Monday, December 18, 2017

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand that's a wrap on 2017!

We're officially on break now (Saturday was an open scrimmage) so I actually brought my pads and skates in from the car!

So yeah.  2017.  Let's recap, shall we?

JANUARY
FEBRUARY
So all in all, I am quite happy with my year as an official.  I was 3 for 4 on my year goals, and the fourth goal (apply for certification) wasn't available for me, so I'm calling it 100% ACHIEVED GREAT SUCCESS.

What will 2018 bring?  Hopefully more of the same.

Friday, December 15, 2017

I've never even had a business card of my own

OUR LEAGUE IS DOING TRADING CARDS THIS YEAR OMG

I HAVE TO FIND THE PERFECT ACTION SHOT OF ME

COME UP WITH THE PERFECT ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS I'LL BE ASKED

AND THEN BUY EVERY SINGLE CARD THEY MAKE OF ME

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

and that's kinda pretty much it for the rest of the year

so River Valley Riot went (in my opinion) really really well.  The "half-rack" staffing system was a great way to run the show.  I GOT MY RADAR DIAMOND WHEELS.  One official came up to me afterwards (who wasn't even on my crew) and told me that I'd totally kicked ass (!!!!!)   I got to do karaoke.

So I've been spending the last few days looking at the schedule of upcoming tournaments, trying to figure out to which ones I should apply.  Trying to categorize them in terms of distance (and, therefore, number of days I'd have to take off from work), number and type of games, number of references needed, and my overall likely chances on getting accepted.  I'm really fortunate to be in the northeast United States - we have a lot of opportunities in this neck of the woods.




Thursday, November 9, 2017

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

SO I FOUND A SKATE SHOP THAT IS SELLING MY BELOVED RADAR DIAMOND WHEELS IN THE DUROMETER I NEED

AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE AT RIVER VALLEY RIOT NEXT WEEKEND

IT IS A HAPPY DAY INDEED IN CASA DE KICKTORIA

Friday, October 27, 2017

whee! (and by whee, I mean ZOMFG)

So I've been head refereeing a lot at scrimmages lately.  It's getting easier - pack definition is coming more easily to me, and I'm able to throw the pack to the front IPR when I need to follow someone back, I feel more confident during Official Reviews, stuff like that.

Getting excited for River Valley Riot - we've gotten our crew assignments and mine is top-notch.  Staffing is being done a little bit differently - the static crews of 8 are divided in half, and for one game, half will be HR/IPR/JR/JR, the other half will be OPR/OPR/OPR/ALT, and then for the next game, they switch.  I really like that idea, because it means you're not tied down to one particular spot for a whole weekend (and the ALT responsibility is spread out more equally amongst the crew).

Then things quiet down.  Our league goes on break mid-December, and I'm not aware of any other games that are going on in December. 

Then 2018 shows up and the cycle begins anew.  I've already started filling in potential games and tournaments in my planner, and the first six months are already crammed with events. 

many of these weekends have multiple events

We had an officials' meeting earlier this week, and we were encouraged to share our goals for the next year, so here're mine:

  • HR a game (I've been told this will happen at least once)
  • Go to one of the "bigger" tournaments
  • Apply for certification, if it's open
  • do more NSOing
  • learn how to run the scoreboard
so yeah, that's the plan.


Monday, October 23, 2017

on tournamenting and 2018 and the future

a few of my official friends* have been talking on Facebook about tournaments and applying and not applying and taking breaks and otherelse** and whatnot.  Here's my 2¢†:

My personality type is that when I find something I love, I want to immerse myself in it 24/7.  I want to live, breathe, eat, sleep, BE that thing I love.  It happened on July 9, 2008 when I went to my first roller derby practice, it happened on October 16, 2014 when I put on stripes and went to my first scrimmage as a referee.

So I'm still in ZOMFG I LOVE OFFICIATING I WANT TO DO ALL THE TOURNAMENTS mode (for the most part, anyway).

Unfortunately, there are only so many tournaments I can do in a year.  While I only work until 2:30pm (which means I don't necessarily have to take a Friday afternoon off to go somewhere), I am the only support for my boss, which means that the work sits until I get back, and which also means he'll call me during the tournament with some emergency.

Plus all the tournaments are on the same weekend, it seems like.

-----------
*friends who are officials, not, like, THERE IS PAPERWORK TO SHOW THAT WE ARE OFFICIALLY FRIENDS

**I think I'm going to try and make this an actual word

† the code for "¢" is ALT + 155.  the code for "†" is ALT + 0134

   



Monday, October 16, 2017

oh! so! TACOver!

It went pretty well.  I got into my head a whole buncha times, but that's something I know I need to work on.


Monday, October 2, 2017

getting excited!

Hostile TACOver!  Yay!

I realized I never posted a picture of my helmet decoration, so here it is:
Gloss black on matte black = classy AF
I was tempted to go full out blinged crown with rhinestones and stuff, but didn't.

I also realized over the weekend that I didn't have any nameplates with my derby number on them, so I rectified that:
my derby number comes from my son's birthday - 06/09/01

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

now for a girly ref post

Normally in my life, I don't wear makeup.  Why would I spend five minutes applying it in the morning when I could spend those five minutes sleeping?  I mean srsly.  I have priorities.

Derby, though - that's an entirely different story.


When I played derby, sparkly eyeblack was my shtick.  I had green for our travel team and purple for our home team.   It's Ben Nye Aqua Glitter, and I bought it at a local costume store.  It was very drippy, from what I remember.

Nowdays....

(hm, I don't have a closeup picture of my ref makeup face.  Will have to rectify that.)

For eyeshadow, I use L'Oreal Infallible Liquid Eyeshadow.   I have Mistress Noir and BRB Blue.  (The latter gets a lot of compliments.)  

For eyeliner, I use Michael Kors Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in Black that I got in a sample pack.  (I'm not about to spend $25 on an eyeliner.)  

For lipstick, as I think I've mentioned many times before, I have tried umpteen squillion brands before finally settling on Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid.  I have Voyager and Romantic and just bought Creator last night.

All of these last well through a game of officiating.  The lipstick wears out a bit because I keep my whistle in my mouth, but I can touch it up at halftime and all is well.

Anyway, that's my girly ref post.

Monday, September 11, 2017

time moves onward, as is its wont

So apparently the goal for me this season is to get to the point where I can HR games.  Whee!  To that end, I HRed scrimmage on Thursday and then a scrimmage yesterday between our local men's team and a team from a town that's about two hours away.

They went pretty well, for various values of "pretty well."  There were only three referees on Thursday (though we were told that it didn't seem like there were only three, as we were able to pick up a lot of penalties on the outside that might have gotten missed otherwise), and yesterday the teams were Black versus Grey but some of the Black skaters were wearing very dark grey and some of the Grey skaters were wearing medium grey and it was very GAAAAH-inducing trying to keep track of where the pack was.  But I muddled through and no one died, so it was all okay in the end.


Wednesday, September 6, 2017

another season, another season

so last night was the first practice of the new season, yay!  I actually did the off-skates warmup (I KNOW).

Until team tryouts in November, the practices are more skills 'n drills, so I was able to do a lot of them with the skaters.  Lots of toestop work (which killed my feet; my big toenails aren't *quite* back yet), some one foot transitions (where only one foot is on the ground at any point, not where you actually transition on one foot), some work with being strapped with a bungee cord to a column and you have to skate around cones and not die from the resistance.

My legs're feeling it today, to be sure.


Tuesday, August 29, 2017

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

1. Get accepted to a tournament with WFTDA sanctioned games as a non-alt referee
2. Get accepted to a tournament that requires air travel
3. Work as front OPR for a game and keep constant positioning (I guess I kinda did this?)
4. If certification opens up again, apply!


Hostile TacOver, the WFTDA B-Team Championships in Tampa in October!  yaaaaaaaaaay!

Unfortunately being accepted to a tournament that requires air travel means that you have to buy plane tickets.  ZOMFG I HATE BUYING PLANE TICKETS.  (Have I mentioned this?)  I finally pulled the trigger this morning and figured out it's cheaper to fly out of Buffalo, so I'll be doing that.


Wednesday, August 9, 2017

whee

so at practice last night we were working on things that we're not 100% confident on (hello, hockey stops!) and then at the end of practice our HR was like "okay, we're going to work on backwards crossovers."

My history with backwards crossovers is a bit fraught.  When I was a little kid skating my heart out in the basement listening to Hooked on Classics, my backwards skating stance was with my left foot behind me (i.e., my left foot leading in the direction I am skating).  Fastforward thirty plus years later, when I discover if you're going to do backwards crossovers in derby direction, YOUR RIGHT FOOT NEEDS TO LEAD IN THE DIRECTION YOU ARE SKATING HAHAHAHAH NEENER NEENER NEENER TO YOU.

So I had to relearn how to skate backwards.

Anyway, after much trial and error, I got fairly decent at backwards crossovers where I only pick up my right foot.  I can go around the track, I do it with no issues when I am the front IPR and all that.

So last night I decided to try and do backwards crossovers where you pick up both feet.

I realized something this morning, on my way into work.  Do you know what ice skaters do when they want to get up a LOT of speed to propel themselves into a huge jump or an amazing spin or an axel or a lutz or whatever it is they're called?

THEY DO BACKWARDS CROSSOVERS WHERE YOU PICK UP BOTH FEET

It was legit terrifying and very much a JANE STOP THIS CRAZY THING experience.  I couldn't think of a way to stop moving my feet without crashing and burning.  (Eventually I did crash and burn, resulting in a somersault on the track.)

(I also realized that I probably should not wear my glasses to practice.)

so that was last night's practice. We're having a scrimmage on Thursday and then we're off for about two weeks and things start up again.  I don't really have any officiating scheduled either (WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?  I KNOW!) so I don't know what I'll do with myself.


Friday, July 28, 2017

ok so to update

1. I got a new contact lens prescription (my left eye changed a bit - gettin' old sucks, y'all) and they're much better.  I think I'll go back to wearing contacts while officiating, but reserve the right to wear glasses if my contacts get weird...

2. ...which is what happened when I went to Ottawa for a doubleheader - I had to switch to glasses for the last half of the last game.  Made a joke about "oh, NOW the ref is wearing her glasses so she can see."

3. LEAGUES NEED WELL-TRAINED NSOs.  A sanctioned game is not the place for a brand new NSO to learn his/her position.  We got a fair amount of the way through the second half before we realized THE PENALTY TRACKER WASN'T USING ANY PAPERWORK.

4. I think I found a lipstick that will do (more or less) what I want it to do - Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink.  It still comes off, but nowhere near as much as everything else I've used.

5. OPRing a men's game tomorrow, then I actually have some weekends where nothing's going on ZOMFG.

Thursday, July 20, 2017

a sad, bleak, black day for Queenie

RADAR DIAMOND WHEELS HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED

INSERT BIG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HERE

I GUESS I'M GOING TO HAVE TO BUY EVERY SINGLE SET I CAN FIND NOW

Monday, July 10, 2017

every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

so Fresh & Furious went well! It was a fun tournament and it was interesting to see penalties that one doesn't normally see in the level of game play I'm used to.

So yesterday was my 9th derbyversary.  Nine years.  Sometimes I feel like I've been doing it my entire life, other times it seems like just yesterday I was lining up to do my 20 laps in 5 to be able to skate in a bout for the first time.  I don't like thinking much about how my life would be different if I hadn't discovered derby.

Not necessarily in honor of the derbyversary (it actually was just a coincidence), but a few things happened:

1. retired the hockey helmet.  NEW HELMET WHEE!

 2.  (related to 1) I refereed in glasses!  It went really well - I didn't have any issues with them fogging up.  (the Q was just a temporary decoration, stolen from my hockey helmet.  I have a few ideas on how I'm going to decorate this one.)

3. I retired my skate case (formerly a typewriter case).  One of the latches was breaking and it was getting to be more of a hassle than it was worth.  I bought a skate noose and we'll see how that goes.


Thursday, July 6, 2017

wheep wheep

So QCRG (the Buffalo league) has been treating July as "Thank You" month, where they're posting nice things about their volunteers and officials and whatnot.

THEY POSTED A THANK YOU TO ME!

Queen Kicktoria also comes from Roc City Roller Derby to help us out and we are beyond thankful to her. She helps our games run smoothly and has helped us out more than almost any other outside referee. She's the first to volunteer to come if we need her.

 Thank you Queenie! We really appreciate you and all the driving you do to come hang with us.

And people wrote nice things after that blush blush eeeeee.

ANYWAY.

Saturday is Fresh & Furious, in Toronto.  That'll be fun.  Then Ithaca and then Ottawa and then who knows what else in the upcoming 

Friday, June 30, 2017

a weekend without any officiating OH MY GOD

I HRed the second half of scrimmage last night - it went okay.  Slowly but surely I'm learning.  Pack stuff changes so quickly - it's like "out of play in - you're in play now".  Then there's all the other stuff I gotta look out for.

Prompted by a thread I'm reading on FB about the reasons there is starting to be a lack of officials in high school sports and burnout, I decided to note how many games I have officiated since I started:

2017: 62
2016: 52
2015: 36
2014: 2 (I started in October)

(this is basically what's on my officiating resume, which includes things like 20 minute Beast of the East games and 30 minute ECDX challenge games)

I'm still definitely in the OMG OFFICIATING ROLLER DERBY IS THE GREATEST THING EVAR honeymoon phase.  I have to make myself take weekends off to ensure I don't burn out.  (it's not necessarily that I sit at home doing nothing - it's a "I have this thing I could go to, or I could officiate that game, I'll go to this thing.")

Anyway.  Things like ECDX and tournaments* are quite different for players than they are for officials.  Skaters might have three games an entire weekend - officials have that many in a DAY.  I had ELEVEN GAMES IN FOUR DAYS at Battle of the All-Stars.  It's a combination woodchipper and summer camp.
----
*I'm guessing - I never actually went to a tournament as a skater

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Dilemmas, dilemmas

So for those of you scoring at home, I have bad eyesight (I know, a referee with bad vision.  how original).  For the majority of my life I wore contacts exclusively; in the last few years it's only been when I play derby. 

I'd always been leery of wearing them while playing; I've known skaters who fell and had their glasses cut their faces. (I had my own experience of this as a child - I got a door slammed right in my face and my glasses gave me a scar over my eyebrow [which I have since decorated with a piercing]).

Anyway.

Lately I feel that my distance vision isn't as sharp as it is in glasses, but that's just because it's been waaaay too long since I've had my contact lens prescription updated (that's getting taken care of in a few weeks).  They get dry and icky and can pop out on occasion (I had that happen to me as a player, mid-jam, once.  One of my teammates said "watching you put it back in looked so sanitary") and you can't immediately fall asleep after a game (which I tend to want to do at tournaments).

I bring this all up because it occurred to me that I've had my current hockey helmet for over four years now and it would probably be a good idea to get a new one. 

So there's a few things to think about -
  1. I can't fit my current glasses under a hockey helmet, but I could probably under an S-1 or Triple 8
  2. I could get sports goggles but they're kinda goofy looking*.
  3. Plus I've heard that they can fog up 
  4. A non-hockey helmet would be easier to decorate*
  5. There's not as much potential for face-cutting actions as a referee
    1. there's still some potential though
  6. Getting an updated contacts prescription will most likely resolve the distance issue, which right now is the most significant thing for me
  7. LASIK ain't gonna happen
*PRIORITIES, I HAS THEM

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

ECDX in the books

Any sort of tournament/extravaganza weekend is invariably a roller coaster of overwhelmitude for me, both physically and emotionally, and ECDX 2017 was no exception.

I had eight games refereeing - one WFTDA regulation, two WFTDA sanctioned, one MRDA regulation, one JRDA sanctioned and three half-hour fun challenge bouts - and one as jam timer (the weekend's MVP game).  It was a lot.  I didn't make it out to the pool at all (which, in the long run, was probably a good thing as I saw many, many sunburned people).

I have to admit that the Hamilton v. Burr game was a let-down.  There weren't that many people really into the musical - the announcers hadn't seen it (they'd gotten suggestions from people on what to say on Facebook) so the references felt kinda shoe-horned in.  I had my I'M A REFEREE - WHEEEE! nameplate though, and I made an AND PEGGY for another referee, so we were representing.

I also, of course, had my Impostor Syndrome going in full force and effect. There was also the OMG I JUST OFFICIATED A GAME WITH A VERY COOL AND WELL-KNOWN REFEREE SHOULD I FACEBOOK HIM/HER OR WILL THAT JUST SEEM TOO DESPERATE GAH (I did Facebook friend them.  They accepted.)

But there was also lots of HI FRIEND YOU'RE MY FRIEND I HAVEN'T YOU IN A LONG TIME LET'S HANG OUT and we hung out.

So it's all good in the end. :)

Monday, June 19, 2017

did not die!

the weekend went well!  The first game was very warm and stuffy and it was hard to breathe and when my jammer was lead and calling it off I could only get out the first set of four whistles before I'd have to stop and catch my breath.  I don't know if I would've survived doing three games there; hats off to everyone who did.

The second and third games in Ithaca went well, too.  I was front IPR for the regulation game, which I've only done a few times in scrimmage but I don't think I did too horribly.  The acoustics in their venue are horrible - sound just goes up into the ceiling and disappears - so at one point I was yelling OUT OF PLAY so loud my voice actually cracked.

Then a nice afterparty with delicious drinks (bourbon + lemon juice + sugar + club soda?  Tops.) and then home again, crawling into bed at about 3:15am.

Whee!

This upcoming weekend is ECDX and I'm STUPIDLY excited for that.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

My Upcoming Saturday:

1. JR a men's game
2. Drive to Ithaca
3. JR a women's game
4. IPR a women's game
5. ?????????
6. Profit! (or die)

should be fun.

or deadly.


Thursday, June 8, 2017

exciting excitingness!

I forgot to mention - I GET TO REFEREE THE HAMILTON V. BURR CHALLENGE GAME AT ECDX WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm going to make myself a nameplate for the occasion - I can't decide whether to be I'M A REFEREE - WHEEEEEE or THE ORPHANAGE

Monday, June 5, 2017

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

And no one died!
There was only, like, one point where I got really overwhelmed.  Knowing the hand signals was soooo helpful.  It was the league's championship bout and was crazy loud so you couldn't really hear the refs, but I could see "oh, someone's going to be going to the box on a forearms call".

(And once again I reiterate my desire that team jerseys have the player number on the front.)

The doubleheader on Saturday went okay.  It was very warm and by the end I was definitely dragging.




Tuesday, May 30, 2017

now is the time on Sprockets when everything EXPLODES

So.  This Friday I'm doing inside whiteboard at Buffalo for their league championships. (I should probably learn letter codes.)

This Saturday is a home doubleheader - JR the sanctioned and OPR the regulation.

Weekend after that is my kid's birthday*, otherwise I'd either be at Beaver Fever or Coastal Chaos.  At any rate I put myself as available for the regulation game in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.

Weekend after that there's a triple header of home men's sanctioned games, but I can only do the first one, as I'd already promised myself to Ithaca for their sanctioned/regulation doubleheader.

Weekend after that is ECDX.



Monday, May 22, 2017

two more games down

Went out to Euclid, Ohio for two sanctioned games - one WFTDA, one MRDA.  Both went okay except that in the first game one of the OPRs (I was JR) made a call that I should have immediately overturned because I *knew* it was wrong (he called a cut, the player the jammer was supposedly cutting had been called on a penalty but wasn't aware of it yet) but I waited until the end of the jam.  Sigh argh bleh dammit.

Anyway.  Live and learn.

Nothing going on this weekend (Memorial Day) and then begins EVERYTHING HAPPENING.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

ME: (looking through my planner) Hm, did I apply to that tournament?

(receives rejection letter from that tournament)

ME: I guess I did.

Ah well.  It was another bit of a reachy tournament, so I'm not horribly violently upset.



Monday, May 8, 2017

stomping towards the abyss

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Refereed a game between two D1 teams; did not die

Saturday night was Buffalo (27) v. Boston (29) and it went pretty darn well, IMHO.  I felt good about my positioning and my calls.

Saturday night's regulation game (Buffalo B v. Boston B) was also the closest I've come to having an all-women refereeing crew - one lone guy JR.

Got another doubleheader coming up this weekend - at home this time.  OPRing the sanctioned and JRing the regulation.  Wheee!

-----------------
One thing I need to work on is...just basic skating skills.  I always manage to fall at least once during a game through no one's fault but my own.  I don't even know what's causing me to do it - I should probably watch video (though I hate watching video of myself) to see what happens to make me fall.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Beast of the East review

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Refereed my 100th game*
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Refereed an overtime jam**
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Was the only referee in one game without a significant beard***
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Had poutine with guacamole and corn dogs****
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Got a parking ticket outside the venue*****

*everyone gave me a big cheer in the locker room and the Head NSO had the announcers mention it too!
**hint: it's crazy.  There would've been one in the championship game too, but one of the teams requested an official review with 0:02 left on the clock
***I drew a line on my cheek with a Sharpie which represented my beard so I could fit in #TeamWhiteGuysWithBeards
****it's AMAZING
*****not all achievements are good

this was a great tournament - the games are only twenty minutes, so everyone plays on FULL INTENSITY the entire time.  The stands were packed with people who exploded with cheers.  I also got to do some jam timing, which I enjoyed.  Got to work with some fantastic officials who were so nice and encouraging (I took a few jams as the front OPR because I know it's something I need to work on, and I mentioned this to the other OPRs in that game.  After a few jams, one of the [Level 4 certified] refs said "you're doing great!" which felt good).

I did keep tripping myself up and falling, though.  I'm going to say it was because the floor was really grippy (which was awesome in the turns when jam reffing, because I wasn't drifting all over the place), but made it easier to get my feet all tangled.


Oh - and -

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Applied to referee D2 Playoffs/Championships******

******I have a snowball's chance in the sun, but what the heck

Monday, April 24, 2017

Siege of CNY review

Had a great time.  Drank lots of chocolate milk, finally lost my big toenail (in probably the least painful way possible - an hour and a half in the hotel pool and hot tub made that thing REALLY PLIABLE) officiated a buncha games, hung out with fantastic people.

Next weekend?  Beast of the East!

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED

so for the last however long I've been doing roller derby-related skating stuff (8 years, nine months), I have tried, and tried, and tried, and failed, and failed, and failed, at doing a hockey stop.  I'd always just end up spinning around (or falling).  I'd try all sorts of different techiniques, I'd go slow, I'd go fast, still spin spin spin.

Last night, though?  I don't know if it was the fact that my skates fit again, or a combination of the floor and my wheels, but I kept doing hockey stop after hockey stop.  It was weird.

Monday, April 10, 2017

I feel like my URL is no longer accurate, but I don't wanna change it

so one more weekend (more or less; I might help out in Buffalo on Friday night) with no derby, and then ALL THE DERBY:

4/22-23: Siege of CNY
4/29-30: Beast of the East
5/6-7: Buffalo games I might help with
5/13: Home doubleheader
5/20-21: Away game in Cleveland Saturday, might help in Buffalo on Sunday

It's absolutely beautiful here today - temps in the 70s.  I might need to put my outdoor wheels on my old skates and tool around the neighborhood. I do think I need to get new bearings, though - mine are really gross.


Friday, April 7, 2017

yay!

it worked!  it worked!  there's plenty of space for my toes in my skates now.  I don't need to throw my skates out the window!  hooray!

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

so

Apparently I have the minimum requirements to apply to be an OPR at D2 Playoffs/Champs this summer.

Took my skates to get looked at by the foot guy; he said he'd try to stretch them out so I'd have more room across the tops of my toes.  I'm picking them up tomorrow; we'll see what happens.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

feet are frustrating sometimes

so I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and in the midst of it, it occurred to me to ask him about my black toenails and if they needed to be drained or anything (he said no) but then he asked if I put arch inserts in my skates and I was like "no, but I am intrigued as to why I might" and he said that if I did that, it would hold my foot in place better and and I said "oh that is a very good idea" and he said that he could give me the name of the guy he uses to help fit his ski boots and I said "yes I would like that" and so I got it and I have an appointment next week.  We'll see what he says.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

#72 and #73

First games of the home season went well!  Fell a few times (once when I was taken out by a skater, once when I just fell for no reason - guess which one gave me the bruise).  Made some calls.  Didn't die.

Sunday was an open scrimmage hosted by my league - I HRed the first half.  There was one point where one of the jammers must've thought that the jam was over, because left the track, taking off the star.  The jam actually ended shortly after that, and my thought process went something like hm, that was weird, he just sort of wandered off the track....which is a skating out of bounds penalty oh crap I have to go over and assign that to him.

I definitely have things to work on when doing inside pack stuff.  

Going to Toronto this weekend for another doubleheader (OPR an other game, JR a sanctioned) and then there's a scrimmage in Buffalo Sunday morning.  I can stay at my dad's on Saturday night, so I'll probably go to that.

When you're an official there's SO MUCH DERBY YOU CAN DO.


Monday, March 13, 2017

what's that feeling? the opposite of shame?


I didn't get in last year, so this is a big deal for me.  Yaaaaay!

The parade was COLD.  Attendance was really really really low.  I wore four or five layers and was still chilly. It was still fun, though; it always is.

Yesterday I was scorekeeper for a home teams game in Buffalo.  It was a lot of fun - we were all confident enough in our jobs that we could joke around and not miss a beat.

This weekend is our league's home opener, a sanctioned/regulation doubleheader.  OPRing the first and JRing the second. Wheee!

Friday, March 10, 2017

laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

For the time being, I have switched back to my old skates.  Not sure what I'm gonna do in the long-term though.

Tomorrow is the St. Patrick's Day parade and it's gonna be cold, yay, and by yay I mean NOT YAY.


Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Chaya skates review - an update

I really think now that my skates are just the wrong size.  My boots are a size 6, which is (per their website) 241mm.  My actual foot is closer to 251mm, which would put me in a 7 or 8. 

I've started with size 6 boots before, but they've been Riedell boots, with are all leather and stretch out to fit.  The Chayas are mostly carbon fiber and don't stretch.  At any rate, I've sent an e-mail to the company to see what they think.

On the other hand, I totally crank my toestops in waaaaaaaaay too high, which probably doesn't help.  You're supposed to fit three fingers under your back wheel when you're on your toestops, and I had four, easy.  I lowered them at practice last night (and rotated them, too - my left one was a good quarter-inch more worn down than the right) but I couldn't tell if that helped because my toes still hurt, what with them turning black (did I mention it's both now? wheeeeeee)

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

whoop whoop

So here are my derby resolutions for the year:
1. Get accepted to a tournament with WFTDA sanctioned games as a non-alt referee
2. Get accepted to a tournament that requires air travel
3. Work as front OPR for a game and keep constant positioning
4. If certification opens up again, apply!


Siege of CNY crews were posted over the weekend, yay!  AN OPR IS ME

So, yeah

Did I say ten games?  I meant eleven.

INCLUDING THE TWO CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES, WHICH MANY PEOPLE SAID WERE D1 LEVEL GAMES.

Did I also mention that my left toenail decided to turn black?

Yeah.  This was a very long weekend, physically and emotionally.  (There was a point where people were just pushing me from one person to another for hugs.)  But, on the plus side, I did get to officiate some crazy high level games [at one point during the Pennsylvania/New York game, everyone was skating clockwise and I was like "oh gee I guess this is a thing now"], I got to hang out with good friends, I made new friends, I got patches to add to my hoodie, and I realized that between NSOing and refereering, I've passed 100 games.  Yay!

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

wait, wasn't it just 1993?

time is seriously flying - Battle of the All Stars starts a week from tomorrow!  Gah!  Four day tournament!  Gah!  I've got ten games!  Gah!

Friday, February 3, 2017

things happening and all that

a few weekends ago I went to a beer sampling event type thing where our league was handing out game schedules and information about recruitment.  It was half inside, half outside, it was snowing and there were a fair number of drunk people around.

So of course I drop my finger whistle on the floor in the ladies' room and it goes skittering under another stall.

No way was I going to retrieve it.  I figure it made some drunk woman very happy. 

I ordered a new one, but forgot to order it for a while, so I had to make do with an old lanyard whistle with an electrical tape loop I can stick my hand it.  Not as nice.

Head refereed last night's scrimmage.  I can either define pack or call penalties.

Friday, January 20, 2017

entering the swing of things

JRing a home game tonight in Buffalo, it's their home opener.  Should be crazy packed - Buffalo has a great fan base for their home teams.

Found out my assignments for Battle of the All-Stars, next month in Pennsylvania - ten games over four days.  4 OPR, 5 JR and 1 FIPR WHAT IS THIS MADNESS.  A four day tournament is gonna be murder - I need to buy one of those lounger things that inflates by running around and filling it with air - people have had them at previous tournaments and I was SO JEALOUS.

I should also buy another set of stripes, maybe.


Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Monday, January 9, 2017

First game of 2017 IN THE BOOKS

I woke up yesterday morning with my trapezius muscles (the ones between your neck and shoulders - I had to be told what they were called) aching - all that lead jammer calling.  Other than that, the game went pretty well.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

yeehaw 2017

So here are my derby resolutions for the year:

1. Get accepted to a tournament with WFTDA sanctioned games as a non-alt referee
2. Get accepted to a tournament that requires air travel
3. Work as front OPR for a game and keep constant positioning
4. If certification opens up again, apply!

I also plan to exercise for half an hour every day and drink more water, which is kinda derbyish.

First game of the year is Saturday - JRing an expo game in Buffalo.  It will be interesting with the new rule set.

I bought a new bag for my pads and helmet and miscellanea - it's actually a craft storage tote.  I got it because it's flat on top and I can just put my skate case on top of it (I don't like storing my skates and pads in the same container because damp pads can cause your bearings to rust.  Plus my skate case is an old typewriter case with lots of stickers on it and it's very cool looking).  I've used it once and so far, so good.