We had our second home bout last night at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester. Skate Free or Die! faced off against the Western Mass Destruction of Pioneer Valley Roller Derby. It was a hard-fought game on both sides but, in the end, PVRD came out on top 134-46.
Attendance was really light which I attribute to a couple of things. 1) I think we had a LOT of fans come up from CMRD for the April bout which really swelled our numbers and 2) It was a gorgeous day and a lot of people probably said, "meh... I think I'll grill tonight rather than go see roller derby." I went to a Boston Derby Dames game last weekend and there were people tailgating outside. If it's legal, we should totally get that tradition started here!
One of the things that's tough to communicate to the audience sometimes is that this season we are playing teams of a much higher caliber than previous seasons. After a 5-4 season last year the league has decided to step up their game and play some more experienced leagues, or play the A-Team rather than the B-Team of some leagues. The result is that we might not win as many games but we learn a LOT in the process, and isn't that what it's all about?
I know that I'm the type of person that learns or experiments with things based on watching other people do them. For example, I was watching Empress work with No Name Erica during the transitions drill on Thursday. Doing things slo-mo, Empress dragged her dominant foot a bit and then quickly turned toward that foot. My right foot is my dominant foot. I balance on my left and tend to T, and toe-stop with my right. While attempting transitions I've been trying to do everything backward (balancing on my right and turning onto my left). I'm eager to try the other way... maybe something will click! I'm hoping that I'll be able to use the "watch and learn" method with other things, too!
After the bout and break-down I went to hang out in the locker room with everyone. I skipped this last time and felt like I kind of missed out on things. I had a hard lemonade and enjoyed schmoozing with people. We all started to head to Spare Time for the after-party. There were actually seats available when I got there!
The evening was filled with music, food, drinks, good friends, and much shenanigans. Without calling too many people out some memorable moments included PutUNya putting ice cubes down everyone's shirts, Hearty and Empress moshing, Maully O dancing with, well, everyone, me NOT spilling ranch on the server, singing along to everything with Scurrie, Indigo, and Moxie, and generally having a fantastic time with everyone. :-D
I can't wait to do it all over again next month!
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