Last night Kevin and I headed downtown to the Minneapolis Convention Center to watch a North Star Roller Girls intrateam bout. We have both been season ticket holders for several years with the Minnesota RollerGirls and Kevin wanted to see what the team on the other side of the river was all about.

Kevin mentioned that his understanding was that watching the North Star Roller Girls was like watching the Minnesota RollerGirls from a few years ago. MNRG has been around longer and has been in a different league so their skill sets are more advanced. As I have mentioned before, Kevin thinks that a highly defensive bout is great to watch and I find it increasingly more boring. I like high scoring bouts with lots of jammer action but the defensive plays really limit that *shrug*. I was really excited to check out what this bout was going to be like and hoped that there would be more scoring and a lot more jammer action. Once Kevin said it was like the MNRG of several years ago, I thought that I might actually be thoroughly interested in intrateam play again.

We took the LRT to Minneapolis and walked the skyways to the Convention Center. We arrived around 5:30 and found the place to be empty. While we have been waiting in line at the MNRG bouts for our t-shirt collection quite early, we didn’t expect to have to here nor did we try to but we were #1 and #2 in line tonight. Everything at the NSRG seemed less professional and less organized. Whether or not this has to do with the fact that they keep the doors open to the arena and let you see what’s going on behind them (as opposed to the MNRG where everything is closed up tight until the doors open), I don’t really know.

Our tickets were trackside seats. The nice thing about NSRG is that their trackside seating is general admission. MNRG has trackside seating but they are always sold out. While Kevin and I are too old and whiny to be sitting on the cold, hard ground for two hours, it would be nice if you could actually purchase tickets to the trackside seats if you wanted. In year’s passed the MNRG trackside seats were filled during every bout but this year I have noticed a large number that remain empty and usually attract some newbie fan who doesn’t realize that they shouldn’t be trying to scoot their butts up to the track to watch when they are just there for general admission. IMHO, the MNRG should rethink how they do trackside seating but being that I’ll probably only sit there once or twice a year, it’s just not a big deal for me.

After having our tickets scanned and bracelets attached to indicate our trackside option, we went in and chose seats on the floor near where we prefer to sit at rollergirl bouts. After that I got up to grab a beer. I walked to the beer cart and asked them how much the beers were. I was informed that they were $5.50 for draught and $6+ for bottles. As the woman was answering me an older man next to her, at a cart full of cash register looking machines, informed her that I did not have a bracelet and I needed one before I could buy alcohol. She replied that I was just inquiring about prices. I then walked over to them and showed my ID so that I could purchase a beer. Without asking, he grabbed my ID and was about to scan it through their machines and I snatched it out of his hands before he could. He stammered, “uhh uhh, it’s just used for…” As you know, I am uninterested in any excuses as my personal information is not for sale, especially for $5.50 in beer. The interesting deal about this particular bracelet is that it includes at a minimum your name printed on it. The very drunk girls (who left during the 4th period after taking one outside of the arena to calm down since she was being retarded) seated next to us thought that the “personalized bracelets” were just “so cute”. I ended up getting food and soda only and sat at the abundant tables nearby to eat. That is a much nicer setup than what is offered at the Roy Wilkins where you have to carry your food precariously back to your seat and hope that you don’t spill mustard and relish all over yourself while you eat from your lap. Again, not a deal breaker for me but certainly a nice touch but not enough to make up for their ridiculous beer bracelets.

After I saddled up to the track the announcers began their shtick and drowned out the drunken cackling emanating from the gaggle of moronacy seated next to us. The announcers were excellent. I don’t know if it was the acoustics or their talent but they kept me informed and more or less entertained during the entire bout. The MNRG announcers are difficult to hear (I can’t hear well as it is), don’t do very good play-by-play and about the only thing I can clearly hear them talking about are their sponsors.

The bout started and the girls did their thing. Kevin was right. They are like the MNRG from a few years ago and it was much more exciting for me to watch. Their pack control and defense was a little looser than even I’d like to watch but the contact was more physical and according to Kevin, the referees seemed to let a lot more go leaving more action on the track and less people in the penalty box. Personally, while this is a possible safety issue for the girls, it does keep the action moving a bit more and entertaining for the fans. I am not here to debate either side, just stating what we saw and the differences between the two approaches.

They definitely have their standouts, especially “Medusa” who appears to be the “Jawbreaker” of the NSRG at least in standout quality alone. Medusa plays great defense and excellent offense scoring quickly and skating fast. A lot of that probably has to do with the overall skill level of the girls on the track but Medusa was never-the-less a crowd pleaser with many people around us cheering for her whenever she was jamming.

Overall I enjoyed last night’s bout, a lot more than I believed I ever would and I certainly wouldn’t be averse to returning. I just have a feeling that they too will go down the same road as the MNRG and become so talented as a group that the bouts will slow and I will lose interest in the difference in play. Only time will tell.

Are you a MNRG fan but have been to NSRG bouts recently, what did you think? Are you a NSRG and what do you think of the MNRG? Perhaps you’ve only been to one or the other, would you be interested in seeing the other play, why/why not? Comment on!

Last night was the second Minnesota RollerGirls bout of the season and we arrived earlier than usual to reserve spots #1 through #3 in line to avoid any possible issues with line jumping jerks. We passed the time by reading, playing on the iPhones, or chatting. Eventually security staff began setting up the barriers, much closer than usual and MNRG staff began posting signs which asked that people be courteous and not line jump. I wasn’t able to come through on my promise that I would confront any line jumping jerks with a live video feed of their rudeness because I didn’t see anyone acting like five year olds. Either I was too far removed from where it was happening or the signs were working. Either way, it was nice to see that people were following the rules of common decency.

We picked up our t-shirts and headed to our seats. Kevin commented that he thought that things were setup a bit differently this time and Kim agreed. I took a look around and it appeared as if they have reinstated the buffer between trackside seating and the general admission seating behind it. I know that there were some problems last week with people sitting in aisles and crowding the exits. A combination of that and the regular walk throughs by the security staff, I’d guess this was due to safety issues.

The opening act was put on by the Twin Cities Unicycle Club who have performed at MNRG before. They ranked 1st in the nation and 4th in the world in 2008 which I must say is pretty fucking impressive. I enjoyed their show and videoed some of it with my favorite part being when they did an imitation of the Roller Derby on unicycles:

The bout started with the “Punk” vs “Disco” teams. Honestly, this bored me to fucking tears and based on the fact that Kim left to go look at merchandise for the second time in a short period, I’d guess that it wasn’t interesting to her at all. We did get a kick out of the “Punk” team mascot who was dressed more like a Scot than anyone doing punk but hey, he did a better job than I could have :)

The main event was the Minnesota RollerGirls All-Stars vs the Madison Dairyland Dolls. The two teams just met recently and Minnesota got their asses kicked by Madison. In fact, the Minnesota RollerGirls All-Stars have never beaten Madison before in the five years they have been around. It was obvious that tonight the All-Stars really wanted to end that streak but it was obviously affecting their play. The penalties were high, although that was partially due to the unbelievably terrible officiating (three times with both jammers in the penalty boxes, officials in the penalty boxes dramatically waving their arms, and no one in the center notices — please), but some of it was due to new rules and probably nerves and adrenaline.

While we started off the first half very well, we ended up behind at the end of the 30 minutes. I was slightly discouraged at this point knowing that it would be difficult to overcome that deficit. During the second half we were treated to some absolutely awesome playing with the MNRG picking up on tricks used by the Dairyland Dolls to cause penalties to create their own advantage. Long story short, the MNRG brought it down to the final jam with excellent skating by all members but especially Suzie Smashbox and Jawbreaker. Using the breaks caused by Madison penalties, Jawbreaker was able to skate out and get an 11-0 run that had the crowd on their feet, screaming, and rushing towards the track as the score was read off with the MNRG winning by two!

As soon as the final score was read the All-Stars went nuts, the crowd was in an uproar like I have never seen in three years, and everyone ran to the track to get high-fives from the girls as their did a victory lap. People were cheering together, congratulating each other, and I really felt as if we were watching a Vikings win over the Packers. Fucking unbelievable night! Congrats go out to the Minnesota All-Stars for their rocking victory and first win in 5 years over Madison! Great job!

While I wasn’t recording the final jam, man am I kicking myself for that now, I do have a nice one which ends with Jawbreaker coming out of the penalty box and nearly overtaking the Dolls before the chickenshit Madison jammer calls off the jam before Jawbreaker can score any points:

Anyone else at the bout last night? What did you think of the final minutes?!

Update (10/20/2008): I have been contacted by one of the Minnesota RollerGirls and have been informed that this issue will be properly addressed. Thanks guys, you rock!

Last night Kim and I went to the first Minnesota RollerGirls bout of the 2008-2009 season held at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St Paul. We have been looking forward to this for at least several weeks since our second year of season tickets arrived in the mail. Last year I raised the question, why should I renew my RollerGirls season tickets. Thankfully the girls themselves answered many of those and we were happy to renew this year. Unfortunately one of those issues was not answered, probably because it’s handled by security staff, and it’s the only problem I had at the Minnesota RollerGirls bout tonight.

First I’ll start with a recap and some videos of the bout (taken with my iPhone via Qik). The Minnesota RollerGirls All-Star team went up against the Northwest Arkansas RollerGirls (NWA) and stomped the living shit out of them. As with many of the out-of-state teams the MNRG face, the NWA just weren’t much competition. In fact, the bout was pretty boring in the first half but the second half showed a lot of physical confrontation, excellent skating, and individual performances from both teams that were excellent. Minnesota has worked on all aspects of their game and it was obvious that they weren’t about to let NW Arkansas score much. Even with many less points scored by MN in the second half, we ended up winning heartily.

The other set of bouts were all Minnesota vs Minnesota but the theme was “Zombies” vs “Pirates” with many of the girls dressed up like either. The Zombies ended up winning in the end with the bout remaining very close even up until the last jam. Some great skating and sportsmanship was seen here and I’m excited for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, as I said above, there was one outstanding issue from my post last year about renewing my season tickets that wasn’t yet addressed and that has to do with line jumping. Last year the Minnesota RollerGirls started passing out limited edition t-shirts to the first 200 people that came through the door and this spawned a great desire to be the first through the door by many. While we used to arrive about an hour early and have no problems getting near the front, now it requires that you are there 1.5 to 2 hours in advance to be near to the front of the line. As evidenced by yesterday, some people believe that they have a right to break the rules of common decency and that they can do whatever the fuck they please, mostly because they are rude jerks. Well, as I said to those individuals last night, it won’t go unnoticed with me there.

Kim and I arrived at ~4:30 PM last night and were treated with positions #5 and #6. We both leaned up against the wall, put on music and chilled out while we watched as Roy Wilkins security staff setup line barriers around the other people near us. One would assume that this barrier is meant to direct the line in a certain shape and clue you into the fact that, well, there is a line and the basic tenets that queuing up brings along with it. Well, for four people that were in front of us (later three), courteous behavior isn’t required because they believe that they are fucking special and most likely because no one else has ever had the balls to do anything other than mutter under their breath in typical Minnesota Nice fashion.

So, it’s about 4:50 now and a woman and a guy arrive and slide under the barrier. I don’t pay much attention figuring that they have a spot deeper in the line and they are just coming to chat with the two people at the front. It’s cool, Kevin and I usually say hi to each other in line when we are apart and it’s temporary. While we both usually do it from outside of the barriers, I didn’t think much of this until a third person decided that the barrier didn’t apply to him and wasn’t really necessary and not only came through it but disconnected the ribbon and didn’t bother to replace it after he sat in on the Minnesota RollerGirl line jumper powwow.

Now I got a little annoyed and made my displeasure known to the rude assholes now numbering six that moved Kim and I back to spots #9 and #10 in line and everyone else behind us four more spots down as well. I was at first ignored by the four line jumping morons and the two enablers at the front of the line but I kept at it until they just stared at me in their best Minnesota Nice, “we’re not going to respond to you,” faces. With me still hammering away at them in my loud and obnoxious tone they apparently felt that they had to do something to save face. Unfortunately what came out of their mouths only showed how pathetic they are and how they seriously felt entitled to line jumping and screwing those behind them out of their hard earned spots.

The most obnoxious line jumper in this group is none other than the mother of Minnesota RollerGirl Scarmen Hellectra. When I suggested that she apologize to every single person behind her that she decided weren’t as important as she was, she said, “I will,” but never did. Then she went on with lame excuses why she was permitted to do what she was doing — always ignoring general rules of society and the basic rules of queues:

1. She’s been coming for four years and they always sit together at the front of the line.

My response? I’m a season ticket holder and have been coming for 2.5 years. Am I less important than you because I have been coming for 1.5 years less? In 1.5 years I should be able to announce that I am ruler of the Minnesota RollerGirls queue and I should be able to allow anyone and everyone who I wish to join me in my pocket in line a spot just because? No, I don’t think so.

2. They allow line jumping.

I’m not sure who “they” are but I’m pretty positive just because the two security staff members that are busy chit-chatting next to each other aren’t telling you to stop it while dragging you kicking and screaming out of the venue does not mean it’s “allowed”. In fact, I should do a poll of #197, #198, #199, and #200 in line and ask them what they think of your line jumping that just shoved them out of possible t-shirt contention. I’m sure they’d love to hear your excuses.

3. “I’m the parent of a Minnesota RollerGirl!”

Oh well now, fuck me, I am so very sorry. I should bend over backwards, kiss my own ass, and wash your feet for that huh? I should bow before your greatness and permit you to walk all over me and the rest of people in line that you violated because your daughter rolls. Fuck, how stupid of me. Please let me apologize again, right now, for ever questioning your importance and greatness.

Listen, you aren’t special just because your daughter is a RollerGirl. I’m thrilled that your daughter sacrifices herself for our entertainment but that sacrifice doesn’t filter on down to you. In fact, I’m sure if your daughter knew that you were using her as one of the three lame reasons why you were “permitted” to be a line jumping jerk, she’d be pretty fucking embarrassed.

Listen people… Line jumping isn’t only rude, obnoxious and self-serving, it’s also the wrong thing to do. How dare you feel that you are more important than someone else who spent the time to get there earlier than you did and then put on your holier than thou facade when they tell you that what you did was wrong. Next time, beat me there fair and square and sit your dead, dying, ass in your spot for the entire duration just like every other decent person in line who didn’t decide that line jumping was in their realm.

I would like to note that there was one individual of the group of four that not only apologized to me for “upsetting” me, but he also took another one of the group with him to another point later in line. I don’t know his name but I do want to thank him for standing up to the Group Think mentality that continued to prevail even as more people (I assume the father of Scarmen Hellectra) jumped the line and then went back to try and persuade this gentleman to come back to the front of the line with the rest of those that weren’t following the rules of common courtesy. It is important to note that the other guy that this fine citizen took with him took the time to note that he was NOT going to apologize because he really thought that line jumping in front of those that were there 1 hour longer was completely acceptable.

While I don’t expect these assholes to learn a lesson, I really do hope that they at least think twice the next time they sit their asses down in line ahead of everyone else — maybe they will have a voice in the back of their heads say, “rude.” Maybe they’ll ignore it, like they did this time and apparently every other time for the last four years, but I hope that they at least think that their actions may be inappropriate.

Look forward to the next bout when I will take live video of any encounter I have with line jumpers. “Say hi to the Internet, they’re watching as you act like an inconsiderate, line jumping, dick.” That should really get their cookies cranked…

Are you a rude line jumping asshole? Perhaps you hate the jerks as much as I do and want to voice your opinion. Perhaps you’re just on the outside looking in and have something to say about it. If so, comment on!