Jerry Seltzer

I am sure others as I did watched Roller Derby streamed on our internet devices this past weekend.

The banked track action as Battle of the Bank VI was uneven because of the disparity in the leagues,as there were the very talented LA Derby Dolls, San Diego, Arizona, Tilted Thunder, and the others, although Sugartown showed great progress.  The continuous action on the banked track and the rules modifications by those leagues definitely sped up the games and kept the large audience involved.  The best game was the semi-final between San Diego and Arizona, only to be decided by what I consider the largest deficiency in the rules, that a jam can start without a jammer on each team  (penalize the skater, not the helmet).

Image by leonardobc from stock.xchng.com.

Maybe the only reason for that happening is to have the power jam which goes against the spirit of the game, learning to play offense and defense at the same time.  Unfortunately Arizona was pretty tired after their semi-final just an hour before the  championship game against LA.  The Derby Dolls would have won anyway, but I feel Arizona could have put up a better showing.

I was fortunate enough to see the telecast of Seattle and London, and the game was definitely a faster and almost non-slow game than others I have seen recently.  And Elwood Bruise and others said that the Oly-London game was an absolutely barn burner of great conditioned players, excellent position skaters who knew their function, and balls-out(?) action. Congratulations to the Brits for a great showing against 3 of the top teams in the world.

You can get as upset with me as you want, but slow derby, for all the great strategy ramifications that might be talked about, is not good Roller Derby from the fans perspective, which may or not be your concern.

If your object is to increase your fan base, sell more merchandise and keep the league functioning, it is my opinion that you better have your blockers blocking regardless of the passive offense or whatever you call it, or just have private games.

It may be your version of Roller Derby, but it certainly isn’t of most, and it isn’t just the opinion of the pain-in-the-ass commissioner.   I love Roller Derby – not cobweb Derby.