This bout was totally different than the 1/29/06 bout with the Putas/Holy Rollers for several reasons:1. There was a hell of an Austin Fire Dept (AFD) presence there.
2. It wasn't as packed, crowd wise, even though both bouts sold out.
3. The game was REALLY close. No 40 point blow out. It came down to the last few jams to determine a winner.
4. I drank many more beers this time. (Hell, I wasn't driving so I got down with the Lonestar.)
We arrived around 5:20, thinking we'd get a good spot in the front of the line. Wrong. The line was already starting to wrap around the parking lot, but we managed to get in line before it got out of hand.
The only problem with the line is the cutters. We had a group of 4 people ahead of us in line, but by the time the doors opened, their group had grown to about 10-15 people who conveniently jumped ahead of a long line of people behind them. I heard a few complaints around me.
Even in the parking lot, you could feel the AFD presence. They brought in a firetruck, which I didn't remember being there last bout.
The ticket lines were much better marked with added signs this time. Kudos. Of course, it's like what happens to me at the grocery store. Last bout, I was Will Call tickets, which was the monster line. This time, I was Have Tickets, which was of course the longest line. (I swear I can't win for losin'.)
By the time we made it in, most of the good seats were taken. There were some seats left high up in the stands, but none of them were good for taking pictures with a disposable camera. I noticed that a lot of the prime seats were all reserved for rollergirls friends/family, and rightly so.
BTW, I happened to run into Lux at this point, when we were looking at the seating situation. She was chatting with friends so I didn't bother her. But Frankie, her DJ boyfriend, came up & talked to her as we were leaving the area. (They looked like they are still an item....good for them.)
We found some seats on the standing platforms west of the track. (We were literally directly opposite the announcers station.) We grabbed some beers & chilled for a while. I noticed that they had added a traffic path in the western part of the track. Last bout, there were so many people standing in the west part that it was pretty crowded to walk thru from one side of the venue to the other. But they fixed that, clearly marking the standing area & defining a clear walk path with roped barriers. Again, kudos.
One thing I noticed is that it wasn't as crowded as before. The crowd streamed in steadily, but it wasn't as packed, even though they had announced to people buying tickets that they were sold out pretty quickly after doors opened. If memory serves, I believe they announced that around 200 tickets were available, however there is no way that 200 people went through the ticket purchase line before it was shut down. I suspect AFD had something to do with that.
Another thing, there weren't any raffle give-aways this bout. Last time, they raffled off a steady stream of things by the last few digits on your ticket. I don't remember them doing it at all cause I was ready this time, since I had my ticket in hand.
The bout started pretty much on time, so everything seemed kosher. However, as per the TXRD message boards, supposedly the bout almost didn't take place since AFD threatened to shut it down. Don't know if that's true or not, but it seems on the up & up since AFD has the Thunderdome currently shut-down for the 2/26/06 bout. (More on that later.)
Skater intros took place rather quickly, then the bout started. The Hellcats took the early lead in the 1st jam, 1-4 Hellcats, which pretty much set the pace for the 1st half. At one point, they were tied 8-8, but a few spins of the wheel had a rollergirl from each team fighting for crowd approval. I believe one was a pillow fight, which got pretty ugly. Hellcats, hands down, won that one. Cowgirls lost a point. The other spin, which saw 1 girl from each team take a lap with the other girl trying to stop her, went by audience to the Hellcats, losing another Cowgirl point.
Both teams were strong, but the Hellcats managed to hold an average 3 point lead over the Cowgirls during most of the 1st half. Unfortunately, my memory sucks. At the time, I was reciting jams & scores in my head, telling hubby to help me remember the particulars. But I also admitted that I'd never be able to remember all this, & hubby's advice was to bring a notebook & pen next time. It looks like I'll probably have to cause it's now 4 days later & my recall is totally gone. I know, I know... I suck.
I have to admit though, not all of it is entirely my fault. The Hellcat uniforms are designed with a large back patch in the middle with the name & number of the player in smallish black lettering around the patch all on hot pink fabric. So it was almost impossible to tell who was who. (I even asked people around me as well as my hubby, who has perfect vision, & no one could help.) Also, there seems to be a lack of speakers for the sound system around the west part of the track. From the south end of the track, I could hear fine while I was walking around. But from our seats, it sounded like...
"Blah-blah-blah-blah, Hellllllcaaaaaats! Blah-blah-blah-blah, Rhinestone Cowwww-blahs."
The crowd is pretty loud, so it muffled a lot of the sound. (Also the girl spinning the wheel is barely audible.) Usually, I had to watch the scoreboard closely to tell what was going on.
During the 1st quarter, hubby Jordon got pics with Chola & the Hellcats mascot. Somehow, that ignited a fire under his ass & suddenly, he was the roving reporter. lol. He had a lot of fun doing it & seems to be getting into my whole blog project.
When half-time started, I began walking around. I ran into Lux again at the restrooms. She was talking to a little girl in front of me, who was all decked out in Cowgirls colors. I managed to shake Lux's hand & chat her up for a minute. She was very nice. I caught the band, which rocked. I ended up behind General Lee Fiesty walking through the crowd. I tapped her on the shoulder & wished her luck, saying they were doing an awesome job.
Then around this time, I ended up spotting Miss Conduct in front of me. She was working, seeming to be checking that trash cans weren't full & beer stations were okay. Ms Thang is tiny but quick. I had to mall walk to catch up to her. It was funny cause I zipped right by my seated hubby fast & waved as I tried to catch up to Miss Conduct. He just laughed at me. She was so sweet & totally down for a photo with me. As I mentioned in my last post, a guy came up wanting a photo & she happily chirped, "Girls first!" Then she literally hugged me by the neck all gung-ho style & posed. She was pretty awesome.
As half-time wore on, I happened to catch sight of an AFD guy hanging out watching the crowd. (Pay attention here cause nobody has this info.) Now my hubby was a volunteer firefighter back in the day, so I've always been supportive of firefighters. (It takes a special type of person to throw him/herself into the life & death situations these people face.)
So I go over to talk to Joe, as it turns out. I told him about the blog & asked him if I could ask him a few questions. He was very nice & agreed. Actually, he mentioned that most people wouldn't really talk to him or they'd leave the area that he'd enter, so he was happy to chat with someone who would give him the time of day. (I told him that most people probably took 1 look at the badge & scattered. He laughed & agreed that was probably true.)
So here is the informal AFD guy interview I did (everything is paraphrased):
1. There's a noticably stronger presence of AFD here, much stronger than the last bout. What's the reason for it?
~ He said they're at all the bouts, but since it's a new venue, a lot of the wrinkles are still being ironed out. They are there to make sure everything is in compliance & the safety of the crowd is maintained.
2. I asked if there had been any problems thus far. Had TXRD's management been in compliance? Were there any problems with fire codes?
~ He said no, the Lonestar Rollergirls organization has been working very well with them. There have been no problems with management. The requests that have been made by AFD have been met and/or exceeded by TXRD.
3. What is maximum capacity for the venue?
~ They don't know yet. That is one of the things they are still working out.
That was pretty much all that I asked him. He did mention that a lot of the AFD guys were pretty big fans. Many of them had been at the old Thunderdome on duty & had become fans of the sport. He also mentioned how much he liked the new venue, stating that the old venue was horribly uncomfortable in the summer since it had no A/C.
He was a really cool guy. When I mentioned that my hubby was VFD years ago, he walked over & shook his hand. They chatted a little about fire stuff. He made sure to ask me what I thought of the crowd & venue. I told him I thought TXRD was doing a great job & that every time I come I noticed changes & improvements. I did mention that the size of the crowd seems to vary from one match to the next, which was why I asked what capacity officially was. He could only shrug his shoulders & say that they are still trying to figure out how many people the venue can accomodate safely. After shaking hands, we parted ways.
At the time, I didn't realize how important the conversation was. Currently, the 2/26/06 bout has been, for lack of a better term, "shut down" until further notice. As per the TXRD message boards, the problem is not with the TXRD organization itself not being in compliance, but with the building owner.
This whole thing is just very curious because the AFD guy I spoke with had nothing but good things to say about the Lonestar Rollergirls & the TXRD management, even mentioning that TXRD was always cooperative & had met any change AFD had asked of them. From what I had gotten out of the conversation, AFD in general seemed pretty supportive of Austin Roller Derby. So I think the problem is that the building owner is just not up to code or something to host the amount of crowds the Lonestar Rollergirls draw. You have to remember that prior to TXRD relocation to this particular venue, the biggest event to happen there on a regular basis is a flea market. But I'll keep a watch out on this & report if I find out anything. (TXRD states the 2/26/06 bout will be rescheduled if need be.)
Before half-time was thru, we took pics with Redd Foxxie, who was very nice. I also got a photo with Bones, the newest Puta. We met a lot of people around us, all of whom were really nice.
The 2nd half of the bout was pretty intense. I have to admit that I didn't pay as much attention the 2nd half. I got distracted cause I was a little tipsy by this point & chatting with people around me. The 2nd half flew by & suddenly, it was over. In the end, the Hellcats weren't able to hold off the Rhinestone Cowgirls. The final score was 65-57 Cowgirls.
We really had a great time at this bout. I hope that everything gets worked out so the next bouts can go on as scheduled. But with the TXRD bout on 2/26/06 on hold, it looks like the next Austin Roller Derby taking place will probably be the Texas Rollergirls season opener on 3/5/06. I'll definitely be there.
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