212 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
212 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
Title: Why I Am Refusing To NSO Any Games with Clovis
|
|
|
|
I have an ax to grind with the Clovis roller derby team.
|
|
We have played a lot of games in the last two years,
|
|
have lost plenty of games at home and away,
|
|
but I have never left feeling as butthurt and angry as I am after our July 20 home game
|
|
against Clovis.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Summary
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
The Los Alamos M'Atom Bombs have been playiny against other teams since early 2012.
|
|
|
|
100% of the games we have played against Clovis have resulted in a serious injury
|
|
(requiring long-term medical attention and resulting in a roster reduction at future games).
|
|
|
|
0% of the games we have played against any other team
|
|
(at least 8 teams) have resulted in a serious injury.
|
|
|
|
I had previously refused to NSO any game with the player named Big Red
|
|
(previously with Amarillo, now with Clovis),
|
|
who caused our first injury.
|
|
|
|
I am now refusing to participate in any game with the Clovis team.
|
|
|
|
There are a few girls on the Clovis team who are fun to play with or against,
|
|
and would fit in easily with any of the other teams I love to help in any way I can.
|
|
But there are people on the team who are abrasive and dangerous,
|
|
and I don't feel the team is safe.
|
|
I'm clearly not alone in feeling this way,
|
|
which is how I know this isn't my problem.
|
|
It's Clovis's problem.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Score
|
|
-------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I want to make it clear that I'm not mad about the score.
|
|
|
|
At the end of the day, the score was 54 Clovis, 45 Los Alamos.
|
|
Anyone who follows Roller Derby should be surprised by this very low score.
|
|
But they should be less surprised when they hear there was only 22 minutes of
|
|
very interrupted gameplay.
|
|
|
|
We cancelled due to rain.
|
|
|
|
I'm not mad about this score.
|
|
It's not a game score, it's a snapshot of the score at 20 minutes into the first period,
|
|
and it's a 9-point spread, which is ½ of a *low-scoring* power jam.
|
|
|
|
But I don't even care if the Bombs win.
|
|
They keep playing because they have fun,
|
|
and other teams keep playing the Bombs because they're a fun team to play.
|
|
|
|
Playing Clovis is not fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Making The Most of Time
|
|
-------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We spent 22 minutes playing Roller Derby,
|
|
20 minutes waiting for the rain to stop,
|
|
and 65 minutes in timeouts and official reviews.
|
|
|
|
We play outdoors, and have to cancel due to weather.
|
|
Our very first home game got snowed out.
|
|
So when a flash flood warning was issued 5 minutes before our
|
|
July 20 home game against Clovis,
|
|
we asked our fans to shout out "no rain".
|
|
|
|
Clovis used their official review less than 10 minutes into the first period's clock.
|
|
Less than 15 minutes in,
|
|
I called an official timeout because all four referees were engaged in the middle of the track with the Clovis bench.
|
|
|
|
Less than 20 minutes in,
|
|
I called an official timeout because a Los Alamos skater was writhing on the ground in pain.
|
|
|
|
The "no rain" chants didn't work. A little over 20 minutes into the first period,'s clock,
|
|
we called a 20 minute delay to see if the rain would stop.
|
|
It did stop, long enough for us to run about 1:20 of the second period,
|
|
at which point we had to call an end to the game.
|
|
|
|
The first period began at 6:40. It was called off due to rain at 7:35,
|
|
with about 9:30 left on the period clock.
|
|
If we had only had the 3 team timeouts,
|
|
we could have finished the first period,
|
|
halftime, and been 5 minutes in to the second period before it started raining.
|
|
|
|
The second period was supposed to start at 7:45.
|
|
I wasn't watching the clock at that point,
|
|
but according to a friend, we didn't actually start until 8:15,
|
|
30 minutes later.
|
|
We spent those 30 minutes listening to skaters argue about
|
|
whether or not we should play the remaining 9 minutes on the first period.
|
|
|
|
All told, the game ran 1 hour and 35 minutes, from 6:40 until 8:15
|
|
Two 30-minute jams and a 20-minute halftime would have been
|
|
1 hour and 20 minutes.
|
|
Add in 6 team timeouts for 1 hour and 29 minutes.
|
|
|
|
Of course, we didn't know at the time that the rain would coincide exactly
|
|
with when halftime was scheduled.
|
|
But we did waste a tremendous amount of time standing around arguing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
League Relations
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I edited the screen shot to show the conversation, which is:
|
|
|
|
Fan: Madame Bombs would have been a better name.
|
|
Clovis Roller Derby: I see what you did there ;-)
|
|
Fan: I am full of ideas.
|
|
|
|
If you don't get the joke, the Los Alamos "M'Atom Bombs" is a play on words:
|
|
"Madam" is a polite formal address for a woman,
|
|
which the team altered to pay homage to Los Alamos being the birthplace of the nuclear bomb.
|
|
This fan is suggesting the word be spelled "Madam",
|
|
the title given to a Brothel (prostitution house) owner.
|
|
The official team account then acknowledges the joke with a wink.
|
|
|
|
I know things are different in Texas and eastern New Mexico,
|
|
and people get very passionate about sports.
|
|
But I have many professional associates in Lubbock and Amarillo,
|
|
and they are all decent, courteous people, with a strong moral compass and sense of pride,
|
|
so I know this isn't a cultural issue.
|
|
|
|
Joking that the other team is a bunch of whores doesn't engender good feelings,
|
|
and doesn't reflect well on the community you've built.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After Party
|
|
---------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Los Alamos Derby Dames and Animas Roller Girls (Farmington) have an excellent relationship.
|
|
They are the founding members of the "New Mexico Chupacabras" regional travel team,
|
|
and regularly drive out to each others' games just to sit in the bleachers and cheer.
|
|
At the very first Los Alamos / Farmington game, the after-party was in a dive bar
|
|
(the only place in town still open after the game).
|
|
The Bombs brought home-made chili in Crock pots and bags of Fritos.
|
|
It was awesome, and began a love affair between the two teams.
|
|
|
|
For our July 20 after party,
|
|
we were planning to open up the skating rink,
|
|
play music with a DJ light show,
|
|
and have pizza delivered.
|
|
It rained, and I had to break down the PA system and lights,
|
|
but we still had pizza and drinks.
|
|
|
|
Apparently this wasn't good enough for Clovis,
|
|
so they had their own after party,
|
|
and then got mad that we didn't come.
|
|
(we were busy breaking down and checking on our injured skater in the ER)
|
|
|
|
----
|
|
|
|
Clovis was (justifiably) unhappy that they didn't get to skate much,
|
|
so the Bombs offered to scrimmage with them during their morning practice the next day.
|
|
|
|
2 Clovis skaters showed up.
|
|
You ladies were great,
|
|
and I'm glad I got the opportunity to hang out with you.
|
|
Good luck with your team.
|
|
|
|
I've gotten word that some of the other Clovis skaters decided to stay at the hotel instead.
|
|
|
|
We tried our best.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In Closing
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
Your overly-agressive playing,
|
|
obnoxious attitude,
|
|
and decision to support your fans bad-mouthing us,
|
|
combine to not only make me feel justified,
|
|
but downright tingly at the thought of never officiating another game with Clovis.
|
|
|
|
My life is too short to waste it on dealing with nasty people.
|
|
The Clovis skaters feeling embarrassed by the actions of a few team-mates
|
|
need to decide how many boycotts you're willing to let them bring you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
About Me
|
|
----------
|
|
|
|
I am the head NSO for Los Alamos.
|
|
I volunteer for WFTDA and non-WFTDA leagues all around the area.
|
|
I wrote the free LADD scoreboard software used by most of New Mexico,
|
|
Southern Colorado, and spots in Utah, Arizona, California, Alberta,
|
|
and more.
|
|
I wrote the free woozle.org penalty timer app for Android,
|
|
with almost 1000 active users.
|
|
At 2013's Roller Con,
|
|
will be unveiling free plans for a build-it-yourself electronic scoreboard,
|
|
and for a build-it-yourself derby-specific stopwatch.
|
|
I'm also co-presenting, with Evil Lucian from Moab,
|
|
best practices for small town derby teams to run a bout with limited staff.
|
|
|