Eastern Region Roller Derby Smackdown

I am having the biggest fucking proud right now.

Last weekend it was BAD, and this weekend is all about reppin' VDL and the Dishonour Rollers:

I think I am trying to look fierce but I just
look disgusted and many-chinned.

My time at VDL was relatively short and while it was in its infancy; I never did any bouts (they all happened while I was overseas), and the only thing I did that was remotely representative was be on the DishRollers team for the Cannery Challege interleague scrimmage last year. That was already a big deal. But now VDL has sent a team to a FUCKING TOURNAMENT and are actually doing more bouts than they have EVER done before in one weekend.

The final score was CRDL C 155 to VDL's 151. But that's the closest margin we've EVER had. I bet everyone there is over the moon about it. At this rate they'll probably win their next game! And definitely the afterparty. Oh god I wish I was at the afterparty.

It's taken time but the team has needed it to come together, I guess. I know I'm not part of it anymore, but it is awesome to see people who have been just starting out a few months ago make it onto the rep team and kick some ass. It's like seeing the baby league all grown up and dishing out some awesome smackdown of its own. Dawwww.

Anyway, I am in particular extremely proud of my awesome derby wife, who captained the Rollers this time around. About a year ago, we were just rolling around and being freshies who were shitty about failing white star tests and not getting put in the same cohort as people who we started with but were better than us. But fuck, she's now the freaking captain of the travel team! And she went in as a triple threat. A year ago, Boudi wrote a blog post about how much she wanted to get to the point where she could bout. She said:

I want to be a bouting derby skater. I want to be able to tear up the track as a kickarse jammer. I want to be a great blocker, able to give the kind of hits that silence the crowd. I want to be a pivot who seems to have eyes in the back of her head. I want to be really good at this amazing amazing sport, and I want it so badly I could burst. The idea that I might not be capable of it is heartbreaking.

But now she is all that, and more. So in a way, ERRD's not just like "yay she made it onto the travel team and is the captain", but it is much more "yay, she kicked a lot of ass to get there, and all that effort and learning has paid off, and she is far more than capable of all of this." She is a fucking inspirational superstar.

Look how far you can come in a year of derby. It makes me so proud right now. Okay, I may or may not have something in my eye.

And that goes for everyone on the team. You've come a long way. I am so fucking proud of you all.