History
Little is known about Mark D'Amato, as he seemed to be the type of man to keep to himself. Beyond the shrouds of mystery, what we do know of his past is quite brief. As many skaters can relate, D'Amato spend his childhood watching roller derby and fancied one day of competing within the sport. Attending the games alongside his father, young Mark would awe in the sportsmanship and especially the showmanship of the players. In the early 70s, at just 15 years of age, he fulfilled his desires to become a roller derby skater. "I lied and told them I was 18..." D'Amato admits. "I was fascinated by the athleticism and the theatrics..."
For 15 more years he would enjoy life on the masonite track before deciding to take time off to pursue other endeavors. Like so many other skaters who leave the banked track, they find it extremely hard to stay off the banked track for long. He soon returned to the roller derby life in the early-mid 90s and continued to skate for the teams he'd left in the 80's. In fact, on one such team he was a Bomber being managed by our own Lou Sanchez. It's been said that Mark D'Amato was the best worker for the Bay Bomber franchise, never having a complaint, an ego, or a problem. It was a few years later, after a call from a producer, that the legend of Mark D'Amato would be finally present to a national audience.
A new production was being taped in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The show would become known as "RollerJam." D'Amato was hired to train the rookie skaters for their new shot at television exposure. A lot of the featured skaters had little to no experience on a banked track, and it was Mark D'Amato's job to make them look good without harming themselves and each other. After a few sessions, the producers noticed a charm about D'Amato. He had the look. He had the style. He had the charisma. It was realized that his talents should extend farther than just behind the scenes. He should be in front of the camera. An offer was given to D'Amato to become the captain of the main rule-breaking team of the WSL, the New York Enforcers.
Upon RollerJam's debut in 1999, thousands tuned into TNN to watch Mark D'Amato, along with teammates Tim Washington (a former American Gladiator known as "Titan"), and Janet Abraham (the only ordained minister of the league as well the only RollerJam contestant on a game show at that time: "To Tell The Truth"), rip into the California Quakes and the Florida Sundogs on a weekly basis. TNN would bill its line-up of RollerJam, Extreme Championship Wrestling and Monster Truck Jam as "male-friendly" entertainment. It was apparent that the fan-base drew more to Capt. Mark D'Amato's reign of terror than to any other storyline being offered by the show. D'Amato was considered the top heel of the organization, and easily became the man that everybody loved to hate. Each week, viewers watched him live up to the nickname of "The Most Dangerous Man on Skates."
As with most nationally televised roller derby programs, RollerJam was short lived. It was cancelled in 2001. Mark D'Amato went back to the west coast and joined the American Roller Derby League (ARDL) as a skater for the Los Angeles Turbos. Alongside him was veteran skater from both televised roller derby programs "Rollergames" and "RollerJam," Patsy Delgado, and another individual from "RollerJam" fame, Brian Gallagher. D'Amato extended his grudge into the ARDL and wreaked havoc on the young Gallagher, and eventually drove him off the team. D'Amato proved that on and off the camera he's every bit as tough as they came. It was unfortunately 1 year later that another fight would come in the form of a slow, silent killer...
As time went by, D'Amato took time off the track to enjoy the finer things in life. He was known for taking trips to Colorado to ski, and would even spend time in Vermont tending bars and skiing the slopes with his family. At the age of 46 now, the silent killer chose D'Amato's final battle. On March 8th of 2002, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma had taken the life of Mark D'Amato.
The stunned Roller Community mourned the loss of one of their best skaters and best friends alike. It was hard to find somebody not touched by Mark D'Amato's incredible personality and character. In a eulogy titled "Our Beloved Redshirt," "Broadway" Danny Wolf of RollerJam fame,
(above) expresses the personal sadness felt by D'Amato's passing...
We here at the National Roller Derby League honor your contributions to this sport.
Mark D'Amato, we tip our hats off to you.
"Our Beloved Redshirt"
Most of us will never get the chance to live out
our dreams...Mark, my friend, you were oh so lucky.
Mark you were the man people loved to hate, and I knew
you couldn't be happier. For an athlete, a skater, a
personality that was "supposed" to be the most
disliked and dastardly villain in an entire
league...well, maybe you didn't do such a good job,
because you sure were so loved by your co-workers,
your friends, your teammates, your peers, and your
fans...and there were so many of them.
Mark, I interviewed you hundreds of times on
RollerJam. You insulted me, yelled at me, and
occasionally struck me...now I was living out my
dream. Right after each and every interview, you would
always skate up to me and quietly say, "how'd it go".
My answer was always the same...Perfect! You would
momentarily get out of character, give me that little
grin and say, "Good!"...You were always on.
You were the ultimate team player. You encouraged
the younger skaters with your advice and knowledge.
You'd lend your hand to those who needed it because
not only were you that kind of guy, but when it came
to the good of the show, you were always there. You
never questioned, rejected, or refused an angle that
you were asked to participate in...never a
complaint...team players like that are few and far
between.
Very few athletes achieve what we call "legend"
status in their profession. mark, you are a legend.
Your face, name and persona will never be forgotten.
As a friend and fan of yours, I will never forget you.
I thank you for always making me look good because you
were just that good.
God bless,
"Broadway"
