Video

Mike Gammon was very good jamming alongside Larry Lewis. This was his last season skating.

No, you were watching the men's period. Go to either part 1 or part 3 to see the women. Here's the link for part 3: czcams.com/video/g1rzP8wLsBM/video.html

Thanks for sharing your memories! Judy was the best. She and I became close friends when she was coaching the Penn Jersey Roller Derby league in 2005-2011 with Arnold "Skip" Schoen (former Warrior). She was one of a kind!

Loved Liz and Psycho Raines was my all time favorite.

Tony Roman's last year of skating was 1981 with the IRSL SF Bay Bombers. His wife, Carol Meyer, last skated in this league (IRSL) in 1982. She didn't skate again until 1990 in the WRF with the Miami Renegades and Detroit Blaze. That would be her final year of skating.

@@JJN259 19:04

Don't forget captain Ruberta Mitchell, "Miss Excitement" Sonja Sims, coach Vinnie Gandolfo, Erwin Miller and a number of other great skaters on the Baltimore-Washington Cats. Judy Arnold was only on the team when they combined the Warriors and Cats (renamed War-Cats) in 1972 and 1974.

@@JJN259 boy those names do bring back the memories

Take my word for it, she was an amazing human being who loved Roller Derby as much as anyone before or after her. We were good buddies, and I am very proud of that!

I am friends with your Mom on Facebook. Please tell her I said hello. Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Joe Nardone

@@JJN259 looks like you and my Mom go way back in the day. Nice to hear from you Joe! I will tell her you said hello.

Well, Richard was purely games. Yes, he did come out of the IRDL/Bay Bombers training center, but he left Derby and joined Games after one game. There was always some competition and even some animosity between the two leagues. There is nothing they could say that would take away the talent and accomplishments of Richard Brown.

Which means he was good at what he did. If you're going to be a "red-shirt" aka "Bad Guy", why not be really bad? It adds heat to the game and the fans get really riled up.

Yes, and it's a shame that the only video of them on the Renegades is from 2 halfs of 2 interleague games with the Midwest Pioneers. Here is one of them: czcams.com/video/s4FJgZblqU0/video.html

She was VERY skilled and excellent as a red-shirt. The games were always exciting when Jan was skating.

The LA T-Birds were the home team (white shirts) and the Philadelphia Warriors were the visiting team (red shirts). Just the way it worked, but they should have NEVER aired away games where the fans' home teams were skating red. BIG MISTAKE!

What a great memory!

Patti Cavin. Before the T-Birds, she was on the Texas Outlaws, NY Bombers and Western Renegades.

Roller Derby was started by Leo Seltzer in 1935. His son, Jerry Seltzer, took over the league in 1958 and ran it until he shut it down on December 8th, 1973. Roller Games actually started up after two teams went to Europe in 1960 and came back to the states. At first, it was called Roller Skating Championships and Dick Lane was the announcer. In 1961, Bill Griffiths purchased the league (along with Lilly and Hill) and renamed it National Skating Derby...Roller Games. When Jerry Seltzer closed Roller Derby, Bill acquired many of the Derby skaters and started the International Skating Conference, still National Skating Derby, Inc. It lasted from December 9th, 1973 until the Summer of 1975. Then there were many "outlaw" leagues over the years on the East and West coasts and throughout the country. There is so much more history. If you are on facebook, you can join the group Who's Who in Roller Derby. There are hundreds of photos and posts that cover Derby and Games from the beginning to the end.

@@JJN259 … Thanks for the information! I remember watching the L.A. T-Birds in the early 1970’s against the New York Bombers. I always wondered if these games were staged. Was there really a New York Bombers team from New York? Or, did all the skaters simply live in the Los Angeles area and put on a show? The L.A. T-Birds always played at home in the Olympic Auditorium. They never televised a game where the T-Birds played in another city as the visiting team.

@@HemiVic - in Roller Games, you had home teams, like the LA T-Birds, Eastern or Philadelphia Warriors, Baltimore Washington Cats and Team Canada (which went by a number of different names depending on where and when they skated). The travel teams (or visitors) were the NY Bombers, Northern Hawks, Western Renegades, Detroit Devils (who did skate some home games around 1965), The Bucks, Texas Outlaws, Australian Kangaroos, etc. They would go to each territory and skate as the red-shirt visitors. The NY Bombers did not skate home games. On December 9th, 1973, Bill Griffiths acquired a lot of Roller Derby skaters who were out of a job because Jerry Selter shut down the IRDL (Roller Derby). He only kept the NY Chiefs and foolishly disbanded the SF Bay Bombers and Midwest Pioneers, making his LA T-birds the home team for all of California and the Midwest. In retrospect, I believe that was a huge mistake and he should have kept the Bombers and Pioneers, along with the NY Chiefs. He could have easily eliminated the Renegades and Latin Libs. Also, I believe that he should have had the skaters skate Games - style in the T-Birds, Warriors and Cats areas, and Derby - style in the Bombers, Pioneers and Chiefs areas and a combination of both in Canada (which is what the fans were used to). But what do I know? Just that Griffiths plan didn't work. Another BIG mistake he made was airing games having the fans see their home team skating on the road and as red-shirts. I know a lot of fans who hated that and some who walked away. Once the league lost almost all of their premiere headliners, it became more and more show and less and less skating.

@@JJN259 …..Thank you for the update! I remember in the mid-90’s, they attempted To bring back Roller Derby with a different track but it didn’t work! Was Joanie Weston ever a member of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds?

@@HemiVic - yes, in the beginning of the ISC - December 1973 through Spring of 1974, Joanie was on the T-Birds.

So happy to hear it!

Danny was excellent as a red shirt.

In 1977 a league was formed called the IRSL (International Roller Skating League) fashioned after the IRDL (International Roller Derby League), which was shut down by owner Jerry Seltzer on December 8th, 1973. They used old IRDL uniforms and brought back many skaters from the IRDL. This was the first season. The league lasted until 1987.

@@JJN259 Wow, I wasn't even aware. Where the heck was I? They must have been broadcasting in New York. I do remember seeing one game around that time but I don't remember the teams.