WFTDA Bout Recap: (5) Gotham 113, (19) Rocky Mountain 48
Posted by Anne Shank on December 5th, 2007
The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls’s 5280 Fight Club hosted the Gotham Girls Roller Derby’s All-Star travel team on December 1st at Denver’s Bladium to close the 2007 season for both squads. This was obviously going to be Fight Club’s most difficult match this season, with the Gotham Girls ranked #5 while RMRG sat at #19.
Fight Club played a considerably full schedule this year, dominating a number of leagues including Angel City, No Coast, and, most notably, 9th-ranked Madison, with only one loss during the regular season to the formidable Rose City Rollers, ranked 15th.
The visitors from the Big Apple had been on a tear of their own, coming in with six wins and two losses on the year — one to Carolina in March and one to eventual champions Kansas City at Nationals.
The Colorado crowd packed the Bladium, eager to see how their home town heroines would fare against the vaunted Gotham squad. The first jam of the evening matched Frida Beater against Suzy Hotrod. Frida grabbed lead jammer and managed to gain two points, though Suzy snuck by with three of her own.
Fight Club then surrendered ‘Lead Jammer’ status to Gotham for the remainder of the period. She Who Cannot Be Named and Frida Beater switched off as jammers, but were unable to make it past Gotham’s tight defense that included powerhouse hitter Beyonslay and pivot Ginger Snap. Frida scored the only six points Rocky Mountain was able to gain in the period. Jammers Penny Payne and Ida Hustler each made one appearance on the track, but had their times cut short thanks to penalties served in the box.
Blocker Madam Maimya was picked to jam as a substitute when both the Fight Club and the Gotham jammers were called off of the track, and while she muscled her way past a number of the Gotham blockers, she was sent to the penalty box rather quickly and was unable to score any points.
Notable jams for Gotham in the first period included a nine-point jam by Cheap Skate and a slew of four-point jams by Suzy Hotrod, Beatrix Slaughter and Brigitte Barhot that helped Gotham inch significantly ahead of Fight Club. After one period, Gotham had already jumped out to a hefty lead over the home team, 47 to 6.
The second period began with an 11-point jam by Beatrix Slaughter as Penny Payne sat in the penalty box, making it out to score only one point. Fight Club stayed stuck at seven points until four jams into the period when Frida was finally able to grab three more points to Cheap Skate’s eight, making it Gotham 74, Rocky Mountain 11 Frida continued to be RMRG’s scoring engine of the period, bringing Fight Club’s score up to 20 by half time.
Gotham’s jammers continued to push the score higher, however, with a seven-point jam by Cheap Skate and continued support from Brigitte Barhot and Suzy Hotrod. The end of period 2 saw Gotham 89, Fight Club 20.
The Denver crowd enjoyed a halftime jumprope exhibition, and although their team was down, they never ceased to cheer lustily for their favorites, roaring with approval each time a Rocky Mountain blocker felled a Gotham opponent. Gotham began the last period with jammer Suzy Hotrod sitting scoreless in the box while Frida Beater grabbed two points. Suzy came back with a vengeance for the next jam, scoring eight points as She Who was sent out to serve a penalty of her own.
Cheap Skate pushed Gotham past the century mark with her first jam of the period, but was sent to the box as rookie jammer Luscious Smacksome scored an impressive eight points in her Fight Club jamming debut. Frida and She Who continued to pick away at Gotham throughout the remainder of the bout, slowly adding a few points each jam and finally breaking their scoreless rut.
Meanwhile, pivot Winona Fighter held a tighter Fight Club defense at the front of the pack, and blockers Ida Hustler and Madam Maimya got in some decent hits.
Gotham made up for the absence of star jammer Bonnie Thunders by throwing nine different jammers at Rocky Mountain, including Fisti Cuffs and Beyonslay, two of the toughest blockers on Gotham’s roster. Rocky Mountain satisfied their audience by winning the third period 28-24, finally adapting to Gotham’s team speed and taking advantage of a handful of Gotham penalty miscues. The final score: Gotham 113, Fight Club 48.
Additional reporting: Hambone