Roller Jam Recap - December 9, 2000
Roller Jam intro
Recaped for http://www.rantsylvania.com/
This page is here to serve as an introduction to the
participants in RollerJam. If you've never seen a game of
RollerJam before and don't understand the rules, you should read
about them over at the Official RollerJam site, www.rollerjam.com.
They do as good a job as I could possibly do, and I'd rather use
this space on things that you cannot already read over there or
learn from the explanation they do before each game.
Note also that this was last updated on 12/9/99, and things
may have changed since then. Like 'real' professional team
sports, players change teams, and like professional wrestling,
angles change over time. I'll try to update this periodically,
but be aware that it may be slightly out of date.
California Quakes
Winners of the Founder's Cup (End of Season 1's Tournament),
probably the most all around talented of all the teams, and my
personal favorites, the Quakes are consistently at the top of the
league. They are lead by Sean Atkinson, a third generation Roller
derby star. Also of note on the men's side are jammers Tony
Santiago and Eric "the White Pony" Slopey. Slopey got
that name from his trademark victory celebration where he
pretended he was riding a horse. Unfortunately, he's seems to
have stopped doing it this season.
The women's side is led by Stacy Blitch, who's part of the Bod
Squad. Fellow Bod Blitch and fellow Squad members Jamie Conemac
and Cindy Zimmerman wear distinctive sky blue and white outfits (as
opposed to the normal Quake Blue and Yellow), but (usually) get
along with the rest of the team well. Amy Craig may not be part
of the Bod Squad, but the quick jammer was the top scorer among
all of the Quakes, men and women, last season. She's been a
little less visible this season, but she's still one of the
quickest people out there.
Florida Sundogs
When RollerJam started, the Florida Sundogs were pushed as the #1
babyfaces. However, as time went on, they've gone downhill, and
now they're just in chaos, especially on the Women's side.
Captain Denise Loden and top jammer Debbie Rice both walked out
on a team after a loss (well, Loden kinda dragged Rice with her,
but it's not like Debbie has a mind of her own.)
WSL GM Kenneth Loge has recently taken over the team, to
rebuild in his own image and we've yet to see what changes he
made. Presumably, Bob Barker should still be men's captain and
Sam Martin the top Jammer, but there's no indication what will
happen on the women's side. Currently, they're two people short,
although I wouldn't be surprised to see ex-Riot Captain Patsy
Delgado end up taking one of those spots.
Illinois Riot
While the Sundogs started at the top and fell, the Riot seem in
the process of going the other way. The Riot debuted in Season
Two, as Kenneth Loge's first action in the WSL. Loge wanted to
bring back the old days of Roller derby...so he brought in a team
with a lot of old RollerDerby stars, as well as extras from other
teams. Loge put "King" Richard Brown in charge as male
captain, who got kicked off both the Florida Sundogs (after he
started acting heel on a face team...and shooted on someone) and
the Nevada Hot Dice (for general sucking) during Season One.
The Riot, with their old-timers look (down to the uniforms)
did not get over, nor did they win much, (the two things could
have been related, but probably not) so changes were made. After
a series of loses, where Brown complained about the women team
not doing enough, women's captain Patsy Delgado was replaced by
the new Queen, Denise Loden. Ultra-fast Jammer (and frequent X-Games
participant) Debbie Rice came with her, and since the change, the
Riot have gone undefeated. However, with Rice now out for the
season with a wrist injury, expect Millie Guthrie or someone else
to end up taking her slot.
Nevada Hot Dice
The Hot Dice were the first 'expansion' team in the WSL, added
early in Season One (after all the Sundogs/Enforcers/Quakes
combinations and outcomes had ran out.) They're always seemed to
be searching for an identity, and have never really found one,
despite starting off with a good record this season (partly due
to the first set of tapings being in Las Vegas). At best, the
men's side is just a fun house mirror reflection of other teams:
captain Mark Weber spends a lot of the games trying to act like
Quake captain Sean Atkinson, to the point where he annoys his
teammates, while jammer Micah Martin dyes his hair green just to
distance himself from his Sundog brother Sam. Jason McDaniel adds
some stability to the group, besides being one of the fastest
skaters.
The women's side has it's own little sub-group, the Show
Girls, including captain Kim Hartt, Shay Brown, and Laura
Weintraub. Unfortunately, they seem to be on road to a breakup,
as Brown and Hartt aren't getting along anymore. Mindy Smith is
notable as being this team's equivalent to the Quakes Amy Craig:
Not part of the main group or talked about as much as she
deserves, but a quick skater who scores a considerable amount of
points.
New York Enforcers
Last season, they were the dominant heels of the league, beating
everyone else with every illegal tactic they could think of. This
time around, they're slowly being positioned as faces, but still
doing the same kind of things. Men's captain Mark D'Amato is also
the Skaters' Union chief, which gives him control of the WSL over
Kenneth Loge. Loge and D'Amato have a ongoing McMahon/Austin type
feud, with D'Amato playing the anti-corporate anarchist (while
still acting totally heel on the track.) Big Tim Washington is so
dangerous, he wears yellow caution tape around his arms. No,
really.
The women's side has dropped of from challenging the Quakes as
the league's best in Season One to a just okay squad this season,
through attrition. The top scorer in all of the WSL, Heather
Gunnin was hit by a car during off-season skating, and may or may
not (looking more like may not) be able to come back this season.
Chellie Rossell, another high scorer, had to retire from
RollerJam, as she was risking serious injury by taking any more
bumps. Karen Magnussen remains constant as captain amidst the
loses, and Janet Abrham is the best (and biggest) female block in
the league. April Tootle, who was pretty much invisible during
Season One, has improved greatly and helped filled the void.
Texas Rustlers
The Rustlers were added past midway into season two, and were the
league joke. They repeatedly got squashed, save for one upset win
at the end of the season. Luckily for the dignity of Texas, they
were redone before Season Two, with skaters added to give the
team some sort of credibility. On the Men's side, there's the G
Force, captain (ex-Quake) Brian Gallagher, (ex-Sundog) David
Gletty and (ex-Enforcer) Brian Gamble who do most of the work for
the team, with Chris Cheadle chipping in as a jammer.
On the women's side, Lindsey Francis was also brought in to
the team to be the captain. At first, top blocker Telisa Miller
and Francis were a deadly duo, but on the heels of recent
failures, the two are no longer getting along. The rest of the
women's side has yet to make an impression, one way or the other.
Others
WSL General Manager Kenneth Loge is the main 'front office'
character in RollerJam. (There's also a WSL Commissioner, but
with the arrival of Loge, he's pretty much been phased out.)
Loge's trying to get rid of all the sex and violence in RollerJam
(which makes one a heel in any group) and has a few particular
targets: Denise Loden, Sean Atkinson, and most importantly, Mark
D'Amato.
As far as announcers, the duo for all broadcasts is Rory
Markas (play by play) and Lee "Hawk" Reherman (color)
who aren't especially interesting, but don't get in the way of
the game and focus on what's going on at hand. "Broadway"
Danny Wolf serves as annoying during the game interviewer. Julie
Lynch does the Halftime Feature pre-taped interview segment each
game.