Tuesday, November 26, 2024

The 1951-1952 Season


Though the 1950-1951 season was a success, things would change following the season.

 

As mentioned in the previous post, a television contract between Leo Seltzer and the NBC network failed to materialize.  Roller Derby would eventually leave network television and go independent.  

 

WPIX TV was born in 1948 and became an independent station, something similar to KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area.  By the 1952-1953 season, WPIX would show Roller Derby once a week on Friday nights.  For now, CBS Television would televise games for Saturday afternoons for this season.


During the non Eastern season, the Westerners and Panthers would travel to the West Coast to play a couple of series, one in Los Angeles in July and one in San Francisco in September.  The Westerners would win the Los Angeles series but the Panthers would win the San Francisco series for the second straight year.


However, the Panthers success on the West Coast didn't last very long.  About a month later, the beginning of the 1951-1952 season would take place.  When the Panthers began their road trip in New York, they found out that they would be merging with another team, the Washington Jets.  For the next month or so, the team was known in papers as the Eastern Pan-Jets.  By the end of the year, the Pan-Jets were history and the league was down to four teams.

 

With a league that was down to four teams, the NRDL survived.  However, another problem took place.  Skaters that were on the Pan-Jets would be placed on the remaining four teams.

 

Madison Square Garden chose not to have the Roller Derby World Series after having it the first three years.  It was decided that the 1951-1952 World Series would take place at the Chicago Coliseum.  Per the NRDL 1952 Yearbook, the announcement was made on April 23, 1952.

 

The World Series would take place over five days from May 28th through June 1st, 1952.  Though the Chicago Westerners would repeat as the pennant winners, the playoffs would be a round robin format.  The team with the best record after three games played would automatically be in the Championship Game.  Each night, except for the Championship Game, there would be a doubleheader (two games).

 

The Chiefs winning all three games in the round robin were automatically in.  They would face the Westerners in a rematch of the previous season.  The Westerners had to skate an extra game just to get into the finals.

 

In the Championship Game, the Chiefs overwhelmed the Westerners, 30-13 in the most lopsided finals in Roller Derby history.  A disappointing crowd of 7,923 in a 20,000 seat arena saw the onslaught.


Barbara Mateer (Westerners) and Spec Saunders (Chiefs) were named Women's and Men's MVPs.


Helen Liska and Bob Gallardo, both of the Red Devils, were named Women's and Men's Rookies Of The Year.


Mary Gardner (Red Devils) was named Roller Derby Queen.  No award was given out for Roller Derby King.


Gerry Murray (Chiefs) and Bert Wall (Westerners) were the top Women's and Men's scorers on the season.

 

Following the World Series, the Westerners would take a few days off.  They would go on a Western Road Trip.  Their trip covered Phoenix, AZ, Los Angeles. CA., Oakland, CA and San Francisco, CA. over the next four months.  Their opponents?  The Panthers would re-emerge during the trip and likely with different personnel.

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