rollerderpy:

It’s called Renegade Roller Derby.
It’s Roller Derby for those who don’t like sports, but enjoy staged fights and corny trash talk. It’s the WWE of roller derby. Enjoy… I guess?

Hahaha I LOVE this ignorant mentality towards renegade derby!  First I would like to start off with I have played Renegade, WFTDA, OSDA, and MADE, and I can probably guess you haven’t, especially renegade, or you wouldn’t be talking the way you do about it.  As a matter of fact my team LEARNS WFTDA, OSDA, MADE, RENEGADE, and any rule set we can because we want to play everyone and believe that all kinds of derby are awesome and fun in their own ways.  I think it’s great that roller derby has so many options, for so many different people to play the type of derby they love.  I have put a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears into what I do, as have my ladies and fellas who play renegade roller derby and it is ignorant, disrespectful and appalling when I see this elitist, egotistical, holier-than-thou roller derby mentality; who made you the authority on what is or isn’t a sport? 

First of all, this isn’t TV roller derby, this is RENEGADE roller derby, there is a difference.  The fights are NOT staged (believe me I don’t like the staged fights either) and if you don’t believe me, maybe you should find your closest renegade team and have at a practice with them.  I think it’s funny that no one claims hockey teams to have staged fights, and yet we do?  I would definitely put it along the same lines.  But who ever heard of a violent sport, that’s crazy talk!  You want to say we aren’t athletic?  I bet you couldn’t SURVIVE one of our practices, 3 or 4 days a week 3 or 4 hours a practice, and off skates exercises.  Our practices are on an asphalt, outdoor rink which we use all year round.  Rain, Snow, Cold, Heat, man we are such lazy slackers, I mean going out when it snowed 6 inches and shoveling out a track almost every other day in winter, piffft that’s not dedication! We have endurance drills that last AT LEAST an hour.  Hell I do independent weight training and lifting outside of derby as well, but I guess that doesn’t make me athletic even though I workout at least 5 days a week, man I am just the worst athlete ever.  Have you actually been to a game?  A practice?  Maybe you should look more into what you are bashing, and have all the facts, BEFORE you form an opinion.  I mean, I like to make sure I am informed before I start slandering an entire branch of the sport that many people love and work their asses off to become good at, but maybe my old fashion desire to not pull opinions out of my asshole are behind the times of modern America where becoming educated about something takes to much of our precious time. 

As for the corny trash talking, it’s fun as hell!  And excuse the hell out of me for wanting to bring a little fun and entertainment into the game.  I am not taking shots at other derby, I think other types of derby have AWESOME things about them, however, I love having it be a little more theatrical.  I DON’T even want to think about using my real name.  I love working my ass off to become a better athlete and then earning the right after I have worked hard to become bout ready, to get to create a persona on the track.  And I mean, with over 1,500 friends on facebook, and our youtube channel at only a few months old with over 1,000 friends, I’d have to say that there are people out there who enjoy what we do as well.  Especially all those charities that every single one of the proceeds from our home games have been donated too (I believe our last bout made over $1650 for Tennessee Flood Relief, but where could we have made all that, no one enjoys watching renegade derby.)  People come out to our games with tons of signs, they dress up in costumes, the scream, they yell, little kids paint their faces and ask for our autographs, that is an AMAZING feeling.  Our skaters have entire sections who cheer for them because they have created a persona on the track that people relate to and want to come out and see.  I’m not saying other forms of derby don’t do this, but are you really going to crucify me for dressing up in some kick ass shoulder pads, and running my mouth, HILARIOUSLY, and giving the fans an AMAZING game experience?  I’m sorry, but our fans LOVE us and what we do, and the numerous amounts of new papers and press who have covered our games have stated how our games are exciting, athletic and brutal.  So some anonymous, internet troll, who in the great scheme of things no one will ever hear of and no one will ever take their opinion in any kind of seriousness doesn’t like it, then I guess that is the price we pay for doing the sport we love, and fighting to bring awareness about it to the surface.

I have seen people come and go in this sport.  Why do you think roller derby’s turnover rate is so high?  Why do you think the internal derby community is always at each others throats?  It’s because of people like you.  Uninformed, arrogant, know-it-alls who think they have some kind of right to judge others because “they’ve been at this a while”.  Renegade derby or no rules derby isn’t what is ruining roller derby, it’s you, and every single person who acts and thinks the way you do.  How dare you, make the sport that myself and so many others love, look like a caty, bitchy, if you aren’t like us you don’t belong, members only girls club.  How dare you.  You know what we provide?  A type of derby free of drama, and internal/external politics.  Free of boards of directors and dues so high that no one should be expected to pay.  We provide a family, of super close girls and guys, who sweat together, kick the shit out of each other, learn new things, stay in shape, take road trips across the country, and most importantly…shut the fuck up and skate, because I have realized the people who run their mouths the most are the people who work the least.  I am all about action, and sitting on tumblr arguing with some internet asshole isn’t going to do shit, in the end you never had any intention of having an open mind, you already had your opinion set the moment you were misinformed from some other “derby girl” who cares more about what her skate covers are going to look like then her endurance. 

So we’ll keep up the corny trash talking, and the real fights, and the crazy take downs.  We’ll keep the HUGE checks in there, the elbows, the men and woman kicking each others asses at the same time on the same track.  We keep making our awesome skater profiles, our hilarious promos, our kick ass game recaps and slam of the months, and our fan base will keep growing, and our team will get stronger and you will eventually choke on your words because they are empty and meaningless and my bunch of renegade, fake derby skaters will keep on truckin far past the staying power of haters like you. 

And on a side note WWE is one of the longest running, episodic television shows in history.  And pro wrestling had been around wayyy longer then roller derby (started in the 1880s I believe), but I take it you also haven’t ever been in a ring before, had to get hit, had to run the ropes?  Or you wouldn’t think so low of that either I suspect. 

So anyway, have fun living in a bubble and not appreciating all the cool things every kind of derby has to offer.  We’ll keep having fun, Psycho 78s are well into their 3rd year as a team and stronger then ever.  Thanks for the re-blog and for watching the video, the more watches we get the better for us!  And I am going to be cliche with saying any publicity is good publicity.  :-)