(edit: score corrected from NYSE 127 to NYSE 125)

KENDALL PARK, NJ -- In a meeting of The Original vs. The Best on Sunday night, the undefeated kings of East Coast men's derby continued their dominance over their regional rivals, as the New York Shock Exchange ground out a relentless 125-44 win over a valiant but outnumbered and overmatched Pioneer Valley Dirty Dozen from Northampton, Massachusetts.

This was New York's first defense of the "Athletic Cup" trophy they claimed after their April 2007 debut against Pioneer Valley -- an unofficial yet highly coveted representation of excellence in the field of male derby. New York came into the bout fielding a full roster of 14, while the Dirty Dozen had to do nearly double duty, with only 8 skaters suiting up for the matchup.

Pioneer Valley took the first jam of the 40-minute bout as recent PVRD acquisition Jurasskick Park managed to sneak between NYSE blocker Darth Invader and Angelo Death to claim lead and get a 3-1 win over NYSE superstar Jonathan R, but that was the only time they'd enjoy the advantage. On the next jam, Mothra got the NYSE in front to stay with a 4-0 over Dr. Spankenstein, as the Dr. got bottled up by T-Stop Tornado and Jonathan R. taking solid control of the front of the pack.

While PVRD had success keeping NYSE from putting up any lopsided scores for the first few jams, they also weren't having any luck breaking through the superior teamwork of NYSE, and didn't get back on the board till the seventh jam, when PVRD jammer Davey Jones managed to pull out 6 points after a full-length battle with NYSE blockers Abe Drinkin', Sugar Daddy and Maulin' Brando. But even though opposing jammer Wolfgang Von Stomp had spent a minute of the jam in the box, he managed to collect 5 points of his own, leaving the score at New York 24, Pioneer Valley 9.

On Jam 8, there was a double dose of spectacular skill on display as Jonathan R and Jurasskick Park were both through the pack like shots on their opening passes -- but with Jonathan R having lead, he took a moment to showboat a bit, skating backwards to the pack to make sure Jurasskick could see him calling off the jam at 0-0. Jurasskick went back to the jam line for the next frame, but Mothra beat him out for a 1-0 win, making it NYSE 25, PVRD 9.

The next jam, though, would end up being a record-setting beatdown from NYSE, as PVRD's the Rev went up against NYSE's Rinkworm. Darth Invader and Abe Drinkin' owned the PVRD blockers in this one, consistently trapping them on the inside and letting the small and speedy Rinkworm fly past them on the edges of the straightaways -- with Rinkworm hardly ever having to slow down or even adjust his direction, and with the Rev going to the penalty box early in the jam, it ended as a nearly unheard-of 25 to 0 win for the Shock Exchange.

Suddenly, NYSE had doubled their point total, and even though it was only about two-thirds of the way through the first half, they'd all but ended Pioneer Valley's hopes for an upset at NYSE 50, PVRD 9. The Shock Exchange continued to pummel PVRD, and they'd allow only one more point in the half in a 1-0 for Jurasskick Park over Rinkworm -- while NYSE poured it on, culminating with a half-ending 15-zip jam for Jonathan R over a frustrated Davey Jones. The half ended at Shock Exchange 72, Pioneer Valley 10.

While PVRD couldn't narrow the margin in the second half, they did keep it closer, mostly on the back of two spectacular jams that gave the underdog's fans something to scream for. On the half's second jam, Pioneer Valley's Dr. Spankenstein got big help from powerful blocker The Rev, who did an excellent job with offensive blocking that marginalized NYSE's Patrick Bateman and T-Stop Tornado whenever the Dr. approached the pack. NYSE jammer Mothra couldn't get through the pack at all, and PVRD rolled to a big 15-0 win that more than doubled their entire first-half point output at NYSE 81, PVRD 25.

The 7th jam of the half would see a similar performance from Spankenstein, who this time took advantage of a strung-out pack to put in a 14-0 performance over Wolfgang Von Stomp (who spent a minute of the jam in the box). This got the score to NYSE 99, PVRD 44 with about 9 minutes left to play, but that was the end of the scoring for Pioneer Valley, clearly reaching the limits of their endurance after gamely going with only 8 players for the course of the bout.

The bout ended with NYSE captain Jonathan R getting a chance to run wild on opponent Bazooka Joe, especially as the majority of the PVRD pack found itself in a revolving door at the penalty box -- at one point, Rollin' Redshirt was the only Pioneer Valley blocker out on the track, badly outnumbered by fresher NYSE skaters. That jam ended 17-0 for New York, and the boys from the Big Apple kept -- ahem -- a solid grip on their Athletic Cup, winning 125-44.

Stats

Jonathan R led the Shock Exchange with 51 points on 9 jams and an incredible +48 jammer point differential, pulling lead jammer seven times. Rinkworm was right behind with 49 points on 6 jams (over half of them scored in his epic 25-0 jam), getting lead 4 times and outscoring his opponents by 45 points. Mothra went to the line 6 times, getting 13 points and two lead jams while putting together a JPD of -4.

Second-string jammers for NYSE were Wolfgang Von Stomp (3 jams, 9 points, -11 JPD, two lead jams) and Darth Invader (1 jam, 3 points, +3 JPD, 1 lead jam.)

For PVRD, Dr. Spankenstein was by far the Dirty Dozen's most effective weapon at the jam line, though he didn't take the star very often -- on his 4 jams, he collected 29 points and established a +20 jammer point differential, taking lead twice.

Jurasskick Park was used the most as a jammer, and although he demonstrated some very impressive speed and maneuverability in his 8 jams, he scored only 6 points with a -8 JPD (partially due to being up against Jonathan R. in half his jams.) He was PVRD's most effective way of getting lead jammer, though, pulling it on 4 of 8 tries.

Davey Jones jammed 7 times for 9 points with a -42 JPD and one lead jam, Bazooka Joe was shut out in 5 jams with a -28 JPD and no lead jams, and The Rev had the bad luck to have his only jam of the night put him on the business end of Rinkworm's 25-0, leaving him with a -25 JPD, no points and no lead jams.

New York next defends the Athletic Cup against Baltimore's Harm City Homicide on June 29 in what will stand as the first 60-minute men's flat-track bout. (NYSE crushed the Homicide in a 20-minute expo in October 2007, 97-14.) Pioneer Valley does not currently have their next bout scheduled.

Additional reporting: Virginia Slim

Photos: pup_vs_robot