FEASTERVILLE, PA - The girls from North Cackalacky sure do love Philly's Sportsplex.  Going into this past weekend, Carolina boasted a 5-1 record in Philadelphia, but 4 of those wins were against other WFTDA teams (Gotham, Detroit, Denver and Windy City) and the remaining 2 bouts took the form of interleague play between CRG and PRG home teams.  The Belles and the All-Stars had yet to square off against each other, and the newly-formed Independence Dolls and the Bootleggers have never had so much as an opportunity to do so.

Cut past the Slurpee-drinking contest and set by behelmeted Cyclone 60 (their bassist totally dresses like Speed Racer), and the main event was underway.  There were, at first, hints that the Philly all-stars might keep their undefeated Sportsplex streak alive, as Felony Griffith put Philly up 9-4 after three jams: Persephone then added a 3-0 spin to extend the lead to 12-4, and a 9-point shutout by Mo Pain kept that lead solid with the score at 22-14 after 8 jams.

It was at this moment that Philadelphia's guns fell suddenly and atypically silent and penalty trouble began to loom.  A sequence of two minor forearms put jammer Felony into the box, where fellow Belle Dara Licks had already set up shop, and Violet Temper showed up to keep them company shortly thereafter.  Roxy Rockett needed little encouragement from manager Violator, though he offered it anyway: "Skate! Skate! GO!"  Lead in her favor and Felony just barely back on the track, Rockett called the jam off with 9 uncountered points to show for her effort.

Though no Philadelphia jammer would watch the action from the Sin Bin's depths until early in the second period, the team would not manage to field and retain a full compliment of blockers for a full jam in any of the bout's 26 remaining sessions.  Not typically a penalty-heavy group, the Belles were underprepared for this development and could only stand by as jam after jam by Billy The Kid, DVS and Princess America further separated the two teams on the scoreboard.  However, it was Roxy Rockett whose impact was most undeniable.  Scoring an average of 4.4 points per minute as jammer, Rockett added another 10 before the end of the first period, on her way to a bout-high 58 with 6 grand slams.

Perhaps the most bout's most decisive series of jams occurred between frames 3 and 6 of the second period, when Belles' jammer Robin Drugstores found herself in the penalty box not once, not twice, but three times.  Drugstores sat for 180 seconds on the strength of a pair of majors and a 4th minor: Billy The Kid skated to 17 points while Rockett added 10 more over this span.

Mo Pain relieved Drugstores in the 7th jam and reversed the tide with 9 points, signalling a bit of a momentum switch which Violet Temper built upon by adding another 7.  Pain added another 13 in a shutout jam versus Holly Wanna Crackya, but this gain was offset just moments later by another 13 for Rockett while Philly's Shenita Stretcher jammed from the penalty box.  Teflon Donna's 10 points in the 14th frame picked up where Pain had left off, but the bout was drawing to a close.  One short scoreless jam later, the 107-86 score stood as final.

Carolina scored 22 points against Philadelphia for players in the penalty box during the second period alone (for a bout total of 31).  Philadelphia had at least one skater in the box in every jam after the second of the bout.  The team totalled 46.6 minutes in the penalty box to Carolina's 26.  

In the day's undercard bout, the Independence Dolls, determined not to let some streaks die, brought in their second win in as many bouts with a 93-53 victory on the strength of determined packwork from the likes of Butterscotch Cripple and The Cycrone!, while rising stars such as Elle Viento (37 points), Antidote (17 points) and Mercedes Bends (15 points) put up big numbers against a talent-laden Bootlegger squad.  Carolina's MC Fyte posted 20 points, but her teammates were unable to clear Philly skaters out of their jammers' way and the team found itself on the wrong side of a shutout in 25 of 35 jams.

The Philly girls know they have some retooling to do before regionals, but they look forward to the prospect of perhaps meeting this same Carolina team on the track in Madison in October.

Photos: Fairy Brutal