DC Rollergirls Expo Bout "Peep Show"
I am happy to say that the Expo Bout went smoothly! We didn't expect to sell out but sold all 800 tickets. Sadly that meant many friends weren't able to get tickets at the door. The room had plenty of space left but we were stuck with the Dulles Sports Plex's fire code. Morgan had been pushing other friends to buy tickets online but never did get hers, so she didn't make it :( Fans were cheering and waving signs and I could feel the excitement from the crowd as well as the competitiveness of the rollergirls. The girls did a great job for their first bout (I have seen bad ones!) and I could tell how hard they were working. It was a great game and there were no malicious penalties or fighting. Each team had their kids dressed in team colors as mascots (see photos) - "Hater Tots" for the Secretaries of Hate.
The refs busted butt sweeping and laying down the track in time for the girls to warm up before the bouts. Since I'd had less experience than the other refs (who go to practice more than I do and went to the East Coast Extravaganza which gave them a lot of experience in one weekend), they gave me the easier job of being the penalty box timer. So there are very few photos of me (there is one halfway down Bert Schreibstein's page). I think I did a good job of it; luckily I never had to time more than 2 girls at once. Unfortunately we didn't practice with pulling girls out for penalties during scrimmages at practice, so nearly every time a girl got a major or four minor penalties and had to go to the box, I had to explain how the process went. She sat for one minute then I gave her five seconds' warning to get ready to go back in the game behind the pack. Most of them were impatient and kept asking me how much longer they had. One of my best friends there and former team captains, Holly Go-Hardly yelled and cursed at me for doing my job "wrong" when I was doing exactly what the head ref told me to do (and while the rollergirls are "in charge" of the league, the head ref makes the calls and sets any specific interpretations of rules during bouts). So both teams in at that point were told if they showed such disrespect to a ref they'd be ejected from the game.
We made up at the after-party at Asylum and I shoved some cake in her face and carried her into the mosh pit. We had an all-girl mosh pit while So Damn Thirsty played, until the bar people told us to calm it down. I ran into a neighbor who told me three times, "I should buy you a drink!" but I had to grab him and drag him to the bar later to get him to do so! Hey, don't offer it if you don't mean it because I will take you up on that ;)
I volunteered to take the sound equipment back to the place in Wheaton we rented it from - we got it from there because they said they were open on Sunday. However, they were not, and I was late to work Monday morning after dropping it off. I hope we come up with a better way to do this; I said I can't take off work for this every month.
Sadly I didn't have time for taking pictures; I was so upset without my camera but reffing kept me busy. Shamus got a couple pics of me but I'm still waiting for him to put his up.
Other people's:
Photos by James Chi
Blog and photos by Marissa McCormick
Photos by Bert Schreibstein
Photos by James Calder
Some videos on YouTube
The refs busted butt sweeping and laying down the track in time for the girls to warm up before the bouts. Since I'd had less experience than the other refs (who go to practice more than I do and went to the East Coast Extravaganza which gave them a lot of experience in one weekend), they gave me the easier job of being the penalty box timer. So there are very few photos of me (there is one halfway down Bert Schreibstein's page). I think I did a good job of it; luckily I never had to time more than 2 girls at once. Unfortunately we didn't practice with pulling girls out for penalties during scrimmages at practice, so nearly every time a girl got a major or four minor penalties and had to go to the box, I had to explain how the process went. She sat for one minute then I gave her five seconds' warning to get ready to go back in the game behind the pack. Most of them were impatient and kept asking me how much longer they had. One of my best friends there and former team captains, Holly Go-Hardly yelled and cursed at me for doing my job "wrong" when I was doing exactly what the head ref told me to do (and while the rollergirls are "in charge" of the league, the head ref makes the calls and sets any specific interpretations of rules during bouts). So both teams in at that point were told if they showed such disrespect to a ref they'd be ejected from the game.
We made up at the after-party at Asylum and I shoved some cake in her face and carried her into the mosh pit. We had an all-girl mosh pit while So Damn Thirsty played, until the bar people told us to calm it down. I ran into a neighbor who told me three times, "I should buy you a drink!" but I had to grab him and drag him to the bar later to get him to do so! Hey, don't offer it if you don't mean it because I will take you up on that ;)
I volunteered to take the sound equipment back to the place in Wheaton we rented it from - we got it from there because they said they were open on Sunday. However, they were not, and I was late to work Monday morning after dropping it off. I hope we come up with a better way to do this; I said I can't take off work for this every month.
Sadly I didn't have time for taking pictures; I was so upset without my camera but reffing kept me busy. Shamus got a couple pics of me but I'm still waiting for him to put his up.
Other people's:
Photos by James Chi
Blog and photos by Marissa McCormick
Photos by Bert Schreibstein
Photos by James Calder
Some videos on YouTube