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Saturday, November 13, 2010

CONFIRMED- Roller Derby is a REAL SPORT!!




For anyone who doubts whether Roller Derby is a real sport or not, the 2010 Championship bout of this year's WFTDA ‘Uproar on the Lakeshore’ in Chicago put all questions to rest!

"WOW, is the best way to describe the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls vs. the Oly Rollers (reigning 2009 Champions). As co-owner of Atom Wheels and husband of Atomatrix, I have witnessed an abundance of great matches but none that remotely compared to this one!" -Doug Glass


The Championship weekend started off with a lot of talk regarding the Western Regionals where Rocky Mountain took down the 22-0 Oly Rollers. Oly wanted nothing more than a rematch with Rocky as they were handed a beating that weekend by RMRG. However, Gotham and Philly were two of the top ranked teams chomping at the bit to stop Rocky and Oly from meeting up in the finals. Rocky handled Gotham, advancing to the finals and later that evening Philly put up a hard fought battle with Oly with the Oly Rollers advancing to the big dance vs. Rocky in Sunday afternoon’s final bout. Oly, Rocky and the fans got everything and then some with these two powerhouse teams that have taken roller derby to another level. Rocky Mountain remained victorious over the Oly Rollers by a slim one point margin with no time left on the clock...it was a nail biter with several lead changes and jaw dropping moments throughout the entire contest!

This bout had it all… Mind boggling blows, intense aggression, cocky swagger and athletes pushing beyond the normal range of fatigue fighting for the championship title. Not one of these girls was playing for money. Each and every athlete had worked their butts off for months with one common goal...WFTDA Championship bragging rights, and a possible back-to-back title on the line for Oly. The commitment was huge and even bigger when you consider the sacrifices and realize there are no guarantees. Then, add in the risk factors as well, and you have the true meaning behind Women's Roller Derby. No wonder it is the fastest growing female sport in the nation.

Atom wheels represented 100% of the floor during the WFTDA Championship clearly proving Atom wheels make a difference in performance! For two years running the official wheel of the WFTDA, Atom Wheels were being used by 100% of the winning team. This year was an even more convincing with 100% of both first and second place using Atom Wheels.

Atom Wheels congratulates each and every player from the 12 leagues participating for playing their hearts out at this year’s championship. A big thank you and congratulations to the Windy City Roller Girls for putting on an unforgettable championship!

See you next year… Which happens to be November 11-13th in DENVER for the 2011 Championship.

-Atom Wheels - Official Wheel of the WFTDA

Friday, October 29, 2010

A personal note from Atom All-Star and Co-Captain of the Windy City Rollers - Varla Vendetta

Uproar on the Lake Shore is just one week away! We've been training all year for this! I'm jumping up and down in my skates!

Windy City also just returned from a Pacific Northwest tour that set us on the track with Rose City and Oly. Since both are so geographically distant, those are teams we are always extra jazzed to get to know and play, as we don't have many opportunities to do so. Thanks to both teams for being awesome hostesses and intense competitors! And I learned I have a great affinity for both waterfalls and Voodoo Doughnuts!

We set out looking at these bouts as a prep for Uproar: try out some new combos, look at what areas need tweaking, play on the road. Both were really hard hitting games which, in the tradition of Chicago teams like the Bears (heart!), Windy City loves. We like our derby to be physical and were happy both games were just that! Super fun games!

I often hear teams say, "we learned a lot from that loss." And I've certainly felt that in the past: you experience a new strategy or a new style of play and a light bulb goes off. More recently, and from those two games especially, I feel like I learn a lot more about myself from a loss: how I deal with loss internally, how I can work on focus in tight games, how I rebound to make myself mentally tougher. That brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from Walter Payton: "Tough times don't last, tough people do."

Coming into tournament season, I think that mental part of an athlete's game becomes perhaps the most important training on which a skater can work. Her body has trained to be in the best shape it can be to execute by this time in the season. So now it's her head and her heart that are going to be the elements that propel her toward the Hydra. The strength of one's inner athlete is vital to the success of her entire team.

I cannot wait to see that inspiration and drive that will be part of every game next week. It's why the Championships are so incredibly thrilling! Good luck and congrats to all who will be competing! See you in Chicago! No waterfalls, but a ridiculously beautiful Lakefront...make sure you take time to see it!

Varla Vendetta
#25
Co-Captain, Windy City Rollers All-Stars

Saturday, October 23, 2010

New 2011 Wheels Available For Purchase!!

All the exciting new Atom Quad wheels have now been added to our Wheels page on the Atom Quad web site and are available for purchase through our shopping cart. Stock up NOW!

Friday, October 22, 2010

OLY ROLLERS VS. WINDY CITY from Atomatrix

Following the BIG NEWS at Regionals, big news being OLY taking their first ever WFTDA loss (after a 22 game winning streak) against the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, people were eager to see what would happen at our next WFTDA bout which took place 10/17 against North Central #1, the Windy City Rollergirls.

Since the day we returned home from Sacramento, we've only had one thing on our mind - Getting ready for Nationals the first weekend in November which was only 5 weeks away at the time. Luckily, we had a perfectly timed bout to put our hard work to use against Windy. The results were right on track with what we we've been working on. Some have said Windy was there to scout, but playing and watching this bout firsthand...that was not the case. They were a classy bunch of ladies playing straight up derby with clean play and hard hits. I remember being on the bench completely blown away at the intestity of this game, from start to finish! Regardless of the score the derby action was phenomenal - nobody walked away early from this bout. It was super fun to bout with Varla Vendetta, a fellow Atom All-Star for the first time.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at Nationals which is now only 2 short weeks away!

Your friend in derby - Atomatrix

IN STOCK NOW - JUKE 2.0 Nylon, JUKE 2.0 Alloy, Poison Slim & Poison Slim ALLOY!

The highly anticipated JUKE 2.0 ALLOY-(88a,93a,95a) and JUKE 2.0 NYLON (88a,93a,95a) are all IN STOCK NOW!

Also IN STOCK NOW & Brand new to the market - POISON Slim & Poison Slim ALLOY!

Our re-vamped 2011 line is better than ever with ML technology in all our HC wheels for guaranteed no hub pops, to make all our lives easier! Discontinued out of the line from 2010 will be the DUBZ 100A, Dubz 100A Slim, and Dubz 93A Slim and the original Juke wheels. If you're still a fan of Dubz in black, get yours today before they're out for good!

Dubz 2.0 in 44mm 97A –(orange urethane) will be ready for delivery mid November.

On behalf of Atom Wheels I'd like to thank the derby community for your continued support!

Your friend in Derby - Atomatrix

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Atom 'Front Runner' Derby Bout Recap!

On Sunday the 26th of September, the StL GateKeepers and Magic City Misfits faced off in an epic battle between two of the top four teams in men's derby. The GateKeepers caught the derby world's attention earlier this year by making it to the championship game of Spring Roll and only losing by one point to the Puget Sound Outcasts, one of the most established teams in Men's derby. St. Louis was only six months old at the time. The Misfits came into this bout with their two previous bouts being complete blowouts, winning by over 160 points in each match up. Their National Champion jam skaters quickly building enormous buzz with their speed and dynamic moves on the track. The title of the bout was ‘Disputed Champions’ as the winners would consider themselves the best in the country, though a couple other teams would have something to say about that claim.

The bout started with the GateKeepers striking first blood but quickly releasing their early lead due to the Misfits ability to repeatedly earn lead jammer. After several low scoring jams, the first breakout point run (20) was made by the GateKeepers, taking advantage of a Misfits jammer penalty. The GateKeepers controlled the lead for the rest of the half due to more untimely jammer penalties to the Misfits. Their aggressive acrobatic jammers had trouble maintaining control with the cohesive pack work of the GateKeepers. Right before half, the Florida boys cut the lead drastically by going on a strong run that left the GKers advantage to only 26, still leaving it anyone's game.

The second half started very strong for the Misfits. They battled back and took a two point lead ten minutes into the second half. Their home crowd cheers were soon silenced as the GateKeepers quickly regained the lead and never gave it up. For St. Louis, it was a total team victory as they lost Wrecking Bill to injury and Boba to an accumulation of 7 trips to the box with many jams left in the bout. Their talented deep bench was up to the task presented to them. The final score was 170-143 in the GateKeepers favor.

Knowing the agility and quickness of our opponents, I skated on Juke 2.0s (95a). The smaller diameter and width of the wheels allowed for better responsiveness and control while making quick direction changes. We skated on an amazingly grippy and smooth coated wood floor. The Juke 2.0s were the perfect wheel for that bout.

The GateKeepers next bout is Oct 23rd when our temporary intraleague teams, the Force and the Dark Side, face off for a third and final time. I’m also keeping an eye out for the release of the Juke Alloy wheels… those look incredibly rad.

Living the derby dream,

Magnum, p.i.m.p.
StL GateKeepers
Captain/Coach
Atom Front Runner

Friday, October 15, 2010

2010 Western Regionals Recap




This year’s Western Regionals was certainly one of the top derby events ever. The amount of talent in the west with only 3 open spots, created high energy and a fierce atmosphere. How about 3 amazing teams going to Nationals in Chicago with Seattle and Portland staying home? Now that is shocking in itself.
The final spot for Nationals came down between Bay Area Derby Girls and Portland. This bout was intense from the get-go. Portland has played all year as if they were ready to go to Nationals for the first time. BAD proved earlier in the season they were ready to make it to the big dance after missing out on Nationals action in Philly last season. Both laying it all on the line, putting everything they had into a bout that meant a lot to each player as well as the team/league. After one hour of intense derby B.A.D. had risen to the occasion and will be participating in the 2010 nationals in Chicago, congrats to BAY AREA!

The next battle was for silver and gold, both teams already guaranteed a spot at this year’s Nationals however, this meeting had more than just a gold medal on the line. Defending champions Oly Rollers were on a record setting winning streak, never once losing a WFTDA game since they joined in early 2009 and Rocky Mountain was proving to be the hottest team in the Nation going into the weekend. There is a lot of love and respect between the two teams on and off the track but when that first whistle blew it was hard core derby until the end of the match. RMRG was sharp, energized and determined to prove they are top seed of the west. This final felt as if it were the Nationals, both teams playing their hearts out for 60 minutes. The level of play was phenomenal. RMRG was able to maintain composure, breaking down OLY with about 15 minutes remaining in the bout. RMRG went on to win handedly over OLY, giving them their first WFTDA loss in 20+ games. Congrats to RMRG and Atom Wheels wishes you the best in Chicago.

WFTDA Nationals is being held November 5th-7th in Chicago, IL. Can’t make it?, just tune in to Derby News Network

Good luck to the top 12 teams in the nation participating in the 2010 WFTDA Nationals!
 -Atom Wheels - Official Wheel of the WFTDA

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

New Atom Wear Available!


Just posted to our site... the brand new 2011 Atom Derby Wear! Just in time for Regionals and Nationals!!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Staff Change at Atom Wheels

September 15, 2010

To our valued Atom customers,

Luke Powell, (aka Shortbus), has expressed his wish to leave the company for his personal reasons. Luke has been with us for just over a year. During this time he has shown diligence and commitment to his work. He has related well with his colleagues and other employees. Please join us in expressing gratitude for the expert information and skills he applied during his tenure with Nistevo/Atom Wheels. Many of us have learned a great deal from his knowledge and for that, we thank him.

We wish Luke all the very best in his future accomplishments.

From this point forward, please contact Julie Glass, (aka Atomatrix), with any questions you may have regarding Atom Derby wheels. Julie is poised to handle all your questions or concerns regarding Atom Derby. Not only is Julie the owner of Atom Wheels but she is also an enthusiastic advocate of the sport of Roller Derby.
Contact:
Julie Glass / Atomatrix
Email: julie@atomwheels.com
Tel: 360.456.8628

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Anna Wrecksya - Boston Derby!


Check out this AMAZING writeup from our Atom Allstar Anna Wrecksya

Its been a busy summer for Boston Massacre, Boston Derby Dames' all stars ranked #3 in the East by WFTDA and #12 nationally by Derby News Network as of September 2010.

In June, Denver's Mile High Club came to Boston on the 19th and killed it, 203-100.  They may have won the points game but Boston still won the pants game.  The following weekend, Massacre drove to our home away from home, Feasterville, PA, for the 4th annual East Coast Derby Extravaganza hosted by Philly Rollergirls.  There's nothing better than the sun, a pool, and roller derby.  The team experimented with some strategies, partnerships and positions; for the first time since transferring to Boston in 2007, I donned a stripe on my head.  Saturday night, Boston kept Gotham on their toes with a final of 164-82, which was also Boston's best showing against them ever.  Anyone who has ever played Gotham knows that its about the small victories, and losing by less than 100 basically feels like winning.  Sunday night, Boston played Rose City Rollers in the final game of the weekend and I think we delivered a good game for the crowd.  Boston controlled the first half, but Rose skillfully turned the ship around in the second period to win 87-61.  

In July, Madison came to visit on the 17th.  Our teamwork was pretty tight throughout the game, but in typical Dairyland Doll fashion, they had a late game defensive lockdown and scoring run that made us scurry to secure a win, 110-89.  Then, we traveled to Chicago to play Windy City on the 31st who is still a formidable opponent despite the turnover of big name vets after Nationals 2009.  WCR completely owned the first half, but Boston rallied in the second to close the gap with a final score of 121-115.  Anyway, who cares about derby when Transformers 3 was filming directly in front of our hotel.  When we weren't hustling limos for a ride or visiting the aquarium, we were sitting in the windows of our rooms watching Shia LaBeouf and Patrick Dempsey fight each other (spoiler?), Tyrese shooting blanks at imaginary Transformers, and their stunt doubles doing push ups.

Then we traveled to the home of John Waters to play Charm City All Stars on August 21st.  If you've never been to Baltimore, its a pretty unique place; there's a community garden ~200' from The Block, they love crabs, and the doors to the row houses are way tiny!  The game was really close the whole time with short-lived leads by both Boston and Charm.  Charm took it away at the end 152-136--the 16 point differential was predicted on the nose by Dyte rankings.  One lady told me at the afterparty that the game gave her a migraine and meant it as a compliment.

We're to training hard and applying everything we've learned from our tough 4-7 season for the WFTDA East Region Playoff Tournament in White Plains, NY, Sept 24-26.  The competition for a spot at the WFTDA Championship is going to be fierce, but we're ready for the challenge.  

We've played 11 games this year in 4 states, 2 countries, and 5 surfaces (7 if you include practice).  The one consistent thing throughout the year is that in every game I've been skating on my Lowboy slims.  They don't get tons of fanfare, but they're an amazing all around wheel.  They took forever to lose their tread, and like a good wine, they only get better with age as they're grippier bald than with tread.  Viva la Lowboys, and see you at Regionals!

<3 Anna, Boston Massacre

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The highly anticipated Juke 2.0 and Juke Alloy are available for PREORDER!


Atom Set to Launch JUKE 2.0!!

FINALLY, the highly anticipated Juke 2.0 and Juke Alloy are ready for PREORDER! Atom Wheels all-new redesign of its wildly-popular Juke wheel lineup is set to debut in September. The new look Juke 2.0 and Juke Alloy will sport bright green urethane wrapped around either a nylon hub or, for the first time, alloy hubs...not previously available on the original Jukes. Just in time for tournament and holiday season! We are really stoked about these wheels. I have personally been skating the Juke Alloy for the last few months, and WOW, have we out done ourselves this time.

Make sure you swing by the booth during tournament season because I will have the New Juke 2.0 on the table ready for sale! Juke Alloy will also be on the table for sneak peak only.... YA,YA, I know BUT they will be ready by NATIONALS!!!!!!

Are you ready for the next innovation from Atom Wheels, Stay Tuned!

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Monday, August 9, 2010

Sin Diesel travels all the way to WA



Picture taken from Sin's Facebook with Gen E. Bil making a cameo :)

Last week I spent an amazing time in the pacific northwest. I started
with spending 3 days in Portland, OR. Where I had an chance to meet
the Portland Men's Roller Derby Team and spend some time skating with
them. They are coming along an actively recruiting. Also had an
opportunity to watch Rose City's Wheels of Justice prepare for there
Hometown Throwdown on the 13th-15th. The time I spent at there
practice gave me much appreciation for these ladies. Thank you much,
to Scratcher in the Eye and W.O.J. for allowing me to attend practice.
As well as Carpe Demon, Faux Paul Icatar,CupplesSK8 and Next of Ken of
PMRD.

Then I Traveled further up to Seattle and had a Chance to do some
radio w/ the folks of Derby Deeds. Good Times w/Megatron,Sheeza and
Pitchit. Very welcoming and a good experience and learned a bit about
marketing from Kendra Blood from Denver Roller Dolls.

My weekend climaxed with an hour long bout with the newest members of
the MDC PSOD. PSOD split in to two team Team Radillac(Yellow) and Team
Hollywood(Blue) The 1st 12min of the game was back in forth with
strong blocking from both teams. Yellow anchored by there Capt:
Radillac,G.No Evil, Buster Fuzz,Sass Squatch and Cpl Punishement
pulling double duty blocking and some great jamming. Blue's Blocking
was led by Ryrod, Mr.Awesome, Duke of Delridge, Maxium Overdrive,
Hollywood and Sin Diesel. GrimStreeper, Hollywood, Ryrod and Sin
Diesel handled most of the Jamming. By the end of the 1st half Yellow
was up by 32pts. due to the Blue team spending more time in the Box
then on the track. Half time=94-62

As the 2nd half began Blue collected themselves and only allowed
yellow to score 40pts. in the 2nd half. With Hollywood,Ryrod and Sin
Diesel doing the majority of the jamming and pulling the blue team
within 17pts with less than 30 sec. on the clock. The final jam found
Sin Diesel on the line on a power jam. Sin Diesel was able to get 2
grand slams before yellow's jammer was released from the box. Sin
Diesel passed the panty to Ryrod with less than 10sec. on the
clock...but by then Yellow had a 7pt lead and time expired. And
Yellow- Team Radillac was victorious. Final=134-127. Thank goodness
for my stingers! Cause those turns where a bit slick in places. And
the Stingers allowed me to stick on turns especially when jamming.

The Dockyard Derby Dames faced Slaughter County Roller Vixens in the
2nd hour of Derby. This was a strong and hard hitting bout that found
the DDD coming back from a 30pt+ deficit. The DDD All Stars where able
to whittle down the deficit to 10pts with 8min left in the 2nd half.
At the end DDD found themselves in penalty trouble and SCRV pulled
away to a final of 167-147. What a Great Weekend.

Thanks to everyone for a great experience!!!

Viva La Derby!
~Sin~

Rollercon 2010

WOW, things are finally winding down from Rollercon and I am actually beginning to catch up on everything. Things have been CRAZY busy since Rollercon but here is what I have to say about the ultra long week in Vegas.

Vegas was a BLAST. Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth to check out product or just say whats up. The Poison wheels were BY FAR the most popular wheel at Rollercon. We knew going in that there would be a large demand BUT was caught of guard by how large the demand actually was. We sold every set that we brought in within the first day.... NUTS!!!

The floor there was amazing this year, so there was not of that crappy concrete that felt like Ice from the previous year. Check-in was ultra smooth, classes were packed, stands were crowded for all the headliner events, Freemont was amazing, and scrimmages were more busy then ever... WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR.

I got to play in a ton of games this past weekend along side a bunch of amazing skaters. I cannot wait to go back next year.

Look for some NEW and amazing things to come in the VERY near future. Hmmmm.... maybe even regionals :)

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Monday, July 26, 2010

Quad Almighty On This Weekends Game!

We won! Yay! HCH 216 - CTDQ 78. I was voted MVP by the CTDQ guys. Very cool.

I have to give major props to Magnificent Bastard, who was absolutely STELLAR in the back of the pack the whole game, and to JFM, who scored like a $#!T ton of points. Proud to be skating with all those guys. Seriously. Good, good people... all of 'em.

Both teams started with shortened 10-man rosters, but some injuries plagued CTDQ and they ended the game playing with just 7 or 8. Circle Jerk, the CTDQ MVP shared jamming duty with Pastor of Muppets back-to-back-to-back the whole second half. They had to have been utterly spent, but they never folded, just kept on coming at us. Really, seriously gutsy and impressive effort by CTDQ.

HCH and CTDQ meet up again in a few weeks in Yonkers, NY on August 7. Sadly, I can't make that game due to being dirt broke. However, I'll be in Evansville, IN coaching the Cincinnati Rollergirls Violent Lambs to victory over ROSI, so that makes up for it.

-Quad Almighty 7/22/2010

Thoughts from Magnum


This weekend was a big derby weekend in St. Louis! On Saturday, the GateKeepers had a double header with the Arch Rival Roller Girls' local championship. For the guys, it was the second of three scheduled games between our temporary intraleague teams, the Force and the Dark Side. This bout proved to be much closer than the last meeting as the lead changed many times throughout. Down by one point with little time left of the clock, the Force got lead jammer the last three jams of the bout, held the Dark Side scoreless and scored 7 points to get them to the century mark and the victory. In the end, the Force won 100-94. I scored 45 points while jamming on Low Boys. The hard wheels definitely helped my legs survive the soft sport court... and ref the Championship bout directly after!

On Sunday the GateKeepers held a Recruitment Extravaganza to promote derby in St. Louis and Missouri. Skaters from Kansas City (guys), Springfield (guys and girls) and St. Louis (guys and girls) participated in the three team coed mash up round robin
scrimmages. A great time was had by all and in the end, the Red Team went undefeated. I was lucky to be apart of both the Force and the Red Team for the weekend.

In preparation for the amount of derby I was going to be playing, I practiced with Atom's new Poison wheels. The softness of the wheels made me work a little harder at practice which really strengthened my legs and endurance. Plus they grip flawlessly to the slick painted wood we practice on!

Rollercon is right around the corner and I look forward to playing with Team seXY as we try to win the rubber match against Team Awesome. I will also be captaining the Jocks during the coed scrimmage between the Jocks and the Nerds. July is an exciting month for derby!

Keep roll'n,

Magnum, p.i.m.p.
StL GateKeepers
Captain/Coach
www.stlgatekeepers.com/
Atom Front Runner

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

IT'S SUMMER!!! Time to Skate OUTDOORS!


It's summer which means it's time to skate outdoors. What wheel do I use for outdoor you might ask... well none other then our BRAND NEW Atom Pulse Wheel. This wheel is absolutely amazing! The ride of this wheel makes you feel like you are riding on air. Road noise...now a thing of the past. We have also introduced a Cavity Back system in the wheel that allows for the wheel to wear more evenly, which in the end will make the wheel last longer. Get them while they last before the summer is over. Oh, and did i mention they are only $50.00!

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Monday, July 12, 2010

Rollercon 2010


Rollercon 2010 is right around the corner and Atom AWheels will be there in full force. We will be fully stocked and ready for every skaters need INCLUDING the ever sought after Juke, Pulse, and Poison. Make sure to come by the booth because if ECE was any inclination of demand then Poison and Pulse will be sold out on the first day :)

See everyone soon,

Shortbus
Atom Derby

P.S. I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE CHALLENGE BOUTS!!!!!

Atom Juke... Are you Breakin Ankles yet?




Atom Juke, the HOTTEST 59mm wheel on the market. These wheels are absolutely amazing. These wheels will do whatever you tell them to do without hesitation. You are able to stop, start, and maneuver better than ever before. Rollercon and tournament season is right around the corner so get them before they are gone. Also, come Nationals, you better be ready for the SICKEST Juke EVER!!! ARE YOUR READY!!

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Atom loves you too Charm City :)



While watching the AMAZING videos that came in for the DNN Watch Party Contest, I came across these two awesome pictures. Yes Charm City, we love you too :)

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Friday, July 2, 2010

Battle on the Bank 3 - Pitchit

Check out what Atom's own had to say about the Battle on the Bank....

Shortbus

Battle on the Bank 3
The Derby Doll franchise, more commonly known as The LA Derby Dolls and The San Diego Derby Dolls, held their third annual banked track roller derby tournament over the June 25th, 26th and 27th weekend at the ocean side Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County, California.
My participation in this event was mostly as a spectator, however, I did take a turn on the microphone for Derby News Network boutcasting along side Wunder Mike from TXRD for the San Diego Hard Corps vs the Red Dirt Rebellion match up.
The Del Mar Fairgrounds played host to several different events that weekend including the San Diego County Fair and the San Diego International Beer Festival. Both events had heavy participation and the central location of the banked track festivities made it possible to expose the wandering masses to the glory of roller derby. The fair was a common topic of conversation with the derby crowd as many were amazed by the fact that butter could not only be deep fried, but also could be purchased, and even crazier than that, consumed!


I spent a good portion of the weekend hanging out with my Atom Wheels All Star/Front Runner partner in crime DeRanged who had a stellar first time banked track tournament experience helping bring her Team Legit home with a second place tournament finish and raising the eyebrows of many hardcore banked track skaters and enthusiasts with her quick transition to the banked track and twenty point jam ability. DeRanged was running the Atom Lowboys for this tournament and loved the performance that she got. There were lots of grippy wheels seen on the track as well, including many skaters running the new Atom Poison.

It was an awesome weekend of banked track action. San Diego Derby Dolls took the tournament for the second year in a row. Team Legit showed up short handed and put up a great fight. I expect to see them return next year with a full and healthy roster for a shot at that title as well as many other banked track teams that are just itching to get their hands on the trophy. With the massive growth in roller derby currently, you can look forward to the excitement for this tournament to only getting bigger and better in the future.

Pitchit

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

DNN Watch Party Contest


Have you checked out Derby News Network lately. It looks like Hurt Reynolds and JFM have done it again. This idea is AMAZEBALLS...are you ready for it... It's a Watch Party Contest. You know Atom Wheels was there to support this AMAZING idea One of the winners will win a set of wheels for each person on their team (14 total sets). Send in the sickest videos that you have, everyone is going to be stoked to check them out.

Check out the link below for more information.

http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/2010/06/contest_best_watch_party_photovideo

Shortbus

ECE 2010...Are you READY!!!


ECE 2010 is just a few days away and you know that Atom Wheels has been gearing up for 3 days of non stop derby action. Are we ready... HECK YA were ready! Unfortunately I do not have my bags packed OR anything ready and my plane leaves at 8:30am tomorrow YUCK! Cannot wait to see all the amazing teams play this weekend. Make sure you come by the Atom WHeels booth and say whats up. We will also have the highly sought ever POISON and PULSE wheels at the table BUT there will only be limited quantities so first come first serve. The ever so popular Juke will be in attendance as well, so if you want to be on the same playing field as everyone else you better stop by and grab them. If there is anything particular you need or just want to come by and talk feel free to stop by.

See everyone soon and good luck to all the amazing teams!

Shortbus

Monday, June 14, 2010

Varla Vendetta at the Brewhaha!


Check out the Newest Atom All Star had to say about her bout against Madison!

Shortbus

The Windy City Rollers All-Stars kicked off their 2010 season with our first public bout at Milwaukee's Brewhaha on May 23. Their track was like our home track, skatecourt, so I skated with my Juke 93A Slim. The Juke Slims handle beautifully on skatecourt. I'd started out the year with Juke 95A Slims, but found them a touch too slippery for my style of skating derby (though for speed training on wood rink floors, they were great). I've always been a fan of a grippier wheels. Though the 95As worked well when I jammed, I found myself sliding out when I took too large of a step to block. But the Juke 93A Slims are the perfect balance of speed and grip for both jamming and blocking on skate court. I'd never been able to successfully transition to the skinny wheels until I gave the Juke Slims a shot, but now I love the agility they offer. There's a big difference in the sharpness of cuts and direction change on them.

Varla Vendetta
Windy City Rollers
Atom Allstar

Monday, June 7, 2010

Magnum on his bout this past weekend!


Check out what Magnum had to say about his bout this past weekend.

Shortbus
Atom Derby

This past weekend was a big step for the St. Louis GateKeepers as we played our first public Intraleague bout. Dividing into two temporary teams, The Force (white) and The Dark Side (Dark Grey), the GateKeepers traveled to Evansville, Indiana to play a 40 minute demo bout prior to a Rollergirls of Southern Indiana (R.O.S.I.) local bout.

The game was filled with intense action and a brotherly competitive feeling between teams. It was the first public bout for many of the GateKeepers but aggressive play was not in short supply. A few costly jammer penalties to The Dark Side gave the lead to The Force in the first half. The second half was a relative stalemate as each team took turns scoring points. In the end, the first half lead of The Force was too much for The Dark Side to overcome resulting in a final score of 78-49. So just as in the movies, good prevailed. But with two more Intraleague bouts scheduled for the GateKeepers, The Dark Side has the opportunity to strike back.

I captained The Force while rocking Lowboy Slims. The surface was painted concrete. With the surface being fast and grippy, the Lowboys performed great while I split time blocking and jamming. My preference for harder wheels continues as my favorites to date are Atom Strokers and Lowboys. Go get you some.

Have derby, will travel.

Magnum, p.i.m.p.
StL GateKeepers
Atom Front Runner

Friday, June 4, 2010

JTP on the Magic City VS Harm City Bout

Check out what JTP from the Magic City Misfits had to say about their bout against the Harm City Homicide.

Shortbus
Atom Derby

What's up derby peeps. Just wanted to recap last weekend against Harm City Homicide. My team (Magic City Misfits) went to Hagerstown, MD to bout one of the best teams I have played against in my short derby career (Harm City Homicide). They were great host and great skaters.

The bout had a couple of delays due to EVAC being late so we were unable to start on time so Magic City Misfits put on a jamskating show for the crowd and everyone enjoyed it!

After all of the delays the bout got underway. Harm City came out strong the first jam forcing our jammer to get a major and starting a power jam. Granted we are a new team, we kept are cool. The next jam we took back control and never looked back. The score at half time was 114-25 Magic City. At the half we talked about all of the mistakes so in the second half we could come out stronger.

The second half started the same as the beginning of the game with Harm City causing our jammer to get a major and get sent to the box but we stayed focused and ran the second half just like the first half and the final score was 249-87 Magic City Misfits. It was a great win for me and my team.

For this bout I was wearing 95a Jukes. This floor was one of the best floors I've ever skated on and the Jukes were amazing. I was able to cut and stop on a dime. My starts off the line was super quick too. I was able to score 87 point by myself and get MVP jammer and blocker because of what I was rolling on. Only the best, Atom Wheels!


Just The Tip
Magic City Misfits

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Poison write up from one of the best!


THis amazing write up on the Poison was done by none other than the FABULOUS DayGlo Divine. Check out what she had to say! She also has a bunch of other good write ups that you might be interested in!

http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=1022715644

Shortbus
Atom Derby

So last week, I got a spiffy new set of Atom Poison wheels to test. I had every intention of testing them out at last night's DC Rollergirls' practice at the DC Armory. That floor is notoriously slick, and during my tenure as a DCRG ref, I would regularly do eight-wheel slides and even wipe out on G-Rods. Last time I went, I jam reffed with Stinger pushers and G-Rod non-pushers and felt like I barely had any traction. So it would be a perfect test floor for new hybrid wheels. But last night, I found myself so exhausted from a weekend with a bridal shower sandwiched between back-to-back doubleheaders that my practice plans morphed into an 8:00 disco nap. As I was pondering a wheel swap on the skates I used to jam ref this weekend, it occurred to me that I didn't have to go anywhere to at least get a feel for the wheels. The laundry room in my building is about 20x30, with a grippy, painted concrete floor, and it is directly downstairs from me. So I took my Poisons and Sugars for a spin. Pun intended.

Test 1 -- Atom Poisons (new), VXB ABEC-7 Bearings, Riedell Carrera (old model)/Sure Grip Probe
Last week, I scored a pair of mint-condition Riedell Carreras off eBay. Not the shitty new ones, but the ones that look like -- and basically are -- slightly stripped-down 125s. I have plans for them. Big plans that involve a spare set of Reactors, which are currently on a pair of boots too flimsy for derby. But those plans have not happened because I need help in un-riveting the current plates from the boots. Having not skated in them before, I took them down to ye olde laundrye room. I felt like I had little control on them. Could T-stop and turn-stop just fine, but tight turns -- the only ones I can do down there -- were tough. Doing a crossover in them made me feel like I took a time machine back to 2006, when I first started skating again, and the wheels just seemed to roll and roll and roll. One look at those skates on my feet, and I knew why I was having issues: the plates were mounted improperly. The right plate is off-center and turns inward. Bad. Back upstairs.


Test 2 -- Sure-Grip Sugars (used for 9 bouts on unfinished concrete), VXB ABEC-7 Bearings, Riedell Targa/Sure Grip Probe

My Targas are my outdoor skates, such as it is. Ugly and comfy, with plates that are not ideal but mounted correctly and perfectly skateable with the addition of 79a Sure-Grip "super" cushions. I could skate a bout in them and not miss a beat. My Sugars were already on them, so I took them downstairs and did the same type of things. Tight turns with lots of lean and big crossovers, with T and turn stops thrown in for good measure. They felt sluggish. Not to the point where I couldn't skate on them indoors if I absolutely had to, but I'd have to work for it, because they would stop rolling if I started coasting. And I wasn't T-stopping on a dime like I usually do on grippy floors. They're really closer to true outdoor wheels than hybrids. Great for rebound on rough surfaces like asphalt and concrete floors with a lot of seams and cracks and gates, but not really what I'd use for uber-grip if ever I needed it.

Test 3 -- Atom Poisons (new), VXB ABEC-7 Bearings, Riedell Targa/Sure Grip Probe

After rolling around on the Sugars, I realized that Atom's claims about the Poisons are not the usual advertising hyperbole. They feel faster than the Sugars do, and are probably more suitable for how derby skaters typically use hybrids -- on slick indoor surfaces where they want or need extra grip. At the same time, despite having the same plates as my Targas, the Carreras handle so poorly that I felt like I wouldn't really have a true basis for comparison until I put the Poisons on a different pair of skates. So I put them on my Targas and went downstairs yet again. Did a few hard T-stops on both skates to eliminate mold-release slippage as a factor, and went to work. They held up to my initial impression. They skate a lot like my Stingers, which I regularly use as pushers on slick wood floors, but yet feel softer than my Sugars when I use my "calibrated feelers" on them (i.e., when I squeeze them). I will very likely put these through their paces at practice this week; we're at Putty Hill, which hasn't seen a fresh coat of Roll-On since about the time I started reffing. But so far, I am impressed.

I'll start this by saying I did not get a chance to do a side-by-side comparison with my Sugars at tonight's scrimmage. A double-booking on the rink's part meant we all had to stand in the parking lot for 90 minutes and wait around till some big party full of annoying kids left the building. This meant that practice was stripped down to the bare bones of what it needed to be -- enough time to assess a group of freshies and skaters returning from injury for bout readiness, and one big scrimmage with no break. Having said that...

Test 4
Gear: Atom Poisons (new), VXB ABEC-7 Bearings, Riedell 125/PowerDyne Reactor
Surface: standard-issue wooden rink floor that has not been resurfaced in 3 years and is pretty slick
Typical Wheels for Surface: Atom Stinger pushers with G-Rod non-pushers
Position: Head/Rear Inside Pack Referee

The fact that scrimmage was 2 hours shorter than usual meant we didn't switch teams or divide it up into periods with 5-minute breaks. That meant I couldn't switch between wheels. It also meant I was assigned to one position and stayed there for the duration of the scrimmage. I would have liked the chance to use these wheels for jammer reffing, where I prefer grippier wheels for control and agility, and especially outside pack, as that's where I feel it the most when my wheel configuration is too grippy for the floor. But inside pack is a good place to test slow wheels as well; since it involves a lot of slow, deliberate skating, wheels that are too grippy will tend to slow down or come to a stop pretty quickly. During my impromptu laundry-room test, that happened with the Sugars, but not the Poisons. It didn't happen with the Poisons tonight, either. They are softer than I really need on that floor; for that matter, so is the Stinger/G-Rod combo. But I didn't feel like they were holding me back. Everything I needed to do, I could do. When I wanted them to roll, they rolled. When I leaned hard into turns, they did not break loose, nor did I find that I had to push harder going into the straightaway. If I were blindfolded, I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart from my usual wheels on that floor. This is a good thing. Too often, people use grippy wheels to overcompensate for something they're doing wrong. I didn't feel like these changed my form in any way. I just went about my business as usual, and after a few jams, I wasn't even really thinking about my wheels. And when you're not second-guessing them or doubting whether they will be there for you if you push them, that's the sign of a really good wheel.

Next up: the great outdoors. Hoping I can make it to Lake Montebello or that sweet outdoor hockey rink at Overlook Park this weekend.

DayGlo Divine

Friday, May 28, 2010

Midwest Brewhaha 2010


The Midwest was one of the most organized tournaments that I had ever been to. I went over early Friday night to get the lay of the land and find out where our booth spot would be.People were already there getting ready for the weekends events. The floor was being laid one side while the track lines were being finished on the other. The biggest shocker of the night was to see how crazy of a set up Derby News Network had.

The derby weekend was full of excitement with bouts going on both tracks. I am going to have to say my favorite game was the Tampa VS Arch Rival game. It was amazing to almost see Tampa come back and when in the last few minutes. There were a ton of stand out players during the vent, especially Anna Maniac, from Omaha!!!

Big shout out to the Bruise City girls who put on an AMAZING event in which I CANNOT wait to be there next year.

Up next is the long awaited ECE... WOW am i stoked!!

Shortbus
Atom Derby

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Atom Poison Review


To all those derby skaters out there looking for a wheel that can grip ANYWHERE, the Poison is DEFINITELY for you. Atomatrix just got back from Boston and skated these. We all know how fast and powerful she is but what you may not know is how picky she is with her wheels. She does not want ANYTHING to slow her down. During the Boston warm up and floor test she could not find a wheel that she was comfortable with until she threw on the Poison wheels. They had the perfect grip while maintaining the great roll that only Atom can bring. These wheels allowed her to once again stay ahead of the competition and help bring another victory to Oly

Also, Check out the review that our Atom Front Runner Pitchit did while in our first test stages of these wheels

Poison Wheel Test and Review
by Pitchit

3/17/10 - Dry Heat Militia vs Tucson Saddletramps - 2 Hour Practice/Scrimmage
Catalina High School - Outdoor Polished Concrete Track
Catalina is notorious for being VERY slick concrete. Between the infrequent Arizona rain storms, the track builds a fine layer of dust that makes it almost comical to skate on. It is possible to get some speed on the straights but all of that speed is lost while sliding through the turns. After a big rain storm, all of the dust is gone and the clean concrete has excellent traction for a couple more weeks.
At the time of this test, the track conditions were less than optimal. Last rain on the track was approximately .42 inches on 3/7/10 which is not enough to flood the track for a thorough cleaning.
Out of the box, the Poisons have the characteristic new wheel feel. Kind of like they have a layer of hard crust that needs to be scuffed off. I took about twenty laps and determined that I needed to hit the asphalt in the parking lot for a bit of a rough scuff in. After hitting the parking lot, the traction changed noticeably for the better. Lap after lap the Poisons got better. By the end of a 2 hour practice/scrimmage, they were as good as any wheel that I had ever used at Catalina. I suspect that they will get even better once they reach the end of the requisite 5 practice (10 hour) Pitchit imposed break in period.

3/18/10 - Recruiting Party - 30 Minutes
Skate Country - Indoor Acrylic Recreational Rink
My wheel of choice for Skate Country is the Atom Stinger. The 88a wheel is hard enough for my light stature to carry speed but soft enough to maintain grip. Going in, I knew that the Poison would be CRAZY grippy on the acrylic surface and actually getting on the floor confirmed my belief.
I spent about thirty minutes turning laps and testing the limits of the wheels. This is not a wheel for a high traction floor unless you want an extra hard work out. The softness of the wheel makes for some extra work just trying to keep them rolling. However if you find you are one of those skaters that needs a ridiculous amount of traction and speed is not a concern, the Poison will give you that traction.

3/20/10 - Dry Heat Militia vs Denver Rollin Bones - Full Bout
Castle Sports and Fitness - Indoor Sport Court Hockey Rink
The Atom Poison performed flawlessly on the sport court. Perfect amount of grip for a full extension kick through the corners when jamming and the right amount of loose for throwing j-blocks when playing pivot. One particular jam, Quadzilla got out of the pack just in front of me and I was able to reel him in. I could not have asked for a better wheel for this bout.

Overall
I really like the look of this wheel, too. The opaque white urethane, the lime green seven spoke hub and the very cool skull graphic give the perfect look to a rock star performer.
I can see that I will be running this wheel for a while to come. the all around performance is a perfect balance. From slick polished concrete to super sticky acrylic, this wheel gives me what I need, where I need it. Atom Wheels Does It Again!


Shortbus
Atom Derby

Monday, May 10, 2010

Spring Roll 2010

If you missed Spring Roll 2010, you are absolutely CRAZY. What an amazing tournament. I would definitely like to Thank Minx, Last Call and all the other Fort Wayne Derby Girls for putting on such an amazing tournament for both the girls and guys. Unfortunately I was unable to catch a lot of the girls games BUT wow did Detroit bring their A game, CONGRATS!

On the other hand, I would like to throw the biggest shout out to Justice Feelgood Marshall for organizing such a great guys tournament and being on top of EVERYTHING.

The Gatekeepers from St. Louis DEFINITELY brought their A game, and deserved every win they got, and in my eyes they won the WHOLE tournament.

Hope the future brings good things for all teams

Shortbus
Atom Derby
Dallas Deception

Saturday, May 1, 2010

SCRD VS RAGE CITY

I am SUPER impressed with Rage City. These girls are ABSOLUTELY amazing! The games are really fun to watch. The floor seems to be hooking up finally, but still not what everyone wants. Also, if you didn't know, EVERYONE should support DNN!

Shrotbus
Atom Derby

BFTC Day 1

Wow, this day is going by crazy fast. Unfortunately Vendor Village is not connected to to where everyone is playing so we all busted out the lap tops and are watching the bouts on DNN lol. From what I hear, the floor is crazy slick so everyone is coming over and buying softer wheels. I almost hard a girl beat me up cause she wanted to take the Poison table samples that I have, haha.

Check back later because I will be posting stuff ALL WEEKEND!!!

Shortbus
Atom Derby

BFTC 2010 Air Port Day

BATTLE FOR THE COAST

Just landed in LA, and wow was my fight crazy fast. We ended up landing 40 mins early. UNFORTUNATELY I am stuck in the airport for 4 hours until my ride can get here. This weekend at battle for the coast is going to be AMAZING. I am looking forward to seeing all my friends and also meeting a ton of new faces. Be sure to come by and check out the booth cause you know I will for sure have the new Atom Pulse and Poison on the table! Good luck to the following teams this weekend that will be playing during the BFTC 2010!

Derby Revolution of Bakersfield
Disaster City Roller Girls
LA Derby Dolls
OCRG
Rage City Rollergirls
Rose City
South Coast Roller Derby
San Diego Derby Dolls
Ventura County Derby Darlins

Be sure to check back because I will be posting stuff throughout this derby filled weekend

Shrotbus

Thursday, April 29, 2010

BFTC 2010



Come check out the NEW wheels to the Atom lineup during the BFTC. I am super excited to be at this event and can't wait to see all the Cali. Derby skaters lay it down. Come by the booth and say hi and FOR SURE check out the new Poison and Pulse.

Shortbus

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Franky Panky 2010


This weekend at the Franky Panky is arguably one of the most fun events I have ever been to. The games were definitely headed and all teams came to play their hardest. Thanks to the Dee Bauchery and the rest of the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins for putting such an amazing event together!

I would also like to thank Tampa for letting me come to two of their practices. Everyone was so welcoming and definitely took any input that I had to give. This is for sure a team you will see rise in the DNN Power Rankings!

Shortbus

Also, Check out what Matomic had to say about the event!

Dallas VS Cincinnati

Wow! Tampa Florida wasn't ready for this! What a game! From start to fnish this was one of the most intense games I've seen the Hellrazors involved in. from the first jam through the end of the first half, there wasn’t a lead of more than 10 points, finally 3 jams into the second half Dallas burst ahead, at one point the Hellrazors were up by 38 points thanks to incredible jamming and destructive blockers in the back of the pack, lead byThe Shocker and Mona Bruiser and ridiculous frontal blocking holding the Cincinnati jammers back at the front of the pack lead by Herassiz Mine and Lickity Split-tail! This is a huge milestone for Dallas, seeing that their current rank of #20 nationwide is still 5 spots shy of Cincinnati's rank of #15. Dallas fought hard through the end of the game but ran into penalty trouble and wasn’t able to adjust from defense back to offense when Cincinnati started to close the margin, in the last jam Cincinnati moved into the lead by two points, and the game ended, by far the hardest fought bout of the Franky Panky Tournament! Way to go Hellrazors, if anything be proud you showed the derby world you aren't afraid of the higher ranked teams and can do what you showed up to do, and that is play fierce and competitive roller derby! Final score was 66-68 Victory going to Cincinnati

Dallas VS Tampa

Following argueably one of my favorite games I've seen the Hellrazors play this season, Tampa stepped in to try to extract some revenge from the two devistating losses they received at the Clover Cup at the hands of the Dallas Hellrazors. The game started off in identical fashion to the Clover Cup games, Tampa came out of the box hard and fast and caught Dallas a little off-guard, after a few jams of adjustment the Hellrazors were back on their game and in dominating fashion started to pull away jam after jam with use of Dallas' experienced 4 jammer all star rotation of Anita Riot, Roxie La Roo, Hot for Teacher, and returning from injury for the first time this season, Miley Virus. These four girls dominated the jammer field and further frustrations continued to rise for The Tampa Tantrums which resulted in an ejection of Tampa player and a Hellrazor with 3 mins left in the game. After the dust settled it was Dallas again with the win, leaving their record with Tampa for the season so far at 3-0. Final score was 131-111. Victory going to Dallas

Dallas vs Tallahasse
In a tournament full of suprises and wild games and after an extremely hard fought bout the day before with Cincinnati and a further frustrating game with Tampa, Dallas came back from a very tough and hectic day to end their visit to the state of Florida off with a devistating win over newly founded WFTDA team, Tallahasse. From start to fnish the Hellrazors were on point easily gaining lead jammer in EVERY jam the first 10 jams! At the end of the first half Dallas led 107-28. We then saw a side of the Dallas team in the second half that I have yet to see this year which was the change from a primarily defensive team to a team that with well executed defense was able to gain lead jammer, hold Talahasse's jammer at bay long enough for the Dallas jammer to reach the pack then without hesitation switch to offense which would gain a 4-0 or 5-0 jam almost every jam. The second half saw a deeper rotation of jammers including a 4-0 perfectly executed jam by one of the most feared blockers in the entire South Central Region, Mona Bruiser, sporting the jammer panty for the first time in tournament play this year. End result was Anita Riot, Roxie La Roo, and Hot for Teacher all scoring 40+ points! That goes with great offensive blocking from Hellrazors across the board who made some of the greatest adjustments to their gameplay this season! Way to go Dallas, by far one of your best games as a team! Final score was 173-32. Victory going to Dallas.

New Atom Poison


The NEW Atom Poison is FINALLY here. The has been a long time in the works. Are you ready for the grippiest wheel on Atom's line without sacrificing roll, well the New Poison is for you! After watching Six Gun Susie from Tampa JAM through the pack with ease, what more do you need!

Shortbus

Friday, April 9, 2010

Quad Almighty on MDC

Check out what Atom's own Quad Almighty had to say about the MDC3

Shortbus

MEN’S DERBY CONFERENCE 3

Northampton, Massachusetts is hippy little New England town where you can eat Yak meat at a Tibetan restaurant or enjoy a can of Narragansett Beer with underage skater punks. It is home to Smith College, the late Sylvester Graham—inventor of the graham cracker—and Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PVRD), possibly the first (if not the most successful) coed derby league of the modern flat track revival.

On March 26-27, PVRD hosted Men’s Derby Conference 3, which brought together men and women from around the country who are involved with men’s derby. MDC is facilitated specifically by the four member leagues of the Men’s Derby Coalition: Pioneer Valley Roller Derby, Harm City Homicide, the New York Shock Exchange and the Connecticut Death Quads.

The Bunker, PVRD’s warehouse-turned-derby-HQ, is equal parts hang out and practice space. It’s a welcoming spot, which is a direct reflection of PVRD itself. You aren’t likely to find a more genuinely likable and courteous group as the Pioneer Valley crew. The weekend of the Men’s Derby Conference, derby-folk descended upon the Bunker for two days of sanctioned games, challenge bouts, seminars and classes… not to mention miscellaneous camaraderie, drinking and ill-advised three a.m. skating excursions around the town.

Saturday began full throttle with the first of two sanctioned games, and the first official game of the Men’s Derby Coalition 2010 Season. The men of PVRD’s Dirty Dozen squared off against Harm City Homicide. The Dirty Dozen jumped out to an early lead with some stellar jamming and tight packs that left Harm City struggling to adjust from front to back. Final score: Dirty Dozen 117 – Homicide 73.

Later that night, in the second sanctioned game, the undefeated New York Shock Exchange took on the Connecticut Death Quads, the newest member league of the Men’s Derby Coalition. The Shock Exchange’s experience and finely-tuned teamwork proved too much for the Death Quad’s shortened seven-man roster. New York’s unbeaten streak continues with a 164-33 victory over Connecticut.

Sunday was challenge bout day. The Light Side, led by Jonathan R overcame the power of Vader’s Dark Side, and Virginia Slim’s rag-tag gang whippersnappers, Euthanasia (Under 30 years old) put down Justice Feelgood Marshall’s Antiques Roadshow (Over 30 years old). Immediately following the challenge bouts, the Dark Side vowed to have their revenge upon completion of a THIRD Death Star (this time it’s really, really indestructible) and the Antiques Roadshow took a nap and caught up on Matlock.

Sunday also saw an up-and-coming Central Mass team take on a mish-mash of “Haters” in a grudge match. Central Mass put up a impressive fight with six-man roster, but the Haters managed enough vitriol to stave off the upstarts.

The most compelling part of the weekend to me was the evolution of men’s derby over the past few years. My first experience with men’s flat track derby was REF JAM at the Fort Wayne Derby Girls’ first Fall Brawl. It was blast to play in, and from what I understand, it was even more fun to watch—it also unquestionably breathed life into men’s derby in the Midwest—but the “game” itself was something more akin to rodeo clowns and keystone cops than anything resembling derby.

At Men’s Derby Conference 3, with such a wide range of incredible individual talent on display, I was impressed by how much men’s derby has grown into a refined game focused on teamwork, strategy and smart play. Now that the first official Season (with a capital “S”) of the Men’s Derby Coalition is underway, there’s no question that the men’s game is legit.

-Quad Almighty
April 5, 2010

JUKES

Last weekend, we (Harm City Homicide) played Pioneer Valley’s Dirty Dozen at the Men’s Derby Conference in Northampton, MA. The track at PVRD’s Bunker is a little odd. While the dimensions of the track itself are right—fourteen feet wide and correctly skewed in the corners—the infield is squeezed so the track will fit into the area they have available inside the Bunker. The skinny apex of the infield made it especially fun for jumping, by the way—kinda like dunking on a slightly lowered basketball rim. The track is painted (green) concrete and somewhat slippery as concrete goes.

I’d heard the track was slippery before I left, so Luke sent me some Juke 88A Slims. When I got to the Bunker on Friday night, I rolled around on the track with my standard Omegas, and I really didn’t think it was too bad. (Omegas are good on pretty much any surface.) I coach the Cincinnati Rollergirls who skate on concrete at the Chop Shop (their practice space) and at the Gardens (where they bout), so I was probably used to it more than most, but I didn’t have the issues with the track that some other people did.

After I’d rolled around a bit, I switched out my Omegas and put on the Jukes. They made a significant difference. They grip a lot better, but don’t sacrifice any speed. If anything I was able to move around a little better because Jukes have a slightly smaller diameter than Omegas, which improved my lateral motion, even more than I would have expected. I heard a lot of people comment about how slippery the floor was, but it didn’t bother me at all thanks to the Jukes. Atom should consider renaming this wheel the MVP. They’re every bit as good as advertised.

-Quad Almighty
March 27, 2010

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Magnum P.I.M.P's weekend in DERBY!


Checkout what Magnum P.I.M.P had to say about his past weekend in DERBY!

Shortbus

An historic bout took place this weekend in St. Louis. The StL GateKeepers had their first public bout in the history of the franchise. With the GateKeepers first practice being just four months prior, the progress of this team has been on the fast track from the beginning. Taking on the also upstart Race City Rebels, this bout was to show each team how far they have come and how much farther they need to come.
The presence of nerves was clear in the first several jams as neither team had played in front of a crowd so large as was present for the double header with ARRG that night. The 1,000+ fans cheered on the hometown boys to an early lead and it was never close after the GateKeepers took the lead. The Rebels failed to get their offense started and with the GateKeepers' jammers able to cut their way through opposing blockers, the final score after two 20 minute periods was 125-17.
Big N Plenty was named MVP for Race City and I was named MVP for the GateKeepers. I blocked the majority of the bout and jammed twice scoring roughly 30 points. 93A Jukes were my wheel of choice for the bout and really responded well on the soft sport court. Shortly I will be trying out Stroker Slims, as the original Strokers were my first love. I look forward to reporting back on them.

Magnum, p.i.m.p.
StL GateKeepers
Captain/Co-Founder
Atom Front Runner

Monday, March 22, 2010

Derby in Dallas

Congrats to DDD Hell Razors on their win over Green Country. Check out what Atom Derby's own Front Runner Matomic had to say.

Shortbus

Whats up Derby World:
Once again, it's Matomic in Dallas with some more derby world updates from the South Central region. Dallas Derby Devils travel team, The Hell Razors throw back there 10th WFTDA bout in the past 20 days against Oklahoma team Green Country Roller Girls. On their 4th anniversary of their league, the Green Country girls traveled down to Dallas to play Assassination City saturday night pulling away a win, then sunday night playing the Hellrazors to a much different lopsided battle as Green Country saw penalty trouble from beginning to end, having only around 10 full jams with 5 skaters on the track per half. Dallas seemed to capitalize by putting up numerous 10-0 and 15-0 jams while on power plays. End result was Dallas up by over 100 at the end of the game while only fielding one of their star jammers, Anita Riot. Both Roxie LaRoo and Miley Virus were sitting out resting for the upcoming Franky Panky tournament in Tampa, Florida, that will see Dallas in their first game this season with a WFTDA team outside of their own region, Cinncinnati Roller Girls, should be a good one in April!
Later kids,

Matomic

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Atom Wheels at the Franky Panky 2010


Atom Wheels will be hitting Florida by storm. Shortbus will be there From March 31st-April 12th hitting up local rinks, derby practices, and the Franky Panky. Be sure to follow this blog because I will be posting pictures and updates of what will be going on during the trip. I am stoked to meet and skate with old friends and new skaters that i have not skated with yet. Also be sure to hit up the Atom Wheels booth to check out the latest wheels that will be released during the event. I DON"T THINK YOU ARE READY!

See everyone in Florida soon!

Shortbus

The Sea of Atom Wheels at the Clover Cup!


Check out the sea of Atom at the Clover Sup. SWEET!

Shortbus

Monday, March 15, 2010

Mechanical Lock Technology!


ML Technology is FINALLY HERE. This has been a long time in the making.. Check out the info Below. This will be on all our NEW manufactured wheels!!

Shortbus

Atom Wheels Mechanical Lock Technology™ Has Arrived!
ML Technology™ is another advancement in Atom Wheels’ line to make our overall product just that much better. Mechanical Lock Technology™ will allow for superior bonding of our two-piece hollow core hub design.
ML Technology™ is a lip that has been added to the cap side of the core to allow for better overall bonding between the core and the urethane.
In the diagram above you will notice how the urethane (yellow/orange) forms over both sides of the cap (blue) ultimately allowing both materials to bond perfectly. This will eliminate any hub issues that we have had in the past! If you have any questions about the new Mechanical Lock Technology™, please feel free to contact us at 360.456.8628.

Monday, March 8, 2010

How the Clover Cup Went Down!!


What an AMAZING write up from our Front Runner Matomic... CHECK IT OUT!!

Shortbus - (Picture used from Dallas Derby Devil Facebook)

What's up Derby World,
This is Matomic, down in Dallas, Texas. Just wanted to give everyone a quick recap of what happened this weekend at the Clover Cup here in Dallas. It was an AWESOME tournament for the SC region, most of your top teams, exluding #1 Austin and #2 KC, so it was an up-and-down tournament the whole weekend! Game 1-Day 1 saw Tampa VS Dallas, Tampa came out swinging and really opened up Dallas' eyes. Dallas came back really hard second half and ended up with the W. Game 2-Day1 saw No Coast VS Atlanta, Atlanta pretty much swept the floor with No Coast, although No Coast is looking much stronger than last year, it wasn't enough to knock any steam off of ATL as they steamrolled through. Game 3-Day 1 saw Houston VS Dallas, same result as Governor's Cup, Dallas domination, Houston's loss of close to 11 vets is really changing the dynamic of the Houston all star team, some of the skaters are experiecing their first tournament play ever between Gov cup and Clover cup. Game 4-Day 1, Tampa VS No Coast, pretty back and forth for most of the game, the last 15 mins of the second half Tampa pulled away. Game 5-Day 1 Dallas VS Atlanta, Atlanta came in and took full advantage over a tired and worn out Dallas team, coming off two full games already that day, opposed to Atlanta's cake-walk game 1. Atlanta had the lead from the end of the half until the end of the game.

Day 2 saw Houston vs Tampa, in a nail-biter all the way to the finish, with Tampa pulling it out in the last jam that saw both teams star jammers line up twice in a row against each other, Mistilla for Houston, Little-A for Tampa, best game of the weekend, hands down! Game 2 was Houston vs Dallas, yet again the same scenario that has now played out 4 times in the past month, Houston getting steamrolled by Dallas due to loss of so many vets. Game 3 saw a very determined Dallas vs a very rested Atlanta. Dallas lead going into the second half, and just lost all their gas in the last 15 mins, and ATL was able to run away with the W and the Clover Cup!

Everyone that was running well was running the Atom wheels, Anita Riot got tournament MVP on a borrowed pair of Jukes :cough MINE! Cough: and also announcers choice Merchant of Menace running some atom combo's…. Good weekend, and lots of diff Atom wheels out there, the floor allowed for harder wheels or softer wheels and I saw the full range, from Stingers to Strokers, whatever your flavor, Atom seems to have it!

I'll see you all when I see you!

Matomic
Dallas Deception
Atom Derby Front Runner

Tucson Derby Brats!


Check out these two twin derby brats from Tucson... AWESOME!!

Shortbus

Saturday, March 6th, 2010 - Tucson, AZ 

The 2010 Tucson Derby Brats derby season kicked off Saturday for ten year old twin sisters Haymaker and Rey of Speed at Catalina High School in Tucson. Both skater run the Atom Centuris and both say that the grip they have on the slick, polished concrete track makes their jobs much easier. "Thanks Atom Wheels!"

Pitchit

Friday, March 5, 2010

All But Good Things!!


The following blurb is from Just The Tip from the Magic City Misfits from Florida.

Shortbus

So I got my jukes in the middle of feb. And I fell in love with them. I have the 95's and they are awesome. I grip everywhere! I skate on pretty much every surface and I'm never have to worry about slipping or losing my footing. And stops and starts are so much easier. You stop on a dime and can start super quick. The name fits them. You will see a big difference in your skating. I promise you that!

Just the tip 8>
Magic City Misfits
Atom Front Runner

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Wild West Show Down


Wild West Show Down was absolutely AMAZING!!! SCRV put together a great tournament and EVERYTHING ran so smooth. I would like to thank everyone for stopping by the booth to get information or just to say whats up. I would like to also thank everyone for the complements on the Juke Wheel. Atom Wheels strives to bring you the best performing product that we can.I am going to have to say my favorite bout was Rat City VS. Philly, WHAT A GAME. I am going to have to agree with Justice that it was weird seeing Kamikaze Kim Jam against Miss Fortune.It was great to play with people that you normally do not get to play with during the CO-ED bouts. Hopefully everyone had a great time and made it home safely.

Shortbus

Monday, February 8, 2010

ECDX 2010!

The Teams have been selected for ECDX 2010. Check em' out!

Check the Philly Roller Girls Website out for more information:
http://phillyrollergirls.com/ece

June 25th-27th 2010 BE THERE!

Teams:
Boston
Gotham
Carolina
Maine
Providence
D.C.
Montreal
Windy City
B.A.D.
Philly
Rose City
Suburbia
Hammer City
Dominion
Cincinnati
Northstar
Naptown
Tampa
Nashville
H.A.R.D
Minnesota

Check out Derbv News Network for Philly's Lottery Video!

Shortbus

Do you like your Juke Wheels....She does!!!


Post from: http://skatelogforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23966&page=4

I completely agree with this!!

I bought the 38mm/95a (small & hard) Jukes, and I love them to pieces. I used to skate on pink Shamans, but now I'm a small wheel convert!

They feel oh so much lighter than the aluminium hubs that I'm used to, so I feel like I can pick my feet up a whole lot more. And while being hard and narrow, they still grip really well - we train on a dusty polished concrete rink. And the acceleration is exactly what everyone is saying... they pick up speed very quick! Perfect for fake-outs, cross-tracks, and even starting off the whistle faster than anyone else.

I haven't really noticed any problems with needing more endurance to keep rolling... I don't find that I have to adjust my stride at all, and get just as much roll as the bigger wheels. Or maybe these are just so light that I'm not noticing any change that saps my endurance.

Highly recommended for jammers and blockers!

Annabelle Lecter
Sun State Roller Girls
Brisbane Australia
__________________

Monday, February 1, 2010

Co-Ed Bout in Ft Smith Arkansas


In an attempt to grow the sport of roller derby and possible jumpstart the growth of a men's team in Ft. Smith, AR, the River Valley Roller Girls hosted a co-ed mash up bout on 1/30/10. Participating leagues were the GateKeepers (10) and the Arch Rival Roller Girls (2) from St. Louis while the remaining skaters were from the Ft. Smith area. The skaters were divided into the Red and Black teams, Black took an early lead and didn't look back. With some big hits and fast action, this bout surprisingly contained many first time men bouters from Ft. Smith as well as from St. Louis. The action was closer than the scoreboard showed. When it was all over the Black team won by a score of 120-49. Magnum, p.i.m.p. and Downtown Dallis were named male and female MVPs for the Black team and Boba and Vanilla Slice were named male and female MVPs for the red team. A great night of derby that will hopefully be the start of several guys derby careers.

Magnum

Both Skaters Repin Atom Wheels :)

(Pictured: Downtown Dallis & Magnum P.I.M.P)

Friday, January 29, 2010

Pitch on Stinger Wheels


Thank You Atom Wheels!

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you for your product.
I have several different sets of Atom Wheels because I am fortunate enough to get to skate on many different surfaces. Gotta have the right tool for the job.
Though all of my Atom Wheels work very well for their designated application, I am particularly happy with my Stingers. Our local rink is acrylic and there is nothing that I like more than going out and racing those 20 year old jam skaters. Sure, they are able to out sprint me to the first corner but because my Stingers hook up so well, I am around them and leading in turn two. Because the grip of the Stinger is so good, I am able to take long, full strides and make distance on them in every lap. They hate getting beat that bad by a 42 year old roller derby guy but hey, they'll get their turn someday.

Thanks Again!

Pitchit