Field Theory by Hadyn Green

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Field Theory: Three games - two with pictures!

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  • Simon Poole,

    Hadyn, you forget to mention that with Pageant two points up in the final jam, Bikkies (the jammer for Malice) got sin-binned. With Bikkies out for a minute, Goldie (Jammer for Pageant) realised they'd won and literally started to dance on her skates. A great sight, but a bit of an anti-climax.

    It was a lot of fun. Limiting the crowd numbers (safety first!) didn't limit the noise, and we could barely hear ourselves on the track! Definitely looking forward to the next one on the 10th, unless I'm looking after the little one. I think we're calling him Mötley Poo at the moment.

    P.S: big ups to Megan for the ride to the station so quickly afterwards! I cannot thank you enough. The crowd on the train were surprisingly quiet, given the score at the test. I had to wait until Sunday morning to even find out we'd won.

    Since Dec 2008 • 161 posts Report Reply

  • Naly D,

    So one team didn't really show up and it was a bit of a blow-out. And while I loved it (fucking luuurrrved it) it was a wee bit annoying. Were the All Blacks actually better than they were previously?
    We kicked less, so that was good. We didn't lose a lineout

    It wasn't until lineout I realised you were talking about the rugby and not the gloooourious Saints. Though I wondered why you called them All Blacks, when they have white and gold as well, I wasn't going to argue.

    The comment about kids yelling things their parents want to hear, when I used to go to every 'Nix game with a couple of mates, there was a guy who would be in the same area as us every game with his friend and kid. They'd spend the whole game getting drunk and encouraging the lad to yell out vile stuff, one of the things I remember was a chant about turning the ref into a weather vane on a barn [can't remember the lyrics fortunately]. Disgusting!
    And Mike's photos make it look like there were actually people at the 'Nix game, kudos to him for that.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2008 • 307 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    roller derby

    Shouldn't they be in a velodrome?

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Shouldn't they be in a velodrome?

    It's flat-track derby with completely different rules.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Chapman,

    Skate of Emergency was awesome. Even better than March's Grudgemaker. Or maybe it's just that I understand the game better. (Discovered that you can't smash someone from behind. Suddenly everything made so much more sense. I'm going to try to learn one new rule each bout.)

    However, having changed my allegiance to Smash Malice between bouts, I would have been happier with a different result.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 135 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Poole,

    You score points for passing opposition players so having skaters in the box (maximum of two) was almost an advantage at that point

    Just noticed this - any skater in the penalty box has their point assigned to the rear-most player on their team, so the jammer only has to pass the one player for both points (or more). So no advantage gained by getting your players binned. Oh, and if a player gets binned 5 times in a period, they're ejected for the rest of the game. It's pretty hard to go 5 times, but Wax was doing her best. (Ironically, it was the Grudgemaker veterans that spent the most time in the bin, not the freshies)

    Since Dec 2008 • 161 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    any skater in the penalty box has their point assigned to the rear-most player on their team, so the jammer only has to pass the one player for both points (or more)

    Wow, there are a lot of fine details. We didn't tell the audience half the stuff, but turns out there's stuff we didn't know either. I'm just glad I knew the "not the lead jammer" signal.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Mike Thorn,

    Skate of Emergency was a ripper. Great to hear some chanting from the crowd when things started getting hot. But what on earth was with your co-host Haydn? Please make sure he doesn't come within 20 yards of a mic at the next bout.

    I have a rules question I am hoping someone can answer. How are the roles decided for each jam? There were moments when I thought people were being played out of position and I wondered why. Do players have to rotate through each position, or can tactical decisions be made?

    New Zealand • Since Sep 2009 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Poole,

    I have a rules question I am hoping someone can answer. How are the roles decided for each jam? There were moments when I thought people were being played out of position and I wondered why. Do players have to rotate through each position, or can tactical decisions be made?

    Positions for each jam are completely arbitrary. Each team had a bench manager whose job it was to keep track of players and assign positions. There're only 30 seconds between jams (and as you saw we were quite happy to start them immediately once time is up - any skaters not on the track when the whistle blows aren't allowed to join in late) so it's not really a whole lot of time for the skaters themselves to work it out. All the skaters train for every position (jammer, pivot, blocker) but obviously some have positions they excel at or prefer. Then there's the fact that sometimes a player gets sent to the bin and their penalty time carries over into the next jam - the team has to skate short in that position. So if a team starts with their jammer in the bin, and another jammer is refreshed and ready to go then jammer#2 might play blocker for a round.

    what on earth was with your co-host Haydn? Please make sure he doesn't come within 20 yards of a mic at the next bout.

    I honestly didn't hear a thing from the commentators apart from the skater intros - what was so bad?

    Since Dec 2008 • 161 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Poole,

    Hadyn:

    Wow, there are a lot of fine details.

    Yeah, the rules are fairly meaty.

    8.4 The Jammer earns a point for each opposing skater who is not on the track immediately upon scoring her first point on an opposing blocker. If the jam ends before the Jammer scores, the additional points will not be awarded. The following are such circumstances when the Jammer will earn points in this manner:
    8.4.1 Opponents in the penalty box. (The moment a penalized player is directed off the track she is considered “in the box” for scoring purposes.)
    8.4.2 Opponents who have failed to be on the track when the Jam starting whistle blows.
    8.4.3 Opponents who have removed themselves from play.
    8.4.4 Opponents sent to the penalty box that have not yet been scored upon in that scoring pass.
    8.4.5 Opponents returning from the penalty box behind the Jammer.

    www.wftda.com for all your derby goodness.

    Since Dec 2008 • 161 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Rugby wise, who was playing and what was the score? I suppose I could look it up, but completeness is good..

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Rugby wise, who was playing and what was the score? I suppose I could look it up, but completeness is good.

    The game was between us and them. The score was quite a lot to not very much at all. But you're right I needed a link to a game recap in there somewhere

    But what on earth was with your co-host Haydn? Please make sure he doesn't come within 20 yards of a mic at the next bout.

    Be more constructive with your feedback, please. :) It was Growler's first time at MCing and commentating anything so he was a wee bit nervous.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    P.S: big ups to Megan

    Not to mention for my mad score board skills, right? (Even if I did manage to constantly confuse Hadyn.)

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    But we still have this situation where the ball gets to the wing and finds…forwards?

    The backs crowd the midfield and we have almost equal groups of forwards on either side. I know Tony Woodcock likes sea gulling out on the wing, but this seems to be a bad tactic if we, with all due respect to Tony, actually want to score more tries.

    I believe I remember yelling this exact thing at the television on Saturday night....

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Chapman,

    Be more constructive with your feedback, please. :)

    Rebuke by Conchords. Love it.

    Personally I think you guys did a fine job. And given the event, I think it is great that everyone involved is an enthusiastic volunteer.

    In the spirit of constructive criticism though, one thing that did get me very confused was the couple of times you called a jam over prematurely, with the jammers still circling and chasing points.

    I hope you're back for Civil Offence.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 135 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Poole,

    one thing that did get me very confused was the couple of times you called a jam over prematurely, with the jammers still circling and chasing points.

    I can probably help with this... Chances are good the jam was over, but with the amount of crowd noise we had trouble hearing our own whistles, let alone getting the skaters to notice them. Odds are good that Hadyn and Tony were watching us/the jammer and the refs had stopped counting points (even if the skaters were still going). It's an ongoing problem and something we're working on.

    Megan: you did a great job on the scoreboard. Except for the very final score where I saw you nudge it up to 195 before dropping that extra point :P

    Since Dec 2008 • 161 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Odds are good that Hadyn and Tony were watching us/the jammer and the refs had stopped counting points (even if the skaters were still going).

    Yeah I was keeping watch of the lead jammer to see if she called off the jam (by placing her hands on her hips or, occasionally, crotch). We did screw up at the end of each half because we thought the jam ended as time expired and we couldn't catch anyone's eye to tell us when it was actually over.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    Chances are good the jam was over, but with the amount of crowd noise we had trouble hearing our own whistles, let alone getting the skaters to notice them.

    Not to mention, those of us timing were having real trouble getting anyone to notice us calling 2 minutes being up. You know the jam can end two ways, right Ben? When the jammer calls it, or when 2 mins is up - there were only a handful that went the full two minutes, mostly in the second half. You guys were so loud, and awesome, that the whistle blowing to end the two minutes was really hard to hear, even sitting right next to it.

    Except for the very final score where I saw you nudge it up to 195 before dropping that extra point :P

    Well, it is a VERY sensitive switch, and I might have been somewhat excited at the time. And petrified that, with my math skills, I had added up the scores completely wrong, and actually Malice had won by ten.

    I had the BEST seat in the house. I am still in awe of the girls, they were awesome.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Goldie Scorn,

    I can definitely vouch for the noise of the crowd. Word on the street is that I did three laps before realising that Boston (ref) had been yelling at me to go to the penalty box! ooops.

    Anyway, it was an incredible night. So much fun, and thanks again to everyone who came to support. Wouldn't have been anything without you!

    Since Sep 2009 • 4 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Chapman,

    Not to mention, those of us timing were having real trouble getting anyone to notice us calling 2 minutes being up. You know the jam can end two ways, right Ben? When the jammer calls it, or when 2 mins is up - there were only a handful that went the full two minutes, mostly in the second half. You guys were so loud, and awesome, that the whistle blowing to end the two minutes was really hard to hear, even sitting right next to it.

    There's so much to follow in the game that it's kind of a blur. I follow a jam mostly by watching the lead jammer and the ref on the jammer. I guess in the cases I am thinking about, as you say, the jam had run its two minutes, but the ref on the jammer hadn't heard the whistle.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 135 posts Report Reply

  • Tim Hannah,

    I can definitely vouch for the noise of the crowd. Word on the street is that I did three laps before realising that Boston (ref) had been yelling at me to go to the penalty box! ooops.

    heh, good times, she was just starting to look a little, hmm... frustrated? pissed off?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 228 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Chapman,

    Yeah I was keeping watch of the lead jammer to see if she called off the jam (by placing her hands on her hips or, occasionally, crotch).

    And sometimes bouncing her hands back up into a double bird.

    There was so much more attitude on the track this time round. I guess the Grudgemaker was successful in making grudges.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2008 • 135 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    There was so much more attitude on the track this time round. I guess the Grudgemaker was successful in making grudges.

    And not just amongst the skaters- people were cheering players getting sent to the bin, and one of the biggest cheers was when someone blocked Suffer Jet onto her arse. (Probably actually her knees, but it's not nearly as descriptive.)

    I couldn't hear them from where I was sitting (on the wrong side of the speakers/track), but I assume the MCs were doing a good job of riling everyone up.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Chances are good the jam was over, but with the amount of crowd noise we had trouble hearing our own whistles, let alone getting the skaters to notice them.

    I'm not sure how much noise you get at one of these events, but whistle quality is very important when refereeing in front of a noisy crowd. A good quality officials whistle when blown loudly will scare the crap out of anyone near by. Metal is much louder than plastic and size does matter. These are very good.

    Also attitude. In ice hockey officials training, the biggest problem is people not blowing 100% because they're only 98% sure of their call. Even if you're not sure, blow the crap out of it loud and long, like you want people outside the building to hear it. Better to be wrong than to half blow and not be clear. We teach our young officials that blowing the whistle is the only time you want everyone to look at you rather than the players. "Look at me, look at me, I am about to signal something, everyone look at me" is what a blown whistle is basically saying.

    (Sounds like you have to penalise players into the box without blowing the whistle. Man that must be hard)

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Word on the street is that I did three laps before realising that Boston (ref) had been yelling at me to go to the penalty box! ooops.

    You weren't the only one Goldie, after the bout Boston came up to Jet and told her why she kept sending her to the bin.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

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