Last weekend, CDMRD became the new sweethearts of the Capital Region. The boys switched out of their stripes to roll in their own game:
Broller Derby
Dangle Derby
Merby
Men's Roller Derby
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A Ladd Insane jamming, Roarshock blocking, the Fox as Pivot, and Wellen Dowd
Photo by Walter Romero |
Several of the men on the team are also Hellions referees: The Fox, Massacre, Hart Attack, A Ladd Insane, and Roarshock. Many of the other men also got their start as referees...I've seen Wellen Dowd at Albany All Stars bouts since I can remember.
I love men's derby. My second post on this blog was actually about
men's derby. There are not too many men's derby teams in the world, but it's slowly gaining popularity. An interesting statistic from the recently released
WFTDA 2011Demographic Survey:
Current female skaters show a greater support for men’s roller derby than those not involved in the sport. Twenty-eight percent of skaters support men’s roller derby at least on an equal level as women’s roller derby, significantly more than the thirteen percent of fans who express equal or greater support for men’s roller derby.
When it comes to Men's Roller Derby, I say d
on't knock it 'til you try it. After watching the CDMRD's Capital District Trauma Authority (CDTA) take on the Utica's
Quadfathers this weekend, I think many fans who came in skeptical left thrilled by the action they witnessed.
I was about 10 minutes late to the bout because I had driven
down and back to Long Island that morning for a scrimmage with the Hellions. When I walked into the Armory, CDTA was winning 24 - 1. I couldn't believe me eyes. I quickly found the rest of the Hellions who came to cheer and proceeded to scream my head off for the next hour.
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| The seemingly untouchable Die-Lon. Photo by Walter Romero. |
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Die-Lon bench coaching our December
bout. It's all good! Photo by
Walter Romero. |
The hits were big and the pace was fast. CDTA was great about making way for their own jammers. Also, Wellen Dowd, who ended up earning MVP, really shined with his clear knowledge of the game and he actually really kicked ass in terms of play, especially hitting.
Die-Lon, of the Quadfathers, acted as the antagonist of the bout in the eyes of the local crowd...CDTA's fans cringed when they saw Die-Lon lay on the big hits, and cheered when CDTA managed to dodge his strikes. This dynamic further lifted the boys in blue from the Capital District into the hearts of their fans.
A quick note about Die-Lon, though. He's a great guy and an incredible skater who knows the game. He actually benched for the Hellions "Nice" team back in December for our "Naughty vs Nice" intraleague bout. Haters gonna hate; skaters gonna skate.
The final score of the game was 110 CDTA - 77 Quadfathers.
Read a great blog post by CDTA jammer Johnny Malice over on the
TU Roller Derby blog and a recap of the game from the perspective of the Quadfathers on their
blog.
