The Rat City Rollergirls are looking for a few good men and women to officiate at our bouts! If you've ever dreamed of strapping on skates with a whistle in hand, and you look good in stripes, you might be one of 'em!

What: Official Rat City Rollergirl Tryouts -- for Referees!
When: Wednesday, December 6th @ 8:30 p.m.
Where: Bellevue Skate King
Who: Anyone with proof of age and health insurance -- please bring photocopies of both!

Come prepared to skate! Don't worry if you don't have your own skates yet; there will be rentals available. If you have safety gear (knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmets, mouth guards), even better! The tryout process will consist of skating assessments, rules discussion, and interviews. Though there won't be a quiz (yet), please review our official rules here. Please contact brickwall@ratcityrollergirls.com if you have any questions, and we'll see you there!

The Rat City Rollergirls threw a rad '80s skate party to honor our volunteers and support staff on Sunday, December 3, at Bellevue Skate King. Our 2006 season volunteers and support staff (and their two-decade-old duds) joined us for some serious air guitar thanks to DJ Boo Berry's excellent taste in music, not to mention some Hokey Pokey and Locomotion. Speaking of which, it's no secret that our volunteers and the support staff are what keep this Locomotion running. Thanks to all those of you who helped us in the 2006 season! We're not worthy! We're not worthy!

You'll notice a few familiar names and faces missing from the game next season -- some of our beloved rollergirls are taking a break from skating (some for a while, some for good).

To our skaters that are going alumni, and retiring, we thank you, we salute you, and we'll shed not a few tears in our beers. We'll miss you. Please don't go far.

Grave Danger:
Ultra Violet, Lil' Hateful, Darcy Rant, Ann Munition

Sockit Wenches:
Dixie Dragstrip, Electric Fanny, Veronica Vicious, Ruby Red, Molly Demolish

Throttle Rockets:
Darth Skater, Interplanet Janet

Rat City Rollergirl Fresh Meat, that is. We had loads of amazing, talented girls at our tryouts in November, and we handpicked these amazing, talented girls to join the league.

It was hands down the most incredible tryouts yet, in terms of skill, and these rollergirls have already hit the ground skating. Be sure to introduce yourself and buy them a drink at upcoming Rat City events!

A big Rat City welcome to La Petite Mort, Dee Troit, Fresh Meat Bryce (name TBD), Sara Problem, Skate Trooper, Fresh Meat Aimee (name TBD), Maude Elletee, Wile E. Peyote, Sassy Chassis, and Siren Brimstone. And an extra special "Welcome Back" to Ms. Billie Boilermaker, formerly of the Throttle Rockets, most recently a founding member of the L.A. Angel City Derby Girls. We're thrilled she's returning to Seattle!

Once again the Throttle Rockets have proved that they can fit more fun into 48 hours than any group of girls in the solar system (including a big inter-league win against L.A.'s Angel City Derby Girls).

Their trip can be summarized as follows:
They came. They tried skating banked track. They drank. They got star tattoos. They saw Hollywood . They throttled ACDG 92-49. They drank again. They rode roller coasters. They arrived home tired but victorious.

Congratulations, Throttle Rockets! Way to rep-ray-sent!

Championship Bout Recap
By Scott Engelhardt

Congratulations to all the skaters, refs (well, most of the refs), the support folks and all the others who made last night possible -- thanks a ton for an incredible night of derby. For those unfortunate enough to miss the Championship bout, you missed:

• The Sockit Wenches putting the final touches on their very own worst to first Championship win.
• Darth Skater's final bout punctuated by an amazing final jam that sealed the Throttle Rocket win.
• The Professor Jake Stratton PROPOSING to Clobberin' Mame! Of course, she said yes.
• A marching band.
• A bagpipe band.
• The entire DLF team wearing, in what has to be the best underwear prank ever -- sorry Jo Jo, bright red underwear with "Suck it Wenches" across their backsides.
• A new Score Whore.
• An impassioned Molly D. Molish delivering a rallying cry speech for the ages (or at least for the Scottish Highlands).
• A kickass afterparty featuring some great (and not so great, but that's what makes it great, right?) karaoke. Wait for the pictures, trust me.
• Grave Danger and the Throttle Rockets "overruling" General Anesthesia when he called their bout with the clock under 20 seconds and going ahead with a final jam anyway.
• Lots of extra-curricular stuff during the DLF/Sockit Wenches bout. LOTS of extra-curricular stuff.
• A Grave Danger leg-whip between Femme Fatale and Rollin' Bayou.
• A half-naked Rocketman Houllahan running around the track.
• Femme Fatale and D-Bomb winning the Offensive and Defensive MVP awards, and then not being able to really compete due to sickness and injury -- both wore sorely missed by their teams (and the fans).
• Another jaw-dropping halftime performance by the Aerialistas.
• The synchronicity of having a prebout performance by the Flux Capacitors in the beer garden while 3 DeLoreans were parked out front. No relation.
• Prebout, there was a mad exodus out of the Porta-Potties when the guy who owned the dragster turned it on and started revving the engine. He was parked about 5 feet away from the wall right behind the Potties. People came flying out of the stalls like the Apocalypse had come or something.
  

Bellevue Skate King
2301 140th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005
Doors open at 8:30 p.m.
Skate rentals are available, but don't forget to bring proof of age and insurance!

Grave Danger presents A Nightmare Before Christmas at 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8.
Location: The Rendezvous, 2320 2nd Ave in Belltown.

Special musical guests include Colonel Ham and the Infidels and James-A-Billy.
Cost: $5 ($1 off with the donation of a non-perishable food item).

El Corazon
109 Eastlake Ave. East, Seattle

DLF and special guests Grave Danger invite you to come drown your sorrows about the results of the 2006 season. But hey, losing is the new winning, really.

Dress like your favorite losers! Play at our drinking game stations! Watch videos of games our teams won! (Throttle Rockets and Sockit Wenches and their fans need not fear us, this is really just an end-of-the-season party!) Help us drown our sorrows, exorcise our loser demons, and revitalize the revolution for 2007!

The Sockit Wenches urge you to join them and spend the last day of 2006 in style at a New Year's Rockabilly Eve on Sunday, Dec. 31 at the Highway 99 Blues Club, 1414 Alaska Way, Seattle.

You won't believe your ears at the splendiferous lineup of live music, and you definitely won't believe your eyes when you see handfuls of Sockit Wenches perform burlesque!

Mark the date! The Rat City Rollergirls are headed south to play the Rose City Rollers in an exhibition bout on January 27 at the Portland Expo Center. Keep your eye on our Web site, and theirs, for more details and ticket information.

(Also keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for details about Rat City's Season Three Opener at the Everett Events Center on February 24!)

Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities in the coming months! We like to reward hard working folks with free admission to bouts, as well as volunteer-only RCRG schwag. To sign up for future volunteer opportunities, contact Jackie Hammer at volunteer@ratcityrollergirls.com.