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Roller Derby Highlightsrevised 08/21/2012

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https://www.si.com/vault/1969/03/03/558511/the-roller-derby

"The Roller Derby"by Frank Deford / Sport Illustrated / March 3, 1969

"All I want out of it," Joan Weston said, "is to make good money; get out of it in one piece; and years from now when I say I was in the Derby, I want people still to know what it is. I want that."

FIVE STRIDES ON THE BANKED TRACK

Charlie O'Connell (at the bar in Duluth after the last game of his career): I get so tired with the new skaters complaining all the time. You can take any outfit and tear it apart if you really want to.

Bill Groll: You mean any outfit, in or out of sports?

O'Connell: You can tear any outfit apart. So look at it this way. What does the Derby give you? Where would you be, Lou?

Lou Donovan: Without the Derby?

O'Connell: Yeah. Without the Derby. If there wasn't one.

Donovan: Not in boxing anymore. I had to leave there. And I couldn't be in football or anything.

O'Connell: So where would you be if you weren't skating?

Donovan: Well, I'd just be in construction all the time.

O'Connell: Right. You and me and all these guys. You'd be just a working stiff.

Donovan: Sure.

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Groll: But it isn't just that thing, Charlie. The minute I saw it -- the speed, the contact -- I knew it was... I fell for it.

O'Connell: That's another reason not to tear it apart. We all just love to skate. I know that, too. Look, I know that.

The Roller Derby still lives and prospers in 1969. A downtown blue-collar game that rocks and whirs on its way, exciting its own, nurturing its young, expanding all the time with hardly a care for the ordained representatives of "respectable" sport who carefully ignore it. Roller Derby is, in fact, managed by young suburban-living executives who understand television and urban demography and know how to manipulate the realities of the '60s.

At the same time, Roller Derby is still a breath of the Depression with the carnival air of the dance marathons that spawned it. It is still one-night stands and advance men, launder-mats, and greasy spoons. The players themselves, like Barnum's elephants, construct and dismantle their track, and carry it (and their puppy dogs) along to the next town.

It is a game played by kids who come right out of high school or off the assembly line or the farm the way they used to do in all other sports before everyone started going to junior college, at least, and drawing bonuses and signing endorsements and founding player associations. Maybe the Roller Derby today is like all sports years ago. Or maybe the Roller Derby is just something that has always been like nothing but itself.

The heart of the Roller Derby is the San Francisco Bay Bombers' team. It is the home team for most every Derby fan in America. The Bombers play various villainous opponents in Oakland and San Francisco, San Jose, Richmond, Santa Rosa, and other towns in northern California. From April through September, the Sunday night Bombers game at Kezar Pavilion is videotaped and sent out to 79 stations all over the U.S. (plus Japan) which schedule the tapes at their own convenience.

Half the Roller Derby is still a women's contest and the audience is predominantly female. There is no doubt about that. Above the steady whir of the plastic wheels on the Masonite-banked track, the noise at the Roller Derby is screechy. But with sighs. Not the raucous, gruff sounds that mark most other sporting events.

The Bombers' opponents ("the visitors") are usually called the "Pioneers" or the "Cardinals". On the Winter tour last year, the opposition was billed as the "All Stars" (most of the time). Occasionally the All Stars would go under another name. They were the New England Braves, for example, when the tour hit Providence and Boston.

But it doesn't matter. Everybody still roots for the Bombers. Their live and TV audience is matched by very few teams in any sport.

The tour is a triumphal procession including only those towns that feature the Bombers on TV. Last Winter's (the most ambitious in history) took the Bombers and the All Stars to 55 cities in 62 days. They traveled more than 15,000 miles with 13 carloads and one semitrailer that carried the track and was driven by Jimmy Pierce, a teamster who was also one of the referees.

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In order, the tour went to Reno to Lincoln to Omaha, Chicago, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Steubenville, Detroit, Toledo, Providence, Boston, Worcester, New Haven, Dayton, Canton, Steubenville, Cleveland, Chicago, Richmond, Norfolk, Greenville, St. Louis, Peoria, Moline, Dayton, Hammond, Boston,

Worcester, Providence, New Haven, Norfolk, Camp LeJeune, Washington, Greenville, Salem, Akron, Cleveland, Moline, Madison, Peoria, Toledo, Dayton, Detroit, Boston, Providence, Waterloo, Minneapolis, and Duluth.

Obviously the schedule makes no sense whatsoever. It winds, goes back-and-forth, up-and-down, here-and-there, and doubles back again, 13 cars in search of an arena. Charlie O'Connell, the greatest male star in the game (who is, in fact, always referred to as "Bomber Great" Charlie O'Connell), says that Roller Derby president Jerry Seltzer planned the trip by throwing darts at a map. "Blindfolded over his shoulder," O'Connell adds.

The players call the boss "Drip and Dry". Which is the name Ann Calvello gave Seltzer because his coat appears to ride on a hanger even when it is on his shoulders.

Ann has dyed pearly blue hair and drinks out of a large silver chalice that she acquired when she was skating with another outfit in Australia. She was the women's captain of the All Stars last year and has been skating for 22 years.

"Don't ask me when I turned pro," she said to the comedian in the nightclub in Waterloo, Iowa. "I would rather you ask me when I turned professional. It sounds better that way."

The comic was dying on stage anyway until Calvello (she is usually called by just her last name) joined his act. "I'm 38," she told him and the audience. "The same way I am around. Only after this trip, I'm down to a perfect 36 — 12-12-12."

The skaters were dead tired relaxing after the game, having just come straight through from Providence to Waterloo (1,100 miles). They never stop for the night. The occupants of each car take turns driving. Jimmy drove the 1,100 miles in the semi (48 hours with just 2½ hours off for napping in the cab).

"You just push on," he said. "You just push it another mile. It's the same thing with skating. After a while, it's all the same whether you're tired or not."

Jimmy was exhausted, of course. He was supposed to take the truck right out after the Waterloo game and drive to Minneapolis. So Hal Janowitz -- the fine old skater who is now the tour manager -- let him have the game off to sleep in the cab. Bill Morrisey, the other referee, had to work alone.

Morrisey was limping from a muscle pull that he had received while breaking up a fight among the girls. He was sore and tired. Mrs. Dee Morrisey, who was along on the tour because it was also their honeymoon, provided pain pills and Band-Aids for her husband. She supplied coffee during the game to help keep Bill and some of the players alert. Mrs. Morrisey also kept score on the tour although nobody cared much about the statistics.

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Nobody was even sure who was ahead on the tour -- the Bombers or the All Stars. "They're just exhibitions," Eddie Krebs said.

Eddie is 24, has been skating since he was 15, is lean and wiry, and may be the fastest skater on the All Stars. "Back in the Bay Area, it's different," he said. "Those are League games. The fans know your abilities and what to expect. So you just get out there and skate. On a trip like this, though, the games don't count. So you give the fans what they want."

Virtually since it was created in 1935 by Leo Seltzer (Jerry's father), the Derby has had to contend with charges that it is all an act. And sometimes that has not been a bum rap, either. But the Derby people bristle at such talk. "We're not showmen or anything like that," Krebs said. "Even a night like this, we're skating hard. When you don't skate hard, that's when you get hurt."

This was March in Waterloo. But a premature burst of August had blown in from somewhere and the temperature had gone into the 80s. It was particularly bad for the players just in from properly icy New England. In addition, the crowd in Waterloo was about the worst one on the whole tour. The fans were not even stirred when a couple of the All Stars poured the contents of the water cooler all over Bomber Larry Smith in the infield.

The Bombers moved into their locker room at halftime exhausted and disgusted. Everybody went for a cigarette first thing. Nearly everybody on the Derby smokes a lot. The most exciting discovery on the whole tour across the U.S. was that packs went for 25¢ in the cigarette machines in North Carolina.

"How can you skate before so few people?" said Julian Silva.

"And all sitting on their hands," said Larry Smith. He was still wet all over.

Everybody took another drag.

"Can't we all just chip in a dollar each and pay them to go home?" Julian asked. "I was downtown today looking around..."

"Downtown?" asked Lou Donovan incredulously.

"Well, I was downtown," Julian went on, "and everyone was just moping around like everyone here."

"It's whatdyacallit - the 'spring fever'," Charlie O'Connell said. "And us going from cold to hot overnight 18 hours, what do you expect from us before a crowd like this? Break our butts?"

"The spring fever," Julian said. "It hits the farmers first, I guess. They're outside. They work hard."

"They still don't know what's going on out there," Charlie said.

Everybody put down a cigarette and reached for a comb. Besides smoking, the thing that distinguishes a skater male-or-female is a continuing interest in maintaining a neat and well-designed head of hair. The Bombers took their final drags ... put their combs back ... and went out before a quiet few to play the last half in Waterloo. Referee Morrisey got kicked in the groin while breaking up a fight between Larry Smith and Ronnie Robinson of the All Stars.

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Most Americans remember the Derby from its golden age (the early '50s) when it shared television eminence with Milton Berle when a skater with the lyrical name of "Toughie" Brasuhn became a household word. Television exploited the Derby and discarded it, the first sport it wasted. It has only been in the last couple of years that the Derby has begun to thrive again.

The game has been constantly streamlined as the skaters have become faster. But essentially what remains is the same rough-and-tumble action. Teams are composed of 2 units (male and female) who alternate on the banked track skating 8 periods of 12 minutes each. The clock stops only when serious injuries occur and for disorders of a more spectacular nature.

Each team fields 5 players at a time. Two in striped helmets are "jammers", the potential scorers. They attempt to break out of the pack, circle the track, and then pass opponents. One point is awarded for each opponent who is lapped. 2 players are ineligible to score. Like interior linemen in football, they are called "blockers". They wear solid-color helmets.

The helmets are a rather recent innovation. While the players grudgingly acknowledge their value as protection, the fact that they hardly enhance one's looks and also play havoc with hairdos makes them very unpopular.

The 5th player is the black-helmeted "pivotman" who is usually the team's captain and star. O'Connell is the prototype pivotman. He usually stays back and blocks but occasionally will choose to jam and try for points.

Once a potential scorer breaks free of the pack, the jam begins. The jammers have 60 seconds to score, although if strategy dictates, the lead jammer can call off the action at any time by placing his hands on his hips. Top jammers can skate at speeds of more than 30 mph though this is seldom achieved on the banked oval track where everyone moves around in what is called a "five stride" (i.e., taking 5 steps, then coasting through much of the turn, and then repeating the maneuver).

The track often must be shortened to fit into a particular arena. A regulation track is 310 feet in circumference. But sections may be removed easily from the straightaway like leaves from a dining-room table.

While the speedy jammers are the life of the game, it is the larger players (the O'Connells) who dominate the action. At 6'1½" and 200 pounds, Charlie is a Gulliver in the Derby for it is populated for the most part by small men and women. Most of the men are around 5'8" and some are not much larger than jockeys. There are some big girls. But most are of average size and many are tiny. Mention Toughie Brasuhn and people say sure they remember her. That huge woman knocking everybody down. But Toughie is 4'11".

There is surprise and disappointment for many fans on the tour when they see the little skaters in the flesh for the first time. It does not seem right that people who are from California and are also on television should not be larger than life. But when the players go out on the track and everyone is raised a few inches by the skates and starts whirring 5 strides around the elevated banked track, everything seems bigger and better again.

The truth is that if one team had a couple of large agile skaters, it probably would be unbeatable simply because no rival jammer could ever score. Certainly that is a flaw in the game. It is no problem today, however, since Seltzer owns all the Derby teams and manipulates the rosters to keep things competitive.

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The same situation exists in the Los Angeles league where one corporation owns all the teams. Bill Griffiths, a suave former adman, is the president of L.A.'s Roller Games or the National Skating Derby. The name 'Roller Derby' is copyrighted and Seltzer is suing Griffiths' group for $15 million. Nevertheless, the 2 rivals continue to trade visiting teams in order that the Bombers and the L. A. home team (the Thunderbirds) can have an occasional new face to contend with.

Many skaters float (freelance), signing with a different organization each season. All skaters, even the floaters, always call the Roller Derby "the Derby" and refer to the Roller Games as "the other outfit" or "another outfit." Both groups publish newspapers, newsletters and yearbooks that feature behind-the-scenes gossip stories and all the inside on the latest trades, rumored trades, dissensions, and feuds.

Roller Derby fans feel personal involvement with their sport. They have little interest in standings and records. It is the action and the personalities that count with them. Most of them have no interest in other sports. "Who are these people? Where do they come from?" the arena owners always ask Jerry Seltzer.

Especially on the tour, the fans come in large groups (often whole families) in station-wagons or even campers. One irate fan once hurled her infant at Toughie Brasuhn. Luckily, Toughie caught the baby. "And it was so young it was still wrinkled," says Joan Weston, the blonde captain of the Bombers' girl squad.

Joan, a warm intelligent tour veteran, is probably the object of more adoration than any other female athlete in the nation. Her fans react to her as others do to movie stars. In many towns she has to put on kerchief and sunglasses if she wants to walk around without being harassed by admirers. When they know Joan is coming to town, they write and invite her to spend the night at their homes. They draw diagrams of the bedroom she can have. "Please, Joanie. Say you will. Please!"

She is sent money to pay her fines. Flowers and candy are often waiting when she arrives in town. She receives fan mail from children and from one gentleman who is 97. "Men don't write fan letters between the ages of 20 and 60," she says.

But they are there when the arena doors open. Lean men sunburned to the neck, T shirts peeking above open-collared shirts. Their women are often large, carrying children in fleshy arms. These are the Derby fan stereotypes. But in affluent times like now, middle-class audiences predominate and TV sponsors have discovered that they tend to be good consumers and sound credit risks. The Derby tour even goes to college campuses and in some places it actually has the image of an "In" thing.

"It is all cycles, good and bad," Hal Janowitz says stoically. "The new people come along. A whole new generation of them, I guess. There have always been cycles with the Derby."

On tour, though, the Derby still resembles an old tent circus come to town. The arena swells with a cotton-candy spirit and the sparkle of a real Night Out. It is hard to pass by Don Gist, the concessions man, without making a well-considered purchase. A program? Pennant? Glossy pictures? Derby programs are rarely discarded after an event. They are taken home, filed away, and referred to regularly.

When the Derby arrives, the men usually head straight for the arena to build the track while the girls take the boys' laundry with their own and go off to a laundromat. As soon as the game is over and the

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men have packed the track into the truck, Jimmy Pierce is ready to take off for the next stop. The others leave in the morning.

The skaters seldom see anything in any city but the motel, the arena, and the laundromat. But,then, they have little interest in where they are, exactly, or where they are going. They might know, for instance, that they are in Chicago and the next stop is Richmond. But this specific trip has no real relation to the whole tour. New Mexico, Georgia and Rhode Island might as well all lie side-by-side. The idea is just to get to Richmond from Chicago,.

Many manage this strictly by the numbers. You take Route 35 to 267, take a right to 54A, left on 42 to 175, and then the Main Street exit till you see the Holiday Inn. Janowitz, a fantastically organized man, usually dispenses such route guides. Joan Weston, methodical and interested in travel herself, can also be relied upon for information. Janowitz and Weston are referred to as "Ward and Wanda Bond" after the late wagonmaster on TV's "Wagon Train".

To most of the players, though, distance is measured by the 9¢ a mile they receive. Cliff Butler, then a mature 18 and just out of Berkeley High, was a top Derby prospect last season. He was touring for the first time and proved to be a prodigious driver. He rode with the tour's only couple among the players. The Larry Smiths who had been married very recently. The petite bride Francine Cochu had been Rookie of the Year the previous season in her native Montreal and the three took a side trip there to see her family. Right afterward, Butler drove 1,030 miles straight.

Another time out of Camp LeJeune, N.C. and headed for Washington, the car came to Route 301. A sleepy Smith said something in the back seat. Butler turned left and drove merrily on all the way into South Carolina until he had to stop for gas. Luckily he also casually inquired at that point how much farther it was to Washington.

It is all very loose. "Hey, I left a guy in Dayton last week," O'Connell said once as if he had forgotten his toothbrush. Lou Donovan, who usually rides with O'Connell and his boxer dog Duchess, took a left turn onto a narrow icy path one night. The car was stuck under a railroad trestle when O'Connell finally awoke. "It said left," Donovan explained, getting out to push.

"At the road, you crazy sonuvagun," Charlie replied. "You only take the lefts at the road. It says left. You just don't turn left wherever you happen to be."

Donovan, as always, was not fazed. He is one of the more charming people in this world, usually smiling agreeably. When he is on the track, he smiles at the other skaters. When he is resting in the infield, he smiles at the fans. "Ignore him just like we all have to," Charlie says.

Donovan also is indefatigable. "I love work," he says. "I like any work that's hard. I guess just because that's my work. I'm a laborer."

Married to a very pretty blonde whose name 'Sally' is inscribed on his forearm, Lou has 3 towheaded young children, all beautiful enough to be models. The tour ended in Duluth with a Saturday night game. And on Monday, Lou was back with his family in California. Tuesday morning he was at work as a foreman on a construction job.

Not all the skaters are so industrious. Some even pick up unemployment checks in the off season whenever that is. It is rather difficult for the unemployment bureau to find skating jobs for unemployed Roller Derby players. Most skaters like Donovan, however, appreciate getting the extra money that

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comes from being a member of the track construction crew. A rookie Derby skater starts at a little more than $4,000 a year. Most of the good ones are just into 5 figures.

Skaters are hard-driven people. But they are not hard. Many are almost gentle. They are playful and easily diverted. But they are sincere and direct. About the nicest thing they can say about someone is that he is "good people." So on their own terms, most players in the Roller Derby are good people. If there is a contradiction to them, it is in their ability to suspend their normally high sense of decency and fair play.

"You just learn," says Buddy Atkinson Jr. who skates in "the other outfit". "You learn that there are 2 sets of rules. Let's face it. The things you do out on the track, you can't walk down the street and do this. Now don't get me wrong. I don't think you should hurt people all the time. But you can do anything if you're going for a bundle. There's no feelings then. Besides, the big thing in this game is fear. If you can get someone afraid of you, you got it made."

"Buddy Junior" (as he is always called) is the son of skaters Buddy Senior and Bobbie Johnstone. Two placid warm people who met, fell in love, married, and raised a family around the banked track. They are still involved running the Derby's training school in Alameda, Calif. Buddy Junior has been on skates since he was 3. He turned pro at 17 and, like Buddy Senior, married a skater.

"Don't be fooled by the skating, the roughness," Buddy Junior says. "These people are most all introverts. They are shy people who ran across skating and loved it. It became like their release."

Larry Smith is 24 and one of the few skaters to go beyond high school. He attended Kansas State for a year. Larry is a carpenter by trade and had run a little cross-country. But then he found skating and a bride in the Derby too and he wants it to be his life. Sensitive, straightforward, polite with a touch of a stutter, Larry courted Francine after he broke an ankle and was sent to Montreal to help out at that city's training school.

"Most skaters were not grade-A students in high school. They never had the chance to be good athletes or go on to college," Larry says. "Then they discovered the Derby and fell in love with it. The fact that it's rough, that doesn't change us.

Most of us are actually schizophrenic, very different people on-and-off the track. We're never what people think we must be."

The resident male "villains" on the All Stars were Bob Hein and Ronnie Robinson. Hein is 33 with tattoos, a shaved head, and a nasty sneak scissors kick. He likes to stand at the bend of the track where the penalty box is conveniently located and slug the Bombers (boys or girls) as they skate by. Robinson's specialty is holding a Bomber's face under one arm and pummeling it with the other until he tires of the exercise and scatters the body over the rail.

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Robinson, who is famed boxer Sugar Ray Ronbinson's son, is devoted to music and fashion. All his clothes are color-coordinated. His favorite tour outfit is all pink head-to-toe. He and Hein often play cribbage between halves. Hein has a 14-year-old son and he wants to be a florist when he leaves the game. His hobbies are coin collecting and chemistry.

Here they are arriving before the game. Robinson is in his all-pink. His roommate Big Bad Bob "Thumper" Woodberry is in his all-green. There is a certain resemblance to lollipops. "Hey! You two together look like the Mexican flag," Julian Silva says.

"You ought to know, Wetback," Ronnie replies genially without breaking stride.

The spectators gawk as the skaters, showing no allegiance to training rules, stop to enjoy a large Coke or two and a hot dog and peanuts as well. They all smoke another cigarette. Don Gist's programs and pictures are moving well.

Ken Kunzelman moves to the P.A. mike. Ken travels with the tour, too. The Derby is a full sensory performance and Kunzelman (who happens to be an exceptionally good announcer) comes along to provide a complete account of the action so that nothing is left to the imagination.

Before the game, Ken shills a bit for Don Gist's wares. He also reminds everyone about the local television and suggests that they all sign up to get on the Derby mailing list. Hurry, hurry, hurry! The mailing list now includes 250,000 names from all across the Country. (Several of those names, however, are Donovan's as he invariably adds his on a list whenever he runs across one on the way to the locker room.)

If the tour is coming back in the area again before its completion, Kunzelman pushes tickets for that also. "Remember, this will be your final opportunity to see Bomber Great Charlie O'Connell in uniform as he will retire at the conclusion of this special National tour to become infield coach of the Bay Bombers."

The girls in their white shoes skate first and in all the odd periods. Women have always been included in the Roller Derby since the idea for the game was derived from the old dance marathon. For that matter, it is the women who continue to give the game its tawdry sideshow image. There is also no doubt that it is the girls who bring people into the arenas even if they come to enjoy more the faster, harder men's play.

It is difficult to find good female skaters, however, for neither the occupation nor the Derby image is particularly appealing to girls. And the irony is that the fixed public conception of the skaters is false. The typical Roller Derby girl is shy and withdrawn, neat, and fastidiously feminine. She is as likely to be pretty as not. She is not tough; not promiscuous or foulmouthed; not a drinker; and like the men, was probably not even an athlete until she came to the Derby.

There are exceptions, of course. Earlene Brown, the Olympic shotput bronze-medal winner, is with "another outfit." Ann Calvello, who would be a-typical in any company, is with the All Stars.

In the event that her piercing yells, her histrionics, and her pastel hair do not call sufficient attention to her presence, Calvello wears contrasting blue and red shoestrings, gloves, elbow pads, and long dangling earrings. Her helmet is tilted rakishly on the back of her head, scarves attached and flowing.

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"They'll never get the girls out of the Roller Derby. But I know it's hard to attract new girl skaters," Calvello says. "Now I've never been what you would call shy or anything. I'm different from most of the girls with natural color and showmanship. That's from Leo. I'm a Leo, a natural leader. But I always end up with Taurus men and we fight. But anyway, I've been wearing the 2-color clothes and everything since I came in. And I picked up the colored hair and stuff like that. I mean I've had green hair for St. Paddy's Day.

"The one time I was injured seriously—knock on wood—I was skating for the Shamrocks. Colors are green and gold. All my injuries, I never went to get stitches. Just let it heal itself. The scar right here was open this wide. I never got stitches or anything. Why should I worry? What can help this face? I got my nose cracked once and went to the doctor. They put all that stuff in it, cotton and everything. So the next time I got it cracked, I didn't bother.

"The one time I really got hurt was in Honolulu. I was fighting this girl and she must have gotten me with her fingernail. I didn't even know it was my eye till all this blood came pouring out. So right away—this one time—I went to the doctor at the hospital because eyes are the one thing I don't want to fool around with. Well, the doctor took one look at me with the blue hair, the blue lipstick, the red blood pouring out of my eye, the green-and-gold uniform, and he had to figure I was straight into Honolulu from Outer Space."

Little escapes Calvello. The acid comment she spills forth is the product of her wit and is not related to the meanness that she exhibits on the track. She is certainly a leader by any standard, astrological or otherwise. As soon as she reaches the bar with her silver chalice, she is in charge. She directs the conversation. Sometimes 2 conversations at a time. The one she is dominating and the adjoining one that she overhears. She distributes nicknames to everybody. She outlaws shoptalk. "No skating talk while drinking" is the first Calvello law.

While she is hardly just another pretty face, Calvello is still slim and attractively winsome after 20 years on the Tour. She dresses exceptionally well and is able to get away with wearing youthful clothes that most women her age would be afraid of. Divorced many years ago from a former Derby referee, Ann also likes her men young.

On the tour in the company of Eddie Krebs (a wistful temperamental Leo himself), Ann sparkled. Particularly when the other skaters kidded Krebs that he was starting to look 40 and Calvello 20. Krebs, slim to start with, had lost almost 40 pounds on the tour. With his handsome chiseled face, long page-boy hair, and a haunting high-pitched giggle, he and the blue-haired hoarse-throated Calvello made a couple that seemed straight out of an avant-garde French movie. It was the only Tour romance.

Like Krebs but unlike most of the other skaters who actually gain weight on Tour eating hamburgers and French fries all the time, Calvello lost a lot. "The fact is, I think I'll sue Drip and Dry," she said laughing. "When I came on this tour I was 140 and all in the right places. Yeah, up here. We call them tickets. I was a perfect size 12. Then down to a 10, to an 8. I have to carry 3 different wardrobes. But sometimes, well, it's very complimentary. With the hair and the way I dress ... I'm a fanatic on clothes. People have taken me for a model. And in the summer on the beach in a bikini, they all say "Gee! You don't have those ugly muscles like a ballet dancer or anything."

Calvello, the oldest, is the only girl up late at night, any night. The others are in their rooms soaking the aches out in a long hot bath, or setting hair, or walking the dog, or long since sound asleep. Calvello says Joanie is counting her money. But then Joanie cannot completely understand the younger ones either.

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It bothers her how little they manage to take advantage of the opportunity of the travel, of broadening themselves. Joanie attended Mount St. Mary's, a small Catholic girls' college in Los Angeles. She despairs that after so many years without much educated company on the tour, her intellect has begun to wither.

She has trouble getting any of the skaters to go sightseeing with her. Once she prevailed upon a group of them to go 40 minutes out of their way to see the Grand Canyon. They groused and grumped about the detour but finally acquiesced. When they arrived ,they obviously were not impressed.

"Where are the bears?" one of the boys asked.

"What bears?" Joan said.

"You know, the bears. The famous bears," the skater said.

Finally catching on, Joanie explained that he must be thinking of Yellowstone Park. This was the Grand Canyon.

"You mean we come all this way just to see a hole in the ground?"

They got back in the car, left the Grand Canyon, and went directly to the arena.

"25 in jam time," said Ken Kunzelman at the mike. "That's Bomber Jammer Francine Cochu ... All Star Jammer Lydia Clay moving onto the rear of the pack. ... Calvello back to block for the All Stars, Joan Weston for the Bombers. ...Cochu moving in."

Francine's husband Larry Smith watches closely. But it's nothing personal. Larry watches the action very closely all the time. He wants to be a coach someday. Sometimes when Francine goes down in a heap but something more significant is going on, Larry doesn't watch her at all, much less show concern.

The other men hardly ever glance at the women's play. Calvello shoulder-blocks Francine, then knee-blocks her. Most every kind of block is legal in the Derby. All unintentional infractions require delicate judicial appraisal to distinguish them from legitimate action.

Francine is knocked off balance and tries to stay upright on one leg. It is a losing battle. But she bounces up again. Joanie comes back and bangs Lydia Clay. Lydia stays up and looks for assistance from Calvello. Time is running out.

Francine struggles to move back into scoring position as Joanie hits Lydia again and sends her skittering solidly into the rail to great applause. Calvello goes back and belts little Francine one more time and she starts to go down again.

"Five, four, three, two, one ...."

The buzzer sounds just as Francine hits the floor. There is no score on the play for either team.

Francine goes off and sits down and Maureen O'Brien replaces her. Jammers alternate like hockey lines. Francine sags and begins to cry softly into an orange Bomber towel. Larry pays no attention. At last, still sniffling Francine lifts up her head and watches.

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This time as the jam again ends without a score, Calvello sneaks up and bops Joanie from behind after the buzzer. Joanie staggers ... recovers ... and takes off after Calvello who retreats cowering. The fans go wild! Lots of them like this better than the skating. "Look at Joanie just show her!"

There are not enough real fights growing naturally out of the action. So when things drag, Calvello invariably gets a little skirmish going between jams. It is transparent hokum. But for a large segment of the audience, the phony theatrics are more entertaining than the sport. The put-on actually consumes only a small portion of the play time and seldom intrudes on the bona fide action itself. But as long as it exists at all, it manages to demean the Derby's whole image.

There is much more violence (real and contrived) than what passes for comedy, however, for it is quite true that this appeals most to the fans. "Fans at any sport -- I don't care what it is -- they want to see blood," Calvello says. "They want to see us broken up and my body carried out. They want to see that. Oh, we've had some vicious skaters too. There are still some around. People so mean that you'd hang 'em by a good rope, they'd still complain. But they're rare. I could never hurt anyone deliberately."

"Sure I have a fear of getting hurt," Joanie Weston says, her soft brown eyes turning sharp. "All I want out of Roller Derby is to make good money; get out of it in one piece; and years from now when I say I was in the Roller Derby, I want people still to know what it is. I want that."

So they are all (as Larry Smith says) schizophrenic like the game itself, torn between the oldtime buffoonery and the display of speed and muscle that marks real sport. The Derby can become so violent that there are unwritten laws about what should not be tolerated. The experienced know, for instance, how easy it is to trip an opponent undetected and knock him flat out. A practiced hip can be more lethal than the more overt forearm smash. The girls know how to use an elbow to force the zipper of an opponent's blouse down hard digging it into her breasts. A simple poke to the bosom or a hair-pulling is more mundane. But it is also a rare form of retaliation.

Spectators often wonder why more of the skaters are not seriously hurt. After all, they are seldom in the best condition and for protection they wear only knee and elbow pads. Ankles are not bound. The high skate shoes are usually not even laced to the top as that would hinder movement. The answer lies in their resilience and in their training during which they all learn how to fall properly.

"Hey, remember 'The Mummy'?" Charlie O'Connell said one night in the locker room. "The guy wrapped himself here and here and -- I swear to God -- even across the rear. Afterward, we're all out of the shower getting dressed while he's still unstrangling himself."

Derby girls have concealed pregnancy and skated into their 6 th month. Some have been back on the track within a month after a birth. Easy childbirth is apparently one of the fringe benefits of skating. The girls say labor is invariably brief and smooth. Many of them damage their coccyx (the bone at the base of the spine) from constantly falling on it while skating and the repeated pressure is supposed to force the coccyx inward. But the girls don't worry about this because the word is that when they have a baby, the birth process somehow straightens out the coccyx again. Roller Derby people are very proud of how well the girls deliver.

"The only time you get hurt is trying to avoid people," Julian Silva says.

He has enjoyed a cracked head, a broken nose, a shattered nose, a fractured rib, 2 broken arms, and some minor injuries. Tony Adorno had just come back to the tour after a broken ankle. Jim Cook got busted up early on the tour and Dave Cannella was flown in from Oakland to replace him.

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"You've got to look at everything different," Dave said. "Before I came into the Derby, I drove sprint cars and midgets and I was doing pretty good. Then there was this one race I was in and the best driver at this track—this was in Ohio—he went out of control and smashed into this light pole. When he came down the light pole, he couldn't count to three.

"I said 'Hey, what is this?' And that's when I got out of that and came into the skating because he was the best driver and the one I really admired. And when he came down out of that light pole, he couldn't count to three."

Dave got a concussion in the first Roller Derby game he ever played and his ankle was shattered 2 weeks later. "Hey, that guy was mean," he says shaking his head (but grinning).

Jerry Seltzer took over the Roller Derby a decade ago from his father Leo who, disillusioned by TV's overexposure of the game, had grown tired of the whole enterprise. By then the Derby was moribund, drawing crowds of 200 in the Cow Palace. Hardly out of college, Jerry assumed command in 1958 and began shooting TV kinescopes of the action in a converted garage. The game didn't begin to flourish again until the higher quality videotapes came into use in 1960.

Today in the Bay Area with the Giants, Raiders, Athletics, 49ers, Warriors, Oaks, Clippers, and Seals as neighbors, the Bombers have drawn almost one million spectators a year. There is no apparent reason why (as Seltzer hopes) a real national Roller Derby league cannot evolve with franchises in all of the Country's most populous areas.

It was in Chicago in 1935 that Leo Seltzer (a promoter of such events as the Walkathon) read an article stating that 93% of Americans had roller-skated at one time or another. Discussing the article at a sports hangout, Ricketts' Restaurant, Seltzer began to form ideas for a roller marathon. Shortly thereafter on Aug. 13, 1935, the first night of what was billed as the "Transcontinental Roller Derby" drew 20,000 to the Chicago Coliseum.

When it started, the Derby was strictly an endurance contest. The participants, male and female, bedded down on cots in the infield when not skating. It was a novelty and it worked. But after a while, even the rubes were not moved. "We lost

our shirt on the road," the elder Seltzer remembers.

He also became suspicious that the players were "probably splitting up with each other". To make such chicanery more difficult and to enhance the show's appeal, Seltzer began tinkering with the rules.

The most significant change occurred in Miami where Seltzer sat down to watch the skating with a sportswriter friend from New York, Damon Runyon. A few of the players extra-legally tangled with each other and Runyon liked the contact. Seltzer remembers it, recreating conversation (as he usually does) by referring to himself in the third person:

"So Runyon leaned over and said 'You know, Seltzer. You ought to incorporate that into the game.' "

The next night, the Derby officially added muscle to speed and Runyon's place in history was assured.

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The Derby, as Hal Janowitz suggests, then proceeded to go through various cycles through Depression and War, finally blossoming into its golden age when Seltzer brought the game into New York and put it on television. The first night's gate was $500. But people saw it on TV and there was a riot of disappointed fans the next night when they could not get in. The boom was on to last till TV saturation strangled it. Near the end, TV wanted the Derby season to run 365 days a year, finishing its championships on a Sunday and opening the new season the next day.

In the good old days, logistics were kept to a minimum since the Derby would play a town for a whole month and all the skaters would sleep right there in the arena. Not surprisingly, this proximity often led to varying kinds of hanky-panky on and off the track.

Today, Seltzer tries to keep the two touring teams apart whenever he can. The All Stars do not ride in Bomber cars. Often the teams stay at different motels. There is a general feeling also that romance should be confined to teammates.

One special problem often arises, however, because many arenas make available only 2 locker rooms for what are actually 4 squads. Modesty wins out over team togetherness and all the men (including referees) dress in one room and all the women in the other. It almost works out.

The 2 men's squads can come off the track after mauling each other all evening and then dress side-by-side without any incident although there have been a few spectacular locker-room brawls. The girls, on the other hand, carry grudges.

"Girls never forget," Joan Weston says. "It is not just that they might start fighting in a locker room after a hard game. They'll carry a grudge for years. A girl will come up and say 'Hey, remember what you did to me in New Haven?' And she doesn't mean New Haven last week. She means New Haven 4 or 5 years ago. The men are much better about that."

Donovan, as succinct as ever, explains. "What is it going to prove to get all busted up in the locker room? You don 't get paid for that."

The teams dressed together at the Norfolk arena for a game before a wildly appreciative mob that revved all the players up and made them skate full tilt. The fights were real and vicious and the Bombers' poor little stubby Tony Adorno (whom they all call "Tunafish") had to go to the hospital with a sprained ankle. He had just been standing there after a jam when "Thumper" Woodberry came by and blindsided him cold. The game ended in a frenzy. But afterward back in the locker room, they all dressed side-by-side. There was no visible rancor, only brief discussion of what had just transpired.

Tunafish came in moving uneasily on crutches. "Hi, cripple," Eddie Krebs called out gaily. The others took up the cry to Adorno's embarrassment and delight. He picks up a little extra cash by getting beers and Cokes and selling them to the other players after a game. And now he took up his position by his cooler so that the players could pay him as they left.

Woodberry was one of the last to dress. Tuna watched him as he strode across the room, a beer in one hand. "Two," Woodberry said.

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"A dollar," Tuna answered. There was nothing else. No apologies or regrets.

"Thanks," Thumper said finally, stepping around the crutches to reach the door.

"Hey, you know," Tuna suddenly said brightly to no one in particular, "the reason I took so long at the hospital was there were 6 bad accidents ahead of me."

O'Connell shook his head. "For God's sake, what is that talk? Us with 2-lane highways all the way tomorrow."

Bomber Great Charlie O'Connell joined the Derby in 1952 after training school in Passaic, N.J. He made Rookie of the Year that first season and is one of the few players in the game to earn big money. The highest Derby salary ever is supposed to have been $40,000 (in 1960) and probably went to Charlie. He owns a bar in San Leandro, Calif., the Pandora.

Now in 1968, he was about to play the final game of his farewell tour in Duluth. Charlie had never thought about it before. But pressed, he estimated that he must have played well over 3,000 games (200-a-year or so). The thought did not stir him to much emotion because he had to start the drive back to San Leandro the next morning and that was all that was on his mind.

"It's too long a trip ahead," he said. "How can you think about anything else? If it was only 60 miles or something, maybe then it would be different."

Charlie was ready, though, when the action began. And it was apparent from the first that he was going to go out with a lively farewell. He was spitting regularly, an affectation that appears to relate directly to his concentration. He even "goosed" All Star Pivotman Thumper Woodberry a couple of times, a bit of byplay he had not engaged in for a while.

As he skated by pretty Margie Laszlo who was standing in the infield, he reached out and pulled her pigtail. Mostly he kept his helmet tilted to emphasize his scowl. He would be almost snarling during jams in which there was a lot of contact. It was hard to imagine that this would be Charlie's final game because he was so obviously the dominant skater on the track, the way it had been since he was Rookie of the Year.

The Bombers lost a big lead, however. On the last jam of Charlie's career, the All Stars boxed him out. Krebs and Allen Littles got through for 6 points and the Bombers lost 41-38. Charlie stood there high on the track leaning on the rail and shaking his head. But he didn't say anything and soon he skated off to the locker room thinking about the long drive home.

He was still sitting in his uniform sipping a beer and talking about route numbers when the last of the construction crew put on their coveralls and moved out to dismantle the track for the final time. Jimmy Pierce was going to leave for the Coast as soon as they had the semi loaded.

"What time does the bar close in this town?" Krebs asked.

"All these towns," Charlie said.

"Well, save us some beers at the motel," Bill Morrisey said. "Save the crew some beers."

"How many miles is it?" Charlie asked. "Well, we'll go through Reno and stop there anyway."

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He put his beer can down and pushed his long hair back with both hands. Then before he showered, he reached for one more cigarette.

3 weeks after the tour ended in Duluth, the Bay Bombers began their regular season with a series against Calvello and Hein and the rest of the "new" Midwest Pioneers in the Bay Area. Seltzer had made some changes. He had shaken up the Bomber girls team. He had made only one change in the male team. That was the important one of replacing O'Connell, now the infield coach. "Thumper" Woodberry, everyone's villain, had been Seltzer's choice. And as soon as he put on the Bomber orange and black, Woodberry was cheered for the same things that had always brought him boos.

Charlie, in a sports shirt and slacks with a small black comb peeking out of his right rear pocket, watched the game with passing interest, aroused and cursing loudly only at some theatrics that Joanie and Calvello fell into. He even drifted away to have a smoke when his male charges came on. He was very restless. It was the first time in 16 years that he wasn't skating.

"This job gets kind of boring," he said. "They all bring me their problems and things like that."

The Pioneers held a 26-21 lead going into the last period and Hein took advantage of the spread to start some mischief. He already had a bunch of penalties anyhow. So late in the game he started punching Cliff Butler for no good reason. Quickly Hein was whistled down. It turned out to be his sixth 2-minute penalty which is automatic dismissal for the balance of the game. He started off the track to a cascade of paper cups and jeers.

Charlie watched the crowd, distracted. Butler, still shaken by the altercation, came coasting around the outside of the track with his hands on his knees trying to regain his breath. This was very accommodating for Hein who, strolling by on his way to the locker room, was able to swing out with his helmet and slam it hard into Butler's groin.

Cliff collapsed while Hein, unmolested and with no Bomber near him, hardly broke stride in continuing on to the locker room. O'Connell leaped up, moved to the track, and reached over to console Butler. Cliff got up at last grimacing and doubled over and was helped off the track. He was through for the game.

Hein stopped outside the locker room to chat with a uniformed guard. Butler, being assisted and with his head down, came along. Hein eyed him and did not move. 40 yards away at the scorer's table next to the track, Charlie returned from checking on Butler and, pushing his hair back with his hands, began to sit down to watch the completion of the game.

The next 2 actions took place simultaneously. Hein stiffened and began a lunge toward Butler. Charlie whirled and dashed toward Hein. Butler was caught unaware. Hein busted him hard a couple of times. Still crouching, Cliff could only throw up his hands in a feeble defense. Hein was just starting to aim a kick when he caught sight of Charlie. He did not have time to retreat for Charlie was suddenly upon him flailing, throwing roundhouse punches, and wading in.

Hein managed to draw back a step. But Charlie bulled into him again just as Butler once more crumpled to the ground. With sweat pouring off his bald pate, Hein made no motion at offense. He was only trying to save himself from O'Connell's wild blows. He staggered backward a few more steps and pleaded with those who had joined the action to be more efficient in holding Charlie. They held him at last and Hein backed up against a wall preparing for a final defense there if it became necessary.

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But it did not. Charlie stared at him for a while longer scowling ... then told those holding him to let him go. He wheeled and began to march back to the scorer's table, not once looking back. His hair was in complete disarray. His shirttails were all the way out. He tended to his shirt first, tucking it back into his pants as he walked. At the scorer's table, he brushed his hair back with his hands, then reached for the comb and began to comb it back into place. He sat down shaking his head gently.

"I don't know why I did that," he said. "I don't know why. I was going to sit down right there. I was just going to sit down and then all of a sudden, I ..."

He shrugged and began to look up at the skating that had started again above him.

"25 in jam time," Ken Kunzelman said.

A fan hanging onto Jerry Seltzer said: "Hey! Charlie's gonna get into a lot of fights this year, huh?"

Seltzer said: "If he does, Charlie might as well be skating."

One month later, "Thumper" Woodberry was sent to the Northwest Cardinals. Bomber Great Charlie O'Connell came out of a retirement that had lasted 7 weeks and began skating 5 strides once again with the Bay Bombers.

http://home.globaleyes.net/cbuck/mrrd.html

Charlie O'Mr. Roller Derby'

The picture (above left) was a rookie year photo of Charlie O'Connell. Charles or Charley (as the 1953 yearbook called him) came up through the ranks of the Junior Roller Derby to become the National Skating Derby's Rookie of the Year in 1953. The native New Yorker broke in with his hometown Chiefs only to care much of his legend on the other coast as coach and star of the San Francisco Bay Area Bombers before returning as General Manager/skater with the Chiefs in the final years of the International Roller Derby League.

Charlie O wasn't Superman. He was injured too many times to be termed the 'Man of Steel'. A comparison to John Wayne may be closer as he was as a rugged competitor whose swagger on the track told everyone that could see that he was the man to watch. He would take out the opposition to clear the way for his jammers to score the winning points. He would prevent the opposing jammers from staging a rally. And he wasn't above making that vicious circle in the pivot helmet to score when his team needed it.

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For the most part, Charlie O wore the number 40, both in his days with the Bombers (right, against Ken Monte) and in his second stint with the Chiefs. But on occasion you could catch him wearing a different jersey as evidenced below.

That's him wearing 42 in a picture from the 1958 Roller Derby yearbook. A picture of him wearing 31 skating against Bob Woodberry can be found on Big Bad Bob's page. It came from the Charlie O tribute in the 1971 yearbook although the picture probably was taken sometime in the 1967 season after his #40 was retired.

Charlie was back with the Bombers one more time in 1973 for the league championships in Madison Square Garden. Alas, his team lost to the eventual world champion Chiefs in the semi-finals.

According to published reports in 1996, Charlie O and his wife Judi McGuire were still in California running their bar.

http://www.wisn.com/print/1854278/detail.html

From the 1969 Roller Derby Program Yearbook:

Every sport has its "super-star" and Roller Derby is no exception. What Joe Namath is to football and what Willie Mays is to baseball, Charlie O'Connell is to the banked track skate-sport.

Like "Broadway Joe", O'Connell is a New Yorker. And like Mays, "Charlie O" leads a championship San Francisco team. The 6'1" Bay Bomber mentor has won every trophy and honor in the book during his 16-year career.

Unpassable on defense, he is seemingly unstoppable on offensive jamming. At 34 -- an age when most men start slowing down -- O'Connell still clocks a quarter-mile time trial on the 50'x90' oval in under 36 seconds -- a feat some of the league's bright young hopes

are hard pressed to equal.

O'Connell started the ball rolling with rookie-of-the-year honors in his 1953 freshman season and has been a perennial on the all-star roster ever since.

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The former New Yorker has been given the league's M.V.P. award on 8 occasions and was narrowly edged by the Braves' brilliant young Ronnie Robinson (the son of boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson) in 1968. "Mr. Roller Derby" is also among an exclusive handful of active skaters inducted into the Hall of Fame. Fans voted him 1968 Roller Derby King -- his 5th title repeat in a decade!

With a salary reputed to be in the $50,000 range, O'Connell is the highest paid skater in the 34-year history of the sport.

Worth every penny, he has led the Bay Area contingent to championship playoff victories in all but two of the last 11 seasons. The Bombers fell in 1959 to the Chicago Westerners (now Pioneers); in 1963 to the Cardinals; and have since skyrocketed to 5 straight world titles. In the process, the league pennant has escaped O'Connell's grasp only 4 times, most recently to the "Cinderella" Northeast Braves in '68.

Following Roller Derby's 1967 season, O'Connell decided that 15 years of banked-track bruises was enough and announced his retirement.

But a post-season nationwide tour which found "Sold Out" signs on arenas from coast-to-coast changed his mind, however, and the start of the '68 season found Charlie back in the line-up with his skates well-oiled and "hanging loose" again. In the meantime, the Bombers had retired his No. 40 jersey so Charlie had to spend most of that year in a No. 31 outfit.

http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-07-03/bay-area/17436651_1_roller-derby-skates-charlie-o-connellKen Monte

matinee idol in Roller Derby / a terror on 8 wheels

Ken Monte -- a tall, strapping roller skater who became a star of the roller derby exhibitions and the darling of hordes of screaming, stomping skate fans -- has died. Mr. Monte, 75, died June 24, 2004 of cancer in his Alameda home.

A terror on the banked track, Mr. Monte was known for his speed and skill as much as his flying elbows and crushing knees. And woe to the opponent who got in the way of one.

"He was devastating. Just a tremendously powerful skater," said his friend Gary Powers, a roller derby historian. "He never backed down from a confrontation."

A native of Wautoma, Wisconsin, Mr. Monte grew up in Chicago and sold newspapers at Cubs baseball games before dropping out of school at 15 to join the Roller Derby.

The derby had been invented in the 1930s by a Chicago promoter eager to capitalize on America's infatuation with roller skates during the Depression. In the Derby, teams of 5 skaters circle a banked wooden track and score points by lapping and forcing their way past one another -- often by means of a flailing elbow or worse.

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"Ken was very good at putting a knee into someone's chest or an elbow or shoulder into an opponent's upper body or stomach," Powers recalled.

Every bit as much a legitimate sport as pro wrestling, Roller Derby filled arenas around the country in the 1940s and 1950s. Mr. Monte skated for the Brooklyn Red Devils who were also known as the Northwest Cardinals and the Mexico City Cardenales. When visiting the Bay Area, Mr. Monte would do his elbow throwing at the Cow Palace against the legendary Charlie O'Connell of the San Francisco Bay Bombers.

Mr. Monte was the "pivot" skater of his Red Devils, the team leader who helped the 2 blockers to keep opponents at bay and the 2 jammers to slip past and score points.

His stature and good looks made him a matinee idol, especially when the Derby caught on during the early days of television. When Mr. Monte became a spokesman for Lucky Strike cigarettes, that was the brand his fans lit up.

In New York, Mr. Monte did ferocious battle against the Red Devils' archrivals -- the New York Chiefs. The Red Devils women's team was led by Mr. Monte's wife Midge Brasuhn, also known as "Toughie." The couple divorced in 1962 and Ms. Brasuhn died in 1971.

Mr. Monte retired in 1977 and had lived in Alameda for 2 decades. He leaves no immediate survivors. At his request, no service was held.

http://derbymemoirs.bankedtrack.info/Gammon_Mike.html

"Dynamite" Mike GammonBorn Michael Paul Milane on November 2, 1941 to Paul and Gerry (Murray) Milane, Mike was

destined for Roller Derby stardom. Mike grew up on the Roller Derby track. The often-used cliche is that Mike could skate almost before he could walk. An exaggeration for sure but probably not too far from the truth. There are photographs of Mike at age 2-1/2 on skates and in uniform.

When Gene Gammon and Gerry Murray married, Mike took his stepfather's last name. He made his skating debut with the New York Chiefs at age 17 in the spring of 1958. Later that summer, a young man by the name of Mike Paul (Gammon) skated a few series on the West Coast with the Brooklyn Red Devils. Mike made his official skating debut in 1959 and, naturally, took Rookie of the Year honors along with another young skater by the name of Jan Vallow.

While in the New York training school in 1958, Mike met and married Judi McGuire. For years they were the league's top scorers and, arguably, the league's most dynamic husband-wife team.

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Charlie O'Connell (left) and Ken Monte in their older years

For the most part, Mike skated with the Chiefs until the team was disbanded in 1967. Rather than place the Gammons on another team immediately, Jerry Seltzer let them slip away. The Gammons and Chiefs teammates Buddy Atkinson Jr., Dru Scott Atkinson, and Pete Boyd joined the new Philadelphia Warriors team of the National Skating Derby helping to establish that team as a powerhouse Roller Games franchise.

Gammon returned to the Roller Derby in 1969 with the Southern Mustangs. For the next 2 seasons, Mike skated with the Cardinals/Red Devils during the regular season and the Oakland Bombers during the annual road trip.

In the autumn of 1971, Mike returned home to New York when the Chiefs franchise was re-activated. No one belonged in the Chiefs uniform more. When New York area fans voted on which skaters they would most like to see on their home team, "Dynamite" Mike Gammon was their top choice even above "Mr. Roller Derby" Charlie O'Connell. Mike remained with the Chiefs until mid-May of 1974. Living out of a suitcase on the road had taken its toll and it was time to go home to the Bay area.

Gammon returned to skating in 1975 with the New York Braves of the short-lived United Banked Track Roller Skating Association (better known as Roller Stars). The next year, Mike skated some exhibition games with the new Bay Bombers as a prelude to the official opening of the International Roller Skating League. When the league opened for its inaugural season in 1977, "Dynamite" Mike Gammon was again a member of the San Francisco Bay Bombers. Mike retired following the 1978 season but came back to skate again in 1983 and 1984. Gammon -- considered invincible on skates -- fell victim to career-ending injuries.

To watch Mike Gammon skate was to see near perfection on the track. Mike Gammon possessed speed, agility, and an uncanny sense of balance. Add those qualities to his superior knowledge of the game and how it should be skated and you have one of the greatest skaters to ever set foot on the banked-track.

Mike Gammon will always be considered one of the true superstars of Roller Derby. In recognition of his unparalleled contribution to the sport, Mike Gammon was one of the first to be inducted into the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame when it was re-opened in 2004.

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http://astroworf.tripod.com/fw1.htmlJoanie Weston

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Sport Like This?

Away from the wheeling warfare of Roller Derby, Joan Weston hardly seems capable of decimating an opposing team of women skaters with brutal hip, leg, and shoulder blocks. As she sits quietly in her dressing room in New York's Madison Square Garden, she is dressed in a navy blazer that she wears over a white pleated mini-skirt. Her hair (still wet form a post-game shower) is tied back with a pink ribbon into a ponytail. She looks like an athletic, slightly older Candice Bergen. But her laugh is more like Phyllis Diller's as she ribs her teammates and they rib her back.

In startling contrast to her girlish appearance, she is tending a purplish wound on her forearm, the souvenir of a block that sent her into and over-the-rail, off the banked track, and onto the Garden's concrete 8 feet below.

There she is …Joan Weston, the female superstar of Roller Derby, 37 years old, 5'10" tall, an 18-year veteran of the roller-skating wars. Rough and tough on the track, she also quotes Sigmund Freud, reads Boswell, and is president of the Democratic Club of San Leandro, California.

Born in Huntington Park, California, Joan Weston was raised by her grandparents, E.J. and Olive Edwards after her parents, Evelyn and Gard Weston were divorced during her infancy. She recalls her father was "a beautiful man. He resembled Clark Gable. I adored him. I guess I'll never forget the one summer I spent with him before he was killed in a car crash. I resented my mother. I thought she was responsible for their troubles. Actually, I never knew my mother when I was a child. I never wanted to. She lived one place and I lived another. My grandparents were of pioneer stock. They owned a gas station and restaurant and worked at both six days a week. My grandfather was the town's soft touch. Always good for a couple of bucks. Grandmother pretended to be the stern one. She was just under 5-feet tall. But when she talked, you listened.

"I never had a chance to run wild. It was Grandfather's wish that I be a St. Mary's girl and so I was. I loved it. And if I hadn't been more anxious to be on the varsity, I might have been an excellent student. But my head was always in a cloud. Either a cloud of dust at home plate or at the scrimmage line.

"I thought seriously then of being a trick horseback rider, a carryover from my days of envying Dale Evans and her hold on Trigger and Roy Rogers. That made Grandma itchy. When I decided later that I wanted to be a nun, she nearly had kittens. She threatened to take me out of school. We were not Catholics, you see.

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"Next I decided I would be a great slugging first basement with a girls' softball team. That seemed almost normal to Gran, so she let me play in the San Gabriel Valley Girls' Softball League. 2 years later when I was offered a contract to turn pro, I had just seen my first Roller Derby and I was already hooked.

But Joan found she herself wasn't quite prepared for Roller Derby. "The language terrified me. When I learned what the words meant and that many of the skaters believed actions spoke louder than words, I nearly quit. It was a far cry from St. Mary's.

"In retrospect, it seems fun. But it wasn't when it was happening. I wanted to skate, wanted to compete. But I was afraid of what looked to me like Peyton Place on roller skates. I had been so sheltered. I finally decided to call my mother. She had worked as a waitress all her life at truck stops and she knew all the words. She had heard all the stories. She didn't laugh at her dummy daughter. She just said, 'Joanie, Derby people aren't any different from any other people in this world. People and sex are like franks and beans. They go together.'

"My mother has never liked the idea of my being in Roller Derby. But only because of its roughness. She has never seen me skate and won't. It terrifies her. My grandmother came only once. Needless to say, she didn't rush off to start a fan club for her granddaughter.

"But I guess I really loved it from the start even after my 'auspicious' debut. I stumbled and fell in front of 9 skaters and every one of them fell over me. Was I clumsy! But the speed --.the sense of freedom when you're skating at 30 miles an hour -- and the game itself all had me hooked.

"The violence never attracted me. I always hoped my skating rather than my fists would do the talking. It hasn't always worked out that way and that embarrasses me. I've had my share of fights. Even won most of them. But in the winning, I've always felt like a loser. Unless I'm kidding myself, I don't think hostility is my bag. With some of the newer kids it is. They fight skaters, management, fans, everything. They're angry. I think they reflect the mood of the times. Yet when it comes to fighting for a cause like equal pay for female skaters, they chicken out. I earn about $30,000 a year now. If I were a man, I'd be earning close to $50,000. It isn't fair."

Nicknamed the 'Blonde Amazon', 'Blonde Bomber', and the 'Golden Girl', the entire roller derby enterprise began to revolve around this enigmatic athlete in the 1960s

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The Blonde Bomber skated full time for 18 years, over 250 games each year.Then she skated in the part time leagues for another 24 years.

This makes Joan the skater who skated the MOST games of any other female over her lifetime.

Joan Weston is single and doesn't seem unhappy about it.

"I was engaged when I was 20 to a teammate. He was tall, dark, and absolutely gorgeous. The publicity department had a field day. 'Made for each other,' they said. It took us 18 months to find that we weren't. Since then, there have been 2 disastrous engagements. One man even demanded that I stop skating which I refused to do. I don't think I'll ever marry.

"Do I have regrets? Yes. But -- and this is a big 'but' in my life -- I do have stardom and that can't be minimized. Anyone who tries to minimize it doesn't have it. Money is one of its joys. But money isn't where it's really at. Money isn't why you work for stardom continuously even when you already have it. Stardom is recognition, approval, power. Do you know what it's like to be able to bring 20,000 people to their feet? To make them hate or love you? That's where it's at. Power!

"I'm nearly 40 and I'm in great shape and can still outskate most kids half my age. But I bruise a little easier each year and take a little longer to heal. I don't plan to retire even though within 4 years thanks to sound investments, I'll never have to work again. But what would I do? I could finish college and get my teaching license. But the truth is I want to stay with Derby. I would miss the crazy life. I belong to her. I'm part of growing heritage, part of a family. 150 maniacs all.

"I'd like to train skaters and work with new kids. But I wouldn't coach. That's a man's job. I can just hear the screams from Gloria Steinem and company now. Sorry about that. But I still believe certain roles should be played by men and others by women. I'm willing to let a man be my coach. And if he wants to view me as a sex object, I won't complain. I mean if a man wants to think I'm Raquel Welch, that's not going to upset me. I may have taken a lot of spills in my career. But punchy I'm not."

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From Astroworf's site at http://astroworf.tripod.com

Joanie WestonThe Blonde Bomber

The very first Internet search I did was for Joanie Weston. I was appalled to find no reference to her and very little on the Roller Derby itself. That was at the end of February, 1997. So I decided to do something about it.

I put the first page of this website up to remember the Roller Derby on May 10 th, not knowing that she would make her appearance on the Internet the following day in the obituary column.

I don't think I would have been a Roller Derby fan had it not been for Joanie. She was my Viking princess when I first laid eyes on her in the mid-1960s when I was just 10 years old. Perhaps the best woman skater of the time, she was tall and strong with a smile that could melt even the hardest heart. She could step off the track immediately after pummeling an opponent and still speak and carry herself as a lady.

Joanie entered the league as a member of the New York Chiefs in 1954 and soon established herself as a star. After a stint with the L.A. Braves, she served a 4-year tenure with the Chicago Westerners where fans awarded her with her first of 3 "Roller Derby Queen" titles. But it was in the mid-60s when the nation took notice as Joanie became a Bay Area Bomber, a member of America's Roller Derby team.

No. 38, Joanie helped lead the Bombers as its women's captain to a record-tying 5

consecutive Whirl championships. She was with the Bombers for 7 years before the regionalization of the International Roller Derby League took her back to Chicago to be the women's captain of the Midwest Pioneers.

When the IRDL folded in 1973, Joanie joined up with the Roller Games, briefly skating for the L.A. T-Birds and even on a Bomber team that included former IRDL stars such as Annis "Bid Red" Jensen. Her entire tenure there may have been less than a full season as she became part of one of the many unsuccessful attempts to revive the game in the 1970s as a member of the California Red Devils in a 3-game season in the Roller Stars League.

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Joanie returned as a Bay Bomber and to her familiar No. 38 when the International Roller Skating League formed in the 1980s. It lasted about 5 years and even earned a tryout on ESPN. But just when it looked like the league was hitting the bigtime again, the plug was pulled.

Joanie last skated in September, 1996 in an exhibition. Just 2 months later, she was diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob (the human equivalent of "mad cow" disease). She succumbed to it at the age of 62. In memory of Joan, skaters got together for a game to benefit research into the disease that took her. A couple of pictures from that benefit can be found at another of my sites (Astroworf's Attic).

When I first learned of Joanie's passing, I immediately was concerned that she may have died alone, not knowing that she had married Nick Scopas. When I found out in the news groups that they I had been married, I was truly thankful that she had someone other than her legions of fans to make her happy. I was especially pleased that it was Nick Scopas because one thing my memory hasn't skewed is the looks -- and the smiles -- that those two shared as members of the Pioneers.

Over the years, Joanie had many rivalries as she fought to protect herself and teammates from the villainy from the likes of Ann Calvello, Cathie Read, and Sandy Dunn. In 1966, she had a couple of others to worry about as the IRDL and Roller Games played a partial interleague schedule.

http://forgottennewsmakers.com/2010/06/01/joan-weston-1935-%E2%80%93-1997-roller-derby-queen/

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JOAN WESTON (1935 – 1997) Roller Derby QueenIn 1935, Joan Weston and Roller Derby were both born. When they finally met, it was a match

made in Heaven.

Weston’s parents divorced when she was a baby and she was raised by her maternal grandparents. They worked 6 days a week at the restaurant and gas station they owned in Southern California. Despite their preoccupation with earning a living, they created a strict but loving environment.

Weston idolized her father who had movie star good looks. She fondly remembers a summer spent with him before he was killed in a car accident. Not knowing how to channel her grief, she blamed her mother for her parents’ divorce. This compounded the emotional distance between them.

Even though they weren’t Catholics, her grandfather insisted on a Mount St. Mary’s College education. Her grandmother was amenable to that until Weston decided she wanted to become a nun. Weston then appeased her by directing all her energy into sports. A natural athlete, Weston excelled in every sport she tried. But that didn’t mean her grandmother would let her try anything. She balked when Weston wanted to take up trick horseback riding as being too dangerous. Softball seemed like a good compromise and Weston played school and league ball. This proved to be a good match. In one college game, Weston hit 8 home runs.

Upon graduation, there weren’t many options for female athletes. When Weston watched the Roller Derby, she saw her future and couldn’t wait to take her skating from the sidewalk to the indoor banked track. Her 5'10" 165-pound frame and bleached blonde hair were the perfect body and image. She moved to northern California to learn the sport and join a team.

Weston’s sheltered upbringing hadn’t prepared her for the unrefined behavior and profanity of the skaters. She felt so intimidated and out of place that she almost quit. Knowing that her mother being a truck-stop waitress would understand that life a lot better, Weston called her for encouragement. Her mother’s advice was that Roller Derby people were no different than anybody else. “People and sex are like franks and beans,” she said. “They go together.”

It wasn’t the Roller Derby people or the lifestyle that attracted Weston. She simply loved to skate and skating at 30 miles-an-hour gave her a sense of freedom. At the beginning she had to overcome some clumsiness, however. In her first outing, she tripped and fell in front of 9 skaters, all of whom fell over her.

After playing on various teams for several years, Weston gained her Roller Derby Queen reputation on the San Francisco Bay Bombers. She started wearing the orange-and-black in 1963 when she was 28 years old. Her fans called her the 'Blonde Bomber', 'Blonde Amazon', and 'Golden Girl'.

Skating was so much her life that she skated full time (over 250 games each year) for 18 years and part-time for another 24 years. She played the Pivot position which gave her an opportunity to play defense and offense as necessary. Even though the Roller Derby was not a mainstream sport, Weston was the highest paid female athlete in the 1960s. She earned less than her male counterparts, however, by nearly $20,000.

Derby teams toured the country to compete at local arenas, traveling by Greyhound bus or car. One year Weston put 60,000 miles on her car. The players stayed in Holiday Inns that dotted the trail. Each night her best friend was waiting in the room for Weston to return. Malia -- a spotted mutt who was

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born in a box on a Greyhound bus -- knew when Weston should be arriving and was peering out the window when her car pulled into the parking lot.

It wasn’t easy to maintain romantic relationships while on the road. When she was 20, she got engaged to another skater who was drop-dead handsome. The Roller Derby publicity department milked the relationship for all it was worth. But after 18 months, it ended. There were 2 other engagements that ended badly. One suitor insisted Weston stop skating. But she sacrificed the relationship instead of her career. With so much heartbreak, when she was 37 years old Weston declared she would never marry.

In 1965 the Roller Derby management promoted her to captain of the acclaimed Bay Bombers supplanting Annis "Big Red" Jensen. On tour, Weston wore the white shirt of the home team.

About that time, a rivalry blossomed between Weston and Ann Calvello, another superstar skater who wrote the red shirt of the rival teams. Weston vs. Calvello became the biggest rivalry in the history of the sport and it was personal. Games turned into Good vs. Evil slugfests and Calvello never missed an opportunity to provoke and punish Weston’s teammates with illegal kicks and punches. This fueled Weston to seek revenge.

Calvello’s cheap shots incensed audiences who would throw things at her and occasionally even damage her car. Each skater played her part to perfection. But in the end, the audience demanded that Good triumph over Evil. Even though Weston was the predictable victor, audiences packed the arenas the next night to see what would happen.

Injuries are a fact of life in Roller Derby and Weston -- like all players -- suffered her share of debilitating ones. In an interview she recounted knee cartilage surgery and a dislocated collar bone. Trips to the dentist were frequent as dentures replaced missing teeth. In one game she got into such a heated argument with the referee that two of her teeth flew out of her mouth right past the ref’s ear.

Because of the violence, Weston’s mom could never accept her daughter’s career choice, or even watch a Roller Derby game. Her grandmother had the courage to watch only one. The star athlete found her support within the ranks of the sport. Eventually she married skater Nick Scopas and their relationship lasted until death parted them.

If they weren’t proud of her job, Weston’s family could be proud of what she accomplished. The Blond Bomber was voted "Roller Derby Queen" 4 times; received the Most Valuable Player award in 1968; and was inducted into the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame.

In the 1970s, a skaters’ strike, the gas crisis, and increasing costs made managing the Roller Derby too expensive for Jerry Seltzer, son of founder Leo Seltzer. The original Roller Derby league skated their last game on December 3, 1973. Seltzer sold everything Roller Derby to other promoters.

Weston and Roller Derby started life and ended together. She was 38 years old and her body didn’t bounce back from injuries as quickly. So this was the perfect time to retire. It was not the end of skating for Weston, however. She channeled her experience and expertise into training young skaters and staging exhibition games.

Weston’s life wasn’t all skating all the time. She loved Hawaii and won the 1962 outrigger championship on a canoe called Malia (the namesake for her dog). Her love of softball exceeded her tenure skating and she played in leagues in northern California.

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Weston contracted Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, a rare degenerative brain disorder. She died at age 62 in Hayward, California, survived by her husband. 25 years, earlier she was asked if she had any regrets. She said she did. But that there was one thing that compensated: stardom.

“Stardom is recognition, approval, power. Do you know what it’s like to be able to bring 20,000 people to their feet? To make them hate or love you? That’s where it’s at. Power!”

References:

Weston’s last video interview: http://rollergames.ning.com/video/joan-westons-last-sit-down

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/18/us/joanie-weston-62-a-big-star-in-the-world-of-roller-derbies.html

http://derbymemoirs.bankedtrack.info/mem_Weston_Joan.html

http://rollergames.ning.com/video/joan-westons-last-sit-down

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Weston

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/frank_deford/05/19/roller.derby.revival/index.html

http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-03-16/bay-area/17285386_1_roller-skated-san-francisco-bay-bombers/2

http://baycitybombers.com/Stories/calvello.html

http://www.ktvu.com/station/1854287/detail.html

http://www.rollerderbyhalloffame.com/id5.html

http://www.rollerderbyhalloffame.com/id3.html

http://www.rollerderbyfoundation.org/index.html

Welcome to the Roller Derby Foundation …

… dedicated to preserving the history of Leo Seltzer's banked track creation -- ROLLER DERBY -- by remembering the great athletes who gave their all to the sport and fans; by bringing together those whose passion for the sport keeps the game alive in our hearts and minds years after the original Derby's demise; and most importantly, to giving back to the skaters whose efforts contributed much to the cultural history of the nation and whose accomplishments will never be forgotten.

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Roller Derby's most prolific scorer -- MIKE GAMMON, wearing the Northwest Cardinals' #15 -- against 'Mr. Roller Derby' CHARLIE O'CONNELL, #40, legendary coach of the world-famous San Francisco Bay Bombers & Derby's greatest male star in skating action from 1970. O'Connell was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1967 after his first retirement, then continued skating till 1978. Gammon, who skated with the original Derby until it closed in 1973, continued skating on-and-off till 1984 and was in the first class of inductees when the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame reopened in 2004.

Left to right, it's 3 Hall-of-Famers: BOBBIE JOHNSTONE (wife of Hall-of-Famer Buddy Atkinson, Sr. and mother of 2005 inductee Buddy, Jr.), ANNIS 'Big Red' JENSEN (wife of Hall-of-Famer Russ 'Rosie' Baker and mother of wheeler Barbara Baker) & ANN CALVELLO in 1950s action between Philadelphia Panthers & Chicago Westerners. Jensen was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1960. Calvello joined her in 1968 and Johnstone was part of the class of 2005 inducted in Chicago along with son Buddy, Jr.

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JOSEPHINE 'MA' BOGASH & son BILLY seen here in an early Transcontinental Roller Derby publicity photo. 'Ma' Bogash was the game's first marquee skater and also its first female Hall-of-Famer. Billy Bogash was Derby's biggest scorer during the first 15 years of the game and was player representative for the skaters' association for many years. Billy Bogash was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in the early 1950s.

GERRY MURRAY -- considered to be the most natural skater in the history of the game and probably the all-time scoring champion among women -- was beloved by legions of fans. Her battles with another Hall-of-Famer 'Toughie' Brasuhn were the stuff of legend. Captain of the New York Chiefs and mother of superstar Mike Gammon, she's seen here during a very brief stint with the San Francisco Bombers in 1959.

Hall-of-Famer Hal Janowitz (on the right wearing #39) coached the CHICAGO WESTERNERS to their only world title in 1959 and is seen here against Dave Pound. Janowitz skated his final season (1961) with the Bay Bombers.

ANN CALVELLO, Roller Derby's 'Queen of the Penalty Box' was its most famous "bad girl". Calvello began skating in 1948, made her mark almost immediately with the Philly Panthers, was an original Bay Bomber ('54-'59) before starting a new phase of her career as a 'red shirt' in the 60s when she established herself as one of the all-time greats.

http://www.sacsports.net/features/rd1.htmlA nostalgic look back at the skate game Roller Derby that all of America loved

While going through some old boxes the other night, I dug out an autograph book that brought back a lot of memories. Hand-painted on the cover with enamel model airplane paint in brown-and-orange letters, it said Bay Bombers (1971).

Visions of the Memorial Auditorium in downtown Sacramento suddenly sprang into my head. Of a banked skating track and wheeled warriors doing battle on roller skates. "It's time for Roller Derby..."

Anyone who lived in Sacramento back in the 60s and 70s has to remember the Roller Derby. The San Francisco Bay Bombers, Eastern Red Devils, Northeast Braves, Midwest Pioneers, Ohio Jolters, and several other teams that would appear and disappear as time went by. Of course, the Bay Bombers were our team. In their familiar orange-and-brown uniforms, the Bombers were the heroes of my youth and adored by fans throughout the area.

Coach Charlie O'Connell, Tony Roman, Larry Smith, Cliff Butler, Carol "Peanuts" Meyer, Francine Cochu, and Joanie Weston were only a few of the fan favorites at the games played at the Memorial Auditorium. Of course, the Derby played all over Northern California as well. And during "our" off-season, it toured the country, delighting fans from Denver to Chicago to New York.

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GENE GAMMON -- who coached the New York Chiefs for many a championship season -- was married to Gerry Murray and raised legendary skater Mike Gammon. One of the hardest-hitting blockers of all time.

For many fans, Marjorie Claire Louise Theresa Brasuhn (sometimes known as 'Midge' but always the one and only 'Toughie') was Roller Derby's most famous skater. Years later, this diminutive woman's name is still instantly associated with the sport. Born Jan. 17, 1924, Toughie's televised battles with Gerry Murray were legendary, insuring the success of the infant medium and helping to secure Roller Derby's place in the history of the nation. Brasuhn passed away August 9, 1971 in Hawaii.

The original Roller Derby was created by Leo Seltzer back in the 1930s. The first-ever Derby "game" was skated on Aug. 13, 1935 in the Chicago Coliseum with over 20,000 people watching. At that time, rather than a competitive game, the Derby was an endurance race. Male/female teams would switch off skating a race of 57,000 laps which amounted to 4,000 miles (roughly the distance across the United States). A large map was displayed with markers showing where the teams would be if they were really skating across the country.

The "modern" Roller Derby was born by accident only a few years later as Seltzer was showing off his game to New York sportswriter Damon Runyan in Miami in 1938. During a "speed jam", a few of the players tangled up and Runyan suggested to Seltzer that contact should be part of the game. The next night, it was.

The Roller Derby had its ups-and-downs over the years, eventually migrating from East to West. In 1958, Seltzer's son Jerry took over the business (or what was left of it) and by the mid-1960s, Roller Derby was back on its feet.

Roller Derby thrived in Northern California in the 1960s and 70s. The Bay Bombers, formed in 1954, became the team of choice and the rest is history. Under Seltzer, the Roller Derby survived until its last official game in 1973.

During the last 2 years of the Seltzer-owned Derby, the sport went nationwide with games being skated all over the country and teams adopting various cities as their "home" base. The Pioneers skated in the Chicago area; the Jolters in Cincinnati; the Chiefs in New York; and of course, the Bombers in Northern California.

For a brief period of time, the Bombers were replaced by the California Golden State Bay Area Chiefs (with O'Connell at the helm). But the ever-loyal Bomber fans didn't stand for this very long and soon the Bombers (and O'Connell) returned to their familiar brown-and-orange uniforms.

An unexpected enemy put an end to the Derby by 1973. Driving everywhere, Roller Derby soon succumbed to rising gas prices and transportation costs. Fans -- at least for a while -- had to live with only their memories of the game.

Some skaters scattered to other skating organizations. But disgruntled with the "style" of play, none of them

lasted very long (by choice) with these groups. Meanwhile, Seltzer founded the successful BASS ticket service while his uncle Oscar continued running the Roller Derby Skate Company.

In 1977 David Lipschultz revived the Derby, bringing it back to some of its former glory in Northern California. Lipschultz had got involved in the Derby after skaters Charlie O'Connell, Mike Gammon, and announcer Don Drewry made an attempt to bring the game back in 1976.

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San Francisco Bay Bomber coach Charlie O'Connell (right) throws a jump block against John "Porky" Parker during a 1970s Roller Derby contest.

A television producer at Channel 20 in the Bay Area, Lipschultz was interested in putting the Derby back on TV. On April 24, 1977, the first television game of the new International Roller Skating League was taped at Kezar Pavillion. Lipschultz eventually took complete control of the league and under the IRSL banner signed many of the old Derby stars. Roller Derby was finally back in business.

The new organization lasted until Dec. 12, 1987 when its last game was skated at Madison Square Garden in New York. Financial problems and involvement with partners who suddenly backed out spelled an end to this version of the Derby.

Left with no place to go, the skaters again tried other organizations, most notably the Southern California-based Roller Games. But again, unhappy with the pranks and showmanship involved with the "other outfit", many skaters opted for retirement rather than continuing on.

Other promoters have tried to revive the Derby over the last few years in one form or another but none have succeeded. Several skaters have put together "pick-up" games for charity recently. So while there is no organized Roller Derby league, Roller Derby still exists in the hearts of the skaters.

June 29, 1991 in Burbank, 200 former Roller Derby stars dating back to the 1940s had a get-together to relive old times and swap war stories. Roller Derby will always be more than a memory for them.

http://www.sacsports.net/features/rd2.html

When David Lipschultz started the Roller Derby back up in 1977, it was a dream come true for many of the skaters who had been in the old Jerry Seltzer-owned Derby that preceded it. Names like Charlie O'Connell, Joan Weston, Tony Roman, Larry Smith, Francine Cochu, and Ann Calvello returned to the banked track that had made them famous.

For most of the skaters, the Derby was a way of life. They took pride in their profession and they loved skating. Although the most recent incarnation of Roller Derby died in December of 1987, if Roller Derby were brought back today, a majority of the old skaters probably wouldn't hesitate to return to a rough-and-tumble life on the banked track.

Fans might wonder where some of their favorite skaters are today. Certainly, they are a lot older than when they were in their prime back in the 60s and 70s. But many still live in and around Northern California.

Long-time San Francisco Bay Bomber coach Charlie O'Connell owns a bar in San Leandro. O'Connell last skated in 1978 and then retired as an active skater on the advice of doctors. He had suffered so many broken bones in his arms that doctors warned him that he risked loss of movement if future breaks occurred. Indeed, the final few years of his skating career saw him with protective braces covering both of his forearms. O'Connell is married to another former skater Judi McGuire (who was married to Mike Gammon).

"The Golden Girl" Joan Weston is another Bay Area bar owner. Long a fan-favorite, Weston skated and also ran the Roller Derby training school in Hayward for a time in the Lipschultz-era. Weston married another Derby skater Nick Scopas and the two are also part-owner of a race horse and raise show dogs.

On a sad note, former Bomber speedster Tony Roman died of cancer around Christmas on 1988. Wife Carol "Peanuts" Meyer lives in the Fremont area. The once dynamic skating duo had 3 daughters and a son.

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Ronnie Robinson -- the son of boxing great "Sugar Ray" Robinson -- currently lives in the New York area and has opened a Roller Derby training school with designs on bringing the game back even if it's only on the minor-league level.

Ann Calvello -- the skater that fans loved to hate -- started skating in 1948 and lasted right up until the end of the Derby in 1987. She turned 62 on Aug. 1, 1991 and just recently retired from Kaiser Hospital in San Francisco. She was one of the original Bay Bombers back in 1954.

Calvello is a story in herself. With her father in the Navy, growing up wasn't easy for Calvello who found moving from city to city the rule rather than the exception. Finally settling in the San Francisco area in 1941, Calvello often went to local roller rinks and got hooked on flat-track speed skating. At that time she hadn't even heard of Roller Derby.

In 1948, Roller Derby great Buddy Atkinson Sr. visited some of the roller rinks to recruit skaters for a 3-month tour of Europe. Calvello signed up and skated under the banner of the International Roller Speedway - getting her first taste of Roller Derby action. After returning to the United States, Calvello joined up with the Oakland Roller Derby in 1949. She's been skating ever since.

Although there hasn't been an actual Roller Derby League since 1987, even at age 62 Calvello would be one of the first skaters in line if the Derby were to start back up tomorrow.

"I've kept in good shape and can still skate," said Calvello in a phone interview. "If they want me, they know where to find me. They have my phone number."

Most skaters bristled when asked about the realism of Roller Derby. Calvello -- who frequently sported polka-dot-dyed or multi-colored hair styles on the track -- downplayed the whole issue as to whether games were fixed.

"I think a lot of the criticism about it being phony," said Calvello, "came from when we were out on the road. A lot of the kids that were on the road with us had no business being there. They couldn't skate and didn't look very convincing."

Calvello's voice still carries the fire that marked her long skating career and made her the skater fans loved to hate.

"I never did like being cheered," said Calvello. "It was more fun having them boo me. I didn't like being on the home team."

Calvello was a member of the "home team" when the Bay Bombers started up in 1954. But she also skated for a number of other teams including the Chicago Westerners, Hollywood Ravens, Jersey Jolters, Red Devils, and Midwest Pioneers. When the Seltzer-owned Derby died in 1973, Calvello was in Hawaii recovering from a knee operation.

"There was no warning," said Calvello. "I thought it was the worst thing that could have happened. I never even knew the Derby was gone until some other skaters told me."

Calvello came back to skate for the Lipschultz-owned Derby from 1977-87, happy to once again be back in action.

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"Dave was very young at the time," said Calvello. "But he tried very hard to give everyone a chance to skate."

Calvello sounds bitter about the twice-demised Derby leaving her without a job. But she admits she would be back if it started up again and they wanted her.

"I certainly don't miss the one-nighters through ice and snow and all the driving. We drove everywhere. But it was part of the job and it had to be done. I miss the skating though. I loved to be before the crowd and in the limelight. Just once before I'm gone, I'd love to be able to skate again before a packed house."

Rumors abound about the Derby starting back up again. Several promoters have breezed through the Bay Area in years past claiming to want to start Roller Derby up again. But none has lasted more than a few games. Seltzer has even reportedly been approached about a new league which would be pure sport and feature only men skaters rather than having mixed teams.

"It would never work," said Calvello. "No one would watch it. The fans want Roller Derby the way it's always been. To come back, Roller Derby needs a good promoter who is willing to spend the money to put it on."

Perhaps it won't be in front of a packed house, but Calvello and some other Derby skaters will get a chance to skate in front of their loyal fans once again with a benefit game scheduled in September, 1991 at a high school in Vallejo. Another group of skaters headed by Ronnie Robinson, Pete Boyd, and Bob Woodberry (all former Northeast Braves team members) have a game scheduled in Wheeling, West Virginia on Sept. 14.

The Derby may be gone as a national sport (at least for now ca. 1991). But the game will always live on in one form or another.

http://www.sacsports.net/features/rd3.htmlAfter Roller Derby migrated from the East Coast to the West Coast in the late 1950s and early

1960s, the game began to thrive again in its new environment. The early 1960s saw 3 different organizations running Roller Derby on the West Coast, each competing within itself and also sharing "visiting" teams with the others.

The L.A. Braves were located in the Los Angeles area; the Bay Bombers in the San Francisco area (run by Jerry Seltzer); and the Portland/Seattle/Spokane Westerners (run by Derby founder Leo Seltzer) all operated under the Roller Derby banner.

The Jerry Seltzer-run Derby, of course, was the only organization to survive into the late 1960s and early 70s. But even it finally succumbed, driven out of business by rising prices and restrictions brought on by the gas crunch of the 70s.

In its Northern California prime, the Roller Derby enjoyed a great deal of prosperity. The skaters took pride in their skating and athletic ability and visibly bristled when anyone tried to cast a shadow over Roller Derby as not being a real sport.

"It bothered them a lot," said one former skating employee who preferred not to be identified because of his current position with another sports group. "They really cared about what people thought and got angry at not being considered athletes.

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"At times there was a lot of 'showmanship' involved. But the skating was always fast and furious. The veteran skaters learned quickly how to sell themselves to the crowd."

Skaters wait before a capacity crowd for their Roller Derby contest to begin during a visit to the Memorial Auditorium. The Derby frequented the Sacramento facility on a regular basis in the 1970s and 80s and even held its

championship playoffs there one year.

The skaters were said to get very defensive anytime anyone would knock their game. But at the same time they realized the need to be "showy" in order to draw fans. Anyone doubting the validity of the game probably never took notice of the long list of injuries that followed many of the skaters around.

Charlie O'Connell had so many breaks in his arms toward the end of his career that he was forced to skate with braces on them or face loss of movement should another break occur. Ann Calvello was sidelined with a knee injury so serious that doctors said she'd never skate again (although after surgery she eventually did return). Many skaters rolled around the track nightly with injuries that probably would have put many people in the hospital.

Toward the latter part of the Seltzer-owned Derby, Roller Derby began skating games against its Southern California rival, the Roller Games.

"That was always interesting," said the former Derby employee. "There was a lot of animosity between the 2 groups. Many of the Roller Games skaters didn't like to skate against the Roller Derby skaters because O'Connell and some of the others would really slam them around.

"And the Roller Derby skaters just didn't like Roller Games in general because of their skating style. They didn't like the excessive showmanship, shouting matches, and pies in the face."

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Between 1971 and 1973, Roller Derby went nationwide with "home" teams placed in different regions. Each team skated a season of 120 games with home games in its own local area.

The gas crisis of the early 1970s brought an end to that, however, and the International Roller Derby League skated its last game on Dec. 6, 1973. It wasn't until 1977 that a new Roller Derby organization emerged -- the International Roller skating League.

Several skaters had tried to get a new league going without much success. David Lipschultz (then a producer at Channel 20 in San Francisco) came into the picture and got it back on its feet. Lipschultz originally had only been interested in putting the Derby back on television.

"The skaters were trying to organize themselves in that first season," he said. "But they weren't too good at it. I wound up taking over the whole league."

The IRSL was in business for just over 10 years. "In that time," said Lipschultz, "we were continually evolving. We would have gone national again but ran into several problems."

Lipschultz relates that one of the biggest problems was getting quality female skaters on the banked track. "If we went national, we were going to need female skaters. The training school was turning out a lot of good men skaters but no women."

The Derby did test the waters in 1984 after skating primarily in Northern California. But according to Lipschultz, "We took a beating financially."

Roller Derby toured the Midwest, flopping in Chicago after good advance sales.

"We were up against a baseball team that had just moved into first place for the first time in 20 years and a sellout crowd at the Bears football game that allowed it to be shown on TV."

Moving on to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Derby did no better, playing a date on a hot rain-soaked Sunday afternoon that kept the crowd to a minimum.

"That was a booking error," said Lipschultz. "They told me the weather would be great. But that type of weather was normal for that time of year. I found out later that no one had ever booked the arena in August before."

Indeed, those were only the start of some of the problems that would plague the Derby in coming years, most of which were overcome by the determination of Lipschultz to make Roller Derby a success.

"Television stations looked on us as an entertainment attraction rather than a sport," said Lipschultz. "They wanted us to pay to put our games on the air. Religion and wrestling pay television to carry its programming. I was determined not to do that. I didn't feel that we should pay a station to put on a program that brought them good ratings."

Lipschultz would often have to settle for a No. 2 or No. 3 station in a particular area to get his way.

"We were giving them free programming," said Lipschultz. "But stations were continually trying to get money out of us."

Between 1985-87, Roller Derby finally looked as if it was going to take off into the big time.38

"A lot happened during that period," said Lipschultz. "We established an east coast team - the Eastern Express - which played its games around the New York area. We entered into a contract with Madison Square Garden for both live and television games; had a contract with ESPN to produce a series of telecasts; and we entered into a partnership with the most successful rock-and-roll promoter in the New York area."

Lipschultz also said that the wheels were turning on a licensing program for merchandise including home video tapes, Halloween costumes, and video games. "There was a real serious effort at merchandising at this point," he said.

"What we were trying to do was to create a pool of money for the league and also give our skaters a percentage of it."

Lipschultz said that there was also talk of a rock-and-roll or celebrity tie-in to which end a talent agency called International Creative Management was brought in. Talks with the USA Network for weekly games were under way as were negotiations for a European tour.

Then the bottom fell out.

The IRSL skated its last game at Madison Square Garden on December 12, 1987. Lipschultz invited everyone who was important to the Derby to that game and asked them for their suggestions on how to improve it.

"Everyone was so busy with ideas that we decided to shut down the league and make fundamental changes to the rules to make it easier to understand and give it more mass appeal. In going back to the drawing board, we shot a video tape with the skaters from the musical 'Starlight Express'," said Lipschultz. "These skaters were really good and would have easily adapted to Roller Derby. We wanted to blend them in with the talent that was already there. We needed larger-than-life personalities. Roller Derby didn't have a Hulk Hogan and we needed one."

Unfortunately, Lipschultz soon realized the bitter truth about a business such as Roller Derby. "Once you shut down," he said, "it isn't very easy to start up again."

Lipschultz said that skaters balked at the changes he had in mind for the game including the development of "personalities" and more showy interviews like those found in wrestling programs. "None of it would have hurt the game. It would have just made it more appealing to the fans. It put our final game in jeopardy of not being played at all," he said.

To make matters worse, ESPN had just paid a huge sum to the NFL to start showing football and as such was no longer interested in paying the IRSL for its weekly programming. "Lack of television revenue coupled with in-fighting among the partners and skaters led to the decision to shut down the league."

Lipschultz was trying to put the pieces back together when a whole new "Roller Games" show appeared on TV complete with a figure-8 track and a pit with an alligator.

"Its ultimate failure helped poison TV to any kind of roller skating," said Lipschultz.

So what's in the future for Roller Derby?

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"Eventually I will start it up again," said Lipschultz. "But the time isn't right for it right now."

Lipschultz also said that the game will probably change from its last incarnation, but will still be recognizable as Roller Derby.

"We may go to roller blades rather than the standard roller skates," he said. "The track might be a different size or shape. The possibilities are numerous."

Lipschultz also said that the new game may only be 50 percent "old" Roller derby with new innovations added. "Television will dictate what Roller Derby becomes," he said.

But at the same time, Lipschultz believes that the game mustn't become all theatrics and must stay legitimate in order to succeed. "I'd like to see it stay as a legitimate game," said Lipschultz. "If it is to have any chance of growing into a world-wide sport, it would have to be that way."

Lipschultz also envisions a much different business structure for the Derby of the future. "It's going to have many owners with lots of money," he said. "Television almost certainly would play a part in the ownership. We'd need more training schools too, rather than just one in California."

Lipschultz said that Roller Derby is too popular a sport to remain dormant for very long and predicts its ultimate return within a few years, perhaps expanding world-wide before the end of the decade. "The time isn't right though," he said. "The disastrous failure of Roller Games with their alligator pit is still too big on everyone's mind."

Lipschultz's plan for bringing the Derby back to prominence will involve merging the old with the new. "Older skaters from the past will merge with the new skaters and teach them. There will be recognizable figureheads as well as new rising stars."

Having gone from the top to the bottom with the IRSL, Lipschultz has learned his lesson well.

"When the time is right and the right people become involved, Roller Derby will return. I really love the game and want to see it done right. This time it will take investors who are willing to spend millions of dollars on it rather than just one person trying to keep it alive."

http://www.sacsports.net/features/rd4.html

About a month ago when I finished up my 3-part series of articles on Roller Derby, I had heard that a benefit game was planned for a high school in Vallejo. Sept. 28, 1991 they had that game and I was invited to attend. It probably had been over 10 years since I had seen a live Roller Derby game. Perhaps even longer. My memory fades off into the mists of time.

When I showed up at Hogan High School, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I had no idea who would be skating, if they even had teams, or if I would recognize any of the skaters from the "olden days."

I guess my whole concept of this game would be that it would more-or-less resemble a pickup game where you got some players together and divided them up into teams. That probably wasn't too far from the truth. But it was still exciting to see the skaters out there.

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A poster outside the gymnasium proclaimed that the Bay City Bombers would be challenging the L.A. Turbos this night. Once inside, a few of the skaters who were circling the track for their warm-ups looked familiar to me while others did not.

Ann Calvello (the subject of part of my previous Roller Derby articles) was there. We chatted briefly before the contest started. Prior to the start of the game, someone presented Calvello with a rotten banana, harking back to the days when she was called "Banana Nose" Calvello from her many broken noses.

Cal Stephens, Delores Tucker, and a few others that I remembered were also there but weren't skating that night. There were a lot of new (at least for me) faces. But I was willing to give this group a chance to prove themselves.

My first shock of the evening came when Dee Dee Medina (the skater who arranged my tickets) informed me that I was to start the game. After realizing that she hadn't meant "start" as in skating the game, my bout of panic induced dizziness passed. But having never been on the infield of a Roller Derby track, there was still some trepidation on my part.

Fortunately, my role was simply to stand at the starting line on the track, blow a whistle, and drop my hand - signaling the start of the game. Then I was out of there like greased lightning, grabbing the railing around the track and swinging down to the floor before the skaters had even reached the first turn.

The game was exciting despite the obvious. Many of the skaters were terribly out-of-shape. But the half-filled gymnasium of people were still enthusiastic. One fan -- a lady of over 90 years of age -- sat by the track in her wheelchair, enjoying the game as much as the kids crawling through the stands.

With the women's first period over, the men took to the track for their first skating period of the night. One thing that stood out in my mind from that night was the sheer violence of the men's skating game. Skaters received blocks at just the right moment to send them over the railing, thudding 10 feet below to the gymnasium floor. The hard-blocking and egos of skaters getting bested by one another soon led to the inevitable fighting that frequented the Roller Derby that I remembered.

Despite some obvious showmanship by some of the skaters to get the ire of the crowd, the game was a hard-fought duel to the finish with the Bombers finally winning in overtime.

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Steve Sartain (left) in pursuit of Roller Derby's #1 point scorer Jumpin' Joe Perez.

Ann Calvello (left) mixes it up with Delores Holmes.

A question I have often asked myself over the years is "Is there really a Roller Derby without Charlie O'Connell and the San Francisco Bay Bombers?"

I think I have finally had that question answered. There is indeed!

For me, watching 2 unknown teams with skaters that I had never heard of (for the most part) was every bit as exciting as watching my old favorites whiz around the track.

More is in store as well as the public address announcer mentioned 2 more teams being added in the near future along with the opening of a training school.

NOTE: This game was a charity event to raise money for Hogan High School.With such a large fan base in the Sacramento area, perhaps it won't be too long before someone

decides to bring Roller Derby here for their own fund-raising event.

All that is needed is a gymnasium with a regulation-sized basketball court. It would be nice for the fans of Sacramento to enjoy - even if for only one night - the game that made such an impact on them for so many years.

[StealthSkater note: I printed the following in 2000 but it didn't list the source <url>. A current Google search on some of the text didn't turn up anything either.]

My Days in the Roller DerbyMany people think that Roller Derby died out during the 1980s. But I know first-hand that the sport

was quite popular in many circles. In fact, Roller Derby enjoyed more "legitimacy" during that period than it had during its high-profile days of the 1960s and 70s.

How Roller Derby is Played

Roller Derby is played by teams of 10 players each. Each team comprises 5 male and 5 female players.

Each game consists of 4 rounds. The female players skate the first round and each round thereafter is alternated between the females and males.

For each round, one team player is designated as "Jammer" and wears a helmet to indicate his/her position. Points are scored when the Jammer passes members of the opposing team and leads the "pack" by a lap or more.

Jams last for 60 seconds at most and may be cut short by any Jammer. The Jammer signifies the end of a jam by placing both hands on the hips.

Are the Violence and Fighting associate with Roller Derby fake like wrestling?

No! Every fall you see and every elbow you see go into somebody's face is 100% authentic. Believe me, I've been on both the giving and receiving ends of my share of blows and there's nothing fake about them.

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Technically, fighting and violence are against the rules. But a few minutes on penalty isn't much to discourage the "taking out" of a particularly effective opposing Jammer.

The refs also have a hard time discerning when a penalty is in order since it's hard to tell what elbowing is malicious and what is a natural physical movement as a result of skating.

[StealthSkater note: Like pro hockey, Roller Derby fans like to see violence. Personally, I enjoyed hockey more when the emphasis was on speed and precision passing like it was played in the 1950-60 Olympic years. Too many times can a great skater's skills be minimized by common thuggery by a player with no skills. And also remember that while violence/fighting may "sell" to the fans, it doesn't help the gate receipts if a star player is out-of-action or playing sub-par for the next month because of a one-time fight. They are finally learning that in today's NFL. Hall-of-Fame linebacker Dick Butkus once said that "You want to hurt but not injure. There is a distinction."]

How I Got Involved in Roller Derby

It sometimes surprises people to find that I was once heavily involved in the sport of Roller Derby. But I grew up in a Roller Derby town. We had a skating rink in our area and I used to go there every available moment to practice my speed and skills. The rink was run by former T-bird Sandy "Smasher" McNay. Back in those days, I worshipped Sandy for both her skills as a skater and her knowledge of the game. She soon informally became my personal trainer.

By the time I was 13 (the "legal" age for the sport), I was the up-and-coming child prodigy headed straight for "Roller Derby Queen". I made my first entrance to the Roller Derby scene as part of the Junior Bucks team. After my second game in this league, I was accepted into the Senior League as a full-fledged Tri-City Buck!

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Here I am back in 1984 serving as Jammer for the Bucks. I'm busy dropping former Eliminator Karen Sherlock! BIFF! As a result of this match in sunny California, I acquired my nickname "Suzie Siderailer" (or just "Siderailer" for short).

Here's another picture, only this one is less flattering. Here we are in a 3-car pile-up in the crux of the turn and just about ready to get stomped on by T-Bird Nelly Gribson. Watch Out!

Why I Left Roller Derby

I still miss my Roller Derby days. I would be there now if it weren't for my ankle broken at the 1987 Nationals when "The Bludgeoner" Brenda Reema slammed me into the far wall.

Roller Derby is a hard life. But it's a lot more exciting than being a grad student.

[StealthSkater note: I printed the following in 2000 but it didn't list the source <url>. A current Google search on some of the text didn't turn up anything either.]

Shake, Rattle, and Roller DerbyPro-Wrestling is for wimps. Real men have their fights while they're wearing skates. Michael

Angeli races death on the pro Roller Derby circuit.

Remember Roller Derby? Skaters in tights flying around a banked track assaulting each other at high speeds and bodies hurtling out of the rink like vomit? The sling-shotting, the rabbit punches, the pulverized tailbones? Ripping off your helmet and using it to pound your opponent into tenderloin while the refs are busy picking splinters out of their asses?

Well, it's back. They're calling it RollerJam. And they're using in-line skates instead of the old quads. But stacked or straight up, it's still a rugby rodeo on wheels. Starting this month it's going nationwide with the California Quakes, New York Enforcers, Florida Sundogs, and 3 other teams competing in the new cable-ready 6-member World Skating League.

When I heard the WSL was holding tryouts in Panorama City, California, I knew this was my chance. After all, they need bodies. Lots of bodies! They need dudes with hits in their shoulders and fire in their feet. Dudes like me.

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved Roller Derby. It reminded me of my family making for the bathroom in the morning. Sadly, I never got to compete. Roller Derby folded up its tent before I was old enough to join the circuit. And since the cruel injustices of genetics forced me long ago to abandon my dreams of glory in the NFL, the NHL, and the NBA, I know that this is mast shot at athletic stardom. It's now or never. Right?

Just a short high-speed chase north of Van Nuys, Panorama City is a sweltering crankcase of sweatshops, stray bullets, and an improbably charming roller-rink called the Ice Chalet where I and 80 other people assemble one morning, hungry for the Big Break.

And what could be bigger than this? Just think of what's at stake for me. I'll have a cable audience on TNN that reaches 73 million homes followed by probable global recognition. I'll get product endorsements; my face will be plastered on posters; and there'll be little action figures with my scowling likeness. Hell, I might even get the Minnesota governor's mansion.

The road to fame, however, runs straight under the discerning nose of Erwin Miller. (Incidentally, it is a nose that has been broken 6 times.) 61-year-old Erwin skated in the 1960s' salad days of Roller Derby, making a name for himself on the Eastern Warriors as a jammer (i.e., the guy on the team who can score points by zooming past a muscular curtain of opposing blockers). Back in his day, Erwin

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came out of retirement to help get the newly-formed World Skating League off the ground. Now he's the drill sergeant who will take us from being pussy-gumball Sunday-on-the-Strand-in-Venice figure-eighters to kiss-ass eat-the-rail RollerJammers.

Erwin glides up while I'm sitting in the bleachers. He's staring at my skates and gear. The kneepads are as big as Weber kettle lids. I'm wondering to myself if any of it is gonna save me.

"We didn't use the advanced gear that you have now," he says. "I used to have my sister buy me a girdle to wear under my pants. A synthetic girdle that could absorb all the moisture because the pants were cotton and when you'd sweat they'd get soaked. The girdle held my butt pad right where I wanted it."

Erwin skates away. I look down at my skates. Their brand new. In fact, I bought them yesterday. The truth is that yesterday was the first time I ever put on in-line skates. Sure, I had a pair of quads back when Michael Jackson's Thriller was on the charts. But sitting here strapping myself into these shiny new skates, I'm thinking that I must have had a brain gag to buy in-line skates. I know it because that little voice in my head won't shut up. That little voice of sanity that usually keeps me from openly screaming like a toddler strapped on a seesaw with a sadistic nanny. Balancing on wheels that are only a half-inch thin is stupid enough let alone when 5 drooling lunatics want nothing more than to make you take a "header".

Are the icy fingers of dread treating me to a full body massage? A little lower and to the left, please.

"Okay," Erwin shouts. "Let's have everyone out here. Now, we have all different kinds of skaters here. Speed skaters, figure skaters. But from what I see, nobody has an advantage. It takes elements from all types of skating to make it in Roller Derby. I'm looking for some key signs. And I'll be able to judge whether-or-not what you're doing fits into the World Skating League. I've been a competitive skate since 1966 so I do know what I'm talking about."

Erwin has 3 drills for us. We skate; he judges. Lord help us.

First drill: keeping up with the Jones.

We're supposed to skate around the oval as a group, gradually increasing our speed so that Erwin can evaluate our ability to maintain a brisk pace. Then each of us will try a "breakaway" which is the cornerstone of Roller Jam. In competition, the jammer sprints ahead to try to lap the pack, scoring one point for each opposing skater he passes. The fun starts when the enemy blockers do everything they can short of felony mayhem to keep the jammer from breaking through.

"All right," Erwin says. "You take the lead."

He points to Tawny, a 19-year-old with silky blonde hair and a kiss-me pale complexion who lives in Valencia and works in a retirement home. (She made the hour drive down in her 30-yr-old VW, she told me earlier, despite severe sinus problems that developed after the police maced her at a rave.)

We move out, skaters chattering encouragement, everyone surrendering a little inner tube of personal space to each other. The rink -- unlike those that the WSL will use in competition -- is not banked but flat. Even so, by the second lap we have reached my top speed. Which is half as fast as the pack is destined to go. Try chasing car on foot. That's how fast the pack is moving.

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"Close it up!" Erwin hollers at me as he skates in a little scallop at the center of the oval. Then he points to Tawny: "Breakaway!"

She pops ahead, struggling to keep a lead. Meanwhile, I have my own personal problems. The entire pack is about to lap me. It sounds like Niagara Falls is approaching.

"Close it up!" Erwin yells.

"Closin' it up, boss!" I yell back. But the herd is closing on me. A rolling stampede of Brahmans with wheels for hooves and elbows for horns. I feel my momentum getting way out-of-hand. Coming around a curve, I get forced into the rail … flail at the RollerJam banner … and come up with a piece of it but I go down anyway. I'm on back.

Suddenly I see one guy closing fast with panic flaring in his eyes because he's gonna run straight up my make-a-wish foundation. At the last second, a guy with cinnamon-colored dreadlocks who skates on quads and could pass for Tiger Woods' younger brother swoops in and yanks me to my feet as he's passing.

Erwin blows his whistle to end the drill. As we're gliding, my lifeguard Malik (who is 22) offers a few tips.

"Lengthen your stride. It'll improve your balance. The longer the stride, the more graceful you become. You watch hockey? Hockey's Mario Lemieux looks like he's going really slow. But he's got this long stride and passes everybody. Let the wheels do the work."

Erwin skates up, wheels the rink grit off my shoulders.

"What's this all over you back?" he taunts me. "Did somebody fall?"

I only wish I had those Weber kettle lids about now.

Second drill: getting off.

The idea is simple. Stand on the starting line … wait for the whistle … then accelerate as fast as you can. It's like running splay-footed only with motor oil smeared on your feat.

We form a line. "Stay on your edges," Malik whispers behind me. "Look ahead and show 'em up."

Erwin blows the whistle and one-at-a-time we explode off the line. "DIG! DIGE! DIG!" he's barking.

And I'm digging, blowing right by him. But there's a problem.

I forget that I'm not so good when it comes to stopping. I hit the plexiglass wall at the other end face-first and discover that not only is this an effective way to stop but it also startles the hecklers among the 75-or-so onlookers. Maybe Lemieux should try it.

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Third drill: Slalom-I-Like-'Em

Traffic cones have been set up to create a course chockablock with hairpin turns and switchbacks. Points will not be deduced for falling. If we do go down, we're supposed to get up and keep going until we reach the finish.

"I'll leave the speed up to you," Erwin adds with an evil grin.

A fugitive-looking guy with a haircut that would get him arrested in parts of L.A. goes first. It's not a pretty sight. He doesn't actually skate. He hobbles as if his feet have been broken to keep him from escaping.

When it comes down to it, Fugitive Guy shouldn't feel bad because nobody looks great here. And that goes triple for Doug from Simi Valley. He's a bank auditor who has been skating all his life. Back in the days when they still ran on quads, Doug was a 4-time national speed-skating champion. As he takes his run, the crowds are hollering "Go for it, baby!" But this is learning to walk all over again, sitting on the back of an ocean-liner and steering it with a paddle.

When it comes to my turn, I make it through without falling. But you could go out on V an Nuys Boulevard, get yourself shot to death, and come back reincarnated as Racquel Welch in the time it took me.

Then it's Malik's go. He takes a running shot, nails the first turn, keeps accelerating, makes jagged steep cuts, and blam! Lands full-out on his chest. He bounces up and zigzags through the last 2 cones. It's an astonishing run that gets him a big whoop and a hollering ovation.

And that's it. Erwin wheels out in front of us, thanks us, and gives us the old "don't call us we'll call you" speech.

In the 3 hours we've been here, however, a bit of combat camaraderie has been forged. Heartfelt goodbyes are exchanged. Malik offers a hand. Tawny gives me smile before heading back to Valencia to give ambulatory octogenarians a joystick. Doug is hopeful because the producers want to talk to him. And Fugitive Guy … where's Fugitive Guy? Oh well.

Me, I'm feeling good. If the domed Ice Chalet were a mother's womb and our grueling test an ultrasound, I no longer feel like the hidden defect, the reason to abort. I might not have the speed. But I know I have got the strength. Maybe I'm a strong little shit after all.

Not to spoil the suspense, but I didn't make the cut. But 3 weeks later (just around the time my groin stopped hurting), I'm invited to Orlando to witness the World Skating League's inaugural RollerJam match between the New York Enforcers and the Florida Sundogs as well as preliminary scrimmages between other squads.

"And bring your skates," a publicist tells me. "Erwin wants to take around the banked track."

Universal Studios, soundstage 21

After the grungy charm of Panorama City, the finished product in Orlando is a bit like see the before-and-after pictures of trailer trash when they've hit the Powerball. They may own a Rolls now. But they still park it on the lawn. And now the glitz-and-glamour machine of tag-team flacks from TNN

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and WSL is hitting on all 8 cylinders. So much so that teams that have never existed suddenly have history and personality.

The Enforcers, I'm informed, "play dirty and do anything to win". The Sundogs are America's squeaky clean team. The California Quakes are more interested in their tans (their female skaters have been dubbed "The Bod Squad"). And so on.

Unfortunately, it seems that none of my Panorama City compatriots made the cut. No, it's an all-new crowd here. Most of the women are flat-out gorgeous. Case in point: Susanne Schalin, a former model from Finland. (Unfortunately, the harsh realities of competition require a butt pad which makes really cute babes look like they're walking around in loaded diapers.)

And of course there a few token arfars among the ladies. For example, Jannet Abraham aka "The Minister of Pain" weighs in on the wrong side of 200 pounds. With her butt pad, she could clog the port of Miami!

The men come in reciprocating extremes. Big or small, nice or mean, tattooed or pristine, warhorses like 40-something Mark D'Amato (the only guy in quads) or young guns like 17-yr-old Tommy Smith (who still lives with his parents).

As the scrimmage gets under way, subplots and melodramas take shape. Mrs. Finland skates on the Sundogs which is the same team as her husband Pasi (Mr. Finland 1993). Pasi dies inside every time someone throws an elbow at his wife.

And there are plenty of elbows and injuries. A woman on the Sundogs takes a cheap shot and suffers a torn ACL. A ref gets in Mark D'Amato's way and ends up with a cast on his arm. Another girl blows out a knee. And Pasi's left leg ends up looking like someone took a paring knife to it. But worse, no one seems to know how the scoring works. "When in doubt, put up 3 fingers for 3 points" I hear one referee explain to another.

But once again, I got my own problems, the biggest one being the publicist's ear. After a battery of misinformation and last-minute changes in plans, they tell me -- quite firmly -- that I won't be allowed to get on the track at all.

Ao a few hours before the taping of the big Enforcers-Sundogs match, I slip onto the soundstage where some skaters are warming up. Chellie -- an adorable blonde who skates for the "filthy lowdown" Enforcers -- agrees to sneak me out on the track and kick my ass so I can see if I really do have what it takes to skate in the WSL.

Chellie is known for talking smack and taunting the other skaters into catfights. "I'm the sassy bitch queen," she brags. Lending me her kneepads, she's strapping them on my legs because … Well, just because. I ask her what her best trash-talking line is.

"Whatever…" she gestures impassively.

"No. But I you must have one really nasty one."

"That's it." She tilts her head. "Whatever."

"Huh? Well, I don't know. That wouldn't exactly enrage me."

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"It's not what I say but how I say it."

She grabs a handful of my hair and yanks my head back.

"Like this!"

That's a little better. Now we're getting somewhere.

Chellie also wants to lend me her butt pad. But like Monica Lewinski (from Bill Clinton fame), I draw the line at butt pads. You ask me, butt pads are for the incontinent. She tells me to touch her butt pad. It's like poking your finger into a pillow at a bad hotel.

"You could do severe damage to your coccyx," she warns. "But you probably have one to spare, right?"

A few minutes later we're out on the track. Banked? Are you kidding? This thing is so sideways that it's like a freaking hatband!

"If you stay on the track properly," Chellie says, "you don't even have to skate because it'll take you. The idea is to go high in the straights and low in the curves, in the grooves."

We're soaring at a crazy clip. A hell of a lot faster than I ran on the flat track at the Ice Chalet. A teammate of Chellie's suggests that she skate behind me in case I fall.

"I'll hold him up," Chellie assures him.

"Hold me up? I want you to knock me down!" I declare. "I want you to slam me, bang me! I want you to knock me into Sea World!"

Which maybe she would do if I weren't having trouble keeping up with her.

Chellie calls back to me over her shoulder. "Come on, baby, let's go!"

Is that a taunt? Doesn't matter, I still can't catch up to her to receive my whupping. Finally, Chellie slows down and stretches her arm back to me.

"Grab my wrist with both of your hands. I'll whip you and you'll be going really fast. Then I'll hit you."

For a petite girl, Chellie is very strong. In fact, she flings me out ahead on the track with such power that coming on the next turn I don't turn but hurl into the railing stomach-first … do a paddle-wheel somersault … and flip back out on the track.

Chellie helps me up. She gets me going again and gives me another whip. This one is wisely executed at the begging of a straightaway. I'm out like a shot ahead of her! From behind me I hear her shout: "Don't look back! Just keep going!" In 3 strides she pulls even with me and delivers a weak elbow to my ribs.

"Come on!" I protest. "That wasn't hard."

"I don't want to take you down. You don't have a butt pad …"49

"Damn the pad! Hit me!"

Chellie lowers her shoulder and plows into me with so much gusto that she feels compelled to quickly assure me that what she did was a perfectly legal hit. There was nothing dirty about it in any way. All I know is for the first time in my life I'm skating backward.

"Is that all you got?" I taunt her. "Come on! Make me time-travel. Are you gonna lay one on me or what? You need help taking me out?"

"Tim!" Chellie hollers to this guy in an Enforcers uniform.

He is Tim Washington, a cousin of pro boxer Marvin Hagler and as big as a water heater.

"This guy says I need some help taking him down."

Tim bolts out on the track like an attack dog and comes straight for me. As I'm lifting my hand to wave hello …

BLAM! He decks me with a bell-ringer to the shoulders … puts me down on the track … stomps his foot on my back … and pins me like a moth. I grab his leg for the jerk take-down. But when I pull at it, it's like trying to move a dock piling.

There's only one thing to do … Play possum.

Tim laughs and decides not to kill me. Instead he pulls me to my feet. We're shaking hands when the flacks in charge sweep in with stern faces and jowl-jiggling recriminations. As they wheel me off to the parking lot, they tell me over-and-over how disappointed they are in my and how I abused their trust by breaking rules. Which seems a little odd coming from people who represent a sport where that kind of behavior is the norm.

The good stuff -- the watchably delicious crap sports whether it's pro wrestling, stock car racing, or monster trucks -- depends on 3 things. (1) Their anarchy; (2) their ability to help us forget our everyday problems; and (3) most of all, their success at playing out our fantasy of being able to stomp a row of Chevy's into scrap iron, kick that fat-ass boss in the nuts, or disco-bump some bullshit little jammer on skates into the cheap seats.

And so it was with me. For that brief spell of blood lust clinging to Tim's ankles like a rabid terrier, I lost sense of my limitations, became oblivious to my fears, and learned that I could take the hit.

Maybe that's the very nature of RollerJam. The hypnotic oval, the liberating speed, the flat-out insanity of it all.

Nah … it's the girls!

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[StealthSkater note: When Roller Derby was at its height in popularity, Hollywood took notice and produced a 1972 film ("Kansas City Bomber") starring Raquel Welch.]

www.imdb.com/title/tt0068795/http://www.amazon.com/Kansas-City-Bomber-Raquel-Welch/dp/B0007TKNJW

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City_Bomber

The film is an inside look at the world of co-ed Roller Derby, then a popular league sport.

The story focuses on K.C. Carr (Welch) who has just left her former team in Kansas City, Missouri to start her life as a single mother over again in Portland, Oregon with a team called the Portland Loggers. Loggers' owner Burt Henry (McCarthy) is clearly interested in her and K.C. and Burt date.

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But Burt has a rather ruthless side to him. He trades away K.C.'s best friend on the team. And when he sees that star male skater "Horrible" Hank Hopkins is interested in her, he manipulates the audience into booing Hopkins, causing him to go crazy and lose his job.

Henry's endgame is to set up a match race between K.C. and her teammate and rival Jackie Burdette (Kallianiotes) with K.C. deliberately losing so that she can join Henry at a new team he's setting up in Chicago.

But K.C. doesn't trust Henry anymore (or his promises to let her bring her daughter along) and wins the match race.

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CEFDE113DEF34BC4B53DFBE668389669EDE

I can see the appeal the roller games had for a movie project like "Kansas City Bomber." Fast, loud, tough and violent, they provide an instant morality play with ready-made good guys, bad guys, comic interludes and with all the incorruptibility of Saturday-night wrestling. They also provide a certain sado-masochistic kick.

At least, that seems the case for this movie in which gorgeous K.C. Carr, the Bomber herself, gets publicly beaten to a pulp, apparently at 5-minute intervals, by competitors on the skating track and yet never stops coming back for more.

Raquel Welch plays K.C., a basically nice girl in the business less for blood than for money. She has 2 problems. The blandishments of wily roller games promoter Burt Henry and the resentment of aging roller games star Jackie Burdette, whose fading light K.C. is expected to replace.

There are other problems as well such as will K.C. ever be accepted as just part of the team (the Portland, Oregon Loggers) despite her unpopular eminence and her superior décolletage. But the first two are the important ones and they suggest the quite stunning simpleness of what "Kansas City Bomber" is all about.

Jerrold Freedman has directed "Kansas City Bomber" with an eye to hard-hitting action and gutsy detail. But I don't think his eye is really sharp enough or fast enough or even wide enough open. His roller-games scenes seem authentic but rather unexciting. And his major stylistic contribution is to indulge a penchant for zooming his camera back, leaving characters trapped behind windows in pretentious and often ludicrous dramatic isolation.

At one point he has K.C. get out of a cab, tell the driver to wait, and then waltz off with Burt Henry and never return to pay the fare. So far as I am concerned, that meter is still ticking.

According to the M-G-M press material, Barry Sandler wrote "Kansas City Bomber" especially for Raquel Welch as his master's thesis at U.C.L.A. Whether or not he got his degree, he has created for Miss Welch a part for which she is absolutely adequate, allowing her both to show deep emotion and to roller skate. But no such laurels for Kevin McCarthy who plays Burt Henry like a man braving out a suspicion that he has butter on his chin.

But the film's one incredible performance comes from Helena Kailianiotes as Jackie Burdette. Slouching sullenly in doorways, staring moodily into space, cadging booze from a bottle hidden in a skating boot, she goes to the dogs with an inappropriate passion rich enough to suggest an over-the-hill Sarah Bernhardt being traded off to the minors by the Comédie Française.

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http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2012/02/23/roller-derby-iamscience/

Roller-Derby athletes hip-check science stereotypesby Kate Clancy

Scientific American / February 23, 2012

Kevin Zelnio’s #iamscience movement has launched a number of blogger origin stories, a tumblr, even a Kickstarter project that has met its first funding goal (don’t stop donating yet though).

My colleagues and I wanted to find a way to contribute our voices and show that there are many types of science, and many types of scientists. These colleagues smash gender stereotypes every day. So what’s one more stereotype to add to our target hit zone?

13 kickass rollers who also happen to be kickass University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign scientists, all of whom skate for the Twin City Derby Girls.

Top row, left to right: Therafist (clinical psychologist); Anthrobrawlogist (biological anthropologist); Snarker Posey (legal information scientist); Doc Dementer (educational psychologist); Oh No Bobo (veterinarian); Killy Love-less (social scientist); MRSA (microbiologist).

Bottom row, left to right: Jo Holley (evolutionary ecologist); Gaya Jenda (family scientist); Mrs. T (educational psychologist); F1 (developmental psychologist); Punchwrap Supreme (reproductive toxicologist); Polly Nator (evolutionary biologist).

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Are we Science? You better believe we are Science! If you don’t …… We will come for you!

(13 scientists who could seriously mess you up)

StealthSkater note: Modern Junior Roller Derby for girls 7-17 => doc pdf URL-doc URL-pdf .

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Video Clips From The Banked-Track EraIn the 1950s, Roller Derby games were filmed. Video Tape would not be invented until the 1960s.

And even then, it was so expensive that the next week's matches that were televised would be recorded over the previous week's. It wasn't until the 1970s when videotape became less costly that many of the matches were preserved. Consequently many of the gifted athletes of the 1950-60s cannot be seen during their primes.

The following video clips were found by doing a search for "Roller Derby videos". They are on YouTube. If you <click> on one and your computer does not have the software to show it (probably Adobe Flash Player), you most likely will be prompted to download-and-install the (free) software. (email me if you need help)

There are those in modern day that believe that the old Roller Derby was "fake" along the lines of professional wrestling. Indeed, there were moments when participants did try to "sell it". But as these clips will show, there was nothing "fake" about the hard falls on the track and over-the-rail caused by vicious elbows and body blocks. Nowadays, many of those blocks (e.g., jump blocks, knee blocks, kick blocks, behind-the-back forearms, elbows to the base of the skull, etc.) are illegal.

As you will see, many of the fights are not "rehearsed" and are "shot from the hip". Probably what saved many skaters from more serious injuries was that it is hard to concentrate all your power into a fist while balancing on wheels. Action causes Reaction (Newton's laws of motion). If you had that much punching power just in your arms and didn't need to anchor your feet prior to throwing the punch, you would be a professional boxer!

But that is not to say that nearly all the skaters at one time or another suffered their share of broken noses/teeth/ribs/jaws from these impromptu fights. Charlie O'Connell broke his arms so many times blocking and fighting that he frequently had to wear braces made of metal rods. (He finally was forced to retire when doctors told him that they could not mend his arms anymore.) Joanie Weston lost so many teeth in her brawls that they would frequently come out when yelling at the referees.

<click> the YouTube <url> to view the video on your PC. Remember to Turn your speakers 'ON' !

*** email kram@stealthskater.com to obtain a free separate disc of all these video clips ***

1967 At the L.A. Sports Arena, Aussie Peter Kelly tightropes the rail against the New York Bombers sending 10,000 fans into a frenzy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dfDVBJ-NiKo

Charlie O'Connell knockouts and jams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xigAO5M3iE8&feature=player_detailpage

1973 The sensational Bombers take on the Red Devils wrecking crew (all the league hooligans gathered on one team). All-out pandemonium before, during, and after every jam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LImyLqOd9FY&feature=player_detailpage

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Margie Lazslo, Dolores Tucker etc. against the New York Chiefs with Sandy Dunn, Carolyn Moreland, Judy McGuire, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OV9J_2--iGQ

How to Stride" instruction http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=V_ONUmA1rvg

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Bay City Bombers are more popular than ever http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=AAubOsyDUnc&feature=player_detailpage

Rookie on the Bay City Bombers after 7 months skating on the Flat Track derby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-Oxxagqb_8s&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

1973-85

The "Golden Girl" Joan Weston in some of her greatest moments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vXjwEsmHlVk

The highest-paid skater in Roller Derby (Charlie O'Connell)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI-b8aWye44&feature=player_detailpage

1977-80

Classic SF Bay Bomber Cliff Butler in his greatest jams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX4qj9idf94&feature=plcp

1973 Bomber jammers Chris Rowe & Jim Cook score with seconds remaining in the jam, assist to their coach Charlie O'Connell in this Championship Game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=fNNtwQUeGoY

1973 Delores Tucker of the Bay Bombers lays in a few well-thrown punches on the "Golden Girl" Joan Weston.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=dgieqerySek

1973 NY Chiefs Coach Bill Groll slugs it out with the Jolters Cal Stephens and Jerry Cattell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k1Wi2XNMEjs

Bay City Bombers Joan Weston interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1E2U9X5VWp0&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

From the documentary "High Heels on Wheels". Want to get paid in a full time career as a roller girl?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=bCsly6g04UQ

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Margie Laszlo, Dolores Tucker etc. against the Midwest Pioneers with Joan Weston, Francine Cochu, Sherry Erich, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w9jMzmcmd_Q

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Charlie O'Connell, Pete Boyd, Tony Roman, etc. against the Midwest Pioneers with Ronnie Robinson, Bob Hein, Nick Scopas, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Com45NO4uww

1986 The Bay Bombers underdogs Barbara Baker and 90-lb Jackie Garello clean house on Southern Stars Diane Syverson, Ann Calvello, and Gina McVey.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KtIt392lGw8

1978 Ronnie Rains passes Detroit Devils jammer EG Miller and proceeds to score for his T-Bird team while Miller spends the whole jam trying to stand up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JU1zyPKAjXo

1977 Texas Outlaws Baby Rocko splashes and flattens T-Birds jammer Gwen "Skinny Minny" Miller.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMXvRryqiDI&feature=plcp

1973 Charlie O'Connell and Bob Woodberry tangle again in a Championship Round game which emptied both benches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mhsl6Jj3PI&feature=plcp

1980 The "Road Runner" Jim Terrigno gets a quadruple whip against a LA T-Bird pullaway. The result is crash and burn, wipeout!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Fcizz7xT4G8

1973 A November 17, 1973 interview of Charlie O'Connell after the 1st half of the Bay Bombers vs NY Chiefs at MSG. I believe this is the last know Seltzer Footage on Tape before Roller Derby ended in December of 1973

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgjkLifPBNc&feature=player_detailpage

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Charlie O'Connell, Pete Boyd, Tony Roman etc. against the New York Chiefs with Bill Groll,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdcDh5TnNc4&feature=player_detailpage

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Bob Woodberry, Mike Gammon etc.Roller Derby star from the movie "JAM" talks about her professional injuries in Roller Derby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=1gxlyckDuyE

All-Girls Roller Derby Bout San Francisco Bay City Bombers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IGVoh8KE1Pc&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

Joan (or "Joanie") Weston (January 20, 1935 - May 10, 1997), known as the "Golden Girl" of the Roller Derby. In 1954, Weston joined the original Roller Derby headed by promoter Leo Seltzer, becoming a favorite member of the Los Angeles Braves. Her fame increased markedly when in 1965 she was appointed captain of the San Francisco Bay Bombers. She appeared on 19 consecutive "all-star teams" in that sport and was the highest-paid female athlete in the 1960s and 1970s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=YI9I5e4QZo4

Charlie O'Connell Goes Nutz! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OZf4skldxyM

The daredevil of Roller Games, Harold Jackson, in all his glory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tbc7GAN35EU

1978 Ann Calvello battles Joan Weston with Weston winning the fight but getting thrown out of the game because she had slugged the referee.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aWVEIGiA-mQ

1977 S.F. Bay Bombers versus New York Chiefs. The Chiefs arrive like a thunderbolt and do as much damage as a tornado. Unbelievable jams, incredibly hard hits. You won't believe your eyes. And the ageless and incredible Gerry Murray leads the Chiefs women!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SmzWnuKQgE&feature=player_detailpage

The San Francisco Bay Area Bombers verses the Red Devils. Bay Bomber Pete Boyd sure has his hands full with Jo-Jo Stafford and Bob Woodberry of the Red Devils. Charlie O'Connell jumps in there and Woodberry goes wild as the crowd shouts "Out!" Once Bob Woodberry hits Margie Laszlo all breaks out in an all-out brawl. Margie Laszlo comes back with a great job as pivot while Ann Calvello still insights havoc as Woodberry still assaults Margie Laszlo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IZyTp2NroCQ

New York Chiefs host S.F. Bay Bombers. 1st half of high-octane action-packed game. Fans scream for blood of former Chief hero "Charlie-O". Show no mercy action. No quarter asked, no quarter given!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKH3lluHVsU&feature=player_detailpage

Tony Roman on the jam somersaulting and landing on his head and still scoring points for the Bay Bombers, followed up by a Pete Boyd/Charlie O'Connell brawl against Cal Stephens and Jerry Cattell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w0CF-bdiSsE

Jan Vallow interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=OZ-zwrW_GPk&feature=player_detailpage

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Margie Laszlo, Dolores Tucker, Carol Meyers etc. against the Midwest Pioneers with Joan Weston, Darlene Forbes etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TubGlj5KiKU

Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Margie Lazslo, Dolores Tucker etc. against the New York Chiefs with Sandy Dunn, Carolyn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=OV9J_2--iGQ

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Moreland, Judy McGuire, etc. 1977 Texas Outlaws Baby Rocko has enough of referee Don

Lastra and socks him one knocking him downhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Y7Cm4vg6WlQ

San Francisco Bay City Bombers in San Francisco where skaters take out a grudge - catfight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ED5uLz7r29A&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

is Roller Derby "real"? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5eIYOVrBu98&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

Charlie O'Connell goes toe-to-toe against Jerry Cattell in what is considered his greatest fight ever on tape

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kF8u40ys0MA

The International Roller Skating League featured at Madison Square Gardens with the World Champion San Francisco Bay Area Bombers vs. The New York Eastern Express.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=SOTDnEPEkTk

1985 Everything goes out of control after Southern Stars coach Bill Hill fouls Bay Bombers coach Bill Groll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NG0o1UWglXg

1973 Bombers coach Charlie O'Connell has had enough of Pioneers Nick Scopas antics so he grabs a chair and the chase is on …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Z4Scvu0xL_A

Ann Cavello interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=ZldtjC_Vp-w&feature=player_detailpag

The International Roller Skating League presents the Silver Cup Tournament Roller Derby Action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rr8mZXd_WYY

1978 Charlie O'Connell throwing elbows into Jo-Jo Stafford and laying him out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HSV5oAnRWY&feature=player_detailpage

Excerpt from the "Roller Derby" film that captured the best reviews of the year including Best Picture (New York Times).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inYFG-oW6R0

1974 Classic Roller Derby action featuring the San Francisco Bay Bombers with Joan Weston, Ann Calvello, Annis Jensen, Dolores Tucker etc. against the Canadian Braves with Diane Syverson, Sherry Jackson, Gwen "Skinny Minnie" Miller, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-1HBzWM5kho

Charlie O'Connell on the jam and then a brawl that left the Pioneer Men's team destroyed. All courtesy of Tony Roman who started it by going after Ronnie Robinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mj7vRy-4ukY

A rare clip of the greatest female skater of all time, Joan Weston, at home with husband Nick Scopas, Darlene Forbes, and Cathie Read. Joan also reflects on her career with no regrets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzubrlPonxo&feature=plcp

Bay Bombers Real Girl Fight / Music Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=a8N1Qh7p4Z4&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

Laura Weintraub interview with the Bay City Bombers http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=crv15zlgdaU&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

Real Men (U.S. Armed Forces) / Real Roller Derby http://www.youtube.com/watch?

59

feature=player_detailpage&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=1W3-JdQAU_A

Girl Fights and Interviews http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=l0Nhj8LxNU0&list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA

This skating match was between the National Skating Derby Canadian Braves and the San Francisco Bay Bombers. Actually I would call it "Roller Games meets the Roller Derby".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oZ2r73SxXRo

Flat Track Roller Derby Training http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU9VCfcsAy6RXn3J3zs2cZaA&v=uBYX8pmHLn0&feature=player_detailpage

2009 From the Roller Derby Reunion 02/28/2009 in San Jose. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoVQ5laxz3I&feature=plcp

This is a collection of historical Roller Derby photos from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyeVAtVHQ2o

*** email kram@stealthskater.com to obtain a free separate disc of all these video clips ***

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This entire essay is downloadable from the http://www.stealthskater.com/Humor.htm page

as a MS-Word file (.doc format) http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/RollerDerby.doc

or an Adobe file (.pdf format) http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/RollerDerby.pdf .

It is also on a CD-backup. Every so often, digital "snapshots" are taken of the entire stealthskater.com site and burned to CD. Duplicates are usually made and frequently donated free-of-charge to researchers, fans, and libraries around the World. If you want one, tell K.R.A.M. (Killer.Rebel.Alien.Machine) what format (.doc or .pdf) you prefer and supply a postal address. Email => kram@stealthskater.com (backup addy is at stealthskaters@yahoo.com).

The original site was devoted to exploring "Fringe" folklore (such as UFOs, the Philadelphia Experiment, psychic

spying, stargates and time-travel, alt-medical healings, and reported high-tech military) to see if any truths were there

Add-ons to the basic site over the years included the "Doc Savage" collection (all 190 books!) and highlights from

STAR*SHOTS Studio (model-photography and demo music-recording)

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if on the Internet, Press <BACK> on your browser to return to the previous page (or go to www.stealthskater.com)

else if accessing these files from the CD in a MS-Word session, simply <CLOSE> this file's window-session; the previous window-session should still remain 'active'

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