Adding another bullet point to the derby resume

Last night (Saturday, July 14) I head reffed a bout for the first time in my derby career (five or so years).


Since I began coaching three years ago, reffing has taken a back seat to my team's need for guidance, skills and strategy. I've only been able to pick up a few bouts here and there in the stripes, including a recent mixer in which I jam reffed for the third time.


I feel like all my experience and rules knowledge really came into play during the entire bout. I focused on leading my crew of referees and non-skating officials and worried less about moment-to-moment game play. Sure, I still made plenty of calls, but instead of always making the calls I was there to make sure the Jam Refs were allowed to make the calls on their jammers or that the other Inside Pack Ref was picking things up, too.


There really wasn't anything that sprang up new, but we did have a couple of learning experiences for many of the refs, including jam refs who needed some clarification on point scoring and best practices. But hey, every bout is a learning experience.


The host league was incredibly hospitable, making sure I had a solid crew in stripes and NSO shirts and it paid off in the end. The NSO and I were in constant communication. Communication is integral to not just officiating but all of derby.


I plan to take this experience and move forward in regards to both coaching and reffing.

DRILL: Welcome to the shark tank

I don't post drill blogs very often, but I'm bored, and the lack of responses from interview requests has me feeling a little down. So here we go ...

Shark Tank
Works best with 8-20 skaters. Takes approx. 5-10 minutes to play one game, sometimes less.

You'll need helmet covers and four cones.

Refs help to watch for illegal hits, but coaches can watch for things, too.

Place cones in a 10 foot by 10 foot square formation. Designate two skaters as "it" or the "sharks" and give them helmet covers for distinction. All other skaters are considered "fish."

- "Fish" may skate in any direction within the confines of the square. They may not exit the square.

- "Sharks" may move through the square, exit the square and even skate around the square.

- The "sharks" goal is to use legal hits (clockwise block would be the only action that is typically illegal, but for the sake of the game is legal) knock the fish down or out of the square. Once down or out, the "fish" exits the square. "Fish" may counterblock. The game continues when only two "fish" are remaining. They now become the new sharks.

If you're skaters are particularly skilled you may shrink the square or add additional sharks, but typically two are just fine. Particularly when they start working together or combo their hitting.

WFTDA games review panel rules Minnesota-Windy City bout ended in tie

"The Games Review Panel has voted to uphold the sanctioning and the tied score of the 6/16/2012 game between Windy City Rollers and Minnesota RollerGirls."

WFTDA membership has voted in the past that major rules violations alone are not sufficient to de-sanction a game. We found, while the lack of an overtime jam is a major rules violation as a result of officiating errors, there is insufficient evidence that there were enough instances of poor and inconsistent officiating to revoke the sanctioning from this game. As for the unprecedented tied score, we stand by the submitted bout paperwork as the correct totals for the game."

~ Women's Flat Track Derby Association, July 7, 2012

June 2012 DNN rankings

http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/2012/07/dnn_releases_july_2012_power_rankings


The rankings by Derby News Network are out, and while there's a few given top spots (Gotham, Rose and Denver) surprises continue to happen.

The Chicago Outfit have struggled this last season with the transfers of Sweet Mary Pain and Gaygan (Molly Hachet also transferred, but I couldn't remember if she was on the A-team roster) with tough losses and even tougher close games.

Their games against Arch Rivals during the 2011 North Central Region Tournament were literally off the chain, each team splitting their contests, but ultimately Outfit getting the better end of the deal. Perhaps, we'll see a repeat this year.

Windy City and Minnesota have the top two slots locked up in the North Central Region. We're still waiting WFTDA word on the association's ruling after it was determined the game ended in a tie during the clash at Roy Wilkins Auditorium. WFTDA has ruled that the tie stands and the bout remains sanctioned. (WCR has two bouts remaining prior to the NC tournament: South Bend, July 14; and Denver, Aug. 25.)

Iowa darlings, the Mid Iowa Rollers, have bounced back from a bizarre season managing a decent ranking in the WFTDA's South Central Region, their play against Kansas City vaulting them up the rankings. Proof that a team can play the big competition, lose and still gain something out of it.

Wasatch has vaulted in the rankings, mainly through the same course, e.g. playing tough teams and getting key wins against other teams in their region. It's hard to imagine this relatively new team has grown so quickly so fast. (Personal editor's note: There are some pretty awesome women on that team.) Their ref crew could easily be one of the top 20 in the nation, and it shows through Wasatch's play.

Montreal's surprise win over Charm City has the rankings boards and derby journalists excited about the New Skids again. They displayed excellent skill last year during ECDX and their shot at a championship bracket berth shot down by London in the 2011 East Region Tournament. Montreal gave an impressive performance at ECDX this year and could easily vie for a top 3 spot in the eastern regional tournament this year.

Ties not limited to Father's Day

In September 23, 1908, Fred Merkle committed a base running error when his teammate crossed home plate for the winning run for the New York Giants. The crowd stormed the outfield. Convinced the game was over, Merkle, who was heading to second base on a Al Bridwell single, turned around and headed for the club house. The Chicago Cubs recognized Merkle had never touched second base and scoured the area for the baseball, even tackling a Giants fan for the trophy. Long story short, the Cubs retrieved the ball, tagged second, and recorded the out, negating the winning run.

In all the hoopla, the game ended in a rarity for the sport of baseball, a tie.

The National Hockey League eliminated ties in the 2005-06 season, ruling that games would end in a shootout after a five-minute 4-on-4 overtime period. Prior to the ruling, teams earned 2 points in the standing for wins, and 1 point for a tie. Currently, any team losing in the overtime period or shootout is awarded 1 point for an overtime loss.

The National Football League currently records 17 games ending in a tie, the most recent between Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals who played to 13-13 on Nov. 16, 2008.

Historically, they don't occur often. Roller derby, or more specifically the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, has particular guidelines to ensure that games do not end in a tie.

That changed on June 16, 2012, during a contest between Windy City and Minnesota. While the scoreboard at the end of the game showed Minnesota the victor by a 160-155 margin, further scrutiny of the score showed the point total should have ended 155-155. The game and its outcome are currently under review by WFTDA.

You can watch the bout, available at YouTube.

The game remained incredibly tight throughout the 60 minutes.

In a game in its amateur stages, roller derby doesn't have the luxuries afforded professional athletic competitions, namely the backing of an independent officiating organization.

Derby's DIY attitude unfortunately extends to the referee and non-skating officials, as each league is customarily sharing talent when they bout. The home and away teams each bring in their own talent to staff bouts.

Thankfully, with WFTDA's recent addition of a leveled certification for NSOs and it's already rigorous referee certification process, the sport is slowly transitioning into a uniform standard. Most tournaments are staffed via a head referee and head NSO selected talents from an applicant pool.

I'm not sure how the MINN-WCR bout was staffed, but I'm assuming it's through the former process of a shared talent pool.

The problem with any system is that mistakes are made. The problem with derby is that there's so much uncertainty to be translated by a small set of eyes.

Points in most other sports are easy to spot: The ball goes in the hoop, the puck goes in the net and the guy with the ball crosses into the end zone. Points are clearly assigned based upon an event in which very little interpretation is necessary.

In roller derby, the jammer scores the points by legally passing blockers as she skates in bounds. Points require a jam referee to be watching his/her jammer while accumulating information from several sources.
-An outside pack referee relaying a penalty or No Pass No Penalty inside
- An inside pack referee relays Out of Play penalties so a jam ref can appropriately determine pass/point
- The penalty box may hold ghost points

Even after points are awarded, the officials may find that points were Awarded in Error, and must take them away or that the jam referee missed a point in the box.

Or worse, there could be a math error or a mistake between the score sheets and the scoreboard.

Lots of things could happen. And they do happen. Mistakes are made. It's unfortunate that a bout had to be "called" if even unofficial in error and now the outcome is left up to WFTDA.

I'm not sure how the situation would resolve, but if it is found to be a tie, then I think the teams should have to skate in a makeup game. Regardless, Minnesota certainly proved it deserves to be at the top of the North Central Region.

LINKS
http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/2012/06/13_minnesota_4_windy_city_play_stalemate
http://www.windycityrollers.com/wcr-and-mnrg-all-stars-play-exceptionally-close-bout/
The last six minutes from fan video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YQ74mOTaCM

Bout day

Today I head to Peoria with a couple of the Quad-City Rollers for a bout. It's one of the few travel bouts we have this schedule, which makes me sad because travel bouts are the same level of fun without all the anxiety and work on our part.

We have a really good relationship with Peoria, and it's always a pleasure to watch them improve more and more. We get a chance to show them how much we've improved since the last time we played them, albeit shorthanded.

I think we're skating with nine skaters tonight to their 13, so it'll definitely be interesting to see the outcome. Plus of those 9 skaters we have one or two fresh meat players, so the edge of experience will likely go to Peoria's favor. Here's to our endurance and ability to gel together as a team.

***

The Chicago Bruise Brothers make their official debut tonight against Green Bay's men's team, so I'm sorry I'm going to miss watching Justice Feelgood Marshall on the track live on DNN. Oh, the irony.

***

Our sisters to the West, Old Capital City Roller Girls play Des Moines Derby Dames tonight in WFTDA action tonight. I'm looking forward to hearing the results from that game after getting the news that Showstopper will be pulling the plug on her career after a recent injury. Plus, Iowa City is such a swell league.

***

Wednesday was the first time I ever got to use Gumball toestops. I recently spent several months with simply jam plugs in to force myself to learn to plow stop and hockey stop. After a round of jam reffing I decided that toe stops were in order to not get left in the dust from quick jammer starts. And finally after having gifted two other sets of toestops to skaters, I purchased another set (short stems) and put them in.

I'm still not overly comfortable running on them, but they're pretty amazing when suicide stops are necessary. :D Maybe one of these days I'll actually get comfortable enough to run with 'em.

***

Our vets have been scrimmaging with the junior league in preparation for their big tournament in a few weeks. They'll play their first bout against another team in Des Moines, so some of them are a little nervous. The juniors had only scrimmaged with themselves up to this point.

And while we aren't allowed to hit them (don't touch the minors), they have full permission to use us for target practice, essentially making us heavy bags on wheels.

It's amazing to watch their little minds soak up all the derby, as they're constantly learning. Hopefully playing against adults will give them a huge learning curve when they play other juniors.

I have to get ready for the road trip. Ciao.

Gatekeepers-NYSE Final jam

Without the benefit of a rolling game clock or seeing the scoreboard in general, we have to establish a few things. For all intents and purposes, this is the last jam of the game. The St. Louis Gatekeepers have a15 point lead against New York Stock Exchange. NYSE is skating with the 3-1 pack advantage with both jammers in play. They choose to take knee down start to optimize the amount of time Jammer Jonathon R can score against St. Louis' Batwing.


The Jam officially starts at 0:23 into the video and the Jammers are released on the No Pack call. Jonathon R gets to the front of the pack and around the lone Gatekeepers defender for lead jammer, while Batwing gets stuck behind a 3-wall. Jonathon R earns Lead Jammer at 0:32 in the video. Batwin escapes the pack but is called for a penalty at 0:42, less than 19 seconds after the jam is started. Again, we don't have the benefit of seeing all the action, so I'm speculating that it was initiating contact in the air, a Misconduct, setting a Power Jam in motion for New York. In the meantime, a Gatekeeper blocker returns to play from the penalty box, but not before Jonathon R earns an easy 5 points at 0:48.


At 0:53 NYSE's No. 2 makes a distinct motion that looks like it could have been called for Destruction of the Pack, but again we can't see the proximity (or lack of it properly). Both teams do make an attempt at forming the pack/keeping the pack formation. At 0:58 Jonathon R hits the pack for his second scoring pass, just as NYSE blocker No. 42(??) initiates a block against a Gatekeeper blocker, and proceeds to suicide stop as the two Gatekeeper blockers skate forward to block Jonathon R. A Gatekeeper blocker comes out of the penalty box and is instantly trapped by a NYSE three-wall putting the two lead St. Louis blockers out of play. Jonathon R earns another 5 points. At some at about 1:05 a whistle is blown for what I'm assuming was a Major (maybe for Destroying the Pack) against an NYSE blocker, as Gatekeepers now have a 3-2 pack advantage.


At 1:10, NYSE No. 2 initiates a legal block with the assist of 42, who then pulls him back, just as Jonathon R hits the pack. This action illegally creates a No Pack situation (i.e. Destroying the Pack) as JR addresses the St. Louis three-wall at the top of the pack. At 1:13, a whistle is blown and a referee issues a Destruction of the Pack penalty to NYSE. Jonathon earns another 5 points at 1:17 into the video.


The camera gets a little ahead of the action at 1:19 and we can't see everything but there does look to be effort on the part of the Gatekeepers to maintain a pack. But they get a little spread out and JR earns another five points.


The fourth Gatekeepers blocker returns to the track at 1:26 into the video, ahead of JR, and tries to initiate a block just as he enters the engagement zone, but allows the NYSE jammer to shuffle by. JR hits the pack and gets stuffed by a STL three-wall at 1:33 and again the camera is a little ahead of the action. A NYSE blocker delays getting on the track just a fellow blocker is exiting for a penalty, intentionally preventing a pack from forming. JR pushes through some more than passive Gatekeepers blocking, drawing some Out of Play Blocking penalties against St. Louis at 1:37. JR finally exits the pack, thusly scoring another 5 points, and a NYSE blocker is distinctly seen at the back of the track not making an attempt to reform the pack.


JR hits the pack again at 1:52, with what looks like one lone NYSE blocker taking the slow, outside line, letting his jammer try to draw the 2 remaining Gatekeepers Out of Play. At about 1:54 an NYSE blocker exits the penalty box, skates what looks to be against the legal direction making intentional contact with a STL blocker to push him out of the way to free JR. The referees I believe call the offending NY blocker on the penalty, as another Stock Exchange blocker returns to play from the penalty box.


The call from the mike is that Bat Wing returns to the track 2:04 into the video just as JR springs through for another 5 point score pass and calls the jam off.


This is going to be one of the videos that skaters and refs will scrutinize over for a few months, as there were multiple times a No Pack situation was created both legally and illegally. NYSE definitely used the rules to their advantage (or more to the disadvantage of the Gatekeepers) and manipulated gameplay enough to eek out a victory.


In the words of Conan the Vegetarian, this is why we can't have nice things.