Derby Dolls in this months Advocate

So, at the beginning of May, I was asked to be part of an article in the Advocate about gay women in roller derby. They took some photos and then did an interview with myself, teammate Krissy Krash and retired skater Kasey Bomber. The magazine just hit newstands, and the pictures turned out awesome! I am on the table of contents, giving the finger with my sad, broken middle finger, and there is a spread of all three of us as well. I think the picture of all of us was supposed to be the cover, but then gay marriage happened and we got bumped.

Here are the pictures, and if you get a chance, check out the article in stores!

All photos by Megan Quinn.

The good news is that my finger is on the way to healing - I finally got to take the splint off, I just have to wear it when I play Derby. We have a big tournament next weekend, and then I get two months off! I am so excited for hiatus you cannot imagine...

We also got a write up in the LA Times last Friday - it is a good article, and there is an accompanying slideshow with audio. I was supposed to be in what was going to be a large photo essay, but the photrapher said they had to cut the size. Oh well - you can't be in everything!

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-outthere13-2008jun13,0,2416515.story

LA Ri-ettes defeat SD All Stars!

Um, by a lot.

The final score was 118-14. San Diego never really had a chance - in the first five minutes they were down by 25. We actually had to re-set the scoreboard, since a 100 point game is almost unheard of in banked track where we skate one minute jams (thus limiting the amount of points that can be scored). But not only did we re-set the scoreboard back to zero, we still managed to take the lead again by the end of the game!

Jammer chase!

The pack

San Diego skater down.

Unfortunately, in the pre-game scrimmage on Monday, I broke the middle finger on my right hand. I guess I should be thankful that after almost two years of playing this crazy sport, this is the worst that has happened to me so far (knock on wood!). But the break isn't too bad, and I can still skate, I just have to wear this awfully ugly splint for a month.

Finally, this game marked my first ejection! Like in basketball - five penalties and you are outta there. I still claim only three of those penalties were legit - but what can you do?! By the end of the game, six of the LA skaters had been kicked out, so I was in good company. So at the end of the third quarter, I got to watch the rest of the game with Jessica in the stands, with a beer.

Venus DeMaulr and I get an ejection lap.The ejection welcome wagon.

There is an amusing write up at losangeleous.com, with more awesome pictures, including my very first jam blocking (which I did a terrible job at), and the rarely seen leg whip.

Our last game of the regular season is May 31st - we play the Sirens one more time. The Cookies are hopeful we can remain undefeated going into the champs, but I know this is probably going to be the toughest game of the year!

Photo credits: 1, 2 and 4 by Kustomkulture Photography, 3 by Marc Campos, 5 by Charlie Chu.

Tough Cookies remain undefeated!

The Doll Factory

Saturday night, 8 PM. The Tough Cookies need one win to clinch a spot in the championships in November. The Fight Crew is one loss away from being eliminated from the championships for the first time.

Since I am too lazy to recap, and have a much better written one to link to, I will summarize thusly:

Number of Fight Crew Members Ejected: 2
Number of Tough Cookies knocked off the track: 1
(Confirmed) Celebrities in attendance: Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page
Final Score: Tough Cookies: 59 Fight Crew: 49

Drew and Ellen take in the action

Chasing down Crystal Deth

If you want the details of the night, you can go to our most excellent re-capper, DF, who writes for losanjealous.com.

The Tough Cookies next bout is May 31st, against the Sirens, (who we have already defeated once this year). I'm stoked to have been asked to sub on the All-Star Team, the LA Ri-ettes, for our game against San Diego on May 3rd. Both teams are going down!

Fine, I'll go first...

Next weekend my roller derby team, the Tough Cookies, take on the Fight Crew for the fourth bout of the Los Angeles Derby Dolls 2008 season! The Tough Cookies are currently undefeated this year, and we look to extend our lead in the league and clinch a spot in the Championships in November with a win. Fight Crew is injury-depleted, relying on six sub-pool members to fill out their roster, but the Cookies just lost one of our best blockers to a broken collar-bone earlier in the week.

But we are confident! Our election themed campaign, "Cookies '08" has been paying off, and we expect to come out of this next "primary" with a win!

The bout is almost sold out - and we have been attracting bigger and bigger celebrities each time! In January it was Jeff Probst, then in February Drew Barrymore showed up (doing research for her upcoming movie on Derby), and in March she came back and brought Cameron Diaz with her. It got a mention in People!

So fingers crossed next Saturday that the Cookies can pull off a win!