Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Morristown Madams in the News

Sadly, we lost to Maine's Calamity Janes on Saturday, but the Daily Record gave us some coverage. Thanks, DR!

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090330/COMMUNITIES32/903300309/1203/COMMUNITIES

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Morristown Madams on Google Video

Did you know that we've been uploading our bouts to Google Video?

Morristown Madams vs. Hudson Valley Horrors, 01/28/09:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5532032280392517774

Morristown Madams and Long Island Roller Rebels Mash-Up, 02/28/09:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8620640491313235706

Morristown Madams vs. Suburbia Roller Derby, 11/14/08:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1005817424925803917

Morristown Madams vs. Pocono High Rollers, 6/14/08:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7072654525998263519

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Dee Licious In The News

Check out this article at the Star-Ledger about Dee Licious (a.k.a. Chris Manzella):

http://blog.nj.com/iamnj/2009/03/dee_licious.html

The article will be in print in the Sunday edition. Also check out this recent interview she did for Comcast News:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-863959430127939880

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Next Morristown Madams Home Bout, 03/28/09


Morristown Madams vs. Maine Roller Derby's Calamity Janes! Tickets available at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/51821

Monday, March 2, 2009

Tales From The Booth, 2/28/09 - Cupids vs. Fallen Angels

(photo courtesy of Jeff Boyce)

by John Wilkes Score Booth (a.k.a. Rogzilla)
I hit up the skaters for music suggestions for this special love-themed bout, and received no less than seven requests for Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive, the timeless disco anthem for the broken-hearted. I never really listened to the lyrics before, but damn, that song is bitter. Maybe I should be thankful that I spend the bouts surrounded by inch-thick glass?

Tales From The Booth, 1/31/09 - vs. Hudson Valley Horrors


by John Wilkes Score Booth

Dee Licious has gotten knocked down right in front the score booth. From my vantage point up on the stepladder, I have a direct line of sight as her head smacks against the floor. As she slowly stands up I can see that her eyes are spinning around like reels in a slot machine.

It was a rough hit and we're all a little concerned, including Dee. She returns to the home team bench to let the EMTs check her out because of pain in her jaw, but after a few minutes they give her the okay and she's back on the rink.

Later at the Grasshopper, I paint a Looney Toons-esque picture for Dee of her eyes rolling around in their sockets. She thinks this is hilarious. She lets out a big laugh, then abruptly stops and puts her hand to her cheek, letting out a soft little "ow."

My only regret this evening is that I didn't have any romantic music to play while Inna Propriate asked Doom Hilda to be her derby wife. I'll have to download something timeless and poignant, like Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love", just in case this happens again.

Tales From The Booth, 6/14/08-11/15/08



by John Wilkes Score Booth

Seeing a Morristown Madams bout from the score booth is an exercise in selective isolation. You are surrounded by four scratched-up thick glass panels, two of which look out onto the rink and four on the sides that border the visitor and home penalty boxes. The panels are just above eye-level, so most of the sound during the match is blocked out, but once in a while some interesting things make it through...

6/14/08 - vs. Pocono High Rollers

One of the High Rollers is being checked out after a fall by our much-appreciated EMTs in the visitors' penalty box. "Do you know anything about derby girls?" she asks them. "You should know that stuff like this doesn't stop us. We just keep on rolling." They explain to her that she might have cracked a rib and could risk injuring her lung. "So what? I still have my other lung!"

Later on in the game, another High Roller has taken a spill at turn 2 and the EMTs are attending to her. Ova Dose has been manning the Madams' penalty box to my right, and as she turns away from the rink she has a look on her face that is truly pained. "I can't take it when this happens." She glances out at the EMTs briefly, then looks away again, her knuckles turning white as she grips the edge of the hole in the glass.

9/27/08 - vs. Hudson Valley Horrors

Ova Dose has made her triumphant return to the rink, and takes a brief spill during one of the jams. She's waiting on the bench before the second period starts, and to me she doesn't seem like her usual energetic self. I pop my head over the top of the booth and ask how she's doing.

"I don't think I'm brave enough to go out there," she tells me with an uneasy smile. I try to give her a pep talk but I don't think it's working. "Come on, you're brave enough to go out there in the first place, so you're brave enough to go back."

She looks up at me and says, "You don't understand, that's not brave, that's stupid," pronouncing that last word as only a girl from Liverpool can.

11/1/2008 - vs. Lehigh Valley Special Vixens Unit

You learn something new every day. Today I'm learning that the score board doesn't display "99." Unfortunately I learn this during the final minutes of the bout.

Okay, reset home team score (scoreboard goes blank). Add 99 points to home team score (scoreboard shows a big fat zero). Hm, maybe another approach. Reset home team score (scoreboard goes blank). Add 1 point to home team score (scoreboard shows a one). Add 98 points to home team score (scoreboard shows a big fat zero, again).

Meanwhile, the zebras in the center island, the Madams, and the Vixens are all yelling, "That's not the right score!" while the bout continues. Eventually the Madams win by one point in a furious final jam, but I miss it entirely while I frantically press buttons.

11/15/08 - vs. Suburbia Roller Derby

Poor Bozie Banger. Not only is she in the penalty box, but she's at the mercy of me and D-Ball, who is coaching the team tonight in her Bear Bryant get-up. Usually when D-Ball skates for the Madams she makes plenty of noise by slamming her helmet against the side wall. Tonight all she has for a noisemaker is a plastic clipboard, which is barely holding up from the abuse.

I start poking fun at D-Ball by slamming my whiteboard against the booth. D-Ball responds and soon we're playing "Dueling Boards" with Bozie in the middle. She looks at both of us like we're crazy. (We are, and she should know this by now.)

A few moments later, Mega Menace is returning to the bench and D-Ball breaks the clipboard while smacking her on the butt with it. Maybe we should get her a metal one next time.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

We're still here...

...we just haven't been here, but check back soon, we will be updating this site with more bloggy goodness. In the meantime, link up with us at:

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And keep an eye out for our revamped web site, coming soon at http://morristownmadams.com/