The Putas Del Fuego vs Holy Rollers bout on Sunday was awesome. I left the Thunderdome with 2 certainties...
1. The Putas really have their shit together & are a definite threat for the Cavello Cup this year.
2. The Holy Rollers are going through a "rebuilding year".
First, I have to say, that I'm a big fan of all the roller derby teams & leagues here in Austin. I think these girls are great & I love what they are doing. I am a bit partial to the Putas, but I was also rooting on the Rollers. They're sort of the team everyone loves to hate, & I like them for just that reason. And even though they might be crowd underdogs, the Rollers can usually prove their shit out on the track.
However, the Rollers were, (for lack of a better term), handicapped since some of their key players weren't skating. Sister Mary Jane (SMJ) has moved off to Hawaii. (Jailbait has also moved off to Colorado to persue her Masters Degree.) And crowd favorites Ms.Conduct & Punky Bruiser, both present to root their team on from the pits, are currently both benched due to injuries. (Both girls had a knee wrapped/braced.) It was obvious that some alternates & new Rollers had been thrown into the mix. And I'm not sure what the problem was, (the missing skaters, the new & alternate skaters, team chemistry, not enough practices as shown in the A&E show, or what), but the former championship & hard-to-beat team was just not on par with the Putas on this night. ALL of the Rollers put a lot of blood, sweat & tears into the bout, yet it just wasn't enough to hold off the Putas.
But let me start from the beginning....
I bought my tickets the Thursday before the bout. Big Mistake! Here is a big tip for all that are thinking of attending a Lonestar Rollergirl match:
~ Buy tickets WELL in advance!!!!! ~
Doors open at 6pm. At about 6:10, at least 50 people started leaving the well formed line because door tickets were almost sold out. I had "Well Call" tickets, meaning I had bought my tickets online & was picking them up at the door because there wasn't enough time to mail them to me. Unfortunately, most people had Well Call tickets.
Basically, there are 3 lines: Door tickets, Well Call, & Ticket-in-Hand. The ticket-in-hand people just flew through the line. Door ticket people just had to stand there, desperately hoping that they could score a ticket. Well Call people, like myself, had a hell of a wait in line. Even though I arrived before doors were open, we stood in line for a good hour before finally getting into the venue. And let me also mention that these aren't well formed lines. It's sort of like cattle all forming into a building with everyone wondering if they are in the right line until they get about 25 feet from the actual entrance.
This is a known problem of which the Lonestar organization is well aware. After the 1st bout on 1/15/06, an email was sent out saying they are trying to better organize the entrance. It was just kind of insane though & I'm positve more can be done to help things...more signs, roped off lines, something. However, I learned my lesson...buy in advance & have ticket in hand.
So by the time I got into the Thunderdome, every seat in the stands was taken. It was standing room only, and standing room sucked. There were a few rows of platforms for people to stand on, but there were a lot of people at floor level who couldn't see shit. Myself included. I'm all of 5'4", & I was behind about 4 guys who were much taller than me.
But I was a trooper. I didn't bitch. I said fuck it, grabbed a Lonestar beer, (another long line), & found a decent place to stand.....considering.
Oh yeah....I forgot to mention that I met Catalac, who was working the Will Call line. Funny how small a world it is. I happen to know Catalac's man Alf. Not very well, mind you. My hubby knows him better than I do. But we all went to the same high school about 2 hrs from Austin & are friends with a lot of the same people, so we're well acquainted. (He used to throw a mean annual Halloween party back in the day...that's all I'm saying.) Anyhoo, while I was waiting for my hubby & brother to get ID-ed & wrist bands, I chatted up Catalac. I mentioned that I knew Alf, asking if they were married now. (I won't talk about any personal lives & shit cause that's not my blog goal here. If I were a total bitch, I could, but that's just not me. I'm more of a mini-bitch, not full-fledged.) She was nice, but since she was working the door, I didn't want to ask her to pose for a picture with me. I had a full roll of film at that point, but I blew it off, figuring I'd have plenty of photo ops. This was before I got inside & realized there was ZERO seating. Looking back, I should have been rude & asked. She was nice enough to probably be a good sport about it. (And it would have been an awesome addition to the blog.) But oh well.
The last thing I'll say about the crowd & seating situation is just because fire code says you can pack so many people inside, doesn't mean you should. They need to expand the new digs. There, I said it.
After raffle give-aways, (ANOTHER good reason to have ticket-in-hand...they only raffle prizes away by the last 3 numbers on your ticket, which is no good to people who have online order #s), sk8er introductions ensued. The Putas took the track first, followed by the Rollers.
It was about this time that I developed my "Master Half-Time Plan". I figured that I'd pretty much blow the 1st half off, since I couldn't see shit or take a decent picture anyhow. (Besides, things usually get crazy in the 2nd half.) I could go & grab some more beer, hit the smoking section or bathrooms, & just walk around & mingle the 1st half, returning to my place next to my hubby before the end of the 2nd quarter. Then, as people standing in front of me left their spots to hit the bathrooms, get beer or food, or check out the half-time band, I could work my way up to the front. And it actually worked! Muahahaha! I ended up in the front just behind some guy who was slightly shorter than me. (Thank goodness I wore my chunky heeled shoes so I was taller!)
So I checked out the 1st quarter, then spent most of the 2nd quarter doing my own thing. My only mistake was leaving my camera with my hubby....in case something happened on the track while I wondered off. Big mistake...HUGE! While I was gone, Jenacide got injured RIGHT IN FRONT OF WHERE WE WERE STANDING. I have no idea what happened or how it happened. All I know is that she was treated by paramedics & helped off the track, not to be seen for the rest of the bout. And of course hubby got *NO* pics of this entire scene that was happening right in front of him.
Hubby thought Jenacide either severly sprained or broke her ankle. A check at the Lonestar Rollergirls Message Board last night confirmed that Jena fractured her leg. Much love to Jenacide. I hope she gets better soon.
Meanwhile, as all this was going on, I'm smoking a ciggie & hitting the Ladies (bathroom that is). BTW, on my way out to the smoking section, I saw Chola's Dad. He walked by so fast that it took me a minute to place him. Now, if you're counting, this is my 2nd lost photo op. I have GOT to get better at this. I'm usually a bit shy around people I don't know. I need to learn to just ask for a pic. The worse they can say is No. Big deal. But it would be awesome to have these pics I missed out on to share in my blog. Agggghhhhh.
So then I hit the beer line, where I was standing behind, none other than, CLOWNSNACK! She was waiting in line, with the rest of us slobs, for her beer. Some guy chats her up, & me, being the nosey bitch that I am, overhear him calling her Clownsnack. Guy leaves, she turns my way, so I start talking to her.
1st, Clownsnack was *really* fucking nice. She was totally cool with me, (especially since it was completely friggin obvious I was eavesdropping) & she immediately asked my name & shook my hand. She asked me some random questions, such as if I was going to the Valentine's bout (in which she'll be skating). I am. She also asked if I had been to their new venue before. (FYI, the Thunderdome moved from central Austin to the Crocket Center, which is more North & thus more convenient to me. Wahoo!) I hadn't. So she goes on to explain how much more she digs the new place. She also mentions that they're talking about making the venue "bigger" by pushing back the wall.
If you don't know, the Crocket Center is a big warehouse type building, which they currently have cut in half by a wall in order to hold 2 functions at once. (On Sunday, the other half the center had a flea market going on.) I suspect the Lonestar Rollergirls side brings more $$$ in than anything the other side could offer.
So what does it mean that they are trying to expand the Thunderdome area? (Keep in mind that this is only the 2nd bout held in the new venue thus far & already they are talking expansion.) The 1st thing I could think of was that perhaps A&E was coming back to film in 2006. If they plan on filming again this year, they are definitely going to need more space. The crowd was sort of a madhouse & I suspect it might appear badly on film. And they probably need more power....but I'll get to that issue later. Also, they MUST be making some bank & needing more room. (The Lonestar's hold 2 bouts per month at $15 per head....and they are literally turning people away in droves.) The impression I'm getting is that the demand is growing faster than management can supply. But that's just my humble opinion.
But back to Clownsnack. She was really friendly & totally sweet. Not to mention very cute. TV just doesn't do her justice. She had her short hair in low pigtails with a beanie hat on. She looked like she was trying to be slightly incognito, but it wasn't working out. With her little pixie nose & hazel eyes, she looked down right elven. Anyway, I totally dug her. She was cool.
Of course half way through this conversation, I start digging through my purse for my camera. I'm totally ready to finally ask someone to pose for a photo with me...if only I can find my friggin' camera. Where is the damn thing? With my damn hubby where I left it!!!!!!!
While he's watching the game, (not taking a single picture I might add), I'm standing there talking to Clownsnack & kicking myself the entire time for abandoning my camera. So if you're keeping count, that's THREE perfectly good yet missed photo ops. AHHHHHHHH! After I got my beers, I found my hubby & whined, but with only a bare minimum of pouting. :o)
During the half, the band Maneja Beto played a mix of covers & some pretty kickin' original songs. The Putas were well ahead by this point, by at least a good 20+ points.
Then the 2nd half started. The Holy Rollers did what they could against the Putas, but the Putas nearly shut them out of the bout. I was completely blown away by Smarty Pants. She is one skater that, in the TV show, I think is totally under rated. She's an awesome jammer. On the Puta side, Chingona was a stand out as jammer. However, Chola really stole the show.
At some point in the 3rd quarter I believe, the power completely shut off. The building lights were working, but the DJ booth, scoreboard, announcer's booth, & all the extra lights/fans/etc completely went dark. But the bout kept going, regardless. There were about 3 jams done in near darkness. But after they fixed a fuse or flipped a breaker, everything came back on & resumed.
The Putas just did a number on the Rollers. And even though the Rollers were down, they still fought hard for it. There were a lot of crashes, penalties & points scored. From what I could see, Chola (Goddess Bless her) put down a number of Rollers. She jammed a considerable amount of times & got called out for a number of questionable moves. I saw her bring down at least 2 Rollers, one of which was great because it was so obvious & she shrugged her shoulders & was like, "What? What did I do?" I think she got the penalty wheel for that one.
See, you gotta understand. I had a few beers & was stuck in a floor crowd. It's not like I could take notes. Some of the pics I took of the action, to help the memory, were just black....especially stuff that didn't happen in front of me. Roller Derby is fast & hard. The only real time-outs & breaks are taken for 1) penalties & 2) major injuries. And as a fan, you don't want either to happen, especially the later. So it's a bit hard to recall the play-by-play action. Even with the announcers doing their play-by-play shit, from where I was standing, it was hard to even hear them over the crowd.
So unfortunately, I can't offer a detailed report of the action. (Although, I am looking into buying a tiny tape recorder to help with this for future bouts.) This was the 1st bout I was covering for the blog, so obviously my sports reporting skills need some work. But I am happy to report that yours truly has already ordered tickets for the next bout, which I'm expecting any day now in the mail. So this time, I'm going to have my ticket-in-hand & hopefully sail through the line. I'm also going to show up as early as possible so I can get a good spot in line. I'm determined to get a decent seat.
The penalties I did see, from a distance, were Cha-Cha having a pillow fight, that got ugly, & Chola have a long jump. The Putas always won when the vote of winner was up to the audience. It hurt the Holy Rollers because every time they lost the crowd vote, especially with the last penalty long jump vote, they lost a point. The final score would have been 83-40, except the Rollers lost the crowd vote for skating long jump. So the final score was 83 to 39.
It was a good victory for the Putas. If you've watched the A&E show, then you know how much it hurt the Putas when they lost to the Rollers & got shut out of the championship bout.
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