a clean game despite the other side not doing so. You had a lot of heart and made me proud to be your intro girl/superfan. Thank you for making Houston proud! Bosses, I love you LIKE A BOSS.

Lessons learned

I've been to four bouts in the last two weeks- three flat and one banked. I've gotten to observe a lot. I really try to take everything in. I try to learn something from every bout I attend weather it's a game I'm announcing, NSOing or just watching as a fan. I've learned something at every bout. Here are this months observations.

The first bout I attended this month was the HRD season opener. It was a super fun day! My derby wife (Robi Wan Kenobi) her kids and I rode the train at the aquarium, ate at the Hard Rock, and then attended the bout. The lessons I learned that night were: 1. NEVER forget the stadium seats. They will save your back. 2. Reconfirm your rosters before either bout starts. Check with the captain, co captain and both coaches to make sure you have everyone on the list (including the coaches). 3. No matter what always speak from your diaphragm and not your throat when intro-ing. Failure to do so will make you sound like a 13 year old boy, and Krez will make fun of you (and justifiably so). 4. Always line up at least an hour before the HRD bout. 5. I will always love Rebel Ann, and never get enough of watching DBC play.

Bout number two was the SSRD bout this past Saturday. My derby wife was playing and I will be at every bout of hers I can. I NSO'd that bout. I learned that: 1. I can't always blow things off. There are some things you should never call a woman some people can blow it off but it will make me want to throat punch the fool who used the word. The worst part was that the other ladies at the table found this so funny. I know I am a prude and an old fashioned one at that but it just wasn't funny. The laughter only served to upset me more and in the fight to control my anger I cried. I don't know if anyone but Dave noticed I tried to hide it. They guy did apologize but some things can't be unsaid. 2. I enjoyed NSOing. It was lots of fun! 3. Now that they have gotten rid of the campy garbage (penalty wheel) I can enjoy the game. 4. Robi is getting really good at playing. You can tell she's been working on her game play.

Bout number three  was the NFRD's bout against SARD, and I announced that bout. I finally got my hands on the wireless microphone, and was able to move about a bit more freely. I seem to be really loud there. What I learned there was: 1. It is very difficult to catch every move as an announcer and it must be even more of a challenge as a ref. 2. If the refs don't see it, it did not happen. It's not our job to point stuff out from the mic. EVER. It's hard not to yell "how did you not see that girl push the opposing jammer even the photographer saw that. This brings me to 3. Being a ref is the hardest job in derby After all the refs are trying to watch 8 blockers all at once. This while on skates and getting yelled at by the coaches and fans,  getting booed by the other fans,  while having other refs,  NSOs and skaters talking to them and trying to use hand signals.  4. It's super easy to coach from the mic. Announcers should NEVER announce that a jammer has just made it out of the box or what strategy a team should take. It's super easy to do. I didn't do it but it was hard to fight especially when I saw opportunities that could have been taken. 5. No matter what your job is at a bout, the more you come to practice the better you will be at your job. It doesn't matter how much I know the rules in writing if I don't see them in action I'll never get better. I am thankful I have been attending as much as possible. 6. Never be afraid to pick a refs brain. Thanks to all the Zebras who are willing to teach me I know this coupled with regularly attending practice have helped me step up my game on the mic.

The fourth and final bout of March (for me) was last night's Friends and Family night for HRD's Machette Betties. Lessons that bout taught me included: 1. No matter how loud I am at the rinks I announce at I am never loud enough at an HRD bout. NEVER. 2. As a skater getting inside your opponents head is one of the most effective strategies there is. This includes taunting your oppenent. I watched Global WarMan do it at least twice it was very effective and I loved it. 3. Again as a skater, distracting your opponent can really help out your jammer. I watched Rushin' Cleavage do this from the coaches bench, and it was brilliant. 4. Announcers do better with individualized mics. ALWAYS!  5. I love LaRude she is amazing and Oregon is lucky to have her. (I hope somehow she gets moved BACK to Houston  soon I know WarMan does too).

I have a lot more to learn but I'm not off to a bad start!

My life of Faith and Roller Derby.

Sunnie the Announcer

I have come  to the conclusion that I am strange and I'm okay with that. It's part of what makes me fit in well in the roller derby world. There strange is embraced. I can have purple hair and nobody bats an eye. I love that. The rest of the world may never get me and I'm okay with that. There's only one other place like that for me and that's my church. Words I never thought I would say again. Right now I'm still shy. I'm not one to make close friends very quickly I have a lot of friends but very few that I'm super close to.  I digress. I like my church like I like my derby. Wild, loud and with a lot of action. It seems odd even to me because I'm the quiet one at church but I'm like that at derby- till the action starts.
I'm excited about everything that has happend in my derby life as of late. I'm an announcer for the Northside Fury Roller Derby and Rocket City Roller Girls. Yes that is two teams. I stay busy! :) I love announcing and I love roller girls. Derby is like this never ending family you can meet someone in another town and it doesn't matter what you look like or where you're from if you are derby there's an instant bond.

I have a church home now  and I'm excited about that too. I love my wild church. :) I just have to be careful not to get too crazy on bout days. Gotta preserve the voice. That too is like a worldwide family I get the same kind of reception. One of the things I love about this church is that they don't judge you on your hair color or cut and what you wear is insignificant. You will see everything from people in shorts and football jerseys to suits and dresses. We have mohawks, and brightly colored hair to uber tidy hair.

Want to catch me the next time I announce? I will be rockin' the mic for the Northside Fury March 25th at Champions Roller World. Click the NFRD's website for all the info!

Want to join me at church? I attend Calvary Chapel AG on Greenshadow and BW8 Sundays at 10 a.m.

Year reacap.

This year has been a wild ride. I started off the year as a rec leaguer with Spindletop Rollergirls in Beaumont. If it wasn't for Messica, Dougie, Fairlane and Ruby Ridikule and their never ending patience with me I would still be clutching the wall. Some time in January or February, I became the announcer for the now defunct Clutch City Roller Girls. I'm still very saddened by the loss of the team and it's still hard to set foot in that rink. (It's even harder to skate on that rink because it's not very well maintained.) I have since announced for Flat Out Roller Derby and most recently for Northside Fury Roller Derby. I've really improved! I'm no Val Capone or Dumptruck but I'm not half bad. I hope to become NFRD's announcer this season. I freakin' love announcing!

I became a writer for Examiner.com (I have some great articles there so please check them out!). My best interview ever is posted there!
Then I lost my best friend (see earlier post) supposedly because of Roller Derby. In the meantime my beautiful and wonderful niece arrived! I don't get to see her often but I adore that child.

I have two derby wives right now - Kinker Spaz and Robi Wan Kenobi. I love them both dearly and they are some of the few that get me and my weird sense of humor. Every roller girls and announcer should have a derby wife.

My job has been a bit of a roller coaster after a coworker quit I absorbed his territory and I have been working crazy hours since leaving little time for my blog or skating. I chunked up and I need to get back on my quads! I miss them! I have about 4 interviews that I need to get going I'm excited about them all! I was in college this past semester I took tech writing which consumed what little free time I did have. We went on vacation and I spent most of it doing homework for that class. I'm now convinced that college sucks out your soul.

That is my short version of my crazy life in 2011.

Stuff and things

I haven't skated in about a month because I just can't get back to my side of town to get to the rink. I've toyed with the idea of skating with the HRD rec league or NSF but that would mean leaving my skate bag in the car in the 100 degree weather never a good idea. I suck as a skater and quite frankly it's not easy to do for me but I miss it. I really miss announcing too.
It seems wierd that my shy and wallflowery self would ever want to be an announcer but I want to badly. I get a rush when I'm on the mic it's so much fun! I turn Shelly off, bring out Sunnie and she has a lot of fun. It surprises people when I tell them that announcing for HRD is my dream. One day I will be an HRD announcer :). Until that day I will be an intro girl for my Bosse$ and I'm going to sneak in a Brawler intro soon! I will also be announcing for FLAT OUT on the 21st of this month in Lake Chas. If you are in the area bypass the casinos and come to the game!

Last Saturday was a lot of fun! I got to intro The HaRD Knocks during the triple header I got to meet the Montreal announcer Plastik Patrik, he was a lot of fun and quite frankly he made a rather good looking woman. I enjoyed talking to him I'm pretty sure he probably just put up with me. :) Thanks to Scarlett O' Hurt Ya for letting me do the intros it was a minor detail but so much fun!

I had a few people tell me how much they loved my gay socks which was interesting because I just like rainbows and wore my rainbow socks. I'm as straight as they come and only have eyes for my David! None the less I was very amused. Even more amusing was Kills' mortification at my boutfit. I still laugh when I think about it. When I dress for derby I kind of look like a freak. :)

Other than that I'm still where I was in the previous post.

A dark place

I haven't posted in a long time with only 14 followers I doubt I'm missed much. I have been posting bout recaps on Examiner.com lately so I guess this is the place I come to bare my soul about all things derby and other crap as well.
I've have a rough and yet really good couple of months. My work load had increased which is WONDERFUL! I have had two friends lose their men to tragic deaths which has been hard for me as I hurt when my friends hurt. I've always been one to feel pain when my friends are hurting. (I'm not saying I understand their pain. I do not know what they are going through or how they feel. My heart is just broken for them), One of my friends is trying to heal physically as well as mourn the loss of her love the other is trying to cope with it all and deal with a precocious toddler all at once.

I lost a friend because she made some very horrible assumptions. I never would have thought anyone would use my current child bearing issues to hurt me so deeply.It hurts like a break up and my heart is still broken. I should be over it but I'm not, I don't recover from heartache easily I never have. To add insult to injury my"roller derby life" was blamed for it all in the end.

My roller derby team died and I almost went over the edge. With the stress of work and life I need to be a part of this more than ever and it died. It's back in a very very different way and I'm a part of it still. I don't think people get my addiction to, and the need to be a part of the derby world, even if I'm a mediocre writer and announcer and a horrible skater. I can't explain my love any more than I have in previous posts. It's just a part of who I am right now and it fills the need for time with other women.

My derby world is the only place I feel normal and accepted just as I am all the time other than at home, with family or church. I don't have to please people, pretend to be anything or try to impress and no matter where I go derby people treat me like family. Baby Face in Austin, Houston Roller Derby, and all the other leagues in Houston. Flat Out Roller Derby in Lake Charles LA and Spindletop in Beaumont TX. All welcome me as one of their own I feel like they are really family. When people speak of derby family I can assure you it really feels like family. Every bout and special event feels like Christmas to me.

When my team died it was like losing a member of this special family. I wept like a baby, I was very sad. Now we're back in a different way but we are still together and welcoming new members. It's different but it's going to be a lot of fun and I get to see my girls at least once a week!

I'm still not out of my dark place but the sun is showing through once again. Oh and I have a triple header HRD/TXRG bout to look forward to along with seeing my writing mentor this weekend! That is worth smiling about.

Insomnia Derby Style

It's 2 a.m. I took an ambien at 11:30 p.m. I haven't slept yet. I'm obsessing over the article I haven't written that I should have already finished. I watched Dr. Who with my hubby. My day job has picked up in volume, I desperately needed that but it's one more thing to obsess about.

I think I may love derby too much, I don't think most people outside my derby world get that. I eat, sleep and breathe derby. I DREAM about it constantly.

I am excited and sad. I got invited to hang with my Bosse$ for a whole weekend. I want to go but I can't afford to! Maybe they'll let me hang out for a day. The family BBQ is that weekend too so I can only do one day!


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Location:Milleronia