B.A.D.G. March 14th Bout

Event: B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls: Shamrock N Roll March 14th, 2009

Final Score: Richmond Wrecking Belles 164 v S.F. ShEvil Dead 66


Ok, readers. I'm going to be honest here. I do not intend to have this super professional journalist-style of writing. I'm just going to give my opinion on the bouts I see, which may or may not be a popular idea. So, here we go.

This was a weird bout. I was working the door up until halftime, so I didn't see the first half. Due to the acoustics in the building, I couldn't hear the announcers during the first period either. I have no idea what went on. At halftime the score was 68 to 44 with Richmond taking the lead.

I say the bout was weird because the atmosphere just didn't feel the same. We sold about 200 tickets less than we usually do. I know that's probably due to the bout falling on St. Patrick's Day weekend. People had prior plans to be vomitting in the gutter over on Broadway Street which kept them away from the roller derby.

But we still had 1000 people in the place. That's nothing to sneeze at. However it just was not as loud as we're all used to. There were times during the second period where I was cheering and the person seated in front of me, kept turning to give me the stink eye. Seriously? You're at a bout! You're supposed to embrace the raucous activity. It's not like we were at a poetry reading and I was like "YEAH! YOU READ THE SHIT OUT OF THAT STANZA! MAN, DID YOU SEE THAT RHYME?! THAT WAS HUGE!"

I wonder if the calmer audience had any effect on the players? I know that a lot of players draw motivation from the crowd and get more aggressive and faster as the audience gets louder and louder. Even though I was working a shift during the first period, I quizzed my friends on what went down. The general consensus is that even though Richmond had the lead at the end of the first period, ShEvil Dead was the team that came out swinging. Multiple people commented that the struggling SF team played more unified than they ever have while Richmond was lacking their normal dominating energy for the first half.

This season, ShEvil lost their top two jammers Miss Moxxxie and Exquisite Corpse to retirement. In addition to that, two veteran players were recently injured are were unable to play. Blocker Windigo Jones broke her hand at the February 21st bout against Oakland. A week later, longtime blocker and ShEvil dead coach, Motley Cuz also broke her hand in practice. With those set-backs, it had to feel a little discouraging. But SF apparently fought hard to maintain a tight 24 point different in the first half of the game.

I also heard that Richmond was experimenting with players in different positions than they normally play. Blockers were stepping up to fill out the jammer roster. Brawllen Angel, who was a dedicated jammer last season, was out blocking in the pack.

In the second period, Richmond started to get it together and change up their line-up. Previously dedicated jammers went back to jamming and blockers went back to blocking. With each jam they started to pull away more and more. However, I couldn't help but notice how often Richmond was playing with skaters in the penalty box. They rarely had a full line-up in during the second period When you have a thirty point lead, a fourty point lead, a fifty point lead...how are you still committing so many penalties? When you have a comfortable lead and you're not feeling desperate, you shouldn't play desperate. They are a very physically dominating team! It's easy for them and it's hard for me to watch them let their control slip.

In the end, Richmond took the victory. I'd like to think that the ShEvil Dead took home a moral victory though. The team is currently in a rough transition period. The rookies of the team are certainly stepping up but I think they just need a little bit more time to gel together.

I really enjoyed seeing Sassy Slayer go back to jamming in this game for the ShEvil Dead. Sassy is a fantastic jammer. I know she is even better as a blocker in the pack, but watching her jump and fight her way through the pack is always fun.

Making her roller derby debut last night was SF player Knock Knock who took turns jamming and blocking. It is no small feat to take all-star player Liza Machete off her feet in a bout. To be able to do that in your first game ever is something to really be proud of.

I also really liked watching Golden Skate Warrior jam for Richmond. GSW is coming out in full force in 2009! Although she didn't have much playing time last season, she recently made the travel team and will surely see much, much more time on the track this year.

Now ShEvil gets some much needed time off. They unfortunately had to play two bouts in three weeks when normally we get atleast 4 to 6 weeks in between games. Their next bout will be in San Jose against the Silicon Valley Roller Girls. This bout will be a rematch of last seasons bout which resulted in 126 to 55 ShEvil Deads victory.

The Richmond Wrecking Belles will play the Oakland Outlaws on April 4th. This will also be a rematch as these two teams faced off in the 2008 season championship. I, for one, am equal parts excited and terrified.