With 11 days remaining until the kick off of Alberta’s largest roller derby tournament, teams from around the province and beyond its borders are getting all fired up for Flat Track Fever! Fishnets, tattoos, and quirky derby names, combined with finesse, strategy, and speed on eight wheels promise to make next weekend historically awesome!
Especially since it is an all ages show, both on and off the track. That’s right; hot on the heels of the Hunger Games, Calgary’s own Youthanizers, with some other kids refusing to eat their dinners, are showing their mad derby skillz Friday night at 6 pm in some kid on kid scrimmages – to the death! More murderous minor action takes place on Saturday at 2:15 pm as the Greater Edmonton Rot’n Rollers take on the GTown Derby Bratz.
If you can’t bring yourself to beat your children, come watch them beat each other!!!
Check out the Youthanizers and other Flat Track Fever participants at:
Thirteen teams from all over the planet are gathering in Toronto for the first ever Roller Derby World Cup, December 2 – 4, 2011. With teams featuring from the best players from each country, it promises to be an epic three days.
As previously announced, four local athletes have been chosen to play with Team Canada. TAZ and Gunpowder Gertie from Red Deer Roller Derby Association, Teeknee from the Oil City Derby Girls, and Hell on Keller from E-Ville Roller Derby will represent our country in this historic international tournament.
Alberta has another reason to be proud. When invitations were sent out to officiate the World Cup, Red Deer’s David ‘Papa Razzo’ Chapman was on the list. While seldom recognized with fanfare that star derby players enjoy, referees are an integral part of the sport. Just like the players, derby officials work hard in terms of athletics and knowledge to learn their craft. It has been suggested that roller derby is one of the hardest sports to referee, a persuasive argument considering that derby refs skate fast within a small area while processing a flood of information that must be framed within modern flat track derby’s convoluted three tiered penalty system.
Chapman says, “In sports like football, soccer, baseball, and, of course, hockey there is a common knowledge of the rules. Up to a certain level anyone can play the game, and most people can ref, without an in depth knowledge of the actual rulebook. There is no such knowledge of roller derby, just a vague memory of seeing it on TV as a kid. It’s like watching WWE – an athletic entertainment product – and trying to apply that to amateur wrestling – an actual sport.”
During Chapman’s two and half years with Red Deer Roller Derby Association, he has been official, player, or announcer for well over fifty bouts, travelling all over Canada and the United States. Last July he became one of only two officials in western Canada (less than ten in all of Canada) to be certified by the regulatory body, the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.
Chapman explains, “If all I ever did was work at home games, I would never have learned to be a good ref. The officials that came before me in Edmonton, Calgary and beyond showed me that you need to travel, and be part of a larger community to succeed. I learned a lot from them and I’m still learning today. The rules are still evolving, and the way the game is played within those rules is changing as well.”
Like all derby officials, Chapman is a volunteer and will be travelling to Toronto for the World Cup on his own dime. To help with Chapman’s costs, along with players TAZ and Gunpowder Gertie, come support them and Red Deer Roller Derby Association this coming weekend, October 22/23, at Skate and Destroy. This boot camp and headliner game features four amazing bouts over two days. Yours truly will be playing Saturday night when my Nightshades take on the Gas City Rollers. Sunday will see two women’s rookie bouts and a co-ed game later on in the day.
After a trip to New York City to meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the City of Edmonton and The Katz Group made some major progress in the negotiations over that proposed downtown arena complex.
It took some give and take from both sides, but the city eventually announced on Friday afternoon that they had a deal worked out with the team, and that council had voted to move forward with the purchase of some land downtown.
Things all started to fall in place when The Katz Group withdrew its requirement for a non-compete clause, which was one of the major stumbling blocks heading into the day. That would have forced Northlands, the group that runs Rexall Place right now, out of the arena concert business, but it likely would have cost the Oilers owner some serious money.
As well, the city announced a 10-year, $20-million sponsorship deal with the team, which will include things like board advertising in the new rink.
Some of the other items that came out of Friday’s special meeting of council are a ticket tax on shows at Rexall once the Oilers move out, because there will be one at the new place and the city wants to keep a level playing field. New development in the area will be taxed, which is expected to raise $125-million on the city’s end and the price of the development will go up a bit for a pedway across 104th avenue, with an extra $5-million coming out of the city’s share… (more…)
Fathers lock up your daughters – the Lingerie Football League is coming to an arena near you.
Word came down this week that the LFL is planning to launch a six team Canadian league in 2012, which will include a franchise right here in the City of Champions! Edmonton will join Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Quebec City as new additions, with the Toronto Triumph coming over from the US division to round out LFL Canada.
“It’s a decision that’s been in the process of review and due diligence and vetting for almost 24 months,” says Mitchell Mortaza, the founder and chairman of the Lingerie Football League. “We considered all of those markets closely and one of the things we got really excited about is, as opposed to the US where you have only certain markets that are great sports towns, almost every sports town we looked at in Canada was just that.”
Of the six cities that will make up the Canadian league, five are already home to at least a couple of pro sports teams, which is something Mortaza says played a big role.
“One of the elements that really stuck with us in Edmonton is really the success that the CFL has had there, as well as the NHL, and the fact that it’s a small enough market that we can make a maximum impact with a brand of this scale.”
There are currently twelve teams in the LFL, with plans to expand to Australia for 2013 and Europe in 2014. That year, they’ll also be launching a tournament for the champions of each league, which will be played once every four years, wherever the FIFA World Cup is being played.
Hold on a second though – what exactly is Lingerie Football? (more…)
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame: The Esks spank the Ti-Cats, we discuss a report that says college athletes should be paid, Drew Doughty is a no-show at Kings camp, Buffalo’s Tyler Myers cashes in, an early look at Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the NHL launches a social media policy.
In the GABBYs: Marc Savard, the Edmonton Capitals, Novak Djokovic, baseball injuries, Dustin Byfuglien, Adam Dunn…and this week’s Punchline is Ron Jaworski!
It’s another jam-packed week on 15 Minutes of Fame, as we hit our 50th episode!
This week: Will Sidney Crosby miss time this season? Will the SJ Sharks finally get that Stanley Cup this year and is Drew Doughty going to be a holdout for the Kings? Are the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the “real deal” in the CFL? Also: Is this the Year of the Work Stoppage in pro sports?
In this week’s GABBYs: The NY Yankees, the BBC and Sir Alex, BYU, IndyCar and North Korea’s women’s World Cup team!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame: The Eskimos fall to pieces against the BC Lions; will they be ready for the Stampeders? After the recent deaths of two NHL tough guys, is it time to think about taking fighting out of hockey? Also: Sidney Crosby isn’t ready to go yet, Chris Drury hangs ‘em up and The Hockey News predicts a last place finish for the Oilers (do you agree?).
In the GABBYs: Jim Thome, Dan Uggla, the Texas Rangers, El Clasico, Desmond Bishop and Terrelle Pryor!
Now that the NFL has wrapped up a long-winded work stoppage, it looks like it’s time for the other football to get in on the action!
Players in both Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A are threatening strike action over two very different issues, with the regular season set to open in both leagues over the next two weekends. In Spain, the dispute is over money, while Italy’s impending work stoppage is an old fight that has to do with player rights.
Let’s start out in La Liga, where the start of the season is being threatened by an issue that really speaks to the financial climate of the last few years, and what’s projected for the near future: ESPN reports the players want something in place so that they still get paid if a club goes into administration.
I’m not sure how often clubs in Spain are going under these days, but reports say over $5.6-million worth of player wages went unpaid in the Segunda Division last year until another strike threat led to an agreement being reached. A Different League writer David Redshaw says there’s a big meeting on Wednesday where the two sides will try to hash out a deal, though there isn’t a whole lot of optimism that it’ll get done… (more…)
If the NBA were to read its horoscope for this month, it would probably look a little something like this:
“Much of your focus this month will be on personal possessions and whether or not they’ll still be around come the fall. Dependability and stability are key aspects when some planet lines up with some star, or something. Also: something about emotions.”
The league kicked off the lockout litigation recently by taking the players to court over certain aspects of the negotiations so far, which says to me that this thing is far from being resolved at this time and we are in for a long battle. As time passes too, we’re seeing more players becoming resigned to the fact that they should probably start looking for somewhere else to play!
The biggest mover and shaker so far has easily been Turkish club Besiktas, where the GM has been working away to build his own little temporary Miami Heat situation. They signed NJ Nets point guard Deron Williams, they’re working on getting OKC Thunder forward Kevin Durant into the mix and the Kobe Bryant rumors are still out there too, though not everyone is happy about that idea.
Then there’s Carlos Boozer, who says he “definitely” plans on playing overseas if there’s a lockout, there’s Dwyane Wade, who says he loves the game too much to not play this year, and then there’s Ron Artest…(After the jump: Is Tiger buckling under the pressure? Plus – a wonder strike from Paddy McCourt!)(more…)
While most of the focus around the NHL this summer has been on the Unrestricted Free Agents, as it normally is, it has been a very interesting journey so far on the RFA side of things.
Nashville Predators captain Shea Weber won his arbitration battle with the team this week, putting pen to paper on a one year, $7.5-million contract. It’s the biggest award ever in an arbitration hearing and it also represents a $3-million raise for the burly d-man. Weber had 16 goals and 48 points in 82 games last season and was nominated for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman, but the Preds were trying to get an arbitrator to agree that a $250,000 raise was fair…Nice try!
With Weber signed, the focus now shifts to LA Kings defenceman Drew Doughty, who is still without a contract.
Doughty is a few years younger than Weber, but his numbers are similar and his credentials are pretty much spot on – Fox Sports’ Dan Rosen points out that both players have won an Olympic gold medal, both have been nominated for a Norris Trophy and both have put up at least 90 points over the past two seasons (99 for Doughty, 91 for Weber). So, does Drew Doughty deserve Shea Weber money? (After the Jump: Will the NY Islanders move? Plus: Two crazy goals from the world of soccer!) (more…)
It’s okay, it’s just you and I talking here, I won’t tell anyone. Would you jump if you turned around right now and saw a big spider scampering up the wall? Let’s take it a step further – would you involuntarily take action if you looked down and a big creepy crawly was making its way up your leg, or would you just calmly flick it away? I know for a fact that I’m making some of you uncomfortable by just mentioning the possibility that a big slimy bug might be preparing to lunge towards you at this very moment…but that’s because you’re not answering my question!
I’m somewhere in the middle when it comes to bugs – not a huge fan, but not terrified of them. That said, if I ever wind up in a situation like the one that Florida Marlins left fielder Logan Morrison found himself in this week, I don’t think I’d want a camera filming me!
According to the Palm Beach Post, Morrison approached a praying mantis that had taken over the Marlins dugout late in a win over the Nationals…and it attacked! (After the Jump: Video of the Praying Mantis attack, plus Alomar and Roenick vids!) (more…)
It’s time to debut a new feature here on Kerrzy’s Notebook: “The Wednesday Worsts” – a nod to the crummy side of sports!
Too often in sports it’s the highlights that tend to hog most of the attention, but I’m here to give a bit of press to the cringe-worthy aspects of the games we all love! I’m talking about the horrid own goals, the cheap shots you have to watch twice and the losing streaks that are so long you hope they continue, just so they set some kind of record!
Lucky for us, there is a lot of that type of thing going on at the moment! Let’s start in baseball, where the Seattle Mariners are chasing history:
The M’s managed just one run in an 8-1 defeat at the hands of the NY Yankees on Tuesday night, giving them 17 straight losses coming into Wednesday’s action! Just how bad is that streak? Well, the American League record is 21 straight losses, held by the 1988 Orioles, and the 1961 Phillies set the MLB mark with 26 in a row!
Can they do it? I hope so…if you’re going to tank as hard as they already have, you may as well tank the hardest, right? Do you really want to go through all that pain just to be the “almost” worst team ever?
Let’s go from losing streaks to a guy who absolutely lost it earlier this week: (AFTER THE JUMP – video of Brazilian soccer jump kick, plus a terrible own goal!) (more…)
Another week has come and gone in the world of sports, and lucky for you, you’ve got Kerrzy and Geoff here to help break it all down! This week on 15 Minutes of Fame: Is Chris Osgood a Hall of Fame goalie? Are signing bonuses the new “front-loaded contract” in the NHL? Are the NY Islanders ACTUALLY thinking about bringing Alexei Yashin back? Also: How about those Eskimos!
In the GABBYs: Travis Snider (and his moustache), the Pittsburgh Pirates, Joe Sakic, NCAA and cycling accidents!
For most North American sports fans, the off-season is a fairly boring period where the best you can hope for is a big trade or signing, or perhaps a new collective bargaining agreement.
If you’re a soccer fan though, the off-season apparently just means more highlights! I’m not even sure that there is an off-season for soccer fans, because when your European league of choice closes shop for the year, there is always Major League Soccer, which plays on an opposite schedule!
This year, while NFL & NBA fans sweat their respective lockouts and NHL fans get overexcited about player movement, the “off-season” for soccer fans has been jam packed with action. First, there was the Women’s World Cup, which really showed us all how far women’s soccer has come. Then we’ve got the Copa America, which has featured some massive upsets so far, and finally, the Herbalife World Football Challenge is now in full swing.
I know what you’re saying: “Kerrzy, the World Football Challenge is just a series of money-making friendlies where they make 10 subs at half time!”… (more…)
It was big day on Friday for the Edmonton Oilers.
Fathers lock up your daughters – the Lingerie Football League is coming to an arena near you.
Now that the NFL has wrapped up a long-winded work stoppage, it looks like it’s time for the other football to get in on the action!
No Basketball Association
It’s time to debut a new feature here on Kerrzy’s Notebook: “The Wednesday Worsts” – a nod to the crummy side of sports!
For most North American sports fans, the off-season is a fairly boring period where the best you can hope for is a big trade or signing, or perhaps a new collective bargaining agreement.
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