BY SHARON FRICKEY
I met with Bijou Blacnbleu, #75 of the Shotgun Betties in the Denver Roller Dolls Roller Derby League; captain of the travel team, Bruising Altitude, at the Yak and Yeti in Olde Town Arvada for the interview. Here’s a piece of it. You’ll find the full interview online at www.coloradocountrylife.coop.
SF: I got your name from someone as good source of information about roller derby.
BB: That was probably the skater who started Detour Derby, a way for skaters who did derby but for some reason had to give it up, to keep skating. Detour’s a fun thing for us to do. She has the biggest heart
SF: A big heart seems to be a prerequisite for what you gals do
I had no idea — your league’s all non-profit — its volunteer, you take no money?
BB: Yeah, we actually pay to play—it’s like belonging to a gym, we have dues every month, every dollar we make goes back into the league. We pay for our own equipment and maintenance like changing out wheels on our quad skates and replacing helmets after a concussing blow. I’m on Bruising Altitude, one of the traveling teams, and we get a small stipend when we’re on the road but we have to pick up things that it doesn’t cover.
We do fundraisers for charity. We’re work closely with Project Angel Heart — it’s one of the charities we work with. Angel Heart gets meals to people with life-threatening illnesses who don’t have a way to get a hot meal.
SF: Do different skaters have different charities?
BB: They do. For myself, since I’ve been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I’ve really tried to raise awareness for MS, get information out. Before I was diagnosed, I hadn’t heard about MS, didn’t know anything about it, didn’t know anyone who had it. Now I constantly meet people with MS. I can’t speak in generalities but MS seems a life-altering disease for many.
Before my diagnosis my doctor and my neurologist told me I’d have to gradually give up Derby and stop the extreme skating. I’d been seeing them for years, going in for different issues. The office actually ran a pool as to when I’d come in again and what kind of injury I’d have. Then I found my MS specialist who said absolutely don’t give up, you have to have your passion in life. Derby will keep you exercising, which is extremely important.
I liked how he described derby: It’s not a contact sport, it’s a collision sport.
I was diagnosed Friday, August the 13 this past year, 2010; definitely a Friday the 13th kind of day. When I found out from my doctor, I was looking at him, seeing the words fall out of his mouth. I knew in my heart the diagnosis was right but the tears just began. It took me a while but I finally said to myself, “Okay, you can do this.” I went home and the one thing that kept coming on strong was “keep skating, you can be athletic, you can have a life-altering disease and still not give Derby up.”
Now I appreciate every little thing. I thank God I can walk out in the snow, or deal with irritating people. I’m grateful that I was diagnosed because I always felt, well, this may be weird, but until the diagnosis I always thought it was normal for me to feel stuff. Now I know what it is and how to combat it.
SF: How do you get information on MS out?
BB: You can go to a link that will take you to my team page “Team SKATE IT OFF.” It’s FightMS.DenverRollerDolls.org.
There’s a short video the Dolls show before a bout. It’s also on YouTube.
I formed a team for Walk MS that walked on May 7 to help the National MS Society fund research that advocates for change and helps people with MS. Donations can still be made at that website.
Also, Detour Derby hosted a bout for all roller derby skaters to raise money and all proceeds went directly for the MS Walk.
SF: How did you get into skating?
BB: During a lunch break I started watching a documentary on A&E about the Texas Roller Girls and got sucked into Derby. I’d always been a tomboy, had a group of guy friends but never a core group of female friends. I watched that documentary and thought—these are the kind of girls I’d like to surround myself with.
Then, I went to lunch with my husband to Hot Cakes (downtown Denver restaurant), and our server was Ankle Biting Annie. She came to our table saying, “Hey, we’re recruiting for Denver Roller Dolls” and put a flyer on the table. I said to my husband, “Wow, I’m going to do this.”
Look how things turned out. I didn’t know about the two leagues in Denver when this fell in my lap at a restaurant. I’ve been with Denver Roller Dolls ever since; Derby’s just another extension of me.
SF: Your names are wild. Denver Westword picked one of the Green Barrettes names, “Honey Punches of Throats,” as the best roller derby nickname of 2010. The names and the fantastic uniforms make me smile.
BB: I think one of the draws is choosing a derby name. Part is an alter ego, part like a mask that you can put on when you play. There’s a lot of strength in that. We try to give teams and skaters different, distinct personalities. A skater’s unique derby name draws people in, they like to watch and they begin to follow a player. We’re definitely friendly. One of my most favorite things is when little girls come up to ask for my autograph. Also, if someone wants birthday party or group tickets, a skater in the neighborhood will deliver the tickets in person.
SF: At the bout I watched some kids dressed up sitting together in whole rows. When the dance cam panned them, they’d stand up and do their dance routines. They appeared to be adding to the team effort.
BB: We definitely try to promote the idea of strong, physically competitive women as a team. We realize we can get physical and play a contact sport. Most people hearing about roller derby go back to the original with staged skating. We say, “Come out to the bout, you’ll see it’s not staged but very athletic.”
SF: How long can a skater be a player?
BB: This is my sixth season with the Roller Dolls– I’ve seen a lot of players leave the teams—some get injured, some get pregnant, some leave to go to school. Once Derby gets inside of you, letting go is really hard.
Sometimes the body gives out long before the athlete wants to leave the game so TC (Top Cat) and PC (Pink Champagne) started Detour Derby. Derby’s more than power, more than being around active girls. Derby becomes your family and letting go of family isn’t easy.
Detour’s more of a group skate where fun takes over and skaters can enjoy roller derby on a less intense level, even if retired, recovering from an injury, after having a baby or just to keep skating.
SF: You changed teams this season. Do they mix the teams up every season?
BB: No, we’d grown so much we needed to accommodate all the new women. I have to say, I love the Betties—we haven’t been skating together very long but its great.
SF: Can everybody be a jammer?
BB: I’d say everybody wants to be a jammer at some point but not everybody’s cut out to be a jammer.
When you’re on the home team, pretty much everybody can try it. Once you’re on a traveling team, like Bruising Altitude, your strengths are what’s going to be used on that team. You definitely need to be agile and resilient when you’re a jammer because you’re the person that everybody’s gunning for.
Some people are blockers, they work hard for the jammers. It’s the blocker’s job to open holes for her jammer to get through while closing up holes for the opposing jammer, back and forth between the offensive and defensive.
Juska on the Betties this season is probably the best jammer in the league. She uses her skills from being a speed skater; even with a lot of speed skaters, she’s amazing. Give her the smallest hole and she’s gone.
SF: Derby obviously takes team practice. How do you manage your time?
BB: There’s a possibility of practice five times a week. And it’s just a matter of getting it down. The agenda comes out and tells me there’s a practice. Usually there’s only practice Sunday through Thursday. Sunday is our scrimmage and team practice. I plan my schedule around it as one of the most important things for me to do; I make time for it.
My husband’s a big fan. That’s nice as significant others in the Derby world are considered Derby widows because Derby comes in and takes over your life. But my bartender husband works nights, I practice nights; that schedule definitely helps the relationship for both of us.
SF: It seems skating keeps you young. What is the age range of the skaters?
BB: You need to be 18 to play and many women play well into their 40s. There’s training for the older girls who are interested in Derby. They work on the basic skills of how to skate in the first hour and the last hour they get a taste of scrimmage.
SF: Do they skate before they play on a team?
BB: The Glitterdome Gladiators, the Junior Derby League of the Denver Roller Dolls, brings in boys and girls ages 7-17 to skate. It’s run by Bruising Altitude, a traveling team while the Dolls’ other traveling team, Mile High Club, runs the co-ed Pick up Derby for those 18 and older.
SF: I hadn’t heard much about roller derby. Did it die out for a while?
BB: Yes, around 1999 or 2000, the Texas Roller girls started a new revival of Derby. I went to high school in Grand Island, Nebraska. Only 45 minutes away in Kearney they have their own Derby league. Derby’s international now, in Australia, London, it’s crazy and definitely caught on. We’re the site of the WFTDA’s 2011 national championship tournament in November and very excited about hosting other teams.
SF: Is international roller derby built around the same format?
BB: For the most part — there are some teams that are privately owned— we all adhere to the rules coming from WFTDA every year and we test on those rules every year. There’s so much to know. Derby’s like a moving game of chess with many pieces to it; it’s strategic and while it’s a very physical game, it’s also a mental game. You’re both offensive and defensive players at the same time and you have to know when to switch; the timing has to be perfect. You can switch at the wrong time and end up losing a point for your jammer.
SF: I learned that Derby’s a hard-knock sport and the only way to play is to get in and do it.
The women are all amazing, these women who play Derby: Real,strong, athletic, revolutionary. And I’d add these words: Heart-centered, passionate, charitable, and courageous. The women who skate in the extreme team sport of Roller Derby model an ideal of athletic ability and service to community that rivals any other contact sport.
For more information about Roller Derby visit www.wftda.com or www.derbyroster.com.