Highlights from the Oct. 26th Bout - Pair O' Dice City Rollers vs. Worcester Warheads

Starting off the line...

This past Sunday was POD's final game of the 2014 season.  Though we lost, we were playing against Worcester Roller Derby's Warheads and the Worcester Roller Derby Organization is a WFTDA League so they strive to play competitively at the national level.  POD as a team takes the attitude that we do our best in every game and if we can give these ladies a run for their money then we're doing just fine! As always, POD grew stronger as the game progressed and we showed WoRD in the end that we just won't quit.

In fact, during the game we built some beautiful walls!!

Vixen, Ballistic Miss L, and the Italian Assassin holding strong.

Suga Burn, Donny Brook, and Meryl Creep hold off the opposing jammer.

Astra Knot, Vicious Aloysuis, and Meryl Creep brace for impact. 

We gave and took some great hits!

Astra Knot (in her first game back since breaking her leg...)
gives it good to the opposing jammer.

Ballistic Miss L takes out the opposing jammer, while also making room
for Vixen, POD's jammer, to squeak through.

Haulin' Sass takes a lickin' and keeps on kickin' 

We worked to play strongly both offensively and defensively, utilizing strategies we've been working on for the last few months in practice.

Astra Knot sweeps their line to make a hole for jammer, Suga Burn, to sneak through.

The Italian Assassin helps to hold up one of WoRD's blockers
while POD jammer, Vixen, just edges past another player.   

While POD jammer, Killer Kush, fights to get by, the POD blockers
reform a solid wall, ready for the WoRD jammer to try to come through. 

After a successful star pass, one of PODs blockers,
Vicious Aloysius, becomes jammer and proves she can hold her own.

Though the final score doesn't necessarily reflect it, POD's jammers turned things up a notch in the second half, including one final jam by Vixen, who scored a whopping 25 points in that jam alone! 

Donny Brook holding off a blocker as she jams. 

Pandora catching her breath as she skates up to fight the pack again.

Vixen racing back to the pack, hoping to score again. 

Meryl Creep looking ahead for a clear path through the opposing wall.

FINAL SCORE: 

MVPs:

Congratulations to Ballistic Miss L and Vixen from POD
and Megzatron and Nikko from WoRD! 

Thank you to everyone who has attended one of our games this season.  

We hope to see you again next year! 

Special thanks to Eric Wallis Photography, one of our fabulous sponsors, for all the above photos!

We Discovered This Great Site for Lacing Methods!

Lacing your skates to fit your individual skating needs seems to be something that most Derby Girls (and Refs) learn over time.  It's usually a hit or miss "try it and see if it works" kind of process.  It can be difficult to take advice from team mates and friends because different skaters may be looking for different things in the way they lace their skates.

For me personally, I have to adjust the laces very tightly over the middle instep of my right foot when I know I'll be skating lots of laps or very intensely for a longer period because the boot is a little wide on my right skate and my foot tends to slide around in the boot as I skate. I know other team mates that need their skates to be loose in the toe box and tight around the ankle, or vice versa.

This site has 43 different ways to try lacing! With diagrams and feedback for each style.

Screen Capture from "Ian's Shoelace Site"

One team mate has already tried lacing her skates differently based on the tips and instructions given here. I plan to experiment soon! Let us know if you try and love any particular style of lacing...

- Nikki Tesla #134

VIDEO - Beat City Bedrockers Vs. Pair O'Dice City Roller Derby

Great match up between the Beat City Bedrockers and Pair O'Dice City Roller Derby.  The game was a close one and ended in the first win for POD for this season.

POD 144 -  Bedrockers - 111

MVP's - Beat City Bedrockers & the POD City Roller Derby

Congrats to the MVP's of the game.   Lolli  and Frisky for the Bedrockers and  Criminal Wrecker and MoJo for POD City.   This was MoJo's first MVP ever Woo Hoo  :)

See the  full game video Here!

HARD vs POD Pow Wowing

Team Pow-Wow   Also See the action packed video here.

POD's Healthy "Fuel" of the Month

In the interest of fun and nutrition - and showing that yes, you CAN combine the two sometimes - we are going to be featuring one healthy meal a month that can be used to help fuel up before a game or to recharge afterwards. Every once in a while, we'll probably also have a recipe or two for some fabulously tasty treats...because what Derby girl doesn't love treats??

To kick things off, we're going to start with a simple, easy recipe that can be modified in a lot of different ways to satisfy different tastes and to mix things up so that you can make it frequently and not get bored!

EGG WHITE FRITTATA

Egg White Frittata Recipe photo by Taste of Home

Ingredients:
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
8 egg whites (or I use the 16oz. carton of egg whites you can buy in grocery stores cuz I'm lazy, LOL) 
1 small onion
1 red pepper
3 oz. baby spinach
3 oz. soft goat cheese
Hot sauce or salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Pour olive oil into large skillet on stove top over medium heat.
2. Chop onion and pepper into small pieces then saute in skillet until softened and onion becomes translucent.
3.  Add baby spinach and cook for about 1 minute until spinach is just wilted.
4. Add egg whites to the skillet, making sure to cover the vegetables evenly. Cook on stove top for about 5-8 minutes. The edges of the egg whites should start to look browned and cooked, but the middle will still look slightly watery on top.
5. Remove from stove top.  Turn on oven broiler.
6. Break goat cheese into small pieces and place evenly on top of frittata.
7. Place skillet into oven on top rack, just below broiler for about 2-3 minutes.  The top of the frittata should finish cooking and turn a lovely pale golden brown color.
8. Remove from oven, let sit for one minute, then cut into four wedges to serve.


You can change up the veggies in this frittata super easily.  Just use whatever you have at home,

An (full) egg fritatta with spinach, onion,
and goat cheese that I made. YUM.

making sure to cook the firmest vegetable (like broccoli, peppers, etc) first so they soften before the egg whites get added. You can also use different cheeses or no cheese at all. This particular recipe is a go-to on weekends in my house, because it's simple and pretty quick. (about 20 mins start to finish). We also add a lot of hot sauce because we like things spicy!

This frittata is good for before a practice or game because it's got protein, veggies, and some fat from the cheese, which all help fuel you but it's light enough that you don't have that awful heavy feeling while you skate.  It's also great for refueling after a workout for all the same reasons.Two wedges of the frittata are about 300 calories, so as long as you share the other half with someone you're still eating a healthy meal that won't immediately cancel out that cardio workout for the day.

Let me know if you try this and what modifications you make...I'm always looking for options in cooking!!

- Nikki Tesla #134

Skater of the Month: Suga Burn

This month we're going to start a new feature on the blog to help you all get to know our players a little better! To start off, we're featuring one of the Pair O' Dice City Rollers' co-captains: 

Skater name: Suga Burn

Number: 250

Story behind the name: Derby related injury - I got a huge 2nd-degree burn on my arm making mexican chocolate marshmallows for the ref room. The number is the point where sugar reaches the "hard ball" stage in candymaking. I am actually not into derby names that much, but people who use their real names tend to be...more "gooder" than I am.  Also I have a last name that no one can pronounce.

Hometown: Timber Ridge, VA, basically a sheep farm by the side of the highway

Derby experience: Three years on skates, this is my second season playing.  I was briefly a ref which was an unmitigated disaster.

Sports background: My dad was a runner and babysat by bringing us along to his track workouts. Through high school I was pretty active, but avoided organized sports because I sucked at them and in the south that is a Big Deal.  In college I did club rugby, ultimate frisbee, karate, and got kicked off the rowing team for not passing the swim test.  Post-college I got into ultrarunning and long course triathlon.   

Why derby:  I am pretty sure that originally I wandered in because summer ultimate had ended for the year and I was bored and looking for something to do during the winter, and honestly after almost 10 years in the same co-ed sports league the drama had built up.  I have no idea why I stuck with it, to be honest, except that it was the winter - the league was new and had no organized fresh meat process and picking up the skills was wicked hard for me.  Glad I did though - the game is very mental and always challenging, as I put it “no matter how good you are, you will always find a way to hilariously suck.”  Plus, roller skating turns out to be sort of fun (because the last time I skated pre-derby I broke my ankle so bad I needed 3 surgeries which was not fun).

Derby style: Calm, composed, and rules-minded blocker in bouts.  Shenanijammer extraordinaire, who often comes close to fouling out in scrimmage.  If the refs don’t have homework after a scrimmage, I failed miserably.

Photo by Eric Wallis Photography

Why Pair O' Dice: I came to POD after I had gone inactive for a while after my first season.  I really love that the entire league is one team and everyone is treated equally and empowered. I also love that derby is treated as a sport, not a part-time job.  It was time for me to feed other parts of my life and I am really happy with the balance.

Derby goals: Inspire a WFTDA clarification or rules rewrite ala No Big Deal (will become a jammer if necessary to do so).  I also really want to get involved with Fresh Meat and Scrimmage 101 training.  With the right sequence of training I know that skaters have more fun and become more well-rounded and empowered.

Favorite players: Lil Paine and Artoo Detonate from Boston.  I also adore Chantilly Mace from Bay Area because she full on nopetopuses out (legally) when she is just over a jam.  Crawling through the pack?  Getting hit out and just standing there, refusing to go back? Yep. In an alternate universe where I was an elite jammer, that would SO be me.

Photo by Danielle "Daneurysm" Millea

Gear: Suede and croco leather Riedell 965s with custom plates, Zombie 98a wheels (still not hard enough), 187 knee pads, Scabs elbow and gaskets, Triple 8 wrist guards, S-1 helmet, Crazy Bounce toestops, and 2.4 sisu mouthguard.  Smartwool socks, capris, and lots of bandanas.

Outside of derby:  I have degrees in geological and geotechnical engineering from Columbia and MIT.  I recently hit that point in my career where I am expected to manage, not do, and it forced a re-evaluation of my priorities.  Currently launching a brand new career in social entrepreneurship. This spring I applied for and was selected for the Education Pioneers Data Analyst Fellowship; I am currently in the placement process for it which is both exciting and frustrating on a daily basis.  I also make candy, grow things, make objects, and like riding my bike and such outside.  Also always have a freelance gig cause/economy - gotta diversify.

Things I have learned about derby:  There are at least 6 ways to do a transition and one of them will make sense to everyone.  Fishnets don’t work once you start wearing gaskets.  When it stops being fun, take a break. Interskate 91 South is all-request on Wednesday nights and they play video (I request Marky Mark and Salt ‘n Pepa every time). NSOs always have cookies.