Columns

Very few people have not “turned an ankle” (sprained). With the fast tight cuts and turns of derby along with hits, skaters suffer sprained ankles all the time.

A sprain is literally an over-stretching and tearing of the bundles of fibers that make up a ligament. A ligament is a viscoelastic structure that connects bone to bone. If a ligament is stretched beyond its usual capacity, it is strained or it may tear in part or completely.

“Congratulations, you’re a Jet Cadet.” These were not the exact words that were uttered last Saturday upon completion of the final skill assessment before being accepted to Jet City’s training team. I actually don’t remember exactly what happened. One minute we were doing a worm drill and the next we were filling out paperwork. After 12 weeks of going to basic skating class held on the outside of the track, we were moving into the derby ring. I found two voices competing for attention in my mind. Voice 1: I knew that I would move up.

A friend of Derbylife posed this question to the DL team last week: Who is the winningest team in roller derby? She put this to the DNN family, and Justice Feelgood Marshall was kind enough to crunch the numbers.

"I used Flat Track Stats, so these numbers include any WFTDA sanctioned bout, which I think is a fair comparison since Championships-level teams play the majority of their games against other high-level teams with a more-or-less even smattering of total mismatches over their history. Here's what I came up with:

Love us or hate us, if you’ve ever seen Oly play live, you’ve undoubtedly heard our die-hard fans chanting that mesmerizing (or annoying, depending on your opinion) “Oly! Oly! Oly! Oy! Oy! Oy!” For a long time now, there has been confusion even among our own league members about how to spell that chant: OI, OY, OIY, OYE—who the heck knows? I thought I knew. But Tannibal Lector taught me that she knew better.

“No, no, no,” I said, “It’s “O-I” not “O-Y.”

We received a request from Joe Asbury for more information from experts in the field about short and forward mounts vs. standard mounts for skate plates. For answers, we contacted Ivanna S. Pankin from Sin City Skates, and Doug Glass from Atom Wheels/Atom Gear/ Nistevo Manufacturing. Both experts referred us to Sure Grip's statement on the issue, so let's start there.

One of the more difficult aspects of being new to skating and new to derby is trying to figure out what exactly is required in terms of gear. You need skates, but if you’re at all like me you feel like you may as well be rolling around with a spaceship strapped to each foot. There’s a lot of information online, but it can be difficult to discern what’s coming from a reputable source and it would be a bit of an understatement to say that opinions are both strong and divergent in the area of gear and skate maintenance.

I am watching a bout at the 2011 WFTDA East Region Playoffs. From my high vantage point, I can see the front pack ref blow call after call. “You are freaking HORRIBLE,” I roar. Another jam, another bad 20-foot call, this one issued at about 17 feet (as opposed to the previous jam, when he issued it at around 31 feet). He is maybe getting some of the interior, chippy stuff right that I can’t see from up high, but…blaarggh, another bad call. I am seething. “You suck, ref.”