The Colonel’s Roller Derby Roundup

From the Philadelphia tournament this past weekend.

[Edit: The Colonel didn't start this week, but should start next week]TOMORROW, Tuesday (5/20) will mark my debut performance of my weekly radio show on Marfa Public Radio, our excellent NPR affiliate out here in West Texas and next door to City Hall here in Marfa.

I’ll mostly be playing R&B tracks from the 70’s but also playing some hearty 80’s and 90’s Texas rock plus some Mexican rock crossover stuff from past and present. I will be the only live late night DJ on the air and my show will run weekly from 11PM-1AM CST on Marfa Public Radio.

Great news for all you computer nerds- the show and station are streamable at www.marfapublicradio.org Hopefully some of y’all will opt to listen as the studio is equipped with double turntables in addition to CD and cassette. I will be bringing bits and pieces of my extensive 45 and LP collection that I don’t get the pleasure of listening to nearly enough.

Feel free to call in to the station while I’m in the booth at 432-729-4578. I’m planning on a five to ten year lifespan for this show.

Play Spot the Derby Girl…

(Houston Art Car Parade 2008)

Clicking onto the Chron.com’s main site today, I notice that the Houston Roller Derby is right up top.

Here’s a brief article (follow the link for more - requires free login) about the WFTDA Championship Tournament in Austin this past weekend.

Roller derby tournament comes home to Austin

Texas Rollergirls helped repopularize the sport in the early 2000s.

By Patrick George
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, October 01, 2007
(more content at the web site, including photos and video)

Austinites helped bring it back, and now they’ve brought it home.

The city behind the revival of women’s roller derby played host to the 2007 Women’s Flat Track Derby Association Championship Tournament this weekend. Skaters and fans from as far away as London united for one purpose: to watch feisty, tightly clothed women tackle, slam and pummel each other to the ground as they skate around a track.

Three thousand people — eight teams from across the United States plus equally raucous spectators — crammed into the Austin Convention Center. The event was hosted by Austin’s own Texas Rollergirls, one of the driving forces behind the sport’s rescue from 1970s obscurity, and the 2006 national champions.
(more…)

On August 25th, Tahirah Johnson aka Tequila Mockingbird of the Fury went down in a pile up and fractured her C4 Vertebrae during a bout. The medical staff reacted very quickly to stabilize her.

She is being treated at Schwab Rehabilitation Center on the South Side of Chicago. She has partial use of just one arm and no use of her legs. But she has feeling in her limbs.

A trust has been set up in her name to pay for her medical bills.

North Community Bank
c/o The Tahirah Johnson Trust
Attn: Amber Barnhill
1555 N. Damen
Chicago, IL 60622

There was a nice write up in the Chronicle the Monday after the Governor’s Cup. Chase the link to see an additional 2-minute video as well.

There was no coverage of the final scores, since it went so late. Just coverage of the event.

Here’s the article:

Roller derby all-stars hit to win

Sept. 17, 2007, 3:10PM
By CAROLYN FEIBEL
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
carolyn.feibel@chron.com

Recipe for a roller derby, Texas-style: take a rockabilly fashion sense, skate punk athleticism, and a feminist, grass-roots work ethic. Put the whole thing on old-school quad roller skates, add a dollop of nostalgia, and you have the latest incarnation of a uniquely American sport.

On Sunday, five all-women teams from Texas met up for the Governor’s Cup championship bout at Verizon Wireless Theater. Spectators cheered the local all-star team, the “HaRD KNOCKS,” as they faced off against last year’s champion, the Dallas Derby Devils.

(more…)

National Championships are occurring this week.

You can follow the results, including Saturday’s Quad Events, at their web site.