Late March 1973 - San Francisco Bay Bombers vs Midwest Pioneers (2nd Half)

Classic roller derby

[@johnsmith-di2qm]

Thanks for posting this, Joan Weston, Queen of roller derby.

[@davidvincent1093]

50 years later and one of the first names that pops up and I so fondly remember is Joni Weston. I know you are likely gone from this rock now but I still think of you fondly and what you did for the sport, Thank You for the memories

[@JJN259]

Who is Joni Weston? OH wait, did you mean Joanie Weston? OK!

[@kenprice1961]

The "SPORT?" Did you mean the PHONY, SCRIPTED ACTING?

[@whatthefox4787]

Thanks for uploading. I was watching Roller Derby in the early 70's. Brings back memories 😉👍

[@georgegong6813]

Thank you for sharing this game. I believe it was shared earlier by another though for whatever reason I couldn't get the audio portion to play despite making what adjustments I could with the volume. Rare to see a game going into sudden death overtime as well. @ least one that's televised.

[@AlmostReady504]

LOVED the women's competition. As a young boy the Raquel Welch's Kansas City Bomber gave me 🪵

[@tommyhawke8843]

Skinny Minnie Miller RIP was simply the best,, catch me if you can!!

[@jamesdaggett6598]

Everytime they San Francisco Bay bombers played at the Oakland Coliseum Arena our family was at Trackside to watch the game the training school for the bay bombers was right outside the East Gate of the Alameda Naval Air Station used to go by it everyday on the way to school

[@jamesdaggett6598]

When I used to watch it years ago Joan Weston Charlie O'Connell Tony Roman peanuts Myers his wife Cliff Butler we're always on the San Francisco Bay bombers team

[@ruthlessgoat3702]

Roller Derby Rules! Greatest oxymoron ever!

[@kathykotlan1130]

Was a big roller derby fan in the 70's.Sent for release forms to train with Buddy Atkinson.My parents would not sign.

[@jamesdaggett6598]

We used to think the roller derby was a little on the phony side until we were at a game in 1974 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena we were sitting three seats back from Trackside and a skater got picked up and thrown onto the seats and they landed right in front of our family then we knew that it was not phony from that day forward we always got seats higher up it was actually better to get seats higher up it was easier to see the whole track that way

[@charlesb.6434]

Roller Derby was never staged like wrestling. Sure the skaters would sometimes play up a situation more than it actually was for the enjoyment of the crowd. But it was still a real situation to begin with. You didn't know what was what . Thats what was so exciting about Roller Derby.

[@kenprice1961]

And you actually think that was "REAL?" BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

[@RicardoGarcia-et6gc]

Remember this amazing stuff unbelievable.

[@alanmerrill5630]

I grew up watching this and Big Time Wrestling with Hank Renner🎉 Amazing times!!

[@lonl123]

Goodness, why did this go out of favor...Would watch this on Saturdays (After Cartoons) and spend an hour screaming at the TV with my mom. I was convinced at the time it was totally real....lol.....You know, they could actually pad players up and put'em on rollerblades and make it a contact, real sport and I think it would find traction and probably get popular. I know well never get Rollerball (The movie that turned me into a Derby fan) but you could really have a full contact Derby sport and if done right would be popular I think.....sigh...or not...maybe it's one of those things that has had it's time.

[@jamesdaggett6598]

I remember very well when the movie Kansas City bombers came out starring Raquel Welch it was a wonderful movie

[@DavidGolden99]

Did they put Joan Weston on the Pioneers in order to sell tickets in Chicago for that part of the tour?

[@michaelmcgowen8780]

By the time of this game, Joan Weston had been a member of the Pioneers since 1971.

[@Nicovertime]

I liked Darlene Forbes and Francine Cochu ❤

[@strothermartin5368]

It was a shame Jerry taped over games and threw out others.

[@michaelmcgowen8780]

Back then, videotape was VERY expensive, and many TV programs reused videotape for that very reason. VCR's had yet to be introduced for sale to the general public, and were around $1,000 each when they first were in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

[@strothermartin5368]

@@michaelmcgowen8780 But throwing out games.Jerry had a wherehouse. After he sold his business,he just had everything hauled away. A former skater was talking about this a couple of years ago on the radio.He said, he's still kicking himself for not taking things.He saw canasters of videos etc.Just thrown away.The same with Roller Games.

[@michaelmcgowen8780]

@@strothermartin5368 That was 50 years ago, and no one thought about keeping things like that at the time. There was no market for sports memorabilia at the time, and those recordings would have sat around and deteriorated as the years passed. Who knew that 50 years later, we would have the internet and outlets to watch old programs like this.

[@strothermartin5368]

@@michaelmcgowen8780 I kinda disagree with you my friend.I mean games with Ronnie Rains with the N.Y. Bombers. He was way better with them,than with the T-Birds. There's nothing with Charlie O'Connell as a T-BIRD. Leroy Gonzales at his best as coach of Detroit Devils.There was a promo with Rains beating a skater as a Bomber but,it was taken down off Y.T.My brother had a 8mm of Charlie O'Connell as a T-BIRD but he lost it when he moved years ago. The Kangaroos etc. I believe those recordings would have been taken care of.

[@michaelmcgowen8780]

@@strothermartin5368 Don't know how old you are, but I was a teenager in 1973, so you can disagree all you want. There was no reason to keep those old episodes on tape as there was no way to watch them unless you worked for a tv station or production company. VCR's didn't become available to the general public until the early 1980's. I did get a VCR until 1986, and that was nearly $500 then. Pro wrestling promotions did exactly the same thing, tape over previous programs due to the expense of videotape in that era.

[@alecjohnson9911]

Is this like roller ball

[@user-bu7ko2or8e]

Do this day 50 yrs later I don't understand the plot of roller derby.

[@miker6570]

Look at old school roller derby like pro wrestling on roller skates. Now are roller derby matches predetermined like pro wrestling matches don't know. But you got to admit that they were fun to watch back in the day.

[@randomrickreviewsrrr4662]

Roller Derby NICE!

[@kenprice1961]

Roller Derby...........PHONY.

[@randomrickreviewsrrr4662]

@@kenprice1961 How dare you! lol

[@DuninhaMTV]

damn, what is that for a sport ? at first I thought cool, but it is very brutal^^

[@rgglick]

The out-of-control fighting was a turn-off for me. As I noted in the comments for the first half, it's Roller Derby becoming Roller GAMES. I guess that's what Seltzer and Company thought the fans wanted. Oh, well, the rest was history. It would be great to see CLASSIC Roller Derby return. I believe it could, if done right, with all of the cable networks there are today for broadcast.

[@kenprice1961]

It was all SCRIPTED AND ACTING. Nothing more.

[@berniecioffoletti3398]

I used to watch this: the New York Chiefs with Bill Groll!!!

[@1950Grendel]

I always enjoyed watching Mike Gammon get beat up.

[@wheelmanstan]

roller skating deserves to be in a sport

[@larryaldama1673]

L A thunderbirds

[@donniehagy5125]

I just never cared for Laslow. I saw her skate with Weston and they had absolutely no chemistry.

[@kenprice1961]

And I'm assuming you think Roller Derby was.........REAL?

[@user-oy8ek4mq2x]

Tim.vasquez of.broderick.ca.waas.afan.so.much.we.played,5on,5.growing.upin1969.till.his.passing.in1978.tucker.lazlo.then.weston.at.sac.memorial.aud.august.was.his.last.game.he was never to miss a game rip

[@kevinm6790]

Could you maybe say this in English without punctuation between every single word?

[@user-hu2uz5ni2m]

Do this day 50 yrs later I don't understand the plot of roller derby.

[@kenprice1961]

Just PHONY ACTING entertainment. All planned out, practiced and scripted. Nothing "real" but just something to watch!