|
|
Carolina Rollergirls (115) def. Gotham Rollergirls (104)
Carolina Rollergirls (192) def. Detroit Rollergirls (49)
Usually I wear the stripes and yell a lot. I tell everyone what they are doing wrong. It's a negative kind of job and not one that is prone to fostering love and affection. Derby love is strange though and this weekend would be another first for me. Last weekend I got to spectate for the first time as a fan of the Carolina Rollergirls. The East Coast Extravaganza would see me navigating in even stranger waters... as a bench coach for the Carolina Rollergirls All-Stars.
In the weeks prior to the event, I'm a nervous wreck. I feel lucky & privileged just to be part of the organization... but being asked to help coach is something else completely. I'm not a touchy-feelie kind of guy, but I admit I'm honored. I just hope I don't disappoint them.
The Weeks Before
The team is pretty much set. Carolina selects their teams based on who's available, etc. and for this one we're pretty much sitting right at fourteen for each game. We've got a good mix of seasoned veterans, a few relatively new interleaguers and one completely new/virgin to interleague play in Heavens to Betsy (woohoo go Betsy!). At Carolina we use a stricter standard for local team placement than WFTDA mandates. We have an additional level beyond that where a player has to demonstrate certain skills and meet a home-game bouting requirement prior to being interleague eligible. Congrats to H2B for reaching that milestone!
Our schedule is two WFTDA bouts, plus a number of girls are skating in the challenge mini-bouts throughout the weekend. Saturday at noon we kick off the weekend with a Gotham/Carolina match-up (two of the higher-ranked teams at the event) and later that day (6pm) we face Detroit. It'll be a good test of our abilities to handle a multi-game tournament and prepare for the East Regionals in the fall. I'm also not convinced a few of our skaters are at 100% but I don't think any of us can stop them from playing.
The Weather Sucks
I can't say it any plainer than that. We've all got travel arrangements but Friday the 16th (henceforth and forever to be known as Snow-Day-Friday) hit the East coast. Anyone who didn't get into Philly by early afternoon wasn't likely to get their by plane. Some of our team went up Friday morning and were there, but the rest of us were in a mad scramble to get rental cars, rides, etc. and make the trek Friday evening. Most of the rest of us got out between 3 and 5pm on Friday and headed up the I-95 corridor in a half-dozen different cars. The weather and roads were pretty bad and one of our vehicles had a mishap. Thanks to the driving abilities of Leadfoot, the accident was prevented from becoming more serious than it could have been. Still, the SUV they were driving was totalled and all six occupants severely rattled. Penelope Bruz and Militia had to go to the ER for medical attention; the injuries were less severe for Trudy Struction, Major Pain, Leadfoot and Busty O'Lipp. We're thankful they are all ok.
Lots of other teams are having difficulty as well. The folks who were planning on coming and had a long way to go or were waiting until late Friday to come are delayed as well. Providence is stuck, the folks West of the Mississippi are all being re-routed or camping in airports. We end the night with one car wrecked in Delaware with six skaters, one skater stuck in NY and the rest of our fans/support still in NC. There are 10 interleague skaters for Carolina in Philly.
GOTHAM
The first game is at noon. At breakfast, Chad the Destroyer and I spend our time mulling over who we have and redo the lineups for the game. Word is that Penelope Bruz is going to try to make it (she's crazy) but Leadfoot and Militia are understandably headed back home. Heavens to Betsy is on her way from NY and is hopeful to make it here before the game. The team staggers down to breakfast in ones and twos looking bleary and bedraggled. Everyone's spirits are dampened for obvious reasons - we're all still worried about the six CRG folks stranded somewhere in Delaware recovering from the accident. Focus is a bit off. As we pack the gear and get directions we're surprised to see Heavens to Betsy arrive early, meaning we'll have one more player for the bout.
Without time to make a lot of adjustments, we're going with a more traditional configuration of lines. We don't have time to try out different combos in practice, so we're going as generic as we can. We do take some time to lay out a few special-team situations to try if the moment arises. When we get to the arena we discover that things are running just a bit behind (understandably). I think this is making the girls a bit more nervous, so we try to do what we can to keep everyone calm.
Period One
Eh... I drove ten hours the night before... and that puts me right about average for the Carolina team... stuck in the car for far-too-long. My brain is mush, and so is everyone else's. Chad's running the lines, I'm managing the refs and penalties. We're both trying to take care of the team's immediate needs.
We've prepped the skaters on how we think this game is likely to be called... but it is still taking a bit of getting used to. A number of our girls sit with four minors, but thankfully not as jammers. Gotham is a small amount messier in the fouls department (game will end with Carolina 63 minors, 2 majors and Gotham 77 minors, 5 majors) but each is cleaner in the last period than the first two as we all adjust.
There are a few skaters that stand out on Gotham right from the get-go. Beyonslay has shockingly good poise and agility... she can bring the pain to bear in surprisingly nimble ways. There are also a few fast Gotham skaters, but they don't quite have the mix of size and speed. Carolina starts with a lead and holds it, finishing 35 to 21.
Period Two
Did I mention I was tired? I mean really, I went to bed around 3:00 AM and was up 8-ish after having driven all night in the snow and ice (that isn't relaxing)... and about half the team had as little or less sleep. They are all tired too and it is kinda showing. This is when practice takes over though, and I really think the second period we ran only on routine.
My hot button during this period are whips to the head. Gotham seems to be trying to do whips, but are for some reason knocking our blockers in the head when they are extending their arms or joining hands. The refs aren't calling it and I confer a few times between periods about it. Any hit to the head is a penalty... and a whip that turns into a clothesline is still a clothesline, even if that's not what you meant to do.
Gotham seems to be jamming Suzy Hotrod alot, but she's someone we've figured out. The jammer who does seem to be doing well is Cheap Skate... espescially with Ginger Snap as pivot. Those two have the strength and size to compete and we're not matching their lines well. You can tell Carolina is not as mentally in the game as they could be - they are executing well enough but the girls are clearly fatigued. Still, we take the period 40 to 31, buildling on the lead. I think this is entirely due to the training and conditioning of the Carolina interleague program.
Period Three
I hate making mistakes. I hate making mistakes I swore I'd do my best to prevent. One of my mantras is to prevent us having a jammer in the box due to penalties. It's not something you can guarantee, but it is something you can kinda manage.
We're getting some penalties so we're adjusting lines to prevent it. Regardless, Gotham seems to be sticking with it a bit during this period. I try to keep spirits up, but I think the long delays between jams is starting to wear on the girls. There are a lot of official time-outs and I think that is hurting us. Physically, the girls have gas. Mentally, they are worn out... and sitting around doing nothing is hurting their focus. It is the first WFTDA bout of the ECE so there are a number of logisitics problems that need to be resolved.
We've held the score basically even on the period, but Gotham is gaining a slight advantage. Halfway through the period Carolina has scored 24 to Gotham's 26. That eats into our lead, but is managable. As the team fagitues, it has become tough to stay focused and two jams later the period score is Carolina 30, Gotham 42. That isn't a trend that makes us happy; we get a run of uninterrupted jams and the girls respond cutting the lead to Carolina 40, Gotham 42... the exact score is Carolina 115, Gotham 94. As the skaters line up for the last jam, the team wants to change the determined line up... and I fail them as a coach.
Instead of squashing the idea quickly and getting the next line on the floor we stop momentarily to discuss it... and that delay leads to us not having a jammer on the track for the last jam. At the ECE we're not playing to the clock, so the jam could go the full 2 minutes. A little piece of my soul died that day... we had Gotham firmly beat and my mistake gave them a little, tiny hole. I don't seriously think they could have scored 19 points against our full blocker crew, but they certainly gave it a try and managed 10. We still won, but my inexperience as a coach cost us some margin on the victory.
I know the girls were happy to win, but I still feel like I let them down. I won't make that mistake again.
Carolina 115, Gotham 104
Time for a break - everyone needs to eat (Lucy Lastkiss and I went hunting for food), a chunk of the team went back to the hotel for a nap and some of the crazier ones skated in challenge bouts between games. That's right... some of them just had to skate a bit more.
Cute, but crazy.
That kind of sums-up Roller Derby right there, huh?
DETROIT
Between the first game and this one we've got a number of girls who are skating in challenge bouts. Billy the Kid and Marcy Killer are each in a few and the fatigue is showing. Most of the girls who jammed the first game don't really want to jam in the second. We've got Bruz too, so we throw down a handful of lines and try to spread the pain and share the rest.
We also have a few plans for this one - things we didn't have time to work on for the Gotham bout. They aren't anything major or earth-shattering, but we're going to adopt our play based on how the games are being called here. Twenty-feet is being called generally for any blocking outside of the pack (even at 10')... and the 5 pack refs (2 inside, 3 outside) are catching all of the elbows and forearms. It also seems that the extra eyes are being very good about catching when skates are in/out of bounds. We call things very closely at home, so we're used to this. We're going to watch our out-of-pack play, be very cognisant of whether or not our targets are inbounds or not and we're going to frustrate their jammers positionally. We're going to concentrate more on positional blocking of their jammers, rather than outright hitting them.
Period One
The bout starts relatively evenly. The first few jams are mostly even and by the fourth Detroit has a 13 to 10 lead. I'm having doubts about our lines but Chad's pretty calm and keeps the lines rolling. We're going to let it run through a few times before we make any changes. In the fifth jam Carolina takes the lead at 15 to 13 and then things seem to start to click for us. We're blocking their jammers well - the game is being called very tightly but we're showing more discipline and control. Several of the Detroit jammers are in penalty trouble and at least one jam sees them send a star to the box.
Carolina goes on a run after that, shutting out Detroit on 6 of the next 8 jams and putting up 40 points to Detroit's 2. By the end of the period we've got a commanding 63 to 19 lead. Our discipline is showing on the penalty board too, having only been charged with 23 penalties (minors and majors) to Detroit's 44.
Period Two
Detroit has made some adjustments in this period. For one, they are jamming a slightly different set of players. Killbox jammed only one jam in the first period, but pretty well and this might be due to her strength and conditioning. She's jamming in the 2nd period as well. We've made no changes and are simply sticking with our plan.
In the opening four jams of the period Detroit paces and even outscores Carolina slightly 16 to 15. There's a bit of fatigue showing on the Carolina bench. Detroit is hitting harder than Gotham and the score doesn't reflect the beating they are handing out. Our blockers are trying to frustrate their jammers, but that's leading to backblocking, forearms and elbows... and all of those hurt.
The game stops breifly early in the period as the refs confer with each other. It seems that all of the minor penalties are starting to mount for Detroit and one of their skaters... Killbox... has been ejected for 16 minor penalties (this was an ECE-specific rule). Carolina shuts Detroit out on all but two of the other jams during this period to post another 59 points to Detroit's 25 and taking a 122 to 44 score into the second intermission.
Period Three
Dead. Tired. As we gather 'round prior to the third period, there's an obvious look on everyone's face. I'm not sure if it is exhaustion or simply worn-out... but it is some flavor of tired. We pass out the energy bars, sports drinks, water and whatever else the girls want or need to keep going. We talk about the first two periods and how what we're doing seems to be working. We've got the game in hand but I think everyone knows that if they start to slack off they could quickly let the game get out of hand. Eighty points is a lot to make up, but we don't want to give them the opportunity.
Then, something amazing happens. Chad points out that basically we've scored 60 points a period. Isn't that neat. Someone says "I wonder if you could score another 60 ..." then the idea takes hold. Girls are paying attention; now they have a goal. They are going to shoot for 180 points.
Note to self: If the Carolina Rollergirls have their mind set on a goal, get the doink out of the way.
What happens next is an impressive display of derbyness. The Carolina girls hold Detroit to five points on the period in a grinding, physical battle. Lucy Lastkiss goes down backwards and cracks her helmet on the floor. Shirley Temper falls and ends up with a nasty skate to the leg (purty bruise). Eris Discordia tweaks her knee (later discovered to be a torn ACL) and in a pile of bodies, Marcy Killer's skate grinds into DVS' leg. Shut. The. Door. D-Fence. It hurts, but they have their goal. While they are keeping Detroit in the bottle the Carolina jammers are running around fully un-corked. They get lead jam on all but two jams of the period and add another 70 points to the score.
They would have done better too, had I not made an error and started a jammer who had three minor penalties (I try not to do that). Damn. She false-started (through no fault of her own - jammer ref confusion) but they still awarded her a penalty and she had to start the jam in the box. When her time was up she tore out of the box like a bat out of hell and Detroit called off the jam. If they hadn't, I think she'd have had a good shot to score the 8 more points to reach 200.
Carolina 192, Detroit 49
Ordinarily I would post some stats. I've got the stats, but I'm not going to post them. Hell, I may just delete them from my inbox. This was a TEAM effort. Sure, a few players played more than others... but that is going to happen with penalties, substitutions, etc. The entire team rallied around each other and decided as one they were going to win this game and post the highest Carolina interleague score ever... and do it after playing earlier in the day. It was good practice.
Because really... every game is just practice for regionals...