What a pisser!

[Chuck, a.k.a. "Mr. Neato"]

Well, tonight I am not a happy camper in the world of Roller Games/Derby! I had my camera all ready to go, brought it with me and when I picked up my ticket in "will call", in the bottom right corner of the envelope with my ticket, it said "No Camera". Now, pardon my Chinese, but what kind of bullshit is this? I mean, I love to take pictures at the games and now, for some reason or another, I can't? Am I such a threat with my camera that I am now no longer able to take my camera to the games? That's totally F***ed up! So, if I can't take pictures for any reason, no one else can either? I usually try to be supportive of Bob Sedillo, but I can't support him on this. I can respect his decision about this, even though I never talked to Bob directly to find out why, but this is ridiculous.

The Announcer Danny Rose, Rory Markas & Tony Trujillo all asked where my camera was and I told them about the "No Camera" written on the envelope, and all of them looked puzzled and even shaking or scratching their heads on this one. I don't want to put words in their mouths or anything, but I think that even they thought it was dumb. Hopefully all of you as well think this is dumb. I will say this, though, if he's gonna pull this kind of bullshit on me and putting the quash on my taking pictures, then he's gonna have one less fan in attendance at ANY VENUE they are scheduled to appear.....not like it's going to make any difference. There were maybe 75 people there all together. Rather pathetic kind of crowd. I was so bored, not to mention pissed, that I left with 7 minutes left at halftime. I'm not sure how the game ended, but this whole thing got to me. I like the skaters, they do a good job, no....they do a GREAT Job at what they are doing out there. Busting their asses to put on some kind of a show for us, for almost hardly anyone in the stands. I feel bad for them that I left early tonight, but like I said, this whole thing got to me and really pissed me off.

So, I am not sure about this, but like I said, if Bob Sedillo is going to pull this kind of crap, I won't go to another game. Thank you all for taking the time to read this on my blog. Thank you to all the skaters that are currently skating for RGI who like my pictures and are supportive of me and give me compliments on them. Hopefully, I'll get to take pictures again soon, but who knows. Maybe I'll take pictures for the ARSL instead.

Thanks again, friends! Peace ! :-)

Chuck

[Andy]

chuck i couldnt agree with you more buddy,,,i skated for bob and even us as skaters were threatend that he could sue us if we didnt turn over our pictures to him,,,the roller derby world has no place in it for an asshole like him,,,he will never change he is all about himself and screws everyone taking the fun out of the game,,i am 100% sure other teams will love to have your services and appreciate what youve done for them ,,but dont ever even expect a thank you from bob,,hes a snake and a backstabber ,,he is heading for certain failure anyways,,,,take care buddy and keep up the awesome pictures

[Chuck, a.k.a. "Mr. Neato"]

Hey Cory,

I don't know if I will be at pleasanton or not. I would love to go there and get some great pictures, but I am still scheduled to work on that day, and when I got the disappointment that I couldn't go to Kezar back on the 11th, my supervisor asked me how it went up there, and when I told him I wasn't able to go, he seemed like he blew a gasket because he had to come in that morning and help out, almost like I inconvenienced him. I'm glad he's retiring at the end of the year! LOL

Thanks, Billy! I appreciate the comments. I wish I knew what the hell was going on, but at least I got a place to vent....and have good people here who think this is dumb. Tony Trujillo, Rory Markas and Danny Rose were all shaking and scratching their heads in disbelief when I told them about it. I put my camera in my truck after a few minutes after getting my ticket, I was still dumbfounded by this, and felt naked without the camera in my hands. LOL Then again, I can always not get my ticket online, and just pay the $17 and bring in the camera anyway. LOL ;-) Thanks again! :-)

[Billy Bob Bibbus]

Hi Chuck, Lory showed me your comment on the game Saturday, that really sucked. What the hell is it all coming too? I would say, if it doesn't say no camera's on your ticket, well!!!!!!

[ATKINSON WAS HERE!]

Hey Chuck,
Are you going to get up to Pleasanton on the Nov 22 game, its going to be TAPED for TV. Their you can get some real good action photos. And then your photo's can be used on th new ARSDbomber.com site coming very soon, plus we can't forget about the Firebirds website. Good things are just around the corner for the ARSD 2009!


~ACA

[Chuck, a.k.a. "Mr. Neato"]

Thanks, Trish! I appreciate all the comments by the skaters about my pictures. Like I said before, I consider it a great compliment when a skater goes to my page and copies and posts a picture or pictures on their page here or on their page on Myspace. That shows me that whoever does that, likes my pictures, and like Melissa said on my page here, without the pictures I've taken, all of you wouldn't have much for pictures here. I'm glad I can be of service to all of you.

I've taken pictures with my film camera back in the 80's, so I can have it for my nostalgic reasons....and to reflect on those times. I have pics of Mike Flaningam in action, as well as "Crazy" Bren Futura, the late Ralphie Valladares, "Sweet" Stephanie Garcia, Debbie Garvey, Cindy Phillips, Randi Whitman, Debbie McCorkell, "Party" Patti Frazier, "Skinny Mini" Gwen Miller, Gina and Adam Gonzales, Sam "the Man" Washington, John Hall and other people who were skating when I took those pics. I look back on those pics fondly, and say to myself "What good times those were". The games now are still good. Some of the people who are mentioned above, are still skating today with Bob's RGI league. Most of them are around my age or younger, and the younger skaters are coming up in the ranks and do a great job out there as well. People like Trish Trash, Melissa the Assaulted Peanut, Brenda Burgess, Nay Nay, Shar Cirrito, Billy the Kid, Chato, Tony Stewart and many more skaters in RGI. The pictures I have taken of these games here in Pomona, and Antelope Valley, are always for my nostalgia, so I can look back on these games 20 years from now and can say that this was a great group of people who went out there and busted their asses for us, regardless of how many were in the stands. My hats off to all of you!

But truly, from deep down in my heart.....thank you to all of you skaters who have taken the time to compliment me on my pictures, and look forward to my pictures here on rollergames.com. You all are good people, good friends, great skaters and have a great future ahead of you in this sport, and I'm glad I am, or was, able to take these pictures of you in action, and have them saved. At least you have something you can show your kids and grandkids down the line. Thank you all for your support on this. It means a lot to me. :-)

Chuck

[trish trash]

I'm sorry that happened to you, Chuck. WE (Trash & Crash) are very appreciative of your pictures. I can only speculate as to WHY???!!!?? Seems silly, really!

[Tim Patten]

This is the last time almost all of these skaters have a chance at being SEEN. So photo them all!

LOCATION is everything now!

People don't go far for entertainment because of the economy. They also pick their entertainment differently. They look for QUALITY entertainment for their dollar. T-BIRD games with really old people is not quality.

Young people go out. But the old school roller derby has never been able to get younger crowds in, keep them past half time and get them to RETURN.

Let's hope things go better if young skaters take over! Young... meaning under the age of 45!

All this is why I don't go to live games any more. Let the new school entertain us with big crowds, fun fans and younger skaters.

[The Blonde Bomber Lory Weikel]

Hi Chuck

Yes most of the skaters appreciate you very much. We know you take the pictures for enjoyment it comes from your heart. We do look forward in see your picture. You take great pictures. Thank You for appreciating how hard we work out there. Thank you for your time and spending your hard earn money to come see us. So Sorry that this happen to you.

Take Care
Lory

[Chuck, a.k.a. "Mr. Neato"]

Thanks Cory. Yeah, I wasn't thrilled about the no camera shit. From what I hear from some of the other skaters, they look forward to seeing my pictures from the game. I think Matt was the one who told me after the 2nd game I went to in June, and he said my pictures were the talk of the locker rooms, as they all loved the pics. I mean, what is Bob afraid of? I don't sell the pictures. I mostly take them for my nostalgia, and post them here as well for all the members of this site to enjoy. In fact, I wrote someone else last night after I got home, that when I see another skater copy and post any picture(s) I took on their page here or even on Myspace, I consider that the greatest compliment.

Like I said in my post, if Bob is going to pull this kind of bullshit, I may not go to another game at all.

Tim, thanks for your input as well. I think if RGI wants to get more fans at the games, there are at least 2 great methods, and they need to be combined together.....1) ADVERTISE THE GAMES OFTEN, especially in newspapers. It costs only a few dollars to post an ad to run for a week or two. 2) LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!!!! Antelope Valley is a nice area, but it's way in the hell out there, and only the most dedicated fan(s) will make it there. I have no problem with Pomona or someplace in Los Angeles, hell, I'd even go to San Bernardino or someplace about that close to me. I think that they need to get better venues, instead of skating at a fairground. I don't think that Bill Griffiths, Sr. or Jr. would have them skating at a fairground. Even a local Gymnasium with their own bleachers would do better than a fairground.....especially if it were in a community center, or a park, as there are more people that are at parks and you never know, you might get more people there. One of the last times in Pomona, there was a tattoo festival going on there, and some of the skaters and others were passing out flyers out there, and there were a few people who came in from that.

I dunno, though. I love the Roller Derby, and have loved it since I was a kid, but after last night, I'm VERY disappointed in it. I like the skaters, and have made good friends with them, but I don't know if I'll ever go to another game after last night. These skaters bust their asses out there, for the few people that show up, but like I said, after last night, I don't know if I'll ever go again.

[Melissa "The Assaulted Peanut"]

Sorry to hear about last night, Chuck! You have been the greatest fan and promoter for the TBirds. It makes no sense.....