October 21 Derby Double

There was no shortage of ladies on wheels in Morristown last night with a roller derby double header. First up was an intraleague bout by the New Jersey Roller Derby Junior Division (ages 8-17). The league divided into White and Blue. The ad hoc teams were better matched than might appear by a just glance at the final score, for while White took an early lead and kept it, Blue then prevented the lead from growing by matching point for point until the final minutes of play. Several skaters on each team jammed with success; #10 Mia Slam and #6 Luna Chick did consistently well for Blue and #15 Fast n’ Furious for White. White jammer #7 Darth Skater made a quadruple pass through the pack. Both teams’ were adept at forming blocking walls and making individual hits. Lead jammers more often than in adult bouts chose to go for points rather than strategically call off jams when closely pursued by an opponent, but this is youthful enthusiasm that is hard to fault. In the final minutes White expanded its lead and the young skater Bam Bam gave White its final points of the game. Final Score: 206 – 268 in favor of White.

MVPs:

Luna Chick (jammer) and Phantom Panda (blocker) for Blue

Bam Bam (jammer) and Alice in Horrorland (blocker) for White

**** ****

In the adult match, New Jersey Roller Derby (NJRD) on its home rink faced Wilkes Barre Scranton Roller Radicals. The bout was characterized by sometimes brutal blocking and unusual speed on the track. At a time when formation blocking dominates the sport, more than once NJRD blockers instead prevented a Radical lead jammer from scoring by picking up the pace enough to keep the pack ahead of her. Veteran NJRD jammers #11 Tuff Crust Pizza and #44 Maulin Rouge showed their usual fancy footwork get around and through blockers, assisted by teammate blockers breaking Radical walls, while #14 Ragna Rok scored points at key moments. #81 Burger and #2 Elysium were effective workhorse jammers for the Radicals. Burger repeatedly was able to simply push through NJRD walls or skate around them. NJRD picked up an early but very vulnerable lead and held it through the first half, which ended with the score at 88-54.

In the second half the Radicals returned to the track with noticeably ramped up energy and began to chip at the NJRD lead a few points at a time. Jammers for both teams often broke through the pack almost simultaneously and skated within a few feet of each other, usually causing the lead jammer to call off the jam. In the final minutes Elysium took the Radicals over the century mark putting the score at 119-100. Burger closed the gap further to 122-106, a point spread frequently overcome in derby in a single 2-minute jam. In the final jam of the evening #13 Sukkubus Strike broke through as lead jammer for NJRD and let the clock run out.

Final Score: 122 – 106 in favor of NJRD.

MVPs:

Burger (jammer) and Truffle Shuffle (blocker) for the Roller Radicals

Ragna Rok (jammer) and Rosa Ruckus (blocker) for the NJRD

Junior Laegue