10. Some penalties are worth it. Whether it makes me a "bad derby girl" or not, I was damn proud of my one major penalty, and I wouldn't trade it in to play safer.
9. Soup is not always a good thing.
8. Car rides seem much shorter when you're laughing the whole way there and back.
7. The score does not always reflect how hard you play. We lost by almost 200 points, and I am still damn proud of how we played out there. Whatever the score, we made them work for it - down jammers, down some of our hardest hitters, we made them work for it.
6. Chatty girls are awesome on and off the track (and a big shout-out and congrats to Rita on her trial-by-fire first bout!).
5. Focus is not an unreachable goal.
4. Losing but learning something very important makes the loss worth it. There's no pride lost if you try your hardest.
3. I CAN. In spite of all the insecurity I've had this season about whether or not I'm pulling my weight, I proved to myself yesterday that, just as I suspected, the only person keeping me from reaching my potential was me.
2. Minnesota may have ugly colors, but they looked amazing out there last night with their death defying jammers and their speedy blockers.
1. I love my derby family. Amyn and Saintly reminded us to feel pride in what we've accomplished, no matter the loss. Scar and Bea reminded me that each and every one of us has that fire inside us, we just need the right atmosphere to release it. Beezy reminded me that if you get knocked down eight times, the important thing is that you get up eight times. Loss or not, I loved yesterday, and I needed it. I've never felt so strongly that this was the right place for me to be.
