What's been your favorite moment of being an announcer?
After one of my early bouts, I had like 5 skaters come up to me and tell me thanks. They all said, and I'm paraphrasing "It's nice to hear our names called every now and then, so the fans know that Derby is more than just laps and falls. They were all blockers and pivots, and they were glad to have someone who wasn't just calling Jammer names out all night.

This year, a skater told me, well into an after party, that she thought it was sooo great to have an announcer who understood the game. It was a drunken comment that came with the sincerity that only a few beers can lend it, but it was to her the best compliment she could give.

Those are the favorite moments. When the people who work so hard to make Derby great tell me that I'm helping them. It's warm and fuzzy and worth it.

What's the best skate-out you've ever seen?

The best bout I've ever seen was just recently, and was between two Montreal house teams; the Contrabanditas and Les Filles du Roi. FDR has been on a roll all season and have done very well. They had an off year last year, but came back with a vengeance and really have been tearing it up. The Ditas lost a lot of their core during the off season (to life, to injuries, to work and the like), including 2 of their top jammers and are rebuilding with a team of mostly rookies, and some conversations with some of their vets let me know that they weren't skating with any confidence or enthusiasm the week before the bout. The Ditas were also coming into this bout without their best skater, Georgia W Tush, sidelined with a knee injury.

I was dreading calling this match. I was a last minute replacement as the announcer who was supposed to call it was called away out of the country. I fully expected it to be a one-sided blow out, and those are rough. It's hard to keep the fans in it, it's hard to watch, and it's hard to stop from sounding like you're pilling on the losing team.

But the rookies, who had been beat up all year, stepped up with heart and reckless abandon, and they made a game of it. It was back and forth, getting the lead, losing it, and getting it back.

I was caught up in it.

FDR won, but not by a lot and definitely not easily. The better team one, but a scrappy team of underdogs showed they weren't pushovers, and they won a lot of confidence and respect, and it was just an amazing game that had my heart racing. One of the top 5 sport moments I've ever seen, easily.