Detroit Derby Girls vs. Derby News Network

Posted on May 22, 2009

By Holly Hitsville

Derby News Network (DNN) was created in late 2007 combining the previous efforts of websites Leadjammer and Have Derby Will Travel.  DNN provides derby lovers with coverage on all things derby such as previews, bout recaps, live and archived bout footage, scores, and upcoming events.  In February 2009, DNN staff debuted the DNN Power Rankings, monthly interpretations of the top ranked teams in roller derby according to the consensus of Justice Feelgood Marshall, Gnosis, and Hurt Reynolds. I caught up with 2/3 of DNN to shed some light on the relationship of the Power Rankings with the Detroit Derby Girls (DDG).

DNN has the DDG ranked at #14.  Could you go into detail as to why they are there?

Gnosis: Well, the simplest answer is because we think that, if they played today, Detroit would beat #15 (currently Pikes Peak) and would lose to #13 (currently Duke City).  Every month we haggle it out, but there hasn’t been too much to haggle with Detroit.  We know that on a good day, any team in the 12-18 range could beat any other team in that range, but overall we’re pretty confident about where Detroit ranks.  In fact, the only time their rank has ever changed since we started doing Power Rankings was when Denver shot up after Four Corners.

Are there any controversies between the three of DNN regarding DDG’s ranking? If so, please explain.

Gnosis: Not really, no.  We’ve had plenty of controversies (I think Justice even called me “daft” once; that’s low) but Detroit hasn’t been one of them.  One or the other of us has moved Detroit up or down one spot occasionally, but we’ve always put them right back in the same place without much haggling.

Justice Feelgood Marshall: Detroit has stayed more or less static in part because they haven’t beaten anybody ranked above them for some time — not since 2007 Regionals. They consistently beat the teams they’re expected to beat, though. That’s partially just a scheduling quirk, as Detroit has recently played teams ranked far below them (Arch Rival, Grand Raggidy) or far above them (Windy City.)

However, we’re very much looking forward to the results of Detroit/Rat City on June 6, as that will be the first time since October that Detroit takes on somebody near their ranking. The outcome of that could very well make it considerably harder to confidently rank them.

Ok, it’s fantasy derby time…what team/teams would you like to see DDG go up against?

Gnosis: Oly Rollers.  I just think it would be a fierce bout.

Justice Feelgood Marshall: Well, strictly from a rankings-nerd point of view, I’m always curious to see teams match up against opponents we’ve ranked just a notch above or below them, as it proves our assumptions right or wrong. So I’d like to see Detroit play Duke City or Pikes Peak. I’d expect those two to be much different kinds of games — Duke City and Detroit play a similar style of grinding, defense-heavy derby while Pikes Peak likes to play a faster, slightly more spread-out game. Both would be extremely entertaining to watch.

If you could be a derby girl for just one day which DDG player would you pick and why exactly would you want to be her?

Justice Feelgood Marshall: This question is a trap! Becoming any derby girl for a day is a proposition fraught with potential unintended consequences. That being said, I have to admit I don’t personally know many of the Detroit girls very well, but from a player’s perspective, I would love to play a game as Racer McChaseHer — not many skaters have her combination of speed, stability, endurance and versatility. She might not be quite as flashy as Sarah Hipel or Cookie Rumble in her hits, but she’s extremely effective whichever position she’s playing, and seems to hardly ever get tired.

Gnosis: I’d say Sarah Hipel or Racer McChaseHer.  Hipel because she caused a very long discussion thread on DNN by officially changing her name.  I’m not sure if she was actually the first, but she was the first big splash, the first girl with national name recognition, to switch to her real name after years of discussion on the matter.  McChaseHer because she’s the only derby girl I know of who’s won the MVP award at a WFTDA tournament without playing in the championship bout.

Who came up with the idea to start the DNN Ranking System? Do fans love you for it or hate you?  Do you have any specific regrets about creating it?

Justice Feelgood Marshall:  I think the Power Rankings were originally Hurt’s idea, which came out of a conversation we had when we were made aware that WFTDA was going to a regional-only ranking structure, meaning there would be no more official national rankings. It seemed there was a definite hole opening up which we were uniquely positioned to fill.

I won’t lie, I was a little nervous about whether the derby community would find the Power Rankings to be a little presumptuous of us. But the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and, PR-wise, quite a few WFTDA teams seem to have adopted the DNN rankings as the closest thing we have to national rankings — with the knowledge that it’s still the regional WFTDA rankings that affect tournament seeding, as it should be.

I think that part of the reason they have been accepted by fans is because they’ve proven fairly accurate so far. Right now, we’ve got a record of 35-9 in games involving at least one ranked team, with three of the upsets being in super-close games between teams we had ranked right next to one another — Charm City vs. Boston, Oly vs. Denver, and Pikes Peak vs. Rocky Mountain.

Personally I think the most useful thing about the Power Rankings — other than the opportunity they provide for people to argue on the Internet — is that they are monthly. Back in 2006 and 2007 when there were far fewer bouts being played, a quarterly system made sense, but now with some high-level teams playing three or four times a month, quarterly rankings can get outdated very quickly.

Gnosis: DNN readers start hitting our site on the first of every month now and complain each day until our rankings are posted.  So obviously there’s a demand there.  I personally feel no regrets about doing Power Rankings and I’m sure they’ll be a part of DNN for a long time to come.

Photos by Colin Johnson.

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