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Arizona Roller Derby (76) def. Carolina Rollergirls (73)
Not inside the lines - Carolina / Arizona bout perspective
Let's get the disclaimer out of the way. I'm an opinionated guy. I am from Carolina. I like sweet tea. I am a ref and have opinions on how bouts should be called. Read everything I say here with a grain of salt. As always I'm going to try to be objective but if I fail to do so... ignore what I say.
Outside the lines?
Most of the time I'm a ref. For this game though, I'm sitting on the outside. Major Pain has on the stripes from Carolina for this bout. Things look different from the outside of the track too... your whole perspective changes.
There's no place like home
Ok so I've never lived in Arizona, but my dad was from Arizona and my grandmother and a mess of my kin still live there. I said "kin" because I'm from North Carolina and that's the way we talk around here. Anyway, when the bout came up on the calendar I knew I was going to go and I knew I was going to drag along the relatives. I mean kin. Heck, right now I'm sitting at the counter in my grandmother's kitchen (Happy Mother's Day Gramdma!) while my daughters play with my cousin's kids down the hall. (I think they are doing their nails or some other girlie activity. We're having a barbecue later on this evening too. Notice I said "barbecue" and not "pig pickin" because we're in Arizona so it'll be beef and chicken instead of pork. *sigh* You can't have everything.
While reffing a bout and doing all the derby stuff sounded fun, for this game I would much rather be on the sidelines with a mess of family trying to explain the rules, drink beer and have some fun.
Before I forget, mad props to Paulie the Waterboy from Arizona for reserving seats for my family. Paulie rocks!
Carolina vs. Arizona... again
During the previous Carolina vs. Arizona bout both Teflon Donna and Roxy Rockett were on the roster. Since that time, they've both moved on and Carolina will skate without them... relying on the depth both Tef and Roxy helped create. Arizona is also without one of their stars - Denise Lightning will be absent. She's nursing an injury and (rumor has it) is moving away from Phoenix to Charlotte, NC. The bulk of players on each team are the same since the December bout but those three (thought by many to be some of the best derby players in the country) are absent. Same leagues, slightly different faces.
Before the game there were plenty of people who had questions. "Can Carolina manage without Teflon Donna or Roxy Rockett?" being the most frequently asked. Let me clue folks in a bit... the biggest things Roxy and Tef did for CRG were not on the track. I'd tell you that their involvement in the organization and especially the training and development of new skaters was a larger impact. They are gone, but the program they helped develop is still in Carolina and still turning fresh skaters into derby athletes.
The last game was close, 100 to 90 in Carolina's favor. Like any close game between teams of similar skill levels there was some talk of controversy after the bout. I think the Arizona folks felt like Carolina called the game too tight on the inside and, since we didn't use outside refs at the time, we missed alot of outside fouls. We reviewed the penalty stats after the game and the amounts were very similar - there was no bias from one team to the next. Anyway, in the rematch I expect the game to be close and going into the event I wouldn't be surprised if there were a tad bit of controversy on this one as well.
Period One
Arizona leads with their best, Sheriff Shutyerpaio, and puts up a 3-0 jam to start. The next two are somewhat close, but Carolina makes up the difference and takes a slim lead. Scoring goes back and forth and stays consistently low.
Some of the refs are whistling, some are shouting for minors. It seems like maybe the outside refs are whistling, but I can't really tell. Arizona uses non-skating outside refs on the straight-aways. They seem to be catching the action on the straight-aways good enough but the turns are a huge blindspot. I see a lot of flying elbow blocks where the AZ player goes into the turn with their arm fixed and non-moving and spears someone with the point of their elbow. Still, the two non-skating outside refs do provide pretty decent coverage... but I do wish they'd catch more in the corners.
There also seems to be problems with split packs. Several times in the first two periods the pack will split between one team in the front and the other in the rear. The frustrating part for Carolina is that when it happens, often the refs are spending all of their time yelling "No pack! Pack it up!" and not calling all of the hits / blocks that the Arizona ladies are landing on the Carolina jammer.
The period ends with Carolina maintaining a slim lead. There's some confusion during the period as Shirley Temper seems to be sitting in the box frequently. As it turns out, the refs were confused and sat her mistakenly for some of the period. Only a few players have duplicate numbers, but Temper is one of them. Hopefully the refs will get that under control for the rest of the game.
- Temper is a blocker - Deez Nutz (56 for Arizona) is a jammer. The refs decided to equalize the situation by letting the next Carolina player who needed to sit, to not do so. I'm not sure this equalizes things as if Deez Nutz would have sat Arizona would have likely gone jammerless for a jam, and that's huge in a close game. I'd never trade a penalty on their jammer for one on my blocker - that simply isn't a fair trade.
- There are clearly some east/west cultural differences in how "elbows" are being called. The AZ girls are good at keeping their elbows locked but the look like they are leading with the point - and that's not really being called. If a player does hit with their shoulder though and the elbow / arm moves that seems to be a penalty.
Carolina 27, Arizona 26
Period Two
Carolina seems to be letting the Arizona play fluster them. If you've seen Carolina skate you know that they skate very low. In events like the ECE this resulted in a large number of back-blocks or other penalties on the opposing teams. Here it doesn't seem to be registering as much as skaters are getting routinely hit in the back hard. At least one Carolina skater loses her cool and gets sent to the box on a retaliatory penalty.
It's also time to get new helmet covers for Carolina. On one jam the cover slips off and she has to recover it on the next lap. Oops!
Even with the messiness of play and the helmet cover issues, Carolina is pulling ahead. By the close of the period they've put up some good numbers and have a 14 point margin. One thing to keep in mind though, 14 points is something that you can make up on one good jam - it isn't an insurmountable task.
- Carolina is used to getting low and not being an easy target to receive a block. There are quite a few hits that, to me on the sidelines, look like they are hitting the backs of the Carolina skaters but aren't being called.
- As the aggression heats up, Carolina really needs to work on their discipline. Retaliatory penalties based on frustration are foolish... let your coaches and captains address it with the refs.
Carolina 61, Arizona 47
Period Three
This is when things started to get ugly and chippy. I don't think the refs have really good control of the game... messy play is increasing. They do seem to be calling a few more minor penalties on blockers.
With about eight minutes remaining the Carolina bench makes a horrible mistake and starts a jammer who's sitting with three minor penalties. The risk is that if she gets her fourth while jamming you're down a jammer. If you've read my recaps you know that I HATE IT when jammers go into the box for minor penalties. Never start the player as a jammer if you know she's got three - it isn't worth the risk. Of course, on this jam the Carolina jammer gets a fourth minor and sits, allowing Arizona to make up some all important points and bringing the game back to a single-digit difference.
And then... controversy. Just like the game in Carolina had a bit of rumbling about too many penalties being called, etc. etc. this game came down to the wire and ended in controversy. And remember, I may be biased here...I do ref and really, I'm on the sidelines cheering for Carolina in this match.
The jammer-with-four-minors mistake allows Arizona to make up the difference and tie the game in the next few jams. On the next-to-last jam they score three, picking up a three point lead. With about a minute and a half left, the final jam of the game starts. The Arizona jammer, instead of trying to score points, tries to stop the Carolina jammer from scoring any - she's essentially acting as a fifth blocker. While blocking, she clocks the Carolina jammer in the mouth with her shoulder (accidentally) and is *not* called for a penalty. The Carolina bench is screaming, the few Carolina fans are screaming and the Carolina jammer is skating with a split lip. The Arizona skaters hold off the Carolina jammer and the clock winds down... Arizona wins.
- I don't think the Arizona jammer meant to hit the Carolina jammer in the face - laying a block, sure... but not targeted at the face. Still, any hit to the head should have been a major penalty and the offending player removed from play immediately - intentional or not.
- After the game the refs said that they did call it as a major on the stat sheets but didn't pull the offending player because they didn't think it would make any difference in the game. I'm not sure what else to say on this one, other than I disagree.
- If the Arizona player had been pulled quickly, the Carolina jammer would have had plenty of time to score three (or better, four) points and the outcome could have been different.
Carolina 73, Arizona 76
Controversy, Shmontroversy
Ah well, there had to be some controversy. Simple truth is that the game could have gone either way and there were a number of deciding moments. All in all the bout was exciting and thrilling to watch. Still, one can't help but wonder...
- Had the Arizona jammer been removed for her major penalty during the last jam, could the Carolina jammer have scored three or four points for the tie or the win?
- Had the Carolina jammer not gone in with three minor penalties would they have maintained a lead from which Arizona couldn't recover?
- Had the correct player sat in the first period for Arizona would the gap have been even wider?
- Where can I find some sweet tea?
That's it for me right now. I'm going to be hanging out with the kinfolk for the rest of the week and then flying back to the land of Bojangles, sweet-tea and Dorton Arena to get ready for the Tragic City Rollergirls. They're coming all the way from B-ham Alabammy, and will be facing off against the Trauma Queens. Bama may not be North Cackilacky but I know for a fact they drink sweet tea in that state.