If you check out the comments below the last entry, you can see that one of the Dames wasn’t happy with the write up of Band of Brawlers. As one Rollerbilly to that one Dame, I figured I should respond:
I’m sorry you don’t like the blog entry for band of brawlers.
I have no doubt that bouts are hard work. This is a public blog. I’m writing as a fan. Obviously I’m not going to be aware of whatever is going on with your production team. I paid to see the event and I’m writing it up.
I’m a little shocked that you don’t think both teams playing deserve to have encouragement and support. The Dames had all their friends and families present; why shouldn’t some people in the audience cheer for the visitors?
If I’d come all the way from Germany to play, I’d like to think someone would show my team some support. We’re not actually living in wartime. I can support Germany if I choose to.
You shouldn’t be afraid of people encouraging your opposition. Every player who gets better forces others to improve, and drives the sport forward. That’s what the fans want to see, and it should be what the skaters want to see too.
As for the reffing, all I said was that from an audience point of view the bout was confusing. We’re members of the audience, we’re trying to understand the play. I didn’t say there was anything wrong with the calls or scores, I only said that there wasn’t much commentary to make them all clear.
Not every audience member is going to be a rollergirl; the rules are complicated and as the Dames point out on their blog, they do change. New versions of the rules make it even more important for you help the general public to understand what’s happening.
We definitely learned that staging a bout is a lot harder than it looks. It’s up to you whether or not you do cupcakes and how frequently you decide to bout. I stand by my review and you should stand by your event without making excuses.
Mollie
