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Carolina Rollergirls def.
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Once again, a view from inside the track. Part of me wants to write volumes about the days and weeks before the bout and the countless hours of preparation by the skaters, friends, family and support staff of the Carolina Rollergirls. That probably deserves its own column though, so... game on!
Pre-Game
We have a quick refs/captains meeting to go over the slight rules differences we may be used to calling in game. The main difference we can really identify is the 20' rule... we give a warning when a skater is 20' out but don't give a penalty until they do something; SCRG calls this tighter and will penalize a skater for simply being 20' out of the pack. We are joined by Tara Hymen from Sin City as a guest referee and she'll be working as a pack ref.
Each team and the refs get a chance to skate on the floor. It is surprisingly smooth and grippy. There are a few spots that will be difficult... the floor is made up of 22'x22' concrete slabs and some of the join gaps are big enough to grab a wheel if it's on edge. Since I wear inlines (I know, I know, shame on me), it could be problematic as I can get a couple wheels snagged at the same time.
Period One
At the start of the game I'd have to say that I'm a little worried about Sin City. Only 9 skaters and some rumored to be very new to roller derby. The crowd is getting into it but seems kind of small. Carolina is going with the new 10' buffer zone around the rink instead of 5' as that seems to be the way USARS and the WFTDA is headed. After the first two shifts though, I'm done worrying about Vegas. The score is nominally tied (or close enough) and the Sin City girls have physically dominated the first two shifts putting Carolina skaters on the floor. There are a lot of skate-locks in this period... both teams are getting frustrated at this and Sin City calls a timeout to talk about it. Sin City is also taking some time to adjust to the way we call 20' (no penalty for simply being out of the pack, penalty if you actually do something like impede or block).
Sin City is larger than Carolina... we have a lot of girls that are very short... Vegas must be at least 2-3" taller on average. Somehow the scoreboard doesn't reflect this size advantage and the period ends with Carolina ahead by a wide margin. Eris Discordia and Shirley Temper seem to be bouncing off of some of the SCRG girls. Girls are flying into the crowd. Mostly Carolina girls from my vantage.
Carolina: 48 - Sin City: 21
Period Two
During the first period, Teflon Donna pulled a muscle in her left shoulder/neck and decides she's done for the night. I can hear the Carolina coaches telling the girls to "go the full two minutes" and try to keep the lead based on the bench length and conditioning of the CRG team.
Trish the Dish and Ivanna S. Pankin (Sin City) are playing just about every jam, or at least seem to be. I thought Trish had surgery on her ankles for some reason, but it certainly doesn't show.
Early in the period Reverend Lawn-Dart Dupree announces that the concession folks are out of beer. I'm not sure this is due to the righteous thirst of derby fans or a failure to plan on part of the concessions vendor (and is probably a combination of both). As impressive of a stat as that is, I'm sure next time there will be more beer.
I'm not sure but there seems to be a huge stretch of time when Sin City is getting lead jammer... or at the very least, Carolina IS NOT during the early part of the second period. The hits continue in a major fashion... Princess America is sent off the track spinning in the air like a helicopter, TWICE on the same jam. I need to see this on DVD... truly highlight-reel material. (I hear that this bout was shot in HD...)
Again, I'm not watching the scoreboard, just the track and the physical battle seems to be pretty even, but as the period ends Carolina still has a sizable lead.
There is a boisterous group of guys in the stands heckling Trish the Dish. She turns, skates over into the safety zone and exchanges words with them. And then, I kid you not, for the rest of the game THEY ARE CHEERING FOR TRISH. Turn-coats... but amusing.
Carolina: 85 - Sin City: 43
Period 3
So, the rumor is that the box office just closed. There were folks buying tickets up until the start of the third period to get in and see the bout. Apparently you can hear the crowd and noise all over the fairgrounds. Our final official attendance was 1914 screaming derby fans.
So, I can't tell who the new Sin City skaters are. There are supposed to be four rookies... I know that Ivanna and Trish aren't the rookies, but I'm not sure who. Ivanna got hurt sometime during this period; I think her fingers had been run over. This period also featured a crowd-favorite moment when Violet Femme and Penelope Bruz got tangled together and went down. Bruz tried to get up but didn't realize her skate was stuck on Violet's skirt... the more she pulled the more Violet's skirt stretched. I, of course, was watching the pack and didn't see this little event, but I could hear the crowd roar. For those who don't know the ins-and-outs of the Carolina Rollergirls, Violet Femme is well known for wearing VERY purple undergarments. Anyone who was at the bout knows that now.
A strange thing is going on during this period. If/when Carolina gets lead jammer the crowd is going WILD. Deafening. I check the scoreboard and CRG is still significantly ahead of SCRG, but the crowd is simply into the game. The skaters, on both teams, all have a huge amount of energy from this.
The last jam stops with just a few seconds left in the game and the clock runs down as the skaters are getting to the track. I suspect that, as beat-up as they all were, each of those teams could have played another period on the adrenaline rush alone.
Final Score: Carolina: 127 - Sin City: 65
The score doesn't reflect the closeness of the game. I can only imagine what the rematch in Las Vegas will be like on October 28th. Sin City should have a full roster and will be playing on their home turf. I can't wait to see that match.
Some stats to note:
There were 35 total jams in the game, including the final aborted jam.
Trish the Dish jammed twice. I thought she was still recovering and hadn't planned on jamming. She also played pivot 27 times. If you do the math and throw out that last jam then Trish was jammer or pivot on all but 5 jams. Seriously. She really did play the whole game. She was in the box twice; I bet she missed at least one jam because of that.
Roxy Rockett (Carolina) had a 70% lead jam percentage, Betty Rumble (Carolina) had 66.7% and Kit Fisto (Sin City) was right behind her with 60%. Trish the Dish was a perfect 100% on her two jams.
Roxy lead in jammer points with 39, followed by Ivanna with 35.
I haven't seen the penalty stats but the Carolina team did have more penalties. I'm not sure what the penalties-per-person breakdown is, but there were definitely "more" for CRG than SCRG.
It was, in short, a blast. I've said it a couple of times already but I can't wait for the rematch in Vegas. The scrapbook page has been updated with pictures from the bout. I'm not sure they properly convey the scale, but going from 650 folks to nearly 2000 fans was really impressive.
See you at the next bout, November 19, where Providence Roller Derby will take on the Carolina All-Stars at Dorton Arena. Get your tickets early.
ref voodoo
Discuss this on our message boards: http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NCrollergirls/
