Neglected blog is neglected...

Yeah. I haven't posted here anywhere near as much as I had planned when I started. I do feel bad about that, but let's face it - sometimes life just gets in the way.

Anyway, what's been up with Brad and the Socialites? Don't really know. I've been on a skatecation since the last bout on October 30. The reasons for that are many and varied, but it's since come to an end. I started back at practice last week and reffed a short scrimmage/demo last night. It was a lot of fun.

So, as we enter the sophomore season with your beloved Mr. Religion, what are my goals?

1. Double digit bouts. I want to ref somewhere north of ten this season. The more experience I can gain, the better I will be. This will require a time commitment and plenty of travel, but I'm willing to do both.

2. Ref/NSO at tournaments. This is a great way to see plenty of refs in action as well as pick up a ton of experience over the course of a single weekend.

3. Improve my skating. I'm already miles ahead of where I was in my skating, but I've got a ton of room for improvement. Once upon a time, I would have settled for "good enough to do my job," but now I'm looking for top-notch skills, and I'll need 'em for the next goal...

4. Work on WFTDA certification. I don't really completely understand this process or how long it generally takes once it's started, so I may or may not get this one done during the season. However, I'd like to get a significant portion of it done and be ready for the next one if I can.

5. Lose weight/improve my physical conditioning. This make take more time and effort than any of the rest. After practice my lower back is killing me, and it's a good thing that jams are only a max of two minutes, because my cardio is crap. I'm working toward this goal already - though I probably should have gone to practice today instead of typing this. The diet is already cleaning up and exercise outside of practice will begin sooner rather than later.

I think that about covers it - and believe me, that's enough to fit in to a single derby season. Hang out and watch for more posts as I work my way toward these goals over the next few months.

No time tonight for a full post-practice post... But, remember this (via one of my ref heroes, Jessticular Fortitude): The Referees ALWAYS win. More coming tomorrow!

Where to start?

Well, let's see. I should probably get the basics out of the way first. Hi! For the purposes of what you're reading here, you can call me Brad Religion. I'm a husband, a father, a guitarist for a punk band and the head referee for a flat track roller derby league in Indianapolis, IN called the Circle City Socialites.

Before my wife joined that league and I decided to be a referee, I hadn't been on roller skates since the fourth grade. I'm 33 now, so it's been a while. I decided that too much fun/amazing/completely weird stuff happens to me during my derby time for it to go undocumented, so here we are.

I'm almost done with my first season as a referee. To say that there were ups and downs would be an understatement...

I was so happy and proud of myself when the league let me know that they trusted me enough to be their head referee - the "ultimate authority" in a bout. I worked HARD to learn the rules and figure out how to skate. A true high point.

The low? That's easy. A week or so after they gave me my new job, I was rolling around on the track in the middle of a scrimmage clutching my lower left leg. Less than two weeks after that, I was sporting seven screws and a long metal plate over my fibula. Yep, I got broke off. Ref-on-ref violence is never pretty.

The good news is that my reffing really never missed a beat. Sure, I wasn't able to skate - but I worked my ass off to be a good ref anyway. And now that I'm back on wheels? Watch out, world. Watch out.