The 1950-1951 Season

With the 1949-1950 season being successful, there was much optimism going forward for the 1950-1951 campaign.

 

According to the 1951 Roller Derby Program, Leo Seltzer and company had huge plans.  There were plans for more expansion.  There was the talk of three separate divisions for Roller Derby.  One division would operate in the East, one in the Midwest and one on the West Coast.

 

Though attendance was high the previous year, it wasn't quite the numbers in 1950-1951.  It wasn't bad but noticeable enough that the plans were put on hold.

 

There would be some coaching changes for the 1950-1951 season.  

 

As mentioned in the last post, Johnny Karp replaced Carl Payne as coach of the Jersey Jolters.

 

In Washington D.C., Silver Rich would replace Bill Reynolds as coach.  Though Reynolds was a good coach and leader, Rich would eventually turn things around in the nation's capital.

 

In Philadelphia, Elmer Anderson would coach about half of the season.  In February 1951, he would step down because of illness and would be replaced by Buddy Atkinson Sr.

 

In Brooklyn, Sammy Skobel replaced Ken Monte as coach when Monte was injured during the early season.

 

Finally, in Chicago, Russ Massro would replace Bob Satterfield as coach of the Chicago Westerners.  He would be there for one season before going into the Army.

 

The season was definitely an interesting one to say the least.  Roller Derby was being seen live in new cities like never before.  Games were happening in Louisville, KY, Syracuse, NY, Miami, FL and even Havana, CUBA!  The Washington Jets were skating a series of games in March 1951 there.

 

Unfortunately, there was the television contract with ABC.  Following the season, Leo Seltzer tried to negotiate with General Motors to have NBC to sponsor games.  Unfortunately, it fell through.  A few independent stations would continue to cover it but one could see the handwriting on the wall.

 

The Chicago Westerners had a great regular season on the track and at the gate.  By late May when the Roller Derby World Series began, the Westerners won the season pennant.  There would be a slight change of the playoff format this season.

 

The Philadelphia Panthers finished sixth and were eliminated late in the season.  This left five teams competing in a round robin format.  All the playoff games would be held at New York's Madison Square Garden once again between May 26 and June 2, 1951.  There would be a doubleheader each night.

 

With the Panthers missing the playoffs for the first time, that meant that the Washington Jets would be making their first appearance.  During the tournament, they would win one out of the four games they were in.  They would be the first to be eliminated.

 

The Brooklyn Red Devils would also lose three games.  However, they advanced to the single elimination semi final round because the team scored more total points than the Jets.

 

In the semi finals, both the Westerners and Chiefs won which would set up the championship game.

 

With both teams undefeated through the round robin format, the Chiefs won their second title, 26-25 before a record crowd (back then) of 17,861.  

 

For the third straight year, Midge "Toughie" Brasuhn of the Red Devils was named the women's MVP.  There would be a tie between Sam Skobel (Red Devils) and Russ Massro (Westerners) for the Men's MVP award.

 

Bobbie Mateer and Irene Van Kirk, both of the Westerners finished in a tie for Women's Rookie Of The Year.  Lou Guzman of the Chiefs was the Men's Rookie Of The Year.

 

There was no winner for Roller Derby King but Gloria Clairbeaut of the Red Devils was named Roller Derby Queen.

 

Finally, Bert Wall of the Westerners and Gerry Murray of the Chiefs were the top Men's/Women's scorers on the season.

 

For more on the top awards of any season, please check out either the National Roller Derby League and/or NRDL/IRDL pages.  They are listed at the top and the right side of the blog.

 

Following the 1950-1951 season, it was announced that the Roller Derby World Series would move to Chicago following the 1951-1952 season.  More as to the reason for the change of venue in the next post.