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Professional Roller Derby’s comeback!

By Dave Marez

The SF Bay Bombers
Roller Derby was invented by promoter Leo Seltzer in 1935, during the Great Depression. Originally it started out as a marathon on wheels when it was first held at the Chicago Coliseum. It simulated a cross-country roller skating race in which 25 two-person (male-female) teams circled a huge, wooden, oval, banked track thousands of times, for numerous hours a day, covering a total of 3,000 miles (the distance between New York and Los Angeles). Eventually famed sportswriter Damon Runyon encouraged his friend, Leo Seltzer, to tweak the event and add physical contact between opposing skaters. Also, the teams of two grew in size to that of five skaters on one team battling another team’s five skaters. Contact included elbowing, “whipping”, and slamming opponents. The hits and falls became an instant hit with spectators. The sport’s popularity grew as it barnstormed around the country and even overseas. In 1948 Roller Derby hit television and became a smash hit, running as often as 16 hours a week on ABC.
In 1954 a new franchise was born and went on to become one of the most recognizable teams in all sports. The team was none other than the legendary San Francisco Bay Bombers. For almost the next 20 years they were the most dominant team in all of Roller Derby. Legendary skaters like Charlie O’Connell, Ann Calvello and Joan Weston all skated on the team for at least some portion of their careers. By the early 1970’s Roller Derby had expanded outdoors, filling huge stadiums like the Oakland Coliseum, Shea Stadium, and Comisky Park. The latter was where the all-time attendance record was shattered. Over 50,118 screaming fans attend that evening’s game.
Surprisingly, a very short time later Roller Derby died out. Leo Seltzer’s son, Jerry, who had taken over the family business in the late 1950’s decided to close shop for a number of reasons. At that time, Roller Games, a rival league which had been running for a number of years, tried to absorb the Roller Derby talent and audience. Sadly, they had a very different take on the way the game should be played. They put on games which were much more theatrical like professional wrestling. Crowds rapidly diminished as many Roller Derby skaters and fans, not pleased with the style of game, quickly disappeared. Over the next 35 years or so a number of attempts were made to try and either bring the original Roller Derby back or some other theatrical form of it. One of the strangest forms consisted of a figure eight track with a “Wall of Death” and an alligator pit. It was called “Rock and Rollergames”. Needless to say it didn’t last very long even though it aired on NBC and had Barry Gordy of Motown involved. Then around 2007, Jim Fitzpatrick, a former member of the SF Bay Bombers, became involved with an effort to not only bring the original style game back, but also bring his former team back. Since then, in an ailing economy, they’ve been very successful. The Bomber home turf has even expanded this season into Nevada. Fitzpatrick stated, “I’ve been given another shot at the sport I love. I miss the skating but love the fact I’m back with my old team and on the infield with them. We’ve even done some TV the past couple of seasons, airing games periodically on KOFY TV20 and some other local stations. We’ve also returned to a number of our old stomping grounds like Kezar Pavilion, the Cow Palace, Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Pleasanton Fairgrounds, Richmond Memorial Auditorium, etc. Last year I met up with NFL HOF legend, Dick Butkus and got my team on board with his “I Play Clean” campaign to end steroid abuse among young athletes. Being blessed with this opportunity, I want to help give back to the community.”
Something else Fitzpatrick wants to do is to hopefully motivate people suffering from chronic pain. You see, Fitzpatrick was injured a number of years ago when he was a fire fighter. “After getting hurt during a fire I went through years of physical therapy and treatments to become more mobile. Not just one thing helped me by itself but rather a combination of working out, watching my posture and diet, Myofascial Release treatments, Prolotherapy Injections and staying active have given me a life again! I’ve been interviewed about it on TV and in newspaper articles. I hope I can inspire others who live with chronic pain to not give up!” His positive thinking and perseverance might have a lot to do with the fact that since being named General Manager of the Bombers in 2007, Fitzpatrick has been voted GM of the Year every season and his team has won every championship. He’s not sure what the future will bring but he’s hoping for a lengthy career with Bombers.
For more information of the Bombers visit www.arsdbombers.com
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