November 10 Intraleague Derby Bout

In its final bout of the 2018 season, the Jerzey Derby Brigade won – and lost. It was an intraleague game in which the JDB divided itself into two ad hoc teams: Turkey and Tofu. (As someone with vegetarians and carnivores at my Thanksgiving table, I’m familiar with this particular division.) The question was how closely the skill sets in the two groups were balanced.

Early on, the scale seemed tipped toward Tofu. #8 Lil MO Peep (Tofu) put the first 10 points on board starting a trend for the team that would last through the first half. The blockers didn’t noticeably pull their hits on their own league-mates, with Lil MO Peep (Tofu) taken down hard and #3684 Californikate (Turkey) stepping over the top of a downed blocker, and #128 Val Royale (Tofu) in a late power jam knocking on #66 Little Loca. Despite a power jam in which Californikate added 23 points for Turkey, Tofu finished still in the lead, 87-96.

In the second half the scale wobbled as a series of hit-and-quit jams closed the gap between the two teams and put Turkey into a 1-point lead. #235 A-Bomb (Turkey) expanded the lead to 114-108. #8 Lil MO Peep recovered the lead for Tofu in a power jam 118-125. #8 Lil MO Peep, #2 Tasty Twolips, and #235 A-Bomb all showed the success smaller jammers can have, able as they are to exploit holes that taller skaters such as (still successful) #3684 Californikate often have to power through. Blocking and jamming remained competitive and included close jammer-on-jammer action including between #235 A-Bomb vs. #8 Lil MO Peep and #66 Little Loca vs. #66 ShenAnakin Skywalker. In the final minutes Turkey edged ahead. In the final jam #3684 Californikate (Turkey) pushed through tough blocking and called the jam when the clock ran out.

Final score: 186 – 173 in favor of Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving

MVPs:

Tofu:

#66 ShenAnakin Skywalker (jammer)

#64 Madeleine Alfight (blocker)

Turkey

#3684 Californikate (jammer)

#530 Deadpoole Slap (blocker)

Scores 2018 Season