Welcome to CFDD’s newest blogroll, “Do You Know This Dame?” It’s a new monthly post featuring an interview with one of our dames, but the special dame isn’t chosen by the team. Rather you, the fans, choose via Facebook and Twitter, then ask the burning questions we all want the answers to. Our spotlight dame this month is rookie Funky Cold Mestinka #729.
Stinka’s athletic career started when she was seven. Her big sister, fellow dame The Jen-A-Roll, started speed skating and Stinka followed suite.
“I did it for a couple year,” Stinka said. “I’ve never been very competitive, and it wasn’t for me, so I quit.”
Beyond speed skating, Stinka’s attraction to glitter and glitz drew her to dance.
“The costumes always had sparkles of some sort, so I was in heaven.” she said. “I’ve always been really crafty and have a strong belief that everything is better with glitter. I’m guessing the carpet in my mom’s house has a good inch or two of glitter imbedded in it.”
So, Do you know this dame?
1. Do you see all this dog crap? (You may need to explain this one.) -Lisa Haza
I worked at Family Video for five years, and I have SOOOO many stories. There was a customer who kept yelling “do you see all this dog crap?” at us, in a pretty violent manner. There’d been a construction worker that came in before him and was leaving a dirt and mud trail behind him. We were waiting for him to leave before we vacuumed, as to not seem rude to Mr. Muddyfeet, but the other customer was clearly offended by it. It obviously wasn’t dog crap, as there was no smell, but Sir Yells A Lot was convinced it was.
2. How has roller derby changed your life? -Mark Reid
Derby has been nothing but positive. I’ve had to push myself physically, which hadn’t happened since high school. It has built my confidence, and I find myself speaking up when I feel I’ve been done wrong, which previously wasn’t the case. And I have a lot of new friends. As I got older, I found I only had a few close friends. Now I know if I want to go do something, I can ask my derby sisters and I’m sure at least a couple will go.
3. How did you come up with your name? -John Logan
Coming up with my name was seriously one of the most stressful things I’ve come across in derby. I stayed home from practice one night when I was injured and did a rapid fire name session with my fiancee. I was seriously almost in tears because everything good was taken. Now, I’m not sure if I heard the song “Funky Cold Medina” and it popped into my head or what, but I was sitting on the couch and laughed at the thought of my name being Funky Cold Mestinka. I figured, why not go with that. Maybe it’ll make someone laugh.
4. What’s your best derby story? -Candy Hanrahan
One of my favorites was fairly early in the season. We fresh meat were still getting to know each other. During a plow stop drill, my now derby wife, J.J., was behind me. We all did our plow stops, but J.J. didn’t get stopped. She ended up right behind me and just hugged me, and I stopped us both. That was a bonding moment for us.
5. What injury do you fear the most? -Jeremy and Linda Hunt
I have a persistent injury that I’m coming back from. I took a fall wrong and thought I’d just pulled a nerve in my inner thigh. I continued to skate and fell on the injury. I injured my sciatic nerve and have had to go to a sports therapist multiple times now. Derby has made me make the adult decision of when I am healthy enough to skate and when I need to give myself a break. It’s totally not fun having to watch your friends skate because of injury, but it’s necessary.
6. Is there such a thing as too much glitter? -Anvil SmasHerNasty
There is no such thing as too much glitter or too many rhinestones. My former roommate said, in all seriousness, “don’t bedazzle the toilet paper.” I blame my dance background and love of sparkly costumes for my obsession of all things shiny.
7. Is it true you sweat glitter? -Page Waters
I wish I sweat glitter. Glitter smells WAY better than whatever I sweat at practice. 
8. If you could have a personal intro song, which song would it be? -John Michael Murphy
The obvious intro song would be “Funky Cold Medina,” but I think I’d rather have “Mo Money, Mo Problems.”
9. What is your favorite cupcake? -Shrewd Bury-more
I made chocolate cupcakes with homemade peanut butter icing, and they were fabulous. Any cupcake is great though. Cupcakes are definitely my drug of choice.
10. What is the most surprising thing you have learned from derby? -SLAMbot
Looking back to January (the start of my fresh meat period,) I can’t believe how much I’ve pushed myself both physically and mentally. Without a wonderful support system (my team, fiancee, family and friends,) I wouldn’t have made it through the first month. I was sure I was the worst person to ever come along, but once I started going to every practice I could, I saw an improvement