Battle on the Bank Capsule Recaps: Saturday
Massive thanks to AK-40oz and Busta Armov for keeping DNN updated with jam-by-jam scores throughout the tourney.
San Diego Border Patrol 35, OC Rollergirls 12 [B Bracket]: A low-scoring contest is controlled by the more experienced San Diego, as the Border Patrol goes up 19-5 at halftime on their way to nearly tripling the OC girls' score.
LADD Ri-ettes 41, Team Awesome 40 [A Bracket] : All sorts of lead changes in this thriller. LA jumped out to a 4-0 lead on the first jam, but Team Awesome pulled in front 11-8 after five jams. There would be two more lead changes in the half before LA managed to pull ahead 26-23 at the end of the first half. Team Awesome came out very strong in the second, and opened up the biggest lead of the bout at 38-28 with about 7 minutes to play. But LA fought their way back into it and tied the bout at 40 with 1:40 to play -- and LA jammer Mila Minute would get lead on the final jam and call it off after scoring one point, giving the hosting league a nail-biting one-point victory.
LA Golden Girls 81, OC Rollergirls 12 [B Bracket]: The LA Derby Dolls B-team has no problem with OC in the biggest rout of the evening, eliminating OC from second-day contention.
Team Awesome 47, TXRD All-Scar Army 24 [A Bracket] : Clearly having learned a lot from their opening bout, Team Awesome socks it to TXRD from the jump, getting five shutout jams in a row after falling behind 4-0 after one jam. Awesome's Killbox notches a rare double-grand-slam to make the score 25-6 with about 3 minutes to go in the half, and Awesome takes a 32-15 lead into halftime. TXRD can't close the gap in the final 15 minutes.
San Diego Border Patrol 21, LA Golden Girls 20 [B Bracket]: In the lowest-scoring bout of the night, it's a mere 13-13 going into the half. San Diego's Steely Jan tied the game at 19 with 5 minutes remaining, and then San Diego pulled ahead at 21-20 with only 1 minute to play. With the San Diego jammer in the box, LA's Laura Palm-Her seemingly tied the bout on the final jam ... but LA was called for a major penalty during that jam, nullifying the LA points, giving the visitors a one-point victory, and making them the winners of the B bracket.
LADD Ri-ettes 40, TXRD All-Scar Army 10 [A Bracket]: TXRD needed a big win to qualify for Sunday's championship bout, but they got quite the opposite, as LADD scampered out to a 17-0 lead before TXRD got on the board. It was 22 to 6 at the half, and again, TXRD couldn't find the second-half magic they needed.
The results set up a TXRD vs. San Diego match for third place, while Team Awesome and the LA Ri-ettes will have a full-length, 60 minute rematch of their 1-point nailbiter for the championship at 7pm PST Sunday night.
Comments
It's actually TXRD vs. San Diego
TXRD plays San Diego, since SDDD had a 2-0 record vs the Golden Girls' 1-1.
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Busta
Damnit
I knew that but apparently it didn't make it from my brain to my fingers. Corrected in post. Thanks again for all the play by play!
JFM
Big disappointment!!!!
TXRD really let their fans down:(
I wonder if penalties killed them or not.
That was my concern.
Much props to LA & Team Awesome for knocking them off the mountain.
This redefined changes things.
Maybe TXRD will concentrate more on the bouts instead of the after partys now.
A couple of
A couple of thoughts.....
Why did they make it 3 minors=1 major=1 minute in the box? It takes 4 in a normal WFTDA bout.
Could Awesome beat TXRD WITH a healthy Chola? Possibly. But I don't think they'd win handily like they did.
The Original TX/GGRDonald
clearly the center of Roller Derby is no longer Austin Texas
Hard to say...
Sounds to me like three minors equalling a major may have been something from the Derby Dolls rules set. As far as I have read (on the TXRD boards), the rules were negotiated between L.A.D.D. and TXRD with no input from WFTDA (other than some permission granted to allow some WFTDA rules to put into the published rules verbatim).
According to something else I read on the TXRD boards, TA signed on before the rules were even decided.
From things I've read (you know where) the TXRD skaters had some difficulties adjusting to the rules and the officiating. Because the one group with standardized banked track rules doesn't include any of the existing dominant leagues, this kind of thing probably is going to continue happening. It's kind of like pre-WFTDA flat track interleague bouts. Rules get negotiated before each bout (or tourney).
-Barely even speaking for myself...
*~[
Poobah
Big disappointment!!!!
Submitted by E Dub on June 29, 2008 - 12:46pm.
"Maybe TXRD will concentrate more on the bouts instead of the after partys now."
the scores may be low for TXRD....but to make the comment that TXRD puts party's at higher priority than bouting is ....to say the least....uninformed
I believe i am privvy to the process since i have been helping with tourney practice from the get go
the entire tourney is a first time experience for all and TXRD's score cannot be attributed to some sort of "party" mentality imho
If i were to look for truly relevant factors i might site:
a hybrid set of rules(as you mentioned)
limited practice time on a track with a very different feel, angle and attributes
and any number of other factors
If you were simply trolling for a reaction...you got it.
Our fans may be a bit bummed, but the best fans know that we have a lot of heart and play to the hilt and to think we have been knocked off the mountain is naive....the mountain itself has grown and i think we are hanging on just fine.
masterblader
ref and trainer for TXRD www.lonestarrollergirls.com
senior womens roller derby ref of the universe
Look...I'm as dissapointed
Look...I'm as dissapointed as anyone with TXRD's performance Saturday. However it struck me that in the past they had Lux, Venis, Chola and Sister Mary Jane on their travel team squad. There is still talent there, of course, but those 4 skaters are missed. Still love the All Scar skaters tho...a great group of Rollergirls.
oh please...
none of those reasons seem very valid when you consider Team Awesome is a flat track team and they beat the hell out of TXRD. talk about a different track with a different angle and new rules. just sayin'... those excuses would only work if they only lost to other banked track teams.
Things to keep in mind...
None of what I'm about to say takes away from TA's amazing victory and near-victories:
Team Awesome was skating a set of rules that were somewhat more strict than their own. TXRD was skating by rules that were A LOT more strict than theirs. LADD rules (and the ones that were negotiated for the tourney) are fairly based upon WFTDA's 2.1.1 rules (before minors got lightened up on in the rules that officially come into play today). Three minors send you to the box and become a major, and three majors originally took you completely out of the bout.
Here's TXRD's list of penalties, per their rules page:
"Holding, Pushing, Tripping, Blocking to the Inside, Unnecessary Roughness and
Unsportswomanlike Conduct"
It's probably also worth noting that even though they suddenly were allowed to block to the inside, they've NEVER been allowed to do this, so it's unlikely they were going to make much use of it. A WFTDA skater who is suddenly allowed to do a banked-track style forearm or elbow block isn't going to instinctively do these things.
When they get a minor one of those penalties, it doesn't add up to time in the box. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but they seem to get added up and the two with the most minors get a wheel spin. Long story short: Minors don't mean very much.
I have read that TXRD practiced to skate under the other rules changes, but weren't prepared for how easy it was to catch a minor, and then they added up fairly quickly.
I gather (but I could be wrong) that one of TXRD's two victories over LADD was on LADD's track and skated under LADD rules. What to gain from that? The Derby Dolls have apparently come a long way skill-wise.
I'm really not saying anything other than we shouldn't go knocking anyone who participated in this thing. Everyone was skating by rules they weren't used to, and rules that hadn't yet been tested all-together. Lessons have no doubt been learned, and I'm sure both leagues will take those and come up with something that works better the next time they meet.
-Barely even speaking for myself...
*~[
Heck look at the
Heck look at the difficulties skaters had adjusting to the WFTDA 3.0 rules for ECDX. I'm just sayin...
Well said. Even tho I am a
Well said. Even tho I am a fan of TXRD I have to hand it to TA. They really were awesome.
Awesome
Glad they rebounded on the second match. Three of our DCD girls there...
Good luck today, ladies.
Team Awesome
Know what chicken butt? Team Awesome (TA) is made up of some of the finest flat-track skaters in the country. Given more time for anyone to learn rule sets and/or banked track differences...whatever. Don't blame TXRD's after partying, that's fkd. TXRD has a few new faces and I was rather impressed with their showing; you lose SMJ, Chola..etc..., derby leagues evolve, new leagues improve all the time, established leagues have to work extra hard to replace their retirees and maintain top status. The bottom line is TA is a pool of some of the best and I figured they'd beat TXRD as I've seen TA skate before, I also thought they had a fine chance at beating LA and they came damn close. I for one, have no idea what transpired at the end of the final game, it was crazy, the place was rockin', hell it doesn't matter, it was derby and it was fun. Aside from people losing their cool, I had a blast and saw some amazing individual performances. I'd also like to give props to the ladies from the OC for coming into a difficult situation and making the best of it, it's not easy to slide onto a tilted track and know all the ins and outs.
That Rocky Casbah is a blast to watch skate. Mila Minute cannot easily be captured on film without a flash. How about Fighty ignoring her ankle sprain and went on to tenaciously churn out lap after lap? Smarty Pants? Awesome as ever. For those folks who aren't lucky enough to have both flat and banked track leagues within reach; both have their charm and it was a blast to have them converge together. We narrowly escaped an "LA Ri-ette" but in the end it was one hell of a weekend. Long live derby!