CARIBOU, Maine (WAGM) – Professional Roller Derby competitions started in the 1940′s and quickly gained popularity. Fast forward to today and it can be hard to find. A group in Caribou has been keeping the sport alive in the County for 11 years.
“In the roller derby scene you basically have blockers and you have jammers. The jammer is the person who’s going to do the scoring for you but the blockers need to protect that jammer, help them make a hole, and to be able to make laps around to score on the other team,” said the voice of the Aroostook Roller Derby Marcel “Megaphone” Bosse.
To be able to compete in this competitive sport takes individual talent and practice. But the team aspect is crucial.
“Well, wherever you go whenever you see one girl you’re seeing at least two or three more and these ladies, there’s also gentleman who participate in the roller derby, they’re very close knit, they all know each other well and they all have to work together. Any other team such as basketball team or football team or any of those teams. Even NASCAR teams, they all have to work together. One member needs to know what the other member’s going to do so they can work together and get the job done,” said Bosse.
The sport of Roller Derby is very fun but there is some danger to it.
“What we do is rough it is slightly dangerous. A fun fact is we had to have Roller Derby legalized in the state of Maine because we are literally assaulting each other. So we had to go in front of a board and get it legalized. So it’s very important that we all get along. You know, there’s very little pettiness and cattiness amongst us we are considered family on and off skates. We get together off skates as much as we do on skates so it is very important,” said Angela “Barrucuda Barbie” McCarty.
Even though Roller Derby is a physical contact sport. The Aroostook Roller Derby league takes precautions.
“The funnest part is that they’re pushing each other around nobody’s hurting each other they all have safety gear on. It’s a contact sport but not a violent contact sport. They’re not allowed to close a fist or elbow anybody or anything like that. It’s a matter of using the hips and pushing people out of the way, basically a shoulder-to-shoulder type thing. There’s contact but not contact that’s going to hurt anybody that’s what they’re trying to avoid,” said Bosse.
The league isn’t exclusive to anyone. They meet 6-8PM on Tuesdays and 9-11AM on Sundays.
“There’s still people almost 11 years later that are like I didn’t know this was around here I didn’t know it existed. It’s like really? Why don’t you come watch I try to get people just to pop into practice all the time because you are free to show up and check us out when we’re practicing so I really want people to know that yes it’s dangerous but that’s why you wear full gear, that’s why there’s seven refs to a game and that’s why there’s so many rules and there’s legal target zones from here to here there’s no hitting in the back. There’s a lot of safety involved,” said McCarty.
Even if you’re worried about the contact, they are in need of referees and other non-skating positions.
Fan of Boca Juniors cheers prior a match as part of Liga Profesional 2022 at Estadio Alberto J. … [+] Armando on October 23, 2022 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Marcos Brindicci/Getty Images)
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This weekend Manchester City take on Arsenal in the Premier League, and in Italy Inter and Milan meet in the derby, whilst Napoli travel to Torino to face Juventus. It doesn’t get much bigger than fixtures as special as those. Apart from, of course, the ‘Superclásico.’
Boca Juniors host River Plate this Saturday in what might well be the biggest football rivalry on the planet. Both teams are known worldwide for their history and success, but also for their pride, passion and colour. That’s why, even with domestic Argentinian football going through a rough period, the world will tune in to watch this match on Saturday.
River Plate and Boca currently sit ninth and tenth in the league table respectively, with both sides on 21 points from 14 games. It’s definitely not where they want to be, but perhaps it only makes the clash bigger, because if either were to lose the derby this weekend they would in effect be leaving behind any sort of title chase.
Boca’s victory over River in the Copa de la Liga earlier this season was their last meeting, on a day where action, goals and cards where plentiful, as one would imagine. That day Edinson Cavani was the protagonist in one of the most entertaining football shows on earth.
Boca Juniors’ Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani (L) heads the ball past River Plate’s defender Enzo … [+] Diaz to score a goal during the Argentine Professional Football League Cup quarter-final match between River Plate and Boca Juniors at the Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium
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Last season River Plate took the spoils in both games, the home and away derby. They also won the league as Boca slipped away from the Copa Libertadores qualification places, but this season both have a lot of work to do to get anywhere near the top of the table as they are both currently nine points adrift.
River Plate re-appointed the legendary Marcelo Gallardo recently, as their form dipped so low that Martin Demichelis had to be sacked. Since then, they haven’t quite kicked on, but they have steadied the ship with an unbeaten run and some great results in the Copa Libertadores.
Boca, like last season, have flattered to deceive. They were knocked out of the Copa Sudamericana recently by Cruzeiro of Brazil and in their last league fixture they lost another derby, 2-1, away at Racing Club.
However apart from playing at home this weekend Boca might be granted another advantage by the team selection of their rivals River. Despite this being a key league fixture and a massive derby, for River Plate it falls between the two legs of their Copa Libertadores quarter final.
Simply put, the Copa Libertadores is the priority for River at the moment, as they are only four football matches away from ‘eternal glory,’ and this year they even have the chance to play the final on their home turf. Of course they will want a positive result at the Bombonera on Saturday, but team selection will certainly be made with the second leg against Colo-Colo in mind, after a tight 1-1 away draw in the first leg in Chile.
With that considered, Boca should take the reins on this one, but River Plate haven’t lost in 10 games and they aren’t completely giving up on the league either. As always, a special atmosphere will bring Buenos Aires to a standstill on Saturday evening and beautiful chaos will erupt from every corner of La Bombonera for this epic football grudge match.
Guillermo Barros Schelotto coach of Boca Juniors leaves the field after losing the match between … [+] Boca Juniors and River Plate as part of Torneo Primera Division 2016/17 at Alberto J. Armando Stadium on May 14, 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Panic on the streets of Islington, panic on the streets of Tottenham. Yes, with apologies to the Manchester band that won’t be surge-pricing any time soon, it’s time for the chippiest derby of all. OK, there’s Celtic v Rangers, who have 17th-century geopolitics and Scottish company law to rage at each other about, and Boca v River seems like it can get pwopah nawty. From experience, Swindon v Oxford is one to swerve if you don’t like foul language and United v City can often resemble a seething mass of anoraks and buzzcuts, a right swagger-off. Liverpool v Everton? Often not a fair fight in recent years, despite Sean Dyche pulling off a heist last season.
So yeah, “north London is ours”. That’s what the victor in Sunday’s 2pm summit meeting will be crowing. They really don’t like each other, Arsenal and Spurs. Try getting a fan of one of them to say something nice about the other. You’ll be waiting a long time. And in the finest traditions of football rivalry, they are prepared to be utterly childish about it all. Hence the tradition that became “St Totteringham’s Day” – hilarious to Arsenal fans, a cringe-fest to outsiders – or a refreshed Jack Wilshere grabbing the mic on an open-top bus to ask Gunners fans what they thought of Tottenham, knowing full well the scatological response he would receive.
Only in May, Ange Postecoglou was flabbergasted that Spurs fans actually wanted their team to lose to City so that mob down the road couldn’t win the title. Ange, a straight goer from a part of the world where winning is everything, to be enjoyed with a few sledges chucked on the griddle, had never heard the bloody like. Perhaps he knows now why so many associated with Spurs refer to Arsenal being a south London club, when they deserted Woolwich in 1913, an Old Firm-like test of memory.
Thankfully, such silliness often finds its way into the football. Last season saw a 2-2 draw followed by a 3-2 Gunners away win where they needed to fend off a second-half fightback. That the two clubs have been fighting over similar territory in recent years has added further spice. Though Arsenal currently having their eyes on loftier prizes such as the actual Premier League title rather than a top-four place has ratcheted up the stakes, too. The absence of Arsenal slayer supreme Harry Kane – 14 goals from 16 matches, an awesome record – aids Mikel Arteta, whose own record of five wins, three losses and that draw is decent, too.
Why panic? Tottenham have started sluggishly, were rubbish against Newcastle last time out, and Ange is no longer seen as the second coming of Bill Nicholson. And Arsenal are having a right old wobble, drawing with Brighton when evil City win every game, Declan Rice suspended, Mikel Merino’s shoulder-gah and Martin Ødegaard’s ankle knack producing a wail heard across the galaxy. That neither Postecoglou nor Arteta back down in the chippiness stakes hopefully adds to the prospects of white and black (!? cheers, PGMOL) shirts swarming all over each other and perhaps a few scenes we really don’t want to see but would really like to see. As childish as possible, please.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
We have received explanations about the representation of the names and surnames of the players of the Latvian U-21 national team in the official game programme of Tuesday’s match, as well as an apology from the creators of the programme” – the Latvian FA accept the FIA’s admission that a translation error led to some of their players being listed as “Robert the Liar”’ and “Dario Sh!t” before the Euro 2025 qualifier against Republic of Ireland U-21s.
In reporting that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had signed a contract extension you mentioned that this was after ‘zero league titles’. Do you mean to suggest that any manager who has failed to win a league title in the past five years is undeserving of a contract? If so please note that besides the currently retired Jürgen Klopp only one man (the bloke at City) has claimed this honour. Might want to consider more realistic standards for retaining a gaffer” – Richard Hourula.
I have to say that I entirely agree with the view of Simon Mazier with regard to the previous day’s letter from Chris Wheal. I have counted the number of words in Chris Wheal’s letter and, following a recount, have reached the conclusion that his assertion regarding long sentences simply doesn’t add up” – Adrian Irving.
Hey, I’ll root for Maurico Pochettino’s team like any other red-blooded whoopin’ USA! USA!! USA!!! supporter (we’ll let you have those exclamation marks – Football Daily Ed). But can we please – please! – bring back the 1950 World Cup kit seen in yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition)? For a politically polarised nation, we can surely agree that a jersey with a sash will bring our troubled people back together” – Mike Wilner.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Mike Wilner, who wins a 7” vinyl copy of Manchester United Calypso, a soulful classic reissued by Be With Records. If you’re not a winner, visit their online store to pre-order your own. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
RIP SVEN
David Beckham joined mourners at the funeral of former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in his home town of Torsby in Sweden to hear tributes to a “genuinely kind” man who “loved good food and drink and travelling first class”. Addressing full pews in the Fryksande church, and hundreds more watching outside on a big screen, priest and close friend, Ingela Alvskog, spoke of a final months that had been “full of life” despite Eriksson’s diagnosis with terminal cancer of the pancreas. Eriksson, who died at the age of 76, had left “so many beautiful memories” and had “brought so much joy” and “a lot of laughter” to the lives to his friends and family, including his 95-year-old father, Sven, and children Johan and Lina and partner Yaniseth Alcides, she said. The hour-long church service, which switched between English and Swedish, included renditions of Elton John’s Candle in the Wind, Frank Sinatra’s My Way while a brass band played You’ll Never Walk Alone. Go well, Sven.
The ceremony was shown on a screen outside the church in Torsby, Sweden. Photograph: Jonas Ekströmer/TT/Shutterstock
