Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby

We’re diving into the exhilarating world of roller derby with the Cleveland Guardians and it’s a blast! This episode is all about the passion and community that surrounds this electrifying sport. We chat with some of the Guardians, who share their stories, rules of the game, and the camaraderie that makes roller derby so special. So, whether you’re a seasoned derby fan or just roller-curious (yes, I made that up), you’re gonna want to stick around for this wild ride on eight wheels.

Takeaways:

• The Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby team has transformed from a theatrical spectacle to a legitimate sport, showcasing the dedication and passion of its players.
• Roller derby is a highly strategic game where players must master both offensive and defensive skills to outmaneuver opponents and score points effectively.
• Each roller derby game consists of two 30-minute periods filled with fast-paced action, where teams compete in a series of short bursts called jams, lasting up to two minutes.
• The Guardians emphasize inclusivity, allowing skaters of all genders to participate equally in their leagues, which enhances community and camaraderie within the sport.
• The upcoming Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby match on June 14 promises to be an exciting doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Zombies, showcasing the competitive spirit of local teams.
• Fans can support the Guardians by attending games, following their social media channels, and purchasing merchandise, which helps fund the team's operations and travel.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, folks, Jeff, AKA GroundedGeek here.
Just a really quick messagebefore we jump into this awesome
episode with the ClevelandGuardians Roller Derby.
Just a heads up, we had alittle technical gremlin sneak into
the mix.
My mic comes through a littlebit distorted during this interview
and everything looked right on Streamyard.
It looked right on the Rodecaster.
But clearly something hadother plans.

(00:21):
And if this message soundsokay, then I think we finally got
it sorted.
Now, we always joke that itwouldn't be a World Gun Geek show
without some kind of technicaldifficulty, but we, we still take
pride in putting out the bestquality we can.
At the same time, we alsopride ourselves on being real, raw,
authentic, not overly editedor polished.
That's we're just who we are.
And we're all just who we are, right?

(00:43):
We own that.
So, that said, thisconversation with the Guardians is
too much fun not to go aheadand keep sharing.
So thanks for sticking withus, imperfections and all.
And hey, if you're nearCleveland, come out to the Cleveland
Heights rink on June 14 forthe Guardians next roller derby.
It's a doubleheader.
I'm going to be there and Ithink you should be too.
We're going to have a greattime watching some roller derby.

(01:05):
So let's get into the interview.
We're all living in a worldgone geek.
It's time to geek hard or go home.
The podcast is real.
Here's your host, Grounded Geek.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to anotherepisode episode of World Gone Geek.

(01:26):
The podcast is real.
It truly is real.
Because here we are again withmy good friends Utah and Aaliyah.
Welcome back, guys.
Greetings, programs.
Hi.
We are excited to bring youanother episode of the podcast.
Today we are going to betalking with some folks from the
Cleveland Guardians Roller Derby.
We're going to get into thatin just a little bit, so stay tuned.

(01:49):
In the meantime, Utah, you arenot at home.
We don't see your stormtrooperin the background.
There is definitely somethingdifferent about where you are.
Tell us where you are.
Yes, Unfortunately, Richardcould not make the trip with us.
I'm here with my son.
We're in Atlanta, Georgia forthe son.
Tycho looks so different now.
This is.

(02:09):
Well, we name him Mo.
His name is Mo now.
And he turned into a threeeyed Kaiju.
Isn't he cute?
Anyways, I mean, you did sound like.
You were saying, I'm here withmy son.
And you're holding up.
I'm holding up a littleplushie of Mo.
One of the.
Which is not Tycho, which isNot Tycho.
No.

(02:30):
But I'm here with Taipan.
Taipan?
My bad.
No, no.
He's my other son.
I have two sons, Jeff.
I know.
But you're there with Taipan.
Yes.
We're here at Momocon, the20th year of Momocon.
And Momo Con is a big anime,gaming and comics convention here
in Georgia, which is why it'scalled Momocon.

(02:52):
Momo is the Japanese word for peach.
Georgia is the Peach State.
I didn't know that.
So it was started 20 years agoby a bunch of Georgia Tech students.
It was held on Georgia tech campus.
About 700 people showed up.
Move up and go into the futurein 2025.
Twenty years later, over56,000 people are here this year.

(03:14):
Wow.
In the Georgia World Congresscenter, which is the big convention
center here in Atlanta.
And just to give you an ideaof the scale of this place now, you
know, I've gone to San DiegoComic Con many times.
A lot of people think of SanDiego Comic Con as arguably the granddaddy
of conventions.
So San Diego Comic Con is heldin the San Diego Convention center,

(03:35):
which is about 500,000 squarefeet of convention floor space.
And they last year had 150,000 attendees.
So not granted, not all thosepeople are on the floor at the same
time, but you can imagine howcrowded it is here at Momocon.
They have 56,000 people, andthey are occupying all of one building.

(04:01):
Building B at the GeorgiaWorld Congress Center.
And building B is 730,000square feet.
Wow.
We're talking one third of theattendees in about five times the
space.
Holy cow.
So one of the things that'smaking me feel like I want to go
to MomoCon now on a regularbasis in San Diego is one.

(04:24):
There's a cost differencebecause we can drive here, which
will be cheap, is cheaper thanthe airfare to San Diego.
But because there's so muchspace here, the aisles between the
vendors and the booths andeven artist alley are so much wider,
they're, like, almost twice aswide as they are in San Diego.
So you don't feel crowded.
And then add to that, there'sonly 50.

(04:46):
Only.
Only 56,000 people here.
So there's plenty of space.
You don't feel crowded.
I think it's great for peoplewho perhaps don't like crowded spaces
or have anxiety and very, youknow, cramped social situations.
And so I'm excited that I camethis year.
And what I love, too, and thisis something that I didn't realize

(05:08):
until this year, their.
Their Tagline is we are yourall ages geek culture convention,
anime gaming and comics.
And so I think their missionand message is very similar to ours.
So having a great time?
Yeah, we're having a greattime here.
Like I said, our first year here.
So far, so great.
I've already met a couple ofvoice actors that I recognize from

(05:30):
various dubs of Japaneseanimes and video games.
I met the voice actor SungwonCho, who for me anyway, he voiced
flack from borderlands 3.
Oh, and he also voiced thesquirrel in God of War, Ragnarok,
which I thought was hilarious.
So nice.
I should have had you.
So far so good.

(05:52):
If I'd known.
I should have had you get anautograph for Libby because you know,
she, a cosplay.
She cosplays Flack.
Yeah, I, I, I didn't think ofthat until he was going through his
characters that he had done.
We, we stopped at the panel.
I'm like, oh, so he's stillhere all weekend?
He's still here all weekend.
So maybe I'll run into him again.

(06:13):
That sounds, that sounds likea pretty, you're right.
I think it does align with ourmission a little bit, which is pretty
cool.
Maybe we should make a roadtrip next year.
I think it's very, look, it'san easy road trip.
It's a little easier than SanDiego, I feel like.
Although I still want to do that.
Well, yes, I highly, Irecommend doing San Diego at least
once just, just to see what,what, what the, what, what the spectacle

(06:34):
is.
But yeah, MomoCon so far isgreat and I think, I think we're
hitting it at its 20thanniversary, which is great because
they have a whole bunch ofcool stuff going on.
Plus I think it's nice to hitthe peak, hit the convention at like
pre peak.
I think it's only going to getbigger and more popular and to see
it before it gets too crowdedand too busy and too expensive, I

(06:58):
think is a great time to hit it.
To be fair, Momo Khan'ssubject matter only slightly overlaps
with mine.
So I did kind of take a breakfrom the floor.
Taipan loves all this stuff sohe was able to spend all day on at
the convention.
But I went out and snuck outand went and saw a movie.
So nothing against, nothingagainst momocon.

(07:20):
It's just I, I, I've doneeverything that, that interests me.
So while I'm here I might aswell, you know, take in some, some
of the great, not necessarilyAtlanta specific things like a movie.
Right?
Was it Like a, a specificallyfamous Atlanta movie theater, perhaps?
Oh, well, well, is it just a.

(07:41):
Cinemark you could have goneto anywhere in the country?
Well, it wasn't amc, which arevery rare up north in Ohio.
So it, it was AMC MadisonYards 8.
Shout out to them.
They, they, they, they.
They did great for an AMC 8screen theater.
Nice.
What did you see?
What did you see?
I went and saw the final reckoning.

(08:02):
Mission Impossible.
Final reckoning.
All right.
And I will say, did theyreckon finally?
I think they finally, I thinkthey finally reckoned the impossible
mission.
That's good.
But that doesn't mean it'snecessarily the last, right.
I believe it's just TomCruise's last.
Right.
Like, isn't he like, I'm donewith this.
I feel, I feel like Tom Cruisehas very strongly hinted and implied

(08:24):
that he may not be putting hislife in danger any longer for these
movies.
And I think he'll.
I feel like he's going to stepback and produce and then maybe Ethan
Hunt will take on like the JimPhelps role of old, right.
Where he, he's the one incharge and assigning the missions
and his own recordings andI'll pop up.
But he's not going to be likedoing the American version of Jackie

(08:46):
Chan still going stuff.
Right.
I mean, and I think, I meanhe's amazing in this, just like he
is in all the other ones.
And this one, for me, the lasthalf of it was much more engaging
than the first half.
The first half felt like a lotof recap that I personally didn't
need.
But I can understand why theyfelt like they needed it in there

(09:09):
because a lot of people were.
Will not have binge watchedall the Mission Impossible movies
like perhaps I did, which you can.
On Paramount plus.
That's right.
They're all on Paramount right now.
You know, he's 62.
He's 62 years old.
He's older than both of us.
He's older than both of us.
And you know, he's likejumping motorcycles off of the largest,

(09:30):
tallest ramps possible.
He's like, you know, hangingoff of the side of a cargo plane.
He's like not just wingwalking, he's like wing somersaulting
and stuff.
I won't spoil too much, but Imean, you've seen the clips in the
trailer.
He's doing that stuff on play.
And yes, he has safetyharnesses because you have to.
Yeah, but it even stunt.

(09:50):
Right, exactly.
But it's just still insanethat he's, you know, I think to myself,
he's almost 10 years olderthan us and he's doing that.
And I'm like, I don't know,sitting on my couch playing Assassin's
Creed Shadows.
So, you know, I sort of the.
Same thing getting out of bedthis morning.
So I don't know.
So.

(10:11):
And there.
And you're not getting anyaccolades for doing your own stunts.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
That's crazy.
And yeah, all of them are on.
Go ahead, Aliyah.
Sorry.
Have you seen the Mission Impossible?
Any of them?
No.
That's what I was gonna say.
There's like 11D.
Seven of them now, I think.
I don't know how many.
They're all great.
Skip.
You can.

(10:31):
You can skip the second one.
That one's.
Eh.
Maybe save that one for last.
I don't know.
I mean, it's fun.
It's.
It's just.
It's very different.
It's really not a MissionImpossible movie to me.
It's more action.
It's a John Woo movie starringTom Cruise is really what it is to
me.
Yeah.
So.
Well, that's why I guess it'scalled Mission Impossible because
you can never do it.

(10:53):
Well, that's why they alwayscomplete the mission.
Right.
I.
I feel.
I feel like it's the worst title.
They fail.
They fail every time becausethey say that it's impossible and
then they realize it's possible.
I'm like.
That's like 00% success rate.
Right?
The impossible part of themission is making it impossible.

(11:15):
So therefore it's Mission Impossible.
So the possible part of.
Wait.
The possible part of the mission.
The possible part is becausethey always pass it.
So that makes it impossible.
Oh, it's impossible for them.
Do not possibly fail.
I don't know.

(11:35):
I think my brain just.
I've gone cross eyed.
But yeah, it is.
It is possibly possible to do the.
So the impossible part of themission is impossible.
You call these people.
That's.
I mean, that's where the.
Or that's where it comes from.
That's.
That's where the name.
Think it's impossible.
Get all these guys.
Oh, okay.
Because they'll do it.

(11:55):
Yeah, right.
That's.
And so it isn't impossible for them.
It's just exactly so.
Right, right, right.
Which is funny because.
Yeah, I guess that makes sensebecause they are called the Impossible
Mission Force.
So.
Yeah.
The imf.
Well, Aaliyah, you shouldwatch them because they are a lot
of fun.
They really, really are.
The.
The first.
And the first one was a lotmore cerebral than I expected, which

(12:17):
I Liked about it like it was alot more smart.
Like it wasn't just action.
The rest of them have elementsof that, but they, they like to ratchet
up the action even more every.
Yeah.
They skewed more actionbecause they want to see what crazy
things they can make this oldman, Tom Cruise do.
I almost feel like there's afaction of people who are like, will

(12:39):
he die this time?
Exactly.
Will he get hurt this time?
Well, he did get hurt on one.
Was it the last one he got hurt?
I don't know.
Yeah, I think.
Well, it might have been this one.
Or was it.
I don't remember.
No, it was one of the previous ones.
Yeah, it was the previous ones.
One of the.
Yeah.
He heard his.
His leg jumping across the.
Yeah.

(12:59):
Building.
Yes.
And continued the scene.
And that shot is in the movie.
Yeah, the one where he breaksit stays in the movie because he
continued the scene until the cut.
And he did it all on a broken leg.
And again, I will repeat, I pulled.
Him out of bed again.
I don't understand how he'sdoing this stuff.

(13:20):
I really.
All of his own stunts.
That's incredible.
He does.
It's crazy.
It's a little.
And he does all his ownrunning in every movie.
Oh, yes.
Thank you for reminding about that.
If you're a fan of Tom Cruzrunning, you're going to love this
movie.
This one's got some running.
I saw it in some of the makingup stuff.
I, I feel like ever since Ithink the fourth or fifth one, there's.

(13:41):
I think it's in the contractin his writer.
I need to run for at leastthree minutes in the movie, like
way of running.
He's got that weird runninggate sort of thing.
And it's not just MissionImpossible like he did it.
No, that's just how he isbecause of his movies.
Even though of his like bonestructure or whatever, that's just
how he runs.
What was the lawyer?

(14:02):
The first.
Even that one he's running.
Oh, yes.
Even in the first.
He's a weird runner.
I don't know that it's weird.
It's just.
I don't think it's different.
Specific to Tom.
Yes.
Like, like.
Yeah, yeah.
Like if, for example, if, like some.
If we took video, if we hadtook video.
If we take video of likesprinters and runners or people just
running and like made themsilhouettes, I swear a good majority

(14:26):
of people would be able to saythat's Tom Cruz.
Yeah, yeah.
He's got just an iconic way of running.
Very like Very upright andkind of his arms are doing this weird
thing.
It's.
It's iconic is the word.
I don't think.
I don't think there are manypeople that can do it.
Like you can.
Unique.
Unique.
Okay, sure.
If you want to.
If you want to dis Tom Cruiselike that, fine.

(14:47):
No, no, no, no.
I don't know.
Don't come for me.
Tom Cruise.
You come out here and do these stunts.
I mean, jump.
He's 62, but he could probablytake us all.
All three of us.
I think so.
Yes.
Yeah.
Well, hey, look, he's.
It's kind of, you know, he's.
He's like a certified skydiverand high altitude skydiver.
Just nuts.
He's a certified licensedpilot of planes, jets, and helicopters.

(15:11):
He knows how to deep scuba dive.
He knows how to free.
I mean, it's kind of crazy,all the stuff that he does.
So I got to give him creditfor that.
You know, I'm not necessarilya big believer of Scientology, but
everything else.
Everything else is just, youknow, and.

(15:31):
Wanted to do something like that.
Like be like a scuba diver orlike a certified scuba diver or,
like, certified.
There was one point in my lifewhere I wanted to be a certified
skydiver.
I did a lot of vertical windtunnel diving in Florida because
they had one there.
I would try that.

(15:51):
But I.
I will never jump out of a plane.
You don't.
You don't think jumping out ofa perfectly fine plane is.
You don't want to be in theplane to begin.
I mean, I'm fine flying, like,you know what I mean?
But I don't prefer, like.
I mean, I'm not like, yeah,let's go fly.
But I mean, if I got to getsomewhere, I fly.
I'm not afraid.
But at the same time, I'mlike, once I'm in there, like, I
don't want to get out until we land.
Until it's late, until we'reat our final destination.

(16:15):
That is a fair statement.
That is.
There's nothing wrong with that.
Yeah, but not scoot.
I don't know.
Scuba diving scares me.
For some reason, I feel like I.
We did, like, the touristthing, this tourist scuba diving
thing where you get the scubagear on and you go down, I don't
know, not even 100ft, and youget to feed the fish.
And number one, I didn'trealize how cold the ocean is.

(16:38):
The ocean is very cold onceyou get past, like, 30ft.
And so I'm like.
I'm like, feeding the Fishlike this, because I'm like.
And it's very strangelyclaustrophobic because everything,
like, you.
All you hear is yourselfbreathing in the air in your tank.
And for me, that was disconcerting.

(16:59):
Yeah.
So, like, going any deeperwhere, like, you need lights to see
because it's so dark, becausethe sun doesn't.
I can't do it.
Yeah, no, thank you.
I'd, like, think about that oncruises where they're just.
You, like, look over the edge,and it's just like a black abyss.
Right.
And it's, like, miles deep.
Yeah.
Like, you're not going totouch the bottom.

(17:20):
Tom Cruise would jump off.
Yeah, he would.
Yeah.
And he would wave and smileand go see my movie as he goes down.
Are there any crazy thingslike that that you would do, Ilia?
Would you jump out of a planeor do you stand, like, what.
Do you stand in front of abrick wall?

(17:43):
No, I would never stand infront of a brick wall.
Sit in front of a brick wall, though.
I would.
Yeah.
No, I'm terrified of heights.
Definitely right there withyou, Jeff.
I do not ever want to jump outof a plane willingly.
Ever willingly jump out of a plane.

(18:05):
Scuba diving.
I don't.
I don't know.
None of that actually justsounds like fun to me.
It doesn't sound intriguing.
Doesn't sound like I'mterrified of the water.
Like, I could swim, but Idon't want to go underneath and see
all of the things.
Maybe, like, snorkeling, youknow, to see.
Like, the coral being on the surface.

(18:26):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
But you put me down in.
You know, but maybe surfing.
I don't know.
Okay.
There's, like, certain thingsthat I think I would like to do,
like surfing or something,like, try and get me.
Okay, okay.
But it sounds like a lot ofthese water things are, like, either
near land or at the surface.
Oh, I'm with you there.

(18:46):
Yeah.
I don't want to be out therein the.
In the.
In the middle of the oceanwhere the stuff is.
The sharks and the stuff.
Yeah.
Even surfing is, like, a stretch.
Keep me.
This land.
I am not.
That sounds like.
That sounds like the name ofthe next, like, sea, water, ocean,
horror movie stuff.
The stuff.

(19:07):
Jason Statham.
Do whatever you want, but stayaway from the stuff.
I'm definitely a beach person,but I'm not a, like, ocean.
Don't you do some, like,indoor rock climbing or something,
Aliyah?
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
I guess there is, like, somethings that I would do that's, like,
I Would probably like, rock.

(19:28):
I mean, I have.
But how high would you, like,rock climb up a.
Like an actual rock face inthe nature?
I've done that.
Like, I've done in WestVirginia with a friend that I don't
even know if it's, like,certified now that I'm, like, looking
back.
Well, no, but he bought.
But you did that.
I did.
And then I took my sister withme, like, oh, you should come with

(19:49):
me and do this.
And she.
How high up were you?
I don't.
I.
I'm not really good with thattype of stuff.
But I mean, it was decentbecause it was on a mountain in West
Virginia, so it wasn't.
It wasn't terribly high, butit wasn't.
Well, this is, this is goodbecause since you don't really pay
attention to that, we couldjust tell you to keep going and the
next thing you know, you'relike 5,000ft up.

(20:10):
No, that's climbing like ElCapitan in.
Yeah.
And I'm not doing.
And they're free climbing,like, you know, stuff.
Yeah.
That isn't what I.
By the way, Tom Cruise didthat in.
Oh, he did that in the second movie.
Yeah, he.
Was that the one where he'shanging by the one.
Yeah, he's hanging.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
So you still got to see it.
Yeah.
You gotta see it, though, Elliot.

(20:32):
At least the first.
At least the intro.
That's.
That's what he's doing.
Since you're a rock climber,you'll appreciate it.
Yeah, I do.
And there was like anotherpart of me that was like, oh, man.
I would be really interestedin, like, learning how to snowboard
because I.
I was.
I went down this, like, rabbithole of seeing all these snowboarders
going through.
Going through, like, the mountain.
I can't think of what thatactual term is.
Like a cravat.

(20:53):
Cravas.
I don't know what it is, but yeah.
And because if you make.
If it's like soft snow orsomething, then it's an avalanche
and you got to figure out.
Yeah.
How to get out of that.
So.
Well, it sounds like if we do.
If we ever joined theImpossible mission for us, you two

(21:14):
are ready to go out and do the adventure.
I'll be the guy on the tape.
I'll just be like, you'll be.
You'll be.
I pulled a muscle pressing record.
Guys, can you go.
You guys go out there and getthis done.
You were 100 Simon Pegg forthe first couple of movies he was
in.
There you go.
That's me.
I'll be the guy behind.
I'll be the guy in the chair,as they call, as Ned calls it on

(21:36):
Spider Man.
That's right.
So we've got to get to our guests.
Before we do, I do want tomention, obviously, you know, we
just really pumped upParamount there a little bit, talking
about Mission Impossible.
Every Mission Impossible movieis on Paramount plus right now, except
for this one.
Obviously you got to go totheaters to see the final reckoning,
but every movie is on there.

(21:56):
You can catch up with all theMission Impossible stuff right there
on Paramount plus, you knowwhat else is on Paramount plus, that's
my second, Jeff.
There's a hit series called Landman.
It's in the middle of seasonone, starring Billy Bob Thornton,
Demi Moore and John Hamm, andit's now available on DVD and Blu
Ray with over 85 minutes ofspecial features.

(22:18):
Landman Season 1, you can ownit on DVD.
And Blue.
Is that actual physical media?
You actually have that in your hand?
Physical media, yeah.
Wow.
So I know that a lot of ourviewers out there like physical media.
They like holding on to stuff.
And I'm talking aboutParamount plus, where you can watch
this show.
Well, you can also get it onphysical media and you can win it

(22:40):
from us right here at WorldGun Geek because we partner with
Paramount on a few of these things.
My wife and I just startedLandman literally last night.
And so far, so good.
I'm really loving it.
Billy Bob Thornton is great in this.
Like, it's just the writing isso good.
It's from one of my favoriteshow creators, Taylor Sheridan.
I think I mentioned him.
I mean, obviously I mentionedhim because we get a lot of stuff

(23:01):
from Paramount and he does alot of stuff on Paramount, but his
shows are great.
Like, I love every show I'vewatched with Taylor Sharer.
Another one is Tulsa King,which is with Sylvester Stallone.
Sylvester Stallone.
This is season two in my handsright here.
And then there's Yellowstoneseason five, part two.
Now it's already at seasonfive, also.

(23:23):
On DVD and Blu ray, with overtwo hours of special features.
Generations of blood have ledto this.
Yellowstone Season 5, Part 2.
You can own a piece of thelegacy now on DVD and Blu Ray.
And it is over.
I think it's done.
Like, I think this is the last season.
Last season, Last part of thelast season.
Yeah.
I think Kevin Costner wantedto be done, but I didn't know they

(23:46):
were going to end the show.
And they may not have, but itseems like they did at the end.
Like, there's some closure to some.
Some things.
Not saying they couldn't keepgoing, but there's some closure to
some things that we've beenwatching for five seasons.
Well, and they've got othershows, right?
Isn't.
Isn't that the show withHarrison Ford?
That's the prequel.
It is 1883.

(24:06):
Then there's 1923, thenthere's Yellowstone.
Now they might do some stuffin between.
I don't know.
1883 and 1923 are done.
And like I said, Yellowstonemaybe as well.
The finale was great.
Like, there was just a lot ofgreat stuff happened in this show.
I enjoy it quite a bit.
I really liked it.
You should check it out.
And I'm gonna give all threeof these to somebody.

(24:28):
To me?
No, not to me.
I've got a few of them, so I could.
But we're gonna give some ofthese away.
We're gonna give some of these away.
And here's all you got to do.
Follow us on Instagram @worldgungeek.
I'm only gonna make you doInstagram, but we'd love for you
to follow us on YouTube andall the other places as well, but
@WorldGungeek, on Instagram.
And I'm gonna be postingimages from Landman and Yellowstone

(24:51):
over the next.
Over this following week.
I need you to go like, no, no,I'm gonna.
They're the actual art thatyou see here, basically.
And you gotta like those.
And comment below.
There'll be instructions onhow to do this.
Follow us on Instagram.
And I will be giving awaymultiple copies of these I made.
I even have.

(25:14):
I even have the mayor ofKingstown with Jeremy Renner.
Yeah, that was a pretty good one.
And then.
And this is.
This is divided.
But I've still got the.
I've still got first season of Halo.
You know what?
Which I enjoyed.
I thought it was great.
If you.
If you're a big fan of the.
The.
The games, they do take someliberties with the story.

(25:37):
That's fine.
But on its own, I enjoyed itquite a bit.
So, yeah, speaking of TomCruise, look.
What else I've got.
Maverick.
I got one distributed movie.
That's right.
So I got one list of these.
I'm gonna give all that stuffaway on Instagram over the following.
The coming weeks.
So make sure and check out allthat, and we'll get you.

(25:57):
You might end up with somefree physical media that you can
put on your shelf.
And you know, when theInternet goes down, you can still
watch them.
That's what people are.
That's the big argument,right, against streaming.
They're like, we want.
What do you watch when theInternet's down?
And I'm like, I read.
I mean, yet another form ofphysical media.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So really?

(26:18):
Well, I do it on Kindle, but still.
Oh, see, now you've downloadedlike it's.
Just one of the ones that'sout there in Amazon.
I can't read it until I download.
So physical.
I love physical books.
You can see behind me, I gotlots of them.
So I, I'm not knockingphysical media.
I ab.
Absolutely adore it and I keepas much of it as I can.
But yeah, we're trying to keepthat going.

(26:40):
So if you're a physical mediafan, we're going to give you some
free physical media to eithercontinue your collection or start
it.
If you're brand new to trying to.
Maybe you grew up in ageneration where streaming is all
you have.
You didn't know there wasphysical media.
Like that's.
There's kids that don't knowwhat a DVD is really.
You know, vhs.

(27:00):
I can't even put my headaround that.
I will say though that for atrip, for our trip, Taipan wondered
if we still had our portableDVD players that we bought decades
ago for road trips because hehad some DVDs of an anime and he
thought if there's somedowntime I might want to watch him.
So there's still hope foryounger generations.

(27:21):
Jeff, that's awesome.
I'm just saying.
All right, so we are about toget to our special guests today.
We have a special treat.
Joining us, Aaliyah and I gota chance to meet a couple of these
folks out at fan expo thisyear and I was so excited because
I've always been wildlyinterested in this sport but just

(27:44):
have never.
I pulled the trigger andactually gone to see see it in in
action.
But today we've got some somesuperheroes on eight wheels.
Members of the ClevelandGuardians Roller derby team are going
to join us.
Now these athletes don't justbring the thunder on the track.
They embody the kind ofpassion, community and sheer geek
level dedication to their sport.

(28:05):
The way we like to celebratein world gone geek.
Right?
We love to celebrate thingsthat people are passionate about
and they geek out over.
Well, this is it right here.
Whether you're derby savvy orjust roller curious.
Is that a thing?
Gonna have to ask him.
I don't know how rollercurious I like.
You're gonna want to heartheir stories but Rather than spoil
the fun, I'm gonna let themintroduce themselves.

(28:25):
But first, let me bring themto the stage here.
Let's do this.
Hey, it's the ClevelandGuardians Radio Derby.
Hello.
Good morning.
Morning.
How are you guys this morning?
Great.
How are you?
Good.
We're, we're recording earlyin the morning because you guys,
you guys are practicing today,I think, right, for an up?

(28:45):
Yes.
Awesome.
Well, let me, let me go aheadand give you guys a chance to introduce
yourselves.
Tell us, we'll go down the line.
However you guys want to do it.
Tell us who you are and howlong you've been doing Roller derby
and then we'll get a littlemore into the actual sport.
My name is Right Hand Man.
I've been a guardian since Ithink 2017.

(29:08):
Yeah, I played for a couple ofdifferent teams, but came back home
to the Cleveland Guardians andjust building the team as the years
go on.
My name is Moyk.
I've been skating for 13 yearswith Burning River Roller Derby and
this is my first year playingwith the Cleveland Guardians.
I also play for Team OhioRoller Derby, so represent the whole

(29:30):
entire state.
My name's Raptor.
This is my second season planeRoller Derby and with the Cleveland
Guardians.
So I'm one of the newer skaters.
I'm Gal Fox.
I have been skating withBurning River Roller Derby and the
Cleveland Guardians sinceprobably early 2023 is when I should
start counting it.

(29:51):
So a couple years.
Awesome.
Awesome.
And so I know that there'sfolks that are coming in here now.
I've seen roller derby likewhen I was growing up.
I know this is a littledifferent than what, what we saw
back when Utah and I weregrowing up.
Little bit more theatrical.
What you guys are doing islegit sport out here.

(30:11):
I want you to tell us a littlebit about the sport of Roller derby,
kind of how it happened and inparticular if you get into some of
the rules because I thinkthat's where, where people might
be a little confused.
And I am actually looking forsome video.
I'm going to be putting in theshow notes for folks who really want
to understand how this sportsplayed to see how you guys do this.

(30:33):
But tell us a little bit aboutkind of like how the sport you guys
play originated.
I think you probably have thebest view on this.
You are the most skater here.
Yeah, you're the seasoned.
You're seasoned.
That's what.
You're well seasoned.
It's fine.
Oh, come on.
You bring so much labor to the track.

(30:55):
There you go.
Burning river started inCleveland in 2006.
So the sport's been around fora really long time.
I also grew up watching Rollerjam in the 90s, so that's how I knew
about roller derby.
So it is a little bitdifferent now than it what it used
to be.
It's less professionalwrestling and more legit sport with
rules.

(31:15):
You have to, you know, there's.
People are like, oh, youelbowing each other.
But no, there's no pro slides.
You know, you could get aforearm, you could get a low block,
high block.
So, you know, we try to keepit really safe while keeping it a
legitimate sport.
You should come watch it.
So it's hard to really justdescribe what we actually do without
having, you know, a video infront of you because it's such an

(31:37):
intricate, different sport.
So you guys should definitelycome watch us play sometime so we
can explain it to you in real.
In real time as it's happeningin front of your face.
That's great.
I.
I have been to a couple ofmatches with the Burning River.
Awesome.
And yeah, we have some friendswhose daughters got involved a couple
years ago.
They've graduated college now.

(31:58):
But it's such a.
What I want to say.
It's.
There's so much movement and action.
There's a lot going on.
And I.
I think people fail to realizethat, you know, you guys are always
moving, you're always in motion.
There's stuff happening in thelittle groups.
So you're right.
I think I.
I think that actuallyexperiencing and seeing it would.

(32:18):
Is the easiest and best way to.
To know how incredible thissport is.
And we.
And we're actually gonna.
I think.
Well, I know I am trying tocome out there.
I think it's the 14th of June.
You guys have a match comingup, and that's what we're trying
to promote.
When this episode drops,there'll be time for people to still
come out and get tickets for that.
How would they do that?

(32:39):
First of all?
Oh, you can buy tickets at the door.
And where you.
Where you guys play card andwe play in Cleveland Heights, the
Cleveland Heights Community Center.
We're at the south Rink rightnow here, prior to our practice time.
Oh, figures.
I live in Cleveland Heights,but you're catching me while I'm

(33:00):
in Atlanta.
You know what?
Well, that's why the June 14th.
I'll come by your house, I'llpick you up and we'll go if you're
available.
Let's make sure you're available.
Are you going to go, Aaliyah?
Are you available or Are youout of town?
No, I'm on a plane.
That's right.
I thought you were leaving.
Yeah.
Not jumping out this time.
You're staying until it lands.
Taking the brick wall with you.

(33:21):
All right, well, yeah, well,you tell and I will try to come out
on the 14th because that's.
I'm very excited to see it live.
And make it to our games in person.
We do have streams on YouTube.
Cleveland Guardians roller Derby.
Oh, that's right.
Oh, like our stream team is amazing.
Like, I think that we havesome of the best camera work as far

(33:42):
as I've seen from derby.
The best camera.
Okay.
The best camera work.
Yes, we have the best camera work.
Awesome.
So what is like a typicalpractice I know you guys are getting.
You guys said that you'redoing it today.
What does that look like?
So it's a three hour practiceand we work on a lot of strategy

(34:03):
based things for like upcoming games.
A lot of drills, just workingon fundamentals.
But at this point in theseason, it becomes a lot of strategic
based drilling really inpreparation for the games ahead.
Yeah.
So we have a game coming up inRochester on the 31st and we've been

(34:24):
doing a lot of footagewatching and here's the people we
have to look out for.
Here's the way we have totrain for that.
So that's how we handle our practices.
So it's co ed you guys like.
Yes.
Guardians is open gender.
Okay.
Very inclusive to everybodybecause everybody has a spot, everybody
has a part to play.

(34:44):
That's amazing.
So what are the differentpositions in.
In derby and what, what do youguys specialize in?
So there's jammers and there'sblockers and there's one pivot.
I'm typically a jammer, soessentially I use my body to get
past other people to see scorethe points while the other team members

(35:04):
are blocking the other team's jammer.
It's pretty.
That's.
That's kind of the simplestway to describe it is one person
on each team scores the pointsby getting their body past the other
people.
If you're watching the game,they've got a star on their helmet.
It's a little helmet cover.
That's.
That's the person you'rescoring your points.
Yeah.
And he's definitely one of ourstar jammers.

(35:28):
I'm a pivot, so I do it all.
The pivot is a blocker tostart and if your jammer is struggling,
they can pass it to the pivotand the pivot becomes the jammer.
So a crucial role.
And we wear a stripe on our helmet.
And I think you also do it all.
Yeah, I mean, for the mostpart, I'm a blocker, but every once

(35:49):
in a while they'll put me inas a jammer, be a wild card.
So, yeah, anybody can kind offill in any position at any time,
which is kind of a nice thing.
Everybody is well rounded andworks on their skills in all those
different little disciplines.
I'm just a blocker.

(36:13):
Blockers are important too.
Yeah.
Sometimes you just.
Sometimes you got to embracethe thing that you're best at.
Right.
And it's like, if that's you,that's you.
That's awesome.
Them.
Absolutely.
So what kind of.
What kind of league do you guys.
Is there a nationwide league,regional league in terms of like
the teams you play?
Yeah, every city and everystate and every country has a.

(36:35):
Has a roller derby league.
So we skate under the.
It's called the Men's RollerDerby Association.
So that would be like the MLBof what we do.
So that's the entire governing body.
And then, you know, like Isaid, every city's got a roller derby
league and they function as a business.
We're a non profit and we'realso a sport.

(36:55):
Skater owned, skater run.
We went to Canada a coupleweeks ago and played against a team
in Toronto.
And at the end of June, we'regoing to the uk.
Oh, wow.
We're playing teams fromEngland and France.
England.
France.
I think two teams from Englandand a team from France will be playing

(37:18):
against.
Oh, that's so cool.
They got teams in Asia,Australia, South America.
It's all over.
There's a World cup coming upin July, so Team usa, you know, like
there's.
There's a team for everybody.
I'm really bummed.
I was planning to make it outthere, but my travel plans have not
really materialized the way Iwas hoping they would.
Oh, man.

(37:39):
But that is going to be at thebeginning of July.
It's going to be in Innsbruck, Austria.
Oh, my gosh.
That's amazing.
Is that going to be.
So is like your.
Your.
Your European trip?
Are your mat.
Those matches also going to belive streamed as well?
Yeah.
We can send you guysinformation once we get it.

(37:59):
Okay.
Yeah, that would be awesome.
Now, I also noticed, was ityour last match against Chicago,
the team named.
The team name is always so creative.
I don't know if you guys knowJeff and Aaliyah.
What?
Why don't you guys tell us?
The Chicago team name is.
There's the Step brothers.
There's the Bruce brothers andthe Step Brothers.

(38:23):
So, yeah, there's a lot ofteams that have kind of cheeky names
like that.
I think something to have fun with.
St.
Louis has the gatekeepers andthe beekeepers, the undead and the
zombies.
Kind of a lot of puns on the.
The sort of B team name.
Very cool.
I think Burning river, whichMalloy can I skate for?

(38:43):
Has All Stars, Hazmat crew,and the Pyromaniacs.
So it's a lot of fun.
I love it.
That is awesome.
So, like, what inspired youguys to actually get involved in
roller derby?
You started first.
So I had just graduated gradschool, and I played sports my entire

(39:06):
life.
And like I said, I grew upwatching Roller Jam.
I just happened to watch adocumentary on Netflix called Blood
on the Flat Track, and I waslike, you know, I wonder if Cleveland
has a derby league.
And I looked it up onFacebook, and lo and behold, they
had an orientation coming up,and that was in 2012.
And went to that orientationand met some of my best friends in

(39:28):
the world and never looked back.
And here I am, you know, 13years later.
And for me, that's so cool.
Funnily.
Oddly enough, Maloika and Iare married, and we met.
Funnily enough.
Yeah.
Years ago.
After we met, I came to watchher play.
And then I played hockey as a.

(39:51):
As a youth, so it interestedme right off the bat.
And as time went on, I justfigured, well, I'll try it out.
And it's kind of been eversince I've just been involved.
So we bullied him into playing.
Yeah.
On skates right now.
Yeah.
So kind of worked out perfectly.
And I played sports my wholelife growing up.

(40:12):
And a few years prior, Iwasn't really doing anything.
I was getting out of shape,and I needed to find something to
stay active.
I always thought roller derbywas a women's league sport.
And one day I saw Burningriver share a post from the Cleveland
Guardians.
And as soon as I saw that sawthere's a men's league, I sent a
message.
I got a response within oneminute and showed up to practice,

(40:35):
and that was about it.
Wow.
I.
I did learn about Burningriver the.
The women's league first.
I saw Burning river at Prideone year, I want to say, and I kind
of like, that was like, oh, neat.
There's a royal derby team in Cleveland.
And then I heard they weredoing a learn to skate program called
Skater Tots, which is for both teams.

(40:57):
I think signups end this week.
If I remember correctly, westart June 8th.
Yeah.
So there is time to sign up.
If anyone's actuallyinterested in playing from skater
tots, we teach you from theground up.
But back to my story.
I heard about my tots classcoming up, and I was like, oh, I
want to learn to skate.
I had never seen roller derbyplayed at this point.

(41:20):
I don't know that I fullywatched a game of roller derby until
part way through.
I was learning to play thegame, and I'm kind of embarrassed
to say it, but I had.
I was just looking for some community.
I found a bunch of reallyclose friends and a really, really
engaging sport.
It's.
It very quickly became myfavorite sport.

(41:42):
Nice.
That's so cool.
And you guys.
I mean, this is on traditionalroller skates.
Four wheels on each skate.
These aren't roller blades.
Is there a version withrollerblades or.
No, I'm just.
That even a thing.
Not for the purists.
What is the rollerblades androller skates?
Yeah, that's what I wanted toask you about.
Interior skates.

(42:03):
So I grew up rollerblading,and I think that it.
It's an easy transition fromdoing the rollerblades to this to
the quad skates.
But, you know, obviously youcan see the difference.
These are my husband's skates,quad skates, custom antic AR2s.
You know, there's a plate thatgets attached to it.

(42:23):
So everybody's got differenttypes of plates, different types
of wheels, different types oftoe stops.
Everybody likes a differenttype of boot.
So there's all sorts ofdifferent ways you can go with this.
But I find that, you know,skating on quad skates is a little
bit easier on the body.
It sets your knees properly,it sets your hips properly.

(42:46):
This is.
This is my sports medicinebackground talking.
But, you know, when you see people.
When you see people onrollerblades, you'll see, like, their
knees are turned in.
Exactly, exactly.
So you get the knee pain, youget the hip pain, you get the back
pain.
With quad skates, you havethat platform that sets you in the
right anatomical position.
And it's a little bit easier,I think, to tolerate on the body.

(43:07):
Plus, I think the wider basejust gives you more leverage when
you're doing those reallyphysical things.
Absolutely.
And also you got some rollerskates, and a lot of times, if you're
like a jammer, you end uprunning on your toe stops.
So that's of it, too.
So true.
Interesting.
Yeah, the regulations.
I'm sorry, Jeff, go ahead.
I was asked if there Areregulations on.

(43:29):
Are there like specific things?
You can only have certaintypes of wheels or certain weight
for the wheels or the framesor you can just.
No go.
Everybody's got their ownsetup and, and you know, the skate
durometers.
The wheel durometers go from,you know, your softest wheels to
your hardest wheels.
So it depends on what flooryou're skating on.
If you're skating on a floorlike ours, where it's concrete, you'll

(43:50):
go kind of like midway so youget some them slide.
If you're skating on a reallyslick floor, you're going to skate
on your softest wheels so youcan get a grip.
Grip, you know, so everybody'sgot a different thing that they like.
There's really no regulationon what you can skate on.
As long as.
As long as it's quad skates.
Yeah.

(44:10):
No extra wheels.
No.
That would be weird.
If you had a middle.
Now I'm just thinking about it.
You'd lose.
You gotta wonder.
A little motor inside or something.
Whatever little advantage youcan get.

(44:31):
Right.
That's too funny.
I'm pretty sure a motor wouldjam up really quickly.
I would.
Yeah, probably.
So it's interesting.
So it, it.
I mean, it sounds like.
The way you were describingthis, the, the skate itself really
makes me think of like evenskateboarding, like how detailed
that, you know, someone who'sreally into skateboarding gets with

(44:53):
the trucks and the.
The wheels.
They want to make sure thatthey get exactly the right kind of
feel.
Not everybody rides on thesame smoothness.
Some of them want a little bitmore traction, all that.
So that's very interesting.
There's a lot more strategythan you think.
They're just throwing on someskates and, and getting out there.
Yep.
And we do have a local skateshop in Cleveland called Next Level
Skate Shop.
The owner is Coco Spark.

(45:14):
She's been with Burning riversince the very beginning.
So she knows everything aboutskates with.
We send everybody right to herand she'll, you know, take a look
at your foot, take a look atyour stance, and she'll make sure
that you're leaving the shopwith the right equipment.
She's been voted best skateshop in Cleveland, I think 20, 23
or 24.

(45:34):
Yes.
That's awesome.
Yeah, we'll put, we'll put thelink in the show notes.
Great.
She'd love that.
So like, what is like apersonal or like a, like a highlight
memory that you guys have?
Like a game or, I don't know,practice or something along those
lines?
That you could share withsomebody that might be interested.

(45:57):
Is it physical?
I'm sorry, I've never, like,really watched roller derby, but
I am very, very interested init as a sport.
So is it, like, physical?
I know hockey can be a littlebit physical.
It's a full context sport.
Like, you could hit people ashard as you can with your shoulders
and your hips.
We've got.
We've got a teammate who,whenever they get hit, they kind

(46:17):
of go sliding all the way intothe audience sometimes.
Yeah, it is very physical.
You have to take care of yourself.
You know, like, a lot oftraining goes into it because it
is the highest contact sport.
You're skating against some ofthe biggest people you've ever seen,
some of the smallest peopleyou've ever seen.

(46:38):
Yeah, it's super physical.
So what's like, a highlight?
Yeah.
I think, personally is how theteam has grown this season over the
years.
I mean, as you may imagine, it's.
It's a sport that you pay to play.
We're all adults.
We have jobs, we have lives.

(46:59):
But getting some of that.
That buy in from new skatersthat are just coming on board and
watching them develop intohigher level skaters, that's been
a highlight for me because theteam has changed, you know, a lot
over the last few years, andwe're in a really good spot this
year.
We've only lost one game sofar this year, so.
Nice.

(47:19):
Wow.
It's become a reallyinteresting thing to watch and be
a part of.
Super cool.
My highlight is when youproposed to me.
I was about to.
I was gonna ask if themarriage had or wedding had anything
to do with the highlight.
Yes, that's definitely my highlight.
We had a double header wherewe played, like, an open scrimmage

(47:39):
with the Guardians.
And I don't know why I didn'trealize, like, his whole family was
hiding around, my whole familywas hiding.
And I'm like, oh, whatever.
So at the end of the game, oneof my teammates gets on the microphone
and she's, like, talking.
She's like, oh, Malloy, comeout here.
We're gonna talk about you.
I'm like, why?
And then she's like, oh, I gotsome nice things to say, but, you

(48:01):
know, somebody else has somereally nice things to say.
And here he comes on skate.
Oh, look at his face.
Skates out there.
Smoothest transition togetting on his knee on skates in
front of everybody.
Proposes to me.
I mean, that was just one ofthe best nights of my life.
It was amazing.
That's incredible.
I love that.
Is that somewhere likerecorded for posterity?

(48:23):
Were you guys streaming with it?
I do have videos of manydifferent angles.
My teammates all knew.
Everybody knew.
Everybody knew.
No one.
I had no idea.
It took some planning and some secrecy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
Talk about mission impossible.
Yeah, that's fantastic.

(48:44):
So what are the other two have highlights.
Before I move on to the nextquestion, I just want to make sure
you guys get a chance.
Normally I'm a blocker, butthey threw me in as jammer on our
last game and I ended upstaying scoring 20 points and one
jam.
Nice.
Nice.
My highest scoring jam yet.
So I was happy about that.

(49:04):
Very cool.
Cool.
Some of my favorite.
Some of my favorite moments inderby are when I do a thing I think
I couldn't do or I do a thingI've been working on.
So primarily I'm a blocker andI've really been trying to work on
my ability to catch and holdpeople and slow them down so that
I can get support.
And we can kind of, you know,keep things moving for our team,

(49:27):
but not their team.
And, you know, being able tolook back and see how I have grown
in my ability to do that justkind of generally my stopping power
is something I'm really,really proud of.
That's awesome.
So tell us a little bit about,like how long is a game?
Is it in rounds, quarters?

(49:49):
Like how does the structure ofthe game play out?
Yeah.
There are two 30 minute periods.
Each period is broken up intoa non finite number of jams.
And that's the only reallygood way I can explain it.
Each jam lasts for either twominutes or until the first jammer

(50:10):
out of the pack calls it off,which you do by tapping your hips
like this.
So if you're watching derbyfootage and you see this and you
hear four whistles, that's ajam ending because the jammers called
it off.
That goes for half an hour.
You have a typically 15 minuteintermission and then we do it all
again for a second half hour.
And I'm kind of trying toskirt around the rules because they

(50:32):
can get really complicatedreally quickly.
Sure, sure.
Yeah, that's fine.
And we'll get to see it live.
And that's what I'm lookingforward to.
But I just wanted to know whatto expect.
Each team has three timeoutsand one official review per half.
And the official review is.
Hey, you'll see someone golike this.
Hey.
We saw something on the trackthat we think should have been a

(50:54):
penalty.
We saw something on the trackwe think shouldn't have been a penalty.
We would like the referee crewto reevaluate this decision or we'd
like to appeal this decisionthe ref crew made.
The refs go and talk about it.
And if you win the officialreview, you keep your official review.
You can do it again.
If you don't get it, you don'tkeep the official review.
So it's really nice.

(51:16):
It can be used as a strategic break.
It can be used to try to getthe other jammer a penalty or, you
know, try to get a blocker off the.
Like a penalty or what have you.
And then timeouts are a minutetypically outside of the official
review, which runs until theref crews finish.

(51:36):
And how many people are outthere per side for each of those?
Five.
So one, one jammer, fourblockers or one jammer, three blockers
in the pivot.
Yes.
Yeah, yeah, you got it.
Is there always.
Is there always a pivot or is there?
Unless they're in the box orunless you forget to put the COVID
on your helmet, which happens.

(51:57):
You know, sometimes there's alot of confusion when you're.
Oh, shifts.
And I was gonna say you shiftin and out.
Sort of like hockey.
Right.
So it's two maximum, twominute shifts.
And then you said in the boxlike you're one of the players could
be penalized penalty.
And then are you just down forthat or do you bring somebody in
or how so is that like hockeyas well?

(52:19):
Oh, you get power plays, right?
Right.
Pretty much.
To go to the box, and thenonly the other team's able to score.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, wow.
So if.
If your jammers in the box canthe pivot then take that role or
you just can't score.
Have the physical helmet coverwith the star on it.
Oh.
So the pivot, it's actually aphysical handoff of the star.

(52:41):
You can't throw it.
You have to make a physical.
Oh, interesting.
Gotcha.
Okay.
That make.
That's cool.
So I'm sorry if you said thisalready, but when would somebody,
like, do the.
The hips.
Hands on the hips.
The call off a jam?
Yeah.
When would they do that?
Yeah.

(53:01):
Points.
If.
Let's say Both teams score 10points, 10 to 10, nobody gained an
advantage point wise.
So sometimes it's morestrategic, like you score a couple
more points than the otherteam, then you call it off right
away.
So then you come out of thatjam with the lead.
That's definitely one of thosethings that you have to see in person,
Don.
Yeah, yeah.

(53:22):
The sport is crazy.
It's Vibes, who made these rules?
There's so many rules, it'sout of control.
I think there's like sevenreferees, isn't it?
Oh, wow.
So that's a lot of eyes tryingto keep track of everything.
Right.
And some calls still get.
She doesn't.
She doesn't even know how many referees.
That's why you're in the box so.
Much, because you never see that.

(53:45):
There was a referee overthere, too.
You saw that There are three.
I think typically there arethree outside pack referees, two
jam referees, two inside pack Raptors.
I want to say two inside pack referees.
It might be three.
Anyone watching from, like,Wifta or Murda who knows the rules,
I'm so sorry.
And then there are also a lotof people that we have who are off
skates, who are also officials.

(54:06):
There are nsos, non skating officials.
They time the penalty box,they time the game, they operate
the scoreboard, they track penalties.
We honestly cannot play thegame without officials.
One of our teammates likes tosay that there are more officials
on the track at any given timethan there are skaters on an individual
team.

(54:27):
So it is very much like many.
Many hands make slightlylighter work.
I feel like there's a lot ofsports that could benefit from a
few more.
I was gonna say it sounds likeRoller derby's one of the few sports.
Right, where they actuallyhave enough officials to make sure
things are going right.
Yeah, that's funny.
Well, that's why so manysports are going to replays.

(54:47):
Right.
Because the human factor is,you know, not always perfect.
Yeah.
And you can't bribe a camera.
I'm kidding.
Nobody's bribing anybody and.
Right.
You're kidding.
You can't grab the camera.
Oh, my gosh.
All right, so.
So how many more games do youhave this season then?

(55:09):
You said you are going away,you've got a game in Rochester and
then you're going out.
We have a double header on the 14th.
We go to the UK and play three games.
We, in July have a trip.
No, we have a tournament in July.
We'll have multiple games andthen we'll end our season with our

(55:32):
little.
Like, we have a.
Well, it's not little.
We have a big event that theGuardians host in Summit county called
Summer Affair, where we inviteeverybody from all over the world
to get tickets and go onscrimmage teams and we just play
a fun weekend of Derby together.
It's Derby summer camp.
Yeah, it's summer camp.
Oh, so we'll end out ourseason with that.

(55:54):
And when is the end of the.
Season, then technically, theend of the season is the end of July.
July.
And then when do you startback up again?
Like, what's the cycle of your season?
Typically, Burning river andthe Guardians will have home games
kind of from August, Septemberup through November.
That's where we scrimmage each other.

(56:15):
We break our own team into,like, two different groups, and we
just.
We stay active.
We play year round.
Yeah.
Okay.
It's never ending.
The closest thing I can callto, like, an end of the derby season
is at least for Burning River.
We have a big old fundraiserin, like, November, December time
called.
Right, right, right.
It's huge.
Everyone skates, everyonecomes up with these incredible names,

(56:39):
lots of puns.
I'm trying to think someonewas Jerry Hatrick last year.
Yeah, we had some good ones,but, yeah, then we, camera after
black and blue, take a littlebit of a holiday break and then come
back in January, full swing.
So we get a little breaks hereand there, but truly, we're playing

(56:59):
year round, so that's awesome.
Never ending.
So do you guys get, like, alot of fandom or, like, how can,
you know, Clevelanders, like,support you guys more or what?
You know, what's that like?
We're.
We're active on Facebook, soif you could follow us there, you
know, that's where we have allour schedules and we post videos

(57:21):
and links to our games.
Yeah, okay.
Come to our games.
You know, every bit of merchthat we sell goes into the business,
so everything we sell is afundraiser for us to be able to,
you know, get our jerseys,travel, all that good stuff.
Tournaments.
Yeah.
Follow us on our YouTube page.

(57:42):
The more followers that weget, the better off we're gonna be.
But, yeah, coming to ourgames, I would say, is the best way
that you could help fundraiseus, you know.
And then sometimes you'll seesome of us at, like, local skating,
like, Cleveland area skating rinks.
I think we have a couple ofpeople who session skate in Illyria.

(58:02):
Skated there last night, my kid.
Yeah.
So if you.
If you see a Guardians RollerDerby jersey in the wild, come say
hi.
Yeah.
Oh, very cool.
Yeah.
Awesome.
Sweet.
Well.
And I did.
We, like.
I said we did see.
See you guys at Fan Expo.
Yeah.
So you guys do events likethat throughout the year to kind
of promote as well?
Yep.
Yeah.
Are you going to be at anyother events like that?

(58:26):
I'm not sure.
Nothing's in the works.
Right?
Yeah, right now, like,traveling, playing, so.
But you will see us at eventsthroughout the year both Burning
river and.
And Cleveland Guardians.
We try to connect with localbusinesses and events like that as
much as we possibly can.
So.
So the next chance for folksin Cleveland to see you live, other

(58:48):
than YouTube, obviously, isthe June 14 game, correct?
Yes.
All right, well, then, guys,you need to go out and see that.
Plus, you know, like I said,hopefully Utah and I both will be
there to check it out.
You said it's a double header.
There's going to be two games.
Yes.
All right.
Who are you guys playing against?

(59:09):
Pittsburgh Zombies.
Oh, can we root against that?
Do we hate Pittsburgh androller derby.
As much as all friends?
Nobody hates each other.
Okay.
Okay.
All right.
We all go to after partiestogether after the.
Yeah, it's.
That's one of the best partsabout, like, derby, like, the camaraderie
on the track, you know, whileblocking, you'll.

(59:32):
Or while playing people like,oh, my God, that was an awesome hit.
Or what have you people jokearound before the jam star.
Yeah, that's really cool.
It's a fun movie.
That's great.
We'll be playing PittsburghZombies and Casco Bay's team, so.
Okay.
Teams from great places.
All right.
Nice.

(59:52):
Awesome.
Looking forward to it.
And I know you guys aregetting ready to practice here at
10, so we don't want to keepyou guys too much longer, but.
And we told everybody how tofind you guys on Facebook.
What about you guys individually?
Do you guys post about rollerderby on your personal Instagrams,
things like that?
Do you want to share that oris that.
If you.
If it's just for friends andfamily, that's fine too.

(01:00:14):
I'm honestly kind of privateon social media.
I don't post anything.
Totally, totally get it.
Yeah.
I just want to make sure.
Not that famous yet.
You can follow me @malloy988on Instagram.
My Instagram is public and Ialso work for a company called Roller
Derby Athletics, so you canfollow us there.
We.
We work on, like, training,strength training for people who

(01:00:36):
play roller derby all over the world.
So if you want to follow thatInstagram page, that would be awesome,
too.
Awesome.
All right, well, thank youguys so much for being on the show.
It's so cool to talk to you guys.
I can't wait to come out andsee you guys live and enjoy.
Stay safe at practice todayand we'll see you soon.
Thanks, guys.
Thanks for having me.

(01:00:57):
Nice for having you.
All right.
That was awesome.
I can't wait to go and seeroller derby with these guys.
Are you.
So you didn't commit.
Utah, you're going to be therewith me or.
No.
Well, okay.
So your calendar with the family.
I know.
Well, the big.
Well, yeah, the big thing is,I think for our reload decision,

(01:01:18):
I think we're leaning towards staying.
Okay.
And so.
And so.
Yes.
And so I think that.
I think the 14th will be great.
The.
It's, like, just down thestreet for me, so that's what I'm
thinking.
Yeah.
It's so close.
Even if you didn't stay thewhole time, like, we could.
Yeah.
But I definitely.
I definitely want to support them.
They.
I mean, like I said, one ofour family friends, their daughter
Ginger was part of the birding river.

(01:01:39):
I think she was part of thehazmat crew.
And she did that for a while,and it was just neat because I had.
I honestly didn't realize.
I knew it existed, but Ididn't realize that it was so organized,
you know, that there's actualorganized communities and leagues
and teams.
And so it was cool to see afriend's daughter get involved and
see.
Get a little peek into that world.

(01:02:01):
And, you know, these guyssound great.
They've been.
I mean, they're committed.
They've been doing it for overa decade now.
So.
Yeah, I love.
I love the spirit of it, too.
Like I said, you know, there'srivalries, obviously, you're.
Once you're on the roller.
On the.
I didn't ask.
Track.
There we go.
Once you're on the track.
Once you're on the trackthere, you know, all bets are off.
But then, you know, after,it's like, you know, we're just all

(01:02:23):
in this together.
It's fun.
We're having a good time, andthat's what it should be.
So.
Yeah, that's why it's not.
Celebrate that.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
Funny.
No.
And, yeah.
But I don't know, it's funnybecause if you saw the stuff that.
That we saw when we wereyounger, Aaliyah Roller Derby was
a lot more like wwf.
Like, it was basically pro.
It was basically pro wrestlingon wheels.
Skates.
Yeah, it was very theatrical.

(01:02:44):
So lots of, like, high elbowsto the neck, clotheslines, headbutts.
This is like an actual sport,and it's exciting to come and check
it out, so I'm looking forwardto it.
So I want to remind everybodythat I'm giving away all this stuff
here, guys.
On Instagram.

(01:03:04):
Paramount has been kind enoughto share these things with us, and
we're gonna.
We're gonna then share themwith you.
So make sure you follow us onInstagram so that I can give you
some free stuff.
Hopefully there.
Not sure what our next episodeis going to be yet.
We've got a couple things inthe pipeline, but we will also be
telling you about that onInstagram, so make sure you're there

(01:03:25):
so you can find out aboutfuture episodes.
Utah Aliyah, thank you againfor being here.
Glad I could be there long distance.
I know even though you'reaway, I'm so glad we were still able
to pull this off.
So yeah, that's it for thisepisode of the Podcast Is Real with
worldgun Geek.
We'll see you guys next time.
See ya.

(01:03:46):
We're waving.
The Podcast Is Real is a worldGone Geek production.