Ode to the Denver Rollor Dolls... or something like that
Today I went to my first Roller Derby match. The Denver Roller Dolls played against each other - Bad Apples vs. Green Barrettes at the Filmore Auditorium in Denver. I got my ticket directly from Vinyl Trax of the Green Barrettes the week before.
It being my first outing to the Roller Derby (and really haven't actually seen it on TV since
sometime before 1983), I was excited but really didn't know what to expect. Knowing that this venue would be general admission seating, I wanted to get there early to make sure I got a good seat. Well, I did...and I did. I arrived with Eric, and Kon found us at our spot shortly after. "seats", or patch of floor, was directly behind the Jammers on the curve of the track -- TalkOur about optimal seating! Note: This picture sucks, but it should give you a good idea of where we were sitting.
Between the plethora of refs and "Dump Truck" - the man in the diaper, there was commentary throughout the match explaining the rules and nuances of all the activity. Eric and I were rooting for the Green Barrettes, Kon I think was indifferent. Next to us was a couple who were obviously veterans of the sport (who were sporting Bad Apples ware). The rivalry was fun and they helped explain the details of the rules that were lost in translation.
The score was... well, we won't mention what the score was, but it was a great match and the girls all seemed to get along very well (considering these two teams make up the Mile High Club - the Denver traveling team - this comes as no surprise).
After the match,
there was time to schmooze with the teams and even get autographs. Later everyone met at Benders Tavern for the After Party. Kon was the first to depart (knowing he was
going to have to dump out his helmet and ride home in the rain). that time, Eric and I decided take a walk to find my friend and neighbor At about (Jared Emery) who had a gig with his band 19ADD down town at the Hi-Dive; yes, that was a trek. We met the band, chatted some, then left to get some food. Yes, we walked all the way back to the Filmore when we left - kind of.
On our way back to the Filmore, we ran into a group of 2 guys and a girl on bikes coming up from the Cherry Creek trail off of Spear. This usually wouldn't be unusual, but the Cherry Creek had flooded the trail and everything was underwater. The taller (and wettest) of the bunch stopped me and proceeded to ask me if I wanted his bike. Thinking this was strange, not to mention the notion of weather or not it was stolen, I gave him a look of: "Uh? What are you talking about? How much have you been smoking? Just about the time I realized there were only three of them and 4 bikes, he said he had just fished it out of the creek. At that time it also became obvious that this was no fabrication.... The bike was covered in leaves and other usual random creek debris. As I'm getting my senses of the situation and turning to Eric to see his reaction, he reaches out and says: "Yeah, I'll take it!".
So off Eric and I go, me sitting on the seat while he stands and pedals, we make it back to grab some grub (come on... it was a long walk and we had a lot of beer in us).
Pete's Kitchen is where we ended up. This was my first time eating at Pete's Kitchen (and as you will soon see, Eric's as well). It was also my last time eating at Pete's Kitchen. I had gotten recommendations from friends as we passed coming or going somewhere in the vicinity many a time in the past. They were open, we were hungry, so why not? Things started well enough. We got seated right away, the waitress (the first one mind you) showed up in a some what reasonable amount of time, etc.... The first thing out of this womans mouth as she stared at Eric was: "You look familiar. Were you here yesterday?" Now, without waiting for an answer to this question, she began describing what "Eric" left on the table impersonating as a $20 bill. Yeah, she had just accused him of skipping out on a bill and leaving what can only be described as a poor attempt at a counterfeit 20. Please tell me who in their right mind would do this and then return the next night?? Eric of course counters with a response of never having been to this establishment before. The waitress accepts this with a "you just look very familiar". And that was the end of it... or so we thought. A few minutes later, the manager comes up to us, looking at Eric and asking him if he had ever been there before. Eric again states that he hadn't and the manager gives us both an evil eye and heads to the moonlighting Cop by the door (who had been watching this entire encounter). Knowing this was going nowhere (or more accurately, somewhere bad) Eric pulls out his wallet and produces multiple receipts that make it very clear that he was in Boston all last week (up until today). This settled it enough to get our second waitress and shitty service, but never did either of us get anything close to an apology from anyone. I would have left if I didn't feel as though I was going to pass out from low blood sugar (that and the previously mentioned large quantity of beer probably didn't help either).
It being my first outing to the Roller Derby (and really haven't actually seen it on TV since
sometime before 1983), I was excited but really didn't know what to expect. Knowing that this venue would be general admission seating, I wanted to get there early to make sure I got a good seat. Well, I did...and I did. I arrived with Eric, and Kon found us at our spot shortly after. "seats", or patch of floor, was directly behind the Jammers on the curve of the track -- TalkOur about optimal seating! Note: This picture sucks, but it should give you a good idea of where we were sitting.Between the plethora of refs and "Dump Truck" - the man in the diaper, there was commentary throughout the match explaining the rules and nuances of all the activity. Eric and I were rooting for the Green Barrettes, Kon I think was indifferent. Next to us was a couple who were obviously veterans of the sport (who were sporting Bad Apples ware). The rivalry was fun and they helped explain the details of the rules that were lost in translation.
The score was... well, we won't mention what the score was, but it was a great match and the girls all seemed to get along very well (considering these two teams make up the Mile High Club - the Denver traveling team - this comes as no surprise).
After the match,
there was time to schmooze with the teams and even get autographs. Later everyone met at Benders Tavern for the After Party. Kon was the first to depart (knowing he was
going to have to dump out his helmet and ride home in the rain). that time, Eric and I decided take a walk to find my friend and neighbor At about (Jared Emery) who had a gig with his band 19ADD down town at the Hi-Dive; yes, that was a trek. We met the band, chatted some, then left to get some food. Yes, we walked all the way back to the Filmore when we left - kind of.On our way back to the Filmore, we ran into a group of 2 guys and a girl on bikes coming up from the Cherry Creek trail off of Spear. This usually wouldn't be unusual, but the Cherry Creek had flooded the trail and everything was underwater. The taller (and wettest) of the bunch stopped me and proceeded to ask me if I wanted his bike. Thinking this was strange, not to mention the notion of weather or not it was stolen, I gave him a look of: "Uh? What are you talking about? How much have you been smoking? Just about the time I realized there were only three of them and 4 bikes, he said he had just fished it out of the creek. At that time it also became obvious that this was no fabrication.... The bike was covered in leaves and other usual random creek debris. As I'm getting my senses of the situation and turning to Eric to see his reaction, he reaches out and says: "Yeah, I'll take it!".
So off Eric and I go, me sitting on the seat while he stands and pedals, we make it back to grab some grub (come on... it was a long walk and we had a lot of beer in us).
Pete's Kitchen is where we ended up. This was my first time eating at Pete's Kitchen (and as you will soon see, Eric's as well). It was also my last time eating at Pete's Kitchen. I had gotten recommendations from friends as we passed coming or going somewhere in the vicinity many a time in the past. They were open, we were hungry, so why not? Things started well enough. We got seated right away, the waitress (the first one mind you) showed up in a some what reasonable amount of time, etc.... The first thing out of this womans mouth as she stared at Eric was: "You look familiar. Were you here yesterday?" Now, without waiting for an answer to this question, she began describing what "Eric" left on the table impersonating as a $20 bill. Yeah, she had just accused him of skipping out on a bill and leaving what can only be described as a poor attempt at a counterfeit 20. Please tell me who in their right mind would do this and then return the next night?? Eric of course counters with a response of never having been to this establishment before. The waitress accepts this with a "you just look very familiar". And that was the end of it... or so we thought. A few minutes later, the manager comes up to us, looking at Eric and asking him if he had ever been there before. Eric again states that he hadn't and the manager gives us both an evil eye and heads to the moonlighting Cop by the door (who had been watching this entire encounter). Knowing this was going nowhere (or more accurately, somewhere bad) Eric pulls out his wallet and produces multiple receipts that make it very clear that he was in Boston all last week (up until today). This settled it enough to get our second waitress and shitty service, but never did either of us get anything close to an apology from anyone. I would have left if I didn't feel as though I was going to pass out from low blood sugar (that and the previously mentioned large quantity of beer probably didn't help either).
posted by TheHollow at
4:15 AM
2 Comments:
Sounds like fun (or maybe too much fun). Anyway, I doubt you remember roller derby from "before 1983" - you were only 5 or 6 then. While you have a very good memory, you were probably busy watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood or The Smurfs or playing Defender on your C64.
Also, as you will see on Wikipedia, the sport all but died out between the mid-1970s and the late 1980s.
To Mr. Anonymous:
Ah...this may be true, but what I saw was footage; never have I seen before this an actual match. Even dieing sports can be recorded or better yet tossed into a documentary.
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