GnR has recently elected Mullet to join Blood Clottia as co-captain for next season.
Mullet seems to me to be an excellent choice here, and along with the changes that the end-of-season retirements will necessarily bring, I'm excited to see the GnR captaincy now supercharged with the Awesome Power of the Mullet™.
The impression I get from GnR skaters is that their captains act as sort of a combination of platoon commander and Girl Scout den mother. Okay, I don't really know what either of those things are, but the way I understand it, the GnR captains plan the practices, write the line-ups for bouts, and submit the official 15-skater roster before each bout.
They go to team meetings, league meetings, captains meetings to talk about "secret stuff" (Cherry Lipsmacker's description—I know so little that things that are secret from rollergirls aren't even unknown unknowns for me), more meetings, extra meetings, and meta-meetings to decide what meetings they'll have next (now that I think about it, there may not actually be as many meetings as they suggested there were—I'll try to meet with them and get back to you about that).
They make sure that their skaters are covering all their required volunteer hours (like setting up and tearing down after bouts) and selling all their bout tickets. They explain to the other teams that when the Harmacist calls them names, it means she likes them (a lot like with twelve-year-old boys). And they let those skaters who they couldn't fit onto the roster for a bout know that they won't be skating for that bout but that they have to be there just the same.
On top of that, the GnR captains take primary responsibility for the overall team strategy, which seems less about X's and O's on chalkboards and more about keeping the team and the individual skaters focused on and excited about the goals they've all agreed on.
And then they're the first in line to drag a skater out of whatever wallow she's headed for after a rough bout: When one of the GnRs is sneaking out of the hangar and thinking she's off to pitch her new Riedell 595s into the next dumpster and head home alone with a case of PBR tallboys, a box of wine, and a fifth of Jägermeister to scrounge through her phone's call history and see if she might still have the number of that "roommate" she kicked out two years ago—the one who the other GnRs know only as "Lying, Cheating, Satan-Spawn (with Multiple Open Sores)"—it's the GnR captains who are first to intervene with kind words and sincere renditions of 1980s power ballads.
(You really haven't lived until you've you've seen Blood break out Toto's "Africa" or Mullet's heartfelt-but-not-overblown "Every Rose Has Its Thorn.")
Mullet replaces Viva Vendetta, who has announced her free agency. After four seasons skating for GnR, Viva figures that she's probably only got one or two seasons left in her (see previous post about how long skaters can keep this up), and she wants to see what things are like skating for a different team.
I haven't heard any of the GnRs say anything that's not totally supportive of her decision, and no, none of that "support" has sounded like "Yes, I love it that Viva's gonna go skate somewhere else--it'll be great not to have her dragging us down anymore!"
And it's not like Blood Clottia wasn't a Betty in some alternate universe. Not that she wasn't sexy in red, but I do think that Blood looks much better in black (or a leopard-print unitard, depending on the occasion).
So whatcha think about Mullet-powered GnR in 2010?
\m/
Mullet has been an exciting skater and a big personality since she joined the league. I don't know her personally, but look forward to her teaming up with Blood as Co-Captain.
ReplyDeleteWill certainly miss Viva as a G'n'R mainstay, but look forward to seeing what she does next and with whom. She cut a great groove in her Guns career and she's one of the skaters who kept me coming back as a fan. Best to her.
I feel the need to clarify and explain the following:
ReplyDelete"They explain to the other teams that when the Harmacist calls them names, it means she likes them (a lot like with twelve-year-old boys)."
First off, it's not like it's a big secret that I like twelve-year-old boys........I've liked them since I was 12, so, really, this is a long-term, commited relationship-type thing.
Second, while it's true that I like yelling at the derby ladies and I do, in fact, like the ones I yell at, it in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM is
'a lot like with twelve-year-old boys'. But I refuse to go into those very private details.
Thanks for letting me set the record straight.
P.S. this blog would rock much more if the gnr would occasionally glance at it and respond.
I'm super excited for 2010! The Rockers are on a much needed break, camping, floating down the river, rock concerts, outdoor skating, Vegas, and possibly doing some major off season training.
ReplyDelete