Zebra Herd, Assemble!

For reference: I am not calling anybody out, but this is an awesome dialogue so far, and I’m hoping to respond to some of the comments so far! Love you all. (And if you want your comment removed from the main site, let me know).

sporkoftitan:

“Undefeated” .  This comes up in Ref memes from time to time.  Probably shouldn’t annoy me as much as it does.

Refs are at bouts for the love of the game.  Rollerderby is an amazing sport and cannot be played without officating.  Therefore refs love the game so much, they step in and faciliate a fair game so that the sport can be played.

It’s not Refs vs Skaters.  The Refs are loving the game so much, they put aside their wicked fandom and awe of the atheletes so that it an be played.

To much of a high horse?

High horse? Not at all!

I just wanted to comment on this comment since I agree. Sometimes the “undefeated” thing does get annoying. Hopefully I haven’t used it so often that it’s become trite and annoying! 

But that being said, there are times where the skaters don’t think that the other team they’re playing against are the enemy. The black and white stripes are the enemy. That’s the only thing that that particular image was supposed to convey. 

Though! “Undefeated” can take another form, too! We can’t be defeated. Because we don’t play. Maybe the “undefeated” is less “we always win” than it is “we’re not even playing!” I don’t know. I’m just saying there’s more than one way to look at it.

:)

merbyderbyschmerby:

If it only bothers you a little bit, it bothers me a lot.

It’s not a competition and the smart zebras know they aren’t perfect, nor are they inherently better than any other participant in roller derby, be it a skater, NSO, bout volunteer, or fan. Officiating is a skill that can be performed as well or as poorly as any other position on the track. It’s not a matter of winning or losing, but doing the job you’ve chosen to do to the best of your ability for the game.

I don’t know many refs that feel that they are better than the girls. Remember, some of the stuff that’s posted here is posted in good-natured ribbing. If I thought that they actually felt some sort of superiority to the skaters, I would not post it.

Of course, I deal with a bunch of folks personally that just love being part of the sport even in a support capacity and want to just do what they can do as well as they can. I’m there to help the girls, engage in some camaraderie and antics, and just have fun with it.