Sunday, May 24, 2009

I know, I know. I've been lagging. This blog stuff is hard to keep up with. In the last few weeks, I took in a few games. There were a couple games I wasn't able to attend. Since most of the games involved teams that I'm not on, I don't have any access to their stats or official rosters. The games I did attend, I wasn't able to take notes. So I think I'll just address each bout with a few opinions and a scattered fact here or there.


May 9th - B.A.D. All-Stars vs. Rat City All-Stars:

This was a heavily anticipated re-match. Both of these WFTDA teams are ranked within the top ten of the nation. They've played each other several times. Because of their rankings and their history, DNN allowed Kitt Turbo, Mandi Festo, and myself to do a live text broadcast with live streaming video courtsey of Moose Ondaluce. Careful with that link, you may need a Kitt Turbo translator.

For the bout, I was mainly focusing on the Rat City pack as Mandi watched BADs pack and Kitt Turbo watched the jammers. I couldn't tell you how the game went overall. I couldn't tell you what I thought of the reffing. I can't speculate on the jamming. I didn't see any of it. It's incredibly hard to take in everything you're seeing and figure out what you want to broadcast and then actually type it in. Not to mention, I am a hunt and peck typer. And I had to publish and respond to viewer comments as well. It was tough business but I'd love to give it another shot sometime.

A few things stood out in my memory. Taxi Scab, an important blocker for Bay Area, suffered an injury during warm-ups and had to sit out the whole game. Liza Machete, BAD's resident tough girl, was ejected from both periods for too many majors. Camen Getsome was ejected for Rat City in the second period for also having too many majors. BAD played primarily in the front of the pack while Seattle clearly preferred working in the back. Apparently, both teams had complaints about the reffing. Not surprisingly, both teams were very pentalty heavy.

The final score was 182 to 117 Rat City.


May 16th - Sonoma County Homewreckers vs. The Syndicate (of the Chicago Outfit)

It's not often that you see a non-WFTDA team travel a couple of thousand miles away to play another team. But I'm sure glad that Sonoma made the trip out to Chicago! I was lucky enough to be able to accompany the team out on their trip. I loved being able to support the team in person but I was also very happy to see my former leaguemate Terra NuOne as well as recent Sacramento transplants Daddy's Girl, Gaygan, and Photon Pixie. All four of those girls skate for the Syndicate. Is there a Northern California exodus to Chicago roller derby? Am I next? Hmm...

Right off the bat, Chicago started laying the boom. They hit hard, they hit fast, and they hit often. Sonoma definitely had their work cut out for them after the first four jams resulted in three jammer majors for their struggling team. In the derby world, the first five to six jams are often referred to as "The Ten Minutes of Terror." It's when you go into a game not knowing what to expect and then getting *rocked* by the other team. But it's only ten minutes because by that point most teams are able to reassess the situation and get a grip. Sonoma was behind for the whole game but they were able to start putting up some points and tightening up their defense. At one point in the second period, the score was separated by only 15 points. However, Chicago started pulling away in the latter half of the second period.

The final score was 114 to 69 Chicago. In the end, I personally felt that Sonoma had the more individually talented team but that Chicago had the teamwork and the strategy down more. As for who won the afterparty? Actually, I kind of think I won it for once! I shut the bar down which is a rare occasion for me. I also somehow convinced a bunch of girls to show their boobs which is an even more rare occasion! And I didn't pee my pants or throw-up or cry! And technically, since I wasn't skating, my "afterparty" included the six pack I drank during the bout. So yeah... I win!



May 16th - 17th - The Big One Tournament

I wasn't there since I was off partying in Chicago. I am not the least bit surprised to hear that the San Diego Derby Dolls ran away with the win. They went undefeated all weekend. Angel City took second place as the L.A. Derby Dolls took third and the Sac City Rollers skated away with fourth place. Defeated in the first round were: Bay Area, Central Coast, Sacred City, and OC.

For a more detailed account of the teams and the tournament, you can read my preview of The Big One here.



May 16th - Santa Cruz Harbor Hellcats vs. Brentwood Brawlin' Betties

Santa Cruz won 171 to 98. That's all I got!

1 comment:

John diss said...

You get my vote for winning the afterparty!