Reporting from another city, the day after the battle(s)
Sun 2025-06-01 14:05:13 (in context)
Successful tournament participation!
Game 4, versus Bellingham's All Stars, was an authoritative win: 217 to 78. (Watch it here: Part 1, Part 2.)
It's funny how, when you're in the middle of a jam, everything is chaotic and you're not sure you're doing a good job and OH SHIT HERE COMES THE JAMMER and oh damn there goes the jammer--
And then you get back to the team bench, and you look up at the scoreboard, and somehow it's another three points for you and none for your opponents, so you must have done something right--
Honestly, the whole game was like that.
Then there was just enough time for a burger from the Expo Express before it was time to warm up again for...
Game 6, versus Treasure Valley's All Stars. TVRD took the win, but only by twenty-eight points - 151 to 123 - and only after multiple lead changes in the second half. (Watch it here.)
My assessment: Treasure Valley is the bestest game/tourney host and the most excellent of match-ups for Boulder County Roller Derby. The game was satisfyingly physical, relatively clean, and full of good vibes even in the heat of "battle." (My favorite moment: I'm bracing my wall, I get swept off my wall by some great offense, I shout, "I got O! I got ALL THE O!" The skater responsible for "all the O" appreciated this.) Lots of interleague hugs and smiles afterward. Milkshakes and tater tots and beers at the next-door bowling alley where they have their afterparties.
Good times. When do I get to go again?
Now I'm in Salt Lake City. It was a good drive from Boise this morning. Despite a very interrupted night's sleep (shoulda taken some ibuprofen; my hips were sore and it was hard to get comfortable), it was a high energy trip like Day 1 out of Boulder was. I was out of the hotel by 7:30, on the road by 8:00 with a fresh tank of gas in the car and a fresh bag of ice in the cooler, and pulling into my friend's driveway around 1:15 PM. She and her family won't be in until 4 or 5, so I'm using the time to write. NO SURPRISES THERE--
Well, yeah. The surprise is, I'm actually writing and not saying to myself "But I'm tiiiiiired, I caaaaaan't," as an excuse to play video games instead. It's that whole "tight deadlines make tight writing schedules" effect. Sometimes, my time being limited gives the writing work of the day a necessary urgency, and sometimes I can use that urgency rather than tipping over into the anxious avoidance of "There's no way I'll get it all done." The trick is not to think about getting it all done, but rather to think only about The Next Step.
This blog post was The Next Step. The Next Step after that will be compiling and uploading the Friday Fictionette originally scheduled for April 25. And if I've still got time to myself after that, it'll be Morning Pages and Writing Practice.
But if I don't get to those because my friend and her family are home and the day moves into delightfully social & joyous catch-up on old times mode, that'll be perfectly OK.