Reflections on......
The Roller Derby That Was
By Alan Ebert
The Office
Way back then, Bobbie explained the schism between the "office" as management was called and the skaters. There was an incredible mistrust of management on the part of those who took to the track nightly. Understandable. They were being ripped off. But those of us who had nothing to do with salaries and other "benefits" were largely ignored by the skaters. Only a few crossed the line. Like Gene Gammon who would come into the office, whirl Bobbie around in a hug, flirt with the other women (he was as skilled at that as he was at skating) and just goof around with the rest of us. He was great.
Loretta Behrens also didn't buy into the bullshit of dividing skaters from office. But then Loretta never bought into any kind of bullshit. Calvello would storm in, grab her fan mail and slam the door on the way out without a hello or goodbye. Murph was more friendly but never stayed for for any length of time. Although they were "peaceful" with one another, I'm not sure that Murph and Bobbie were what you would call "Buds." Weston, depending on what the Roller Derby News wrote about her that particular month, either hung out and charmed everybody or ignored us. She seemed particularly fond however of the then Roller Derby News editor, Sandy Lepelstat, who if ever there was a fish out of water, it was her. She was an orthodox Jew, very religious, deeply conservative, incredibly honest, loyal, trustworthy, true, etc. and thoroughly respected by every male skater. In all her years, none hit on her. And Sandy was attractive even in the garb demanded by Orthodox Jewish custom. O'Connell treated us like we didn't exist, although he and Bobbie had a really great relationship. Annabelle Kealey, a great friend of Bobbie's, hung out in the office and she was so unlike her "Slugger" image, A very shy but truly nice person. As mentioned earlier, I came to love that woman.
I was in total awe when I first met Russ Massro. When I was a teenager and Russ was on the Chiefs, he was my idol, the guy I rooted for. Although I never got to know Russ well, he was always warm and friendly to me. I genuinely liked him, particularly in later years when I met him again at a barbecue at Loretta Behens' home. Yes, I had heard stories about his "cruelty" as a coach but I always figured any guy with the good sense to marry Mary Youpelle had to be smart and savvy. Mary was just the best.
Burt Wall spent a lot of time with me, spinning fantasies (good ones) about a Roller Derby he envisioned in the future, including a diamond-shaped track. Burt had a great mind regarding Derby. He was an innovator. I liked him. I also liked his wife, the beautiful Bobbie Mateer who developed into a gorgeous skater and was always just great to be around. As was one of my favorite people, the truly nice Gloria Mack. Her husband, Billy Gardner, on the other hand, never said two words to me in all the years I was with Derby. Peggy Conlon and Bob Sumsky were terrific people, friendly and warm. I admired both of them as people as I did Gerri Abatello and husband Joe Chaump. Jimmy Ciota was a howl, an all around good guy, and Judy McGuire was a hoot. Just a great gal with a great flair for acting on and off the track. She was an astounding rookie and lost by only a few votes Rookie of the Year honors to Jan Vallow who was one of the prettiest girls in Roller Derby when she first began 100lbs ago. Not to mention a terrific skater who I had a lot of fun with back in the New York days and her time on the Red Devils.
And what ever happened to Darlene Dunaway speaking of that team? John Parker was also a Red Devil and a throwback to the villains who made the Red Devils box office in New York. May Hansen and her then husband, Pete Mangone, a great speed skater and jammer, also began at that time. Nice people. May called not so long ago and it was one of the nicer surprises in recent years. A good lady. Always was. Nick Scopas, Vallow's then husband, was a goof, always clowning around whether on skates or putting up the track. A real good guy who always had a smile for everyone. I last spoke to Nick when Joanie was dying and then again afterwards. Such a good guy. As was Dave Pound, with whom I once beached it in Santa Monica and with whom I just had a great time.
Hal Janowitz deserves a paragraph unto himself. In his year on the Chiefs, Hal hung out in the office a lot and I came to know, like, admire and respect him. With a great sense of humor to match his great skating style, Jan was just a damn nice guy, without pretensions or attitude. I learned a lot about skating from Hal. I really regret not having known him better. The office saw all of these people step in for their mail.
And the office had its own share of characters, particularly two ex skaters, Joan Spangle and Ginger Fogey. The word "ditz" could have been invented for both. And yet, two of the nicest women imaginable (neither could skate worth a damn) and Ginger went on to sell comedy material to none less than Phyllis Diller. There was also a remarkably nice and pretty woman named Joan Getchis who blushed every time Gene Gammon paid a visit. John and June Milane also worked in the office. He was my supervisor until Derby fired him and put me in as the Eastern Publicity Director. A former skater, John had a lot of angles to him, many of them bent. June was on the phones taking reservations. As was Becky whose last name I do not recall. A stunning black girl, every guy in Derby was trying to get to her. Then, too there were the "munchkins," John and Mary Silvera, the bookkeepers/accountants who" lived" in the attic at the 14th Street Armory. Ray Fenn, the official photographer, a truly nice man who probably had the greatest assortment of Roller Derby pictures in the world and his wife Kitty, were constant office fixtures. Also wandering in periodically were referees Abe Horowitz and Irwin Sacks, who also became a unit manager. Freddie Cohen, another unit manager, made frequent appearances until he took a chunk of Derby skaters and went "outlaw," opening his own unit in the South. That unit, I believe, perhaps incorrectly, became the basis for the T-Birds when Roller Games took over the Los Angeles area.
School & More
The training school operated right outside our doors and I recall the first time I saw Ronnie Robinson skate. I was totally unimpressed. But as the years went by, Ronnie learned how to skate in a style other than Gerry Murray's and how to sell a race. He was a good guy, always smiling, laughing and looking to party. Jon Hall had moxie and mouth from day one and I always believed he would be a major force in skating. Bob Woodbury had star written all over him from day one. It was just a matter of harnessing his attitude. The same was true of Dave Battersby who I thought would rival Charlie O'Connell as a skating great. But Dave had a penchant for screwing things up for himself. But man, could he skate!
Others who trained outside the office front door were Dusty Acevedo and Vinnie Gandolfo (both Red Devils), and Gail Fund, although I dimly recall Fund got her start elsewhere. Barbara O'Leary also trained rigorously and if someone had told me she would go onto be make a team, any time, I would have laughed. She was that bad initially. Margie Lazlo and Bill Laurino, both of whom I recall in the very late 50's emerging as major stars with the Bombers before the Bombers became the Bombers that kept the game alive were just great guys and great skaters. Sylvia Veramontes and Harleen Khein were also on that team I believe. Laurino was an athletic skater and a strong one. Had he stayed in the game longer, I think he would have been the match of just about anyone. Margie was a tall, beautiful girl with a wonderful disposition.
What I cannot place in time was my first experience watching Ralph Valladeres skate. My main recollection is that it was with O'Connell on the Bombers but I'm not certain that's correct. It doesn't matter. He was extraordinary, a dynamo on skates, with a style totally his own. Should a true history of Roller Derby ever be written, on the page reserved for greatest jammers, right up there with the very best would be Ralph V.
The office had its own intrigues. There was the woman ostensibly taking reservations on the phone for reserved seats for the game(s) but in reality was taking reservations for reserved seats in her bedroom. There was also numerous calls to bookies and others in "the life." One of my favorite people was Austy Dowdell, a former race track announcer and baseball commentator who did trackside announcing for Derby. A really nice gentleman whose advice to me, "the kid," was...don't get involved with the skaters. And there was nervous, chain smoking, aforementioned Ken Nydell, the voice of Roller Derby, a character as vivid as any on the track. Nydell held it (Roller Derby in the East) together but I never understood how since he was barely held together himself. He smoked incessantly, had a nervous tic and always seemed about to explode. His wife, Dottie, almost never made an appearance and for years I wondered whether she really existed. Nydell was a helluva character, a Saturday night drunk who turned mean under the influence. I wasn't too crazy about him but Bobbie Johnstone thought him a good guy. So maybe I missed something.
In my last full-time years with Roller Derby Jim Farley Jr, son of one time Postmaster General, James Farley, became the titular head of the New York Chiefs. Supposedly he bought the franchise and was going to clean up the game of its excesses. His wife, Pat, came along with his influence and she co-anchored the TV casts under the name of Pat Dillon. She was a long, leggy blond who was not adverse to the attention of the male skaters. The women however ignored her. The game was redefined and the pivot skater was introduced as was the designation of blockers and jammers, with helmets to define all. The year was 1960 or thereabouts. Farley had a vision that matched mine. Clean up the game. Restore the game. Gain the respect of sports writers and march on to sports world acceptance and legitimacy. He bailed however as soon as the going got rough.
The Chiefs of that year of great experiment were coached by Buddy Atkinson and under him we saw rookie sensations Mike Gammon and Buddy Atkinson Jr emerge as major stars. Mike, in particular, was incredible. His parentage (Gerry Murray and the brilliant Paul Milane) showed. For my money, Mike was the best skater of the track and jammer I have ever seen. Had he the size to match the talent, he would have surpassed O'Connell, Copeland, and Monte as the best ever. Atkinson Jr. was also phenomenal. He had the size and even the dexterity and agility until his weight got out of hand. Also on that men's team was Butch Knerr, Jay Shaw, Billy Gardner and Pete Mangone. The women were Murray, Judy McGuire, Gloria Mack, May Hansen, Emily "Tip Top" Levinger (she looked like she was going to be a major star), a moody skater and girl, Sandra Morse, Janice Williams and Dru Scott. And mostly they could skate. Dru was one of the more genetically untalented skaters I've ever seen to take the track but she was also one of the hardest workers. She willed herself into becoming a skater. Not a great one but a highly competitive one. I will always remember her getting legitimately pissed at Midge and tearing off after her with murder in her eyes. Had it not been for Atkinson Sr. who put a flying tackle on her from the infield, Dru would have tried to take Midge apart; I suspect to devastating (to Dru)results. Midge would have killed her. Murray was brilliant with this "new" game. McGuire was a terrific offensive player. Some of the most exciting games I have ever seen were played in this format.
I remember one between the Chicago Westerners and the Chiefs in which neither Murray nor Weston could be moved from the head of the pack and not one jammer was able to get out for seven minutes. The fans hated it. Particularly the old fans who came to see the histrionics...the fights. The attendance failed at the gate and management panicked and the "New Game" was discarded in favor of the old. Falrey departed and once again stupidity and greed ruled. I say once again because if we go back to 1949 and the early 1950's, Roller Derby was on the verge of national prominence and acceptance when it skated its world series at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York, playing to CAPACITY crowds. I recall sitting in the top most level of the old Garden on 50th Street and 8th Avenue during the championship game watching the Chiefs beat the Westerners (Bob Lewis scored three to pull it out for the Chiefs) for the title. Never have I seen the kind of skating that took place the entire week of the Derby playoffs at the Garden. Or the kind of fan excitement. There were no fights, except one surprising (to everyone!) one when Miffie Mifsud and Mary Ciofani suddenly went down in the middle of the pack and started flailing away at one another. Not even Midge Brasuhn got into fights.
Everyone stayed out of the penalty box during those playoffs and skated. It was sight to behold and as a sports fan, I understood for the first time the greatness of the true Roller Derby game. So did the sports world.