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Rollergirls revved up for new season
Apples, Betties skate to success in Denver Dolls season opener
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo by Sophia Throop/sthroop@mscd.edu The Bad Apples strategize before a bout against the Business Casualties on May 19 at the Denver Coliseum. The Bad Apples won their season debut, 95-73. The Denver Roller Dolls hope to expand their league to six teams next year.

The Denver Roller Dolls kicked off their season with a double-bout opener on May 17 at the rustic Denver Coliseum. Radicals and rednecks alike filled the bleachers, Pabst Blue Ribbon tall-boys in hand, to bear witness to the beginning of a new era in competitive roller derby in Denver.

The bout pitted the Green Barrettes against the Shotgun Betties, while the Bad Apples took on the Business Casualties.

The Shotgun Betties and the Business Casualties are both expansion teams added to create a rotating, four-team schedule. The new teams consist of new recruits as well as players previously on the Bad Apples or the Green Barrettes. The mix of experienced and inexperienced skaters helps maintain balance in the young and upcoming league.

“Some of the girls have been skating with us one month and some eight months,” said Shotgun Betties’ co-captain Audrey Rugburn. “But either way, once you get out there and skate against the other teams in a bout, it’s a whole new world.”

“You have to be quite dedicated and all the girls take it very seriously,” Daisy Cutter, one of the Shotgun Betties’ new recruits, said.

Rugburn and veteran Sissy Rinkshaw are both veterans of the Green Barrettes who split off to become members of the Shotgun Betties.

The Barrettes missed the two veterans in the season opener as the Betties jumped out to an early lead in the first half and skated on to a 63-52 victory.

The Barrettes were down by as many as 10 points in the first half, but cut the Betties’ lead to eight. After the half, the Barrettes were marred with injury and equipment problems and were down by as many as 19 points with less than 10 minutes to skate.

“The competition was rough and really intense,” Cutter said. “The excitement and adrenaline of it all keeps you going.”

The second bout of the evening proved a bit more fast-paced and ugly as the Bad Apples put a 95-73 pounding on the Business Casualties girls.

The Casualties were penalized early in the bout, causing them to lose their jammer and thus being unable to score any points. The Apples went up 8-0 after the first jam and never looked back.

The Denver Roller Dolls is one of over 100 roller derby leagues nationwide. The Dolls are different than the others because it is a nonprofit organization active in community services and charities, according to Rugburn.

The local league is gaining a strong reputation, bringing out everyone from Capitol Hill hipsters to mullets from the mountains.

Longtime enthusiast Johnny Roastbeef refereed the season debut and was carrying a whistle for the league debut on March 17, too. Alongside him was semi-celebrity “Rattlesnake” Rob Wright from the PBS reality show “Texas Ranch House.” Image magazine writer and general man-about-town Orange Peel Moses resumed his duties on the microphone as the event’s emcee.
At the end of the season, the cream of the crop will be chosen from each team and formed into an All-Star team that will compete nationally.

“We could definitely be competitors,” Rugburn said. “We’ve had the league for such a short period of time that there’s a lot of improvement needed, but we have tons of support from the community.”

Rugburn said the league is hoping to expand to six teams next season to accommodate new talent cropping up due to the sport’s popularity.

“Our training and recruitment team is really amazing,” Rugburn said. “We will definitely be expanding. The sky’s the limit.”

The Denver Dolls’ season continues at the Coliseum on July 14 with another double bout.