I don't know, it seems to me that people not taking derby seriously because of the costumes or names is a bit like telling Black people they shouldn't wear hoodies if they don't want to be perceived as thugs. It's the people thinking that way who have a problem, not derby itself. I'm far from the cleverest guy on the street, but I saw right from the start (and I was at the first ever Richer City bout) that derby was a proper sport, but it also had elements of theatre and dramatic flair that added an extra element of awesome, not detracted from it. What set it apart was the individual element, a team sport that had room for people to be a bit quirky or different with their outfits and appearance, but still being recognizably part of the team and a serious athlete. If derby going more "professional" means losing that and becoming uniform and standardized then maybe I'm no longer "fan of the year."
Don't get me wrong, watching how the skill level and fitness of the skaters has improved over the years has been amazing, I just don't see why it has to be at the expense of the fishnets and face-paint side of things. But I still stand by what I said a while back, that the day skaters start wearing sponsor logos on their uniforms, I'm done.

It was a great show, just a pity you can't put some f*cking integrity on your snapper card. If I want to hear sponsor names mentioned every 20 seconds I'll watch the IPL.

Ahem, the official reason is that this was not Wellington vs Auckland it was Richter City vs Pirate City. Hence it was Purple and Orange vs Red and Black.
And trust me, I argued with everyone about this. But I'm totally over it now...

Well I for one am glad they chose to forge their own identity rather then feeling bound by pointless tradition.

So they made Auckland dress up like Cantabs. Nice touch

Given that I'm curious to see what colours the Dead End Derby (Canterbury) team will be wearing. When Richter City wipes the floor with them, I mean.

i've heard more and more - mayhap i should check out this roller derby thing?

Yes. Yes, you should.

Why was Wellington not in black and yellow?

I don't know but I'm glad they weren't, purple + orange = awesome. And it must have been destiny, because without knowing anything about it I wore purple and orange to The Grudgemaker (there's even proof on the promo video).

Yep, already voted. Can't see how anyone could vote for anything else.

You must not have been paying attention:
http://sp.mlr.co.nz/sport/roller-derby/skate-highway-one/IMG_5130-0045.jpg/image

This ultimate

In Wellington

Yeah, it's a dumb name.

This is Hadyn's blog so he can write about what he likes, but I find his constant reporting of this really rather minor and amateur roller darby stuff about as interesting as he would find me writing up my indoor netball team every week or two.

I wouldn't even read this blog if he didn't talk about roller derby. My interest in rugby is minimal, the only international sport I tend to follow is cricket, which is well covered elsewhere, and I find Hadyn's taste in sports uniforms bland to the extreme (what do you make of the roller derby outfits, btw?).
And every sport had to start somewhere, I can just imagine people saying that football nonsense would never catch on.
Now if he would only talk about ultimate (a sport which was well represented in the audience last Saturday, I might add) occasionally...

Another one that I thought was quite smart was "Suffer Jet gets my vote", which I was preparing to give a good cheer to, though it wasn't a contender in the end.

Yeah, if the MCs had actually looked at us I think we would have been a shoo-in for a prize, but then I did make the sign.
For me, the standout performer on the night was Punk Pantha (yes, even ahead of Suffer Jet), she really stepped it up. I've been really impressed by the massive improvements shown between bouts, can't wait for the next one.