Women’s flat track roller derby returned to Morristown last
night in a double header with inland teams taking on two shore based teams:
The Jerzey Derby Brigade Corporal
Punishers vs. the Jersey Shore Roller Girls Beat Down
and
Garden State Roller Girls Brick City Bruisers vs. Shore Points Roller Derby Boardwalk Brawlers
The first bout was exciting from start to finish. Time and
again, the Punishers built a
substantial lead only to see it vanish. For the Punishers #22 Apocelyse put the first points on the board in the
second jam. #3684 CaliforniKate built the lead. Both jammed extraordinarily
well and successfully for the rest of the bout. But a power jam by #356 sevral
minutes into the game Novapain put the Beat
Down into a 1-point lead. The Punishers in turn recovered the lead and
built up a 20-point advantage only to see #355 Soco eliminate all but 3 points
of that lead in a power jam. This pattern continued for the rest of the game.
At the start of the very last jam the score stood at 161-141 in favor of Punishers. The whistle blew with a
nail-bitingly close win for the Punishers 165-158.
Blocking by both teams was aggressive and well organized, with special mention
to Beast Witherspoon and Purple Krush.
The second bout was also good hard fought derby, but the
power edge of the Brick City Bruisers
appeared quickly and persisted throughout the bout. Most often, the difference between
two experienced teams shows up in defensive blocking, but the Bruisers and the Brawlers were pretty well matched in this regard. In this case the Bruisers’ advantage came from a depth of
skilled and effective jammers including #110 Tess T Rossa (who scored 34 points
in a single jam early in the bout), #9999 Tifa Knoxhard, and the very fast #992
Anita Chainsaw: all of them adept at powering through defensive lines and
weaving through holes in them. The Brawlers
jammers had their moments too, notably #66 Sleyre, #511 Eiffel Terror, and
#1979 Kid Vicious. Yet despite good blocking strategy and execution by both
sides (special mention to Clara Form and Sweet Action Sally), the Garden State
Roller Girls Brick City Bruisers built
an early commanding lead and expanded it throughout the bout. Final score was 378-106 in favor of the Bruisers.
Promise Ring: Jersey Shore
Well, you had a pretty exciting weekend. I cleaned house some, and later went to an art gallery opening. One a little dull, while the other stimulating. Later I watched a Dr. Who Pertwee ep. of The Green Death. All in all, I enjoy my weekends.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds a bit more intellectual than my weekend (including Dr Who), but I'd still probably pick derby. Actually, after faltering for a couple decades, derby got its second wind in Texas thanks to the women's leagues started there in 2000; its popularity re-blossomed from there. If you haven't seen it, I recommend the flick Whip It set in Austin.
DeleteI do remember late night derby on TV. Golly that had to be in the late 80's. But I have not seen a televised derby on TV in a long time. Perhaps if you had one of those cable sports networks you might could catch one. I'd often wondered if it was still a going thing in certain areas of Texas. Dallas or Houston may have a team, I just don't know. I remember you reviewing Whip It, sounded interesting.
ReplyDeleteYou're in Tyler? It looks like your local team is the East Texas Bombers
DeleteNext bout: October 24: East Texas Bombers vs River Valley Rollergirls
at the Nacogdoches County Exposition & Civic Center
http://www.easttexasbombers.com/about-etxb/